Chapter 10
Rebecca missed the ceremony entirely, thanks to her next errand, buying a pair of expensive shoes for a woman who was impossible to please. She stared at the shoe displays in a Nordstrom and tried to stop smiling. Jay was back. Well, sort of. He’d hugged her. He hadn’t told her what she should have done or brushed off her apology as nothing. He just hugged her.
She’d been afraid Marlise would be upset at the sudden demand for new shoes, but Marlise treated it like any other hiccup and assured Rebecca it was nothing to worry about. Apparently, Mrs. Phillips had pulled the same stunt at the engagement luncheon when her sunglasses broke and it was somehow Annette’s fault. Mr. Phillips slipped Marlise cash afterword to cover it, and she had no doubt he would do it again. Sadly, it seemed to be a game she played in order to get him to buy her things.
“I guess it’s better than taking up shoplifting,” Rebecca murmured to a pair of Gucci pumps. They were as close as she’d get to the color and shape of the ones Mrs. Phillip wore today. She bought them and rushed back, just in time for cocktail hour, which was outside on the grass.
Clarissa immediately took the shoebox from her. “Mrs. Phillips doesn’t like you. We’re going to pretend I bought them, okay?”
It was an obvious attempt to show dominance, but honestly, Rebecca didn’t care. Clarissa was right. Mrs. Phillips would find something wrong with them if she knew Rebecca picked them out.
“How nice of you, Clarissa. The receipt is under the tissue paper if she decides they need to be sent back.”
Rebecca walked off, hiding the smile that wanted to burst out of her.
Marlise was busy carefully pulling the flower arrangements off the ends of the rows and transporting them over to where the reception would be held, so Rebecca joined her. She turned around with a bouquet of roses and stopped short, cradling the flowers from being crushed as a guy blocked her path.
“Rebecca? I thought that was you.” He took off his sunglasses and smiled in a way that probably melted a lot of hearts. It had once melted hers. Patrick. Why did it have to be him? But it made sense he would be somehow tied to this train wreck of a wedding. His twinkling blue eyes were now framed with little crow’s feet, though he was as bronzed and good looking as ever. He’d chosen a suit that accentuated his muscled body and his flashy sense of style.
“Good to see you, Patrick.”
She moved to go around him, but he just followed her over to the reception site.
“Are you reusing the flowers? I didn’t think Kenzie was as cheap as all that.”
Rebecca sighed. “We need to take down the pews, and the flowers need to go somewhere. Sometimes guests like to take them home. How do you know Kenzie?”
“She’s my cousin. I’m the one who set them up, actually.” He sounded so proud. “So, what are you, like the help or something?”
She wanted a sinkhole to open up. But not to swallow her, to swallow him. Why couldn’t he drop that goofy grin from his face and back up? She didn’t like him invading her personal space or calling her “the help.”
“Yes. I’m the wedding planner’s assistant.”
“Assistant wedding planner. Wow, that’s … ironic.” He laughed. “You called our wedding off last minute, and now you plan them.”
“It wasn’t last minute, it was three weeks before. Look, don’t you have a date to get back to?” She gestured over to the rest of the guests, mingling with drinks in their hands.
“Yeah. She needed to visit the little girl’s room, which I guess means she had to hike over to the castle and climb to the top of the tower or something. Kenzie and her princess complex. It’s so like her to choose a place like this to get married.”
Rebecca glanced around, but Marlise was nowhere in sight. And if she used the headset to ask what else needed to be done, Patrick would know where she was headed next. The restrooms were right inside the castle, despite Patrick’s exaggeration about towers. His date had to be back soon and then he’d move on and leave her alone.
“So, what have you been up to since college?”
Patrick picked up one of the shiny forks on the table and examined it. Rebecca was tempted to swipe it out of his hand.
“Oh, I went into corporate real estate. I live in Manhattan, though I come out to L.A. a couple times a year. I’m only here until tomorrow afternoon. I’m staying at the Four Seasons if you were interested in coming over later.” He put down the fork and reached out, running the back of his hand across her cheek in a practiced move she suspected he used a lot.
She repressed a shudder and leaned away from him. “Don’t.”
“Come on, Becks. Don’t be like that. I’ve forgiven you for calling off our wedding. We’ve both matured. This is just two old friends seeing what would happen if—”
“There you are.” Jay hurried over and put his arm around her waist, pulling her to him and kissing her forehead. She gave him a strained smile, extremely glad to see him, but also afraid he’d make this worse.
Patrick’s face looked irritated for half a second, but then he smirked, seeing their matching headsets. “You’re dating your boss?”
Jay stiffened next to her. Clearly, when he’d come to rescue her, he hadn’t considered how it would look.
“We’re not together. It’s an affectionate company I work for.” She tugged on Jay’s arm, hoping he’d move away and not antagonize her ex. “Patrick, good catching up with you. Jay, let’s go check on things.” She dragged him off toward the castle, glancing back to make sure Patrick wasn’t following. Nope, he was heading for the open bar. That would be fun later. The guy was overly-confident sober. She wasn’t looking forward to running into him buzzed.
