“She’s a friend,” Erik admitted softly. “The real Goldilocks dumped me. It was actually a blessing. We weren’t right for each other.”
“So then why in the world is there still a wedding happening?” Sam asked, her expression concerned. “What are you trying to do?”
“I didn’t want to disappoint anyone,” he admitted. “Everyone at the Center has put so much love into this. I figured we’d have the celebration anyway, and just tell people afterward that it didn’t work out. Jenny was willing to step in?—”
“Have you lost your mind?” Sam interjected. “You can’t do that.”
“We figured we would just tell everyone it didn’t work out afterward and she’d go back to Boston,” Erik admitted. “But?—”
“Butnothing,” Sam said with a finality he’d never heard in her usually sweet voice before. “You can’t do this. You have real feelings for this woman.”
Erik opened his mouth and closed it again.
“How did you know?” he asked softly after a moment.
“One look at those photos and it’s obvious that you’re in love with her,” Jenny said, a little more gently. “You need to call this off and do things the right way, before you lose your chance.”
Before he could reply, someone pounded on the door.
“Erik,”Fallon’s voice was frantic. “Jenny and Gael are here, and… I think you figured out the speakers.”
“No,” Erik breathed, imagining the conversation they’d just had amplified to the whole community center—all those people finding out they were only there to help because Erik lied to them, finding out right in front of Jenny and Gael…
“Go fix it,” Sam told him firmly. “Right now. Don’t let her get away.”
17
JENNY
Jenny and Gael headed inside the building and saw Fallon and two others setting mason jars of beautiful roses on each of the tables, while someone at the far end of the room fiddled with a microphone on a table with two big speakers beside it.
“Hey, Jenny,” Fallon called out, giving them a wave and a smile. “Hi, Gael.”
“Hey, Fallon,” Gael said, running to greet him with an enthusiastic high-five.
Somewhere overhead, Erik’s disembodied voice began talking loudly. It took Jenny a moment to understand what he was saying.
“…don’t have to come, this is a lot for a family.”
Jenny looked around, but she didn’t see Erik anywhere.
“That’s not why I called,”a woman’s voice replied.“Erik, I know it’s not her.”
Jenny’s heart skipped a beat, and suddenly there was ice water running through her veins.
The whole room stopped their tasks and looked around, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from. There were several gasps as Erik’s conversation continued. Fallon left Gael and headed for a small door across the room as the other volunteers turned to Jenny, eyes widened in disbelief.
She choked in a breath, frozen with horror.
“Mom,” Gael said softly, running back to her.
The voices on the speakers kept talking, but Jenny was too mortified to take in the words.
“What’s going on?” Gael asked, his face crumpling into tears.
That sight was enough to shock Jenny back into action.
“We’re going to head out now,” she told him, holding out her hand. “We’re going to get something to eat and take a break from all this.”
