“Your pastor?” Meredith asked.
“Yeah, my church likes for couples to go through a series of pre-wedding counseling sessions before you say ‘I do.’”
“I’ve never heard of that,” Meredith said. Then she mumbled something to herself.
The two fell into step as they headed toward the parking lot, arriving at the row where they’d both been instructed to park when they arrived hours ago. “Okay, I know a little hole-in-the-wall place near here where we can go. No one will make a fuss and, I don’t know about you, but that sounds great to me.”
Wynne couldn’t help but grin. “Absolutely. I’m ready to be anonymous.”
“Okay, follow me and I’ll get us there. Then you can get to your . . . meeting.”
Wynne gave a little wave and climbed into her car. As she waited for Meredith to get into her car and pull out, she dashed off a quick text to Andy: “Interview over, thank goodness. Now off to have lunch with Meredith Welsh from Marathon Mom.”
Andy’s return text waited for her when she pulled into the restaurant parking lot. True to Meredith’s word, the place looked like a dive, a low-slung nondescript white brick building with no signage to speak of and a gravel parking lot. She parked and read his return text. “Wow! Didn’t see that coming. Is she as much of a tiger lady as she seems on TV?”
Wynne grinned and shot back a text. “She’s as much of a tiger lady as I am sweet and demure.” The network had really played up Wynne’s sweet, vulnerable side, the Southern Belle done wrong who needed rescuing. But Andy had seen that, beneath her sweetness, lurked what she liked to think was a tough interior, a resolve and tenacity that the cameras hadn’t captured. Andy, it seemed, was the one guy among the ones competing for her attention who had not only seen that side of her but tapped into it, believing in her and encouraging her whenever they spent time together. It was, she remembered fondly, what had made her choose him.
Andy quickly responded. “Touché. There are some things you just can’t know about people unless you spend time with them. See you at our meeting!”
She texted back with a smiley emoticon. She was looking forward to their meeting, anxious to hear Andy’s answers to the questions Reverend Stanton would pose. She seemed to learn more about this man she was marrying each time they met with the pastor. She guessed that was the point, but sometimes she felt as if they were being graded on their compatibility. She worried that Reverend Stanton was turning in some sort of score to her parents on the sly. She shook her head and got out of the car as Meredith approached with her confident stride. She was being silly, her insecurities about the hastiness of their nuptials coming through. She knew what her friends and family thought, and she wanted so badly to prove them wrong.
Over the weekend her mother had gone so far as to pull her aside in the kitchen as Andy stood outside with her dad at the grill. “You don’t have to go through with this, honey,” her mother had said. “I don’t care what those TV people say. This isn’t their lives, their future.” Had her mother seen something in Andy that concerned her? Even now Wynne wondered if she should’ve asked her mom that very question instead of what she did do, which was shrug off her mom’s statement and carry a platter of meat outside to her father and Andy. She’d given Andy a hug for no reason and he’d kissed her on the cheek. “You OK?” he’d asked, and she’d told herself that his insight in that moment was only proof that he was the one for her.
“I’m great,” she’d responded. But she’d stayed out at the grill with her dad and Andy instead of returning to the kitchen to help her mother.
Meredith secured them seats in the back and, true to her word, the few diners in the place barely even looked up as they made their way to their seats and accepted the greasy plastic menus from the waitress. Meredith leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “I don’t know about you, but I’m having the biggest, greasiest cheeseburger I can get my hands on.” She giggled and added, “With bacon.”
Wynne groaned in response. “You don’t have to fit into a wedding dress in a few weeks.” She put her hand across her flat middle section as if willing it to stay that way.
Meredith waved her hand in the air. “You look great. One cheeseburger isn’t going to change that.”
But when the waitress returned, Wynne ordered the healthiest thing she could find on the menu, a grilled chicken wrap with a side salad. And a water.
Meredith ordered a frosty root beer and fries to go with her bacon cheeseburger and, after the waitress disappeared, she confessed, “This is my tradition after any publicity thing I do. I reward myself with something I absolutely shouldn’t have.”
“Really? You always seem so cool and collected in every interview I’ve ever seen,” Wynne replied, not bothering to hide the astonishment in her voice.
“Yeah, because I know once I get through it, I get this!” The two laughed, and Wynne found herself relaxing in Meredith’s presence, warmed by the camaraderie she felt. This woman understood her unique set of circumstances better than anyone. “Of course, this afternoon I’ll be in the gym burning off every calorie I ingest.” Wynne groaned in response. The burden to be fabulous—to look fabulous—was part and parcel of the gig. Though she’d always tried to stay fit and trim when she and Callum dated, she’d never had to push herself to the degree she did now.
“So tell me all about the wedding,” Meredith said. She took a big sip of her root beer and fixed Wynne with her piercing amber eyes. Wynne wanted to be the one to ask her questions. The first one being, how did she do it all? And so well?
“Well, it’s going to be at Sunset Beach,” Wynne began, feeling the pang she always felt as she said it, that momentary flash of guilt and regret that she was getting married to Andy at the place she had intended to marry Callum. But her big mouth had landed her in this place and there was no changing it now. The show had already dispatched a whole crew of people to attend to a myriad of preliminary details before she and Andy arrived for the main event. From what she’d picked up on, they were leaving no stone unturned and the tiny island was overrun with Hollywood’s finest. She couldn’t decide if the citizens were going to hug her or kick her for making the place famous.
She continued, telling Meredith all about the “nautical” theme she’d selected after a surprisingly fast meeting with the stylist the show had hired. She found herself gushing as she described the bold navy and white stripes on the cake, the signs and ribbons adorning the aisles. She described the rope knots that would serve as place card holders at each table and the lime green accents the stylist was scattering around for pops of color. She even told Meredith about the anchor symbolism that they would be weaving into the ceremony. She almost spilled the beans about the gorgeous gown she’d chosen, but she’d been sworn to secrecy until the wedding. She could see the seersucker dress, a complete departure from what she’d envisioned, and yet, the breezy fabric blended perfectly with the beach backdrop. She’d never thought a wedding dress could be comfortable, that she would feel like herself as she walked down the aisle to meet her groom.
“We’re getting married on the beach, then they’ve got this gorgeous house for the reception close to Bird Island—that’s this undeveloped stretch of coastline that is just breathtaking—so we’ll have these amazing views as we dance the night away.” She sighed. “It’s going to be perfect.” She may have planned to marry Callum at Sunset Beach, but she would’ve never had this kind of wedding if she’d married him. Not that she’d cared about that stuff back then, but now that she had it, she intended to enjoy it to the fullest.
Her phone buzzed from within her purse. “Do you mind if I check my phone real quick? I just need to make sure Andy hasn’t hit a snag with making our meeting today. He’s been so busy with this new job on top of everything else.” Andy had willingly moved to her hometown so she could be near her family and friends, the church she loved, and the life she knew. He’d found a job in short order and had mostly settled into life there.
Though his mother still made comments about him moving so far from his home. “Seems the diplomatic thing to do would’ve been to pick a place halfway between the two cities,” she’d mused the last time Wynne had seen her. She had never said so, but Wynne suspected his mom thought this whole thing was preposterous and had gone too far. She suspected that because her mom thought the exact same thing and reminded her whenever she could work it into conversation.
“Sure, sure. I’m sure I’ve got a few texts to respond to, also,” she grinned and busied herself with her cell phone while Wynne retrieved hers from her purse. It turned out she was glad Meredith wasn’t watching her, because she might’ve picked up on the shock on Wynne’s face when she saw who the text was really from.
She’d thought she’d deleted his contact info from her phone in the wee hours of a particularly strung out, sleepless night. Nevertheless, there was his name on her screen, her phone remembering what she’d tried so hard to forget. Heart racing, she opened the message, her eyes taking in his first words to her in over a year: “Saw your interview just now. You look good, but you don’t look happy. And Sunset Beach, really? We need to talk.”
She swallowed hard and threw the phone back into her purse, as if she could throw the message away too. “Bad news?” Meredith asked.
“Oh no. Just wedding stuff. You know, so many details to keep up with.” It wasn’t a total lie. This was a new detail she’d have to keep up with—her ex sniffing around when she was weeks away from saying “I do,” and on television no less. Her heart continued to pound so hard she wondered if Meredith couldn’t hear it. She reached for her water glass and downed the rest of it, then crunched on her ice.
“I remember so well,” Meredith said. “All I can say is, better you than me, girl.”
Wynne was about to ask Meredith about her wedding, maybe learn a bit about Meredith’s husband and kids when the waitress came over and presented them with the check. Meredith made a show of picking up the tab. “My treat,” she insisted. “A little wedding present.” She winked and busied herself with tabulating the tip and signing the check.
“So I guess now you’ve got your meeting to get to?” Meredith asked when she was finished.
“Yeah, good thing my church isn’t too far away.”
“My husband and I just got married by a justice of the peace. I couldn’t imagine jumping through all those religious hoops too,” she said.
“Oh, I really like meeting with our pastor.” She caught herself. “I mean, my pastor. Well, I mean I guess he’ll be Andy’s pastor after we’re married.” She laughed and waved her hand in the air. “Oh, what does it matter? I’m learning about marriage and that’s a good thing. I want to be prepared.”
Meredith rose from the table and hoisted her large leather bag onto her shoulder. “Honey, nothing can prepare you for marriage.” She gave a small bitter laugh, then rested her hand on Wynne’s shoulder and gave her a look Wynne could only describe as sympathetic. “But I wish you all the best.” Then she gave her that megawatt smile she’d flashed on camera. “I’ll let you get to it, then.”
“Thanks for lunch, Meredith. I enjoyed meeting you. Maybe we could . . . do it again sometime? After the wedding?” Meredith might be a good friend to have—she was the type of person you couldn’t help but like.
Meredith whipped out her cell phone. “Give me your number. I’ll call you.” Wynne obediently spilled the number, then got out her phone and logged Meredith’s in as well. Thankfully there were no new texts from Callum. But the thought of his message set her heart racing again.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Meredith said. “I’m good with most any emergency.” She gave a little wave. “How do you think I won Marathon Mom?” She winked and breezed out of the restaurant, leaving Wynne holding her phone, resisting the urge to read Callum’s message one more time.
“I don’t know what’s keeping Andy,” Wynne said, the tone of her voice apologetic as Pastor Stanton tented his fingers and fixed her with his gaze.
“It’s fine, Wynne,” he said. “Gives us a moment to catch up. He’ll be here.”
She glanced behind her, as if Andy could be sneaking in the door, then looked back at the reverend. “I just talked to him before lunch and he said he was coming.”
“Like I said, he’ll be here. Don’t worry so much.” He laughed and shook his finger playfully at her. She blushed and looked down at her lap. It had been a full day and she was starting to feel exhausted. She still had several wedding things she had to do. Her mother had wanted her to drop by the house and look at some seashell necklaces she’d found that would make “uh-dorable” bridesmaids’ gifts. Wynne wondered what her mother would say if she begged off, went home, and crawled in bed instead. Probably not, “You go girl.”
Oh well, maybe her mom would have something good for dinner. Andy had a tux fitting scheduled, so without intervention, she was looking at cold cereal for dinner. She hoped Andy didn’t harbor fantasies of her morphing into some great cook after the wedding. Maybe that was something to bring up with the pastor. She glanced down at her purse where her cell phone sat silently. No text from Andy explaining his lateness. No more texts from Callum.
She looked up at Reverend Stanton. “Should we just get started?” She knew he picked up the uncertainty in her voice.
“I guess we could,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile. “Anything you’d like to talk about while we’ve got some time alone?”
She shrugged. “Not really. I’m just ready to get the show on the road.”
“No reservations or concerns? I know your mom was expressing—”
She put her hand up. “My mom is the one who worries too much. Marrying Andy is the best decision I could make. I have no doubts whatsoever.” She was glad she wasn’t hooked up to one of those lie detector machines. She would fail miserably. If she didn’t have concerns before she got the text from Callum, she most certainly did now. But that wasn’t something to discuss with your minister, was it?
“Well, that’s good to hear. Some people who haven’t known each other long when they plan to marry can have moments of doubt or uncertainty.” She started to argue, but he held up his hand. “I just want you to know that if you have those moments, it’s normal.” He chuckled. “It’s even normal for couples who’ve been together forever.”
Together. Forever. That was what people used to say about her and Callum. They had been together since they were teenagers, and everyone thought—including her—they’d be together for the rest of their lives. Maybe she’d stopped believing in “together forever” when Callum ended their relationship. Maybe the best thing to believe in was “together right now.”
But she wasn’t about to say that to her pastor. He might refuse to do the ceremony, require her to attend some sort of remedial class on love. The secretary—a friend of her mother’s—poked her head into the room. “Can you take a call?” She glanced over at Wynne apologetically. “It’s urgent.” She stage whispered, “Bill Lauer. Emergency surgery.”
Wynne stood. She held up her own phone. “You take the call, and I’ll go try to catch up with Andy.”
The pastor nodded and reached for his phone as she, gratefully, fled the room. She didn’t want to make any more small talk. She wanted to find Andy and get on with the plans for this wedding. She sank into a chair with a sigh. She’d so looked forward to this meeting, relished the thought of making plans for their ceremony. She and Andy wanted to write their own vows. She’d been excited for Andy to meet—and make a good impression on—her pastor. She’d wanted him to reassure her family that Andy was a good guy, someone who could be trusted with her future.
She pressed the button to automatically dial Andy’s number and listened as it rang a few times before rolling over to voice mail. She was trying not to worry or get upset, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been in an accident. Or headed for the hills. What if he’d somehow found out about Callum’s text and decided he wasn�
�t up for the drama? She was being paranoid. There was no way that Andy could know about that. Her guilty conscience was getting the best of her. And yet, what did she have to feel guilty about? She hadn’t texted Callum and she hadn’t responded to him.
Yet. The word snuck into her mind before she could banish it. Callum was under her skin. And that was what she felt guilty about. She would be lying if she said she didn’t want to see him again. Just one more time before she took the plunge. She would only see him to gain closure once and for all, to finally get the answers to the questions that had haunted her since their last, terrible phone call. That wasn’t so bad, was it? Anyone would want that from someone they’d once planned to marry, someone they’d once loved.
She opened the text from Callum once more, her fingers hovering over the “send” button on her cell phone. One press of that button and she was setting something in motion, something that would be hard to stop if she did, something that could run away with her and change everything in her carefully made plans. Her family thought this whirlwind of agreeing to go on the show and then agreeing to marry Andy was the craziest thing she’d ever done. And yet, responding to Callum felt even crazier.
With a deep breath, she let her finger land on the button and, before she could belabor it anymore, she began tapping out a response. She kept it brief and breezy and squeezed her eyes shut as she hit send.
When the phone rang later that night, she froze, her stomach leaping into her chest as it had every time a new text arrived with its shattered glass alert or the phone rang with the silly song Picky had put on as a joke. “Going to the chapel and we’re gonna get married,” the Dixie Cups sang as she checked the screen to see who was calling. Her heart slowed as she saw—surprisingly—Meredith’s name there.
Callum had not texted her back. And Andy was safe, sound, and accounted for after calling to apologize profusely for missing the meeting with Reverend Stanton. His new boss had called him in just as he was about to leave work and, being a new hire, he’d not felt he could say anything, nor could he call or text while his boss droned on and on. She’d been more than happy to extend forgiveness, seeing as how she was in need of some forgiveness of her own. She wanted to tell Andy about Callum’s text, but when the moment came in their conversation that she could have, she said nothing.
A June Bride Page 2
