by Rachel Magee
She looked up at the newcomers. An expression of cool acceptance crossed Brody’s face. Her already sagging spirit plummeted.
Aiden’s hand pressed against the small of her back in a gesture she assumed was supposed to calm her frazzled nerves. “We’ll catch you after the ceremony.” He winked. Then he looked to Brody and Sasha and held his hand out to the side door. “Shall we?”
The trio crossed the room and exited to the garden. Paige stood frozen in her spot, watching through the windows as Brody and his date claimed the last two empty chairs. Brody undid his jacket and ran his hand through his perfect hair before he settled it on Sasha’s knee. Her own knee tingled, remembering exactly how his touch felt.
The string quartet finished their song and silence filled the air. It was the signal for the officiant to lead out the groom. She glanced at her watch, shook her head to try to clear her thoughts, then dashed across the room as fast as her ballet flats could carry her to the bridal suite.
One minute and thirty-eight seconds behind schedule.
So much for pulling off the perfect wedding. Paige plopped down in the empty chair next to her best friend, Ciera Pierce, and let out the long, defeated sigh that had been building up insider her all evening. “I need cake.”
Normally she loved wedding receptions, which made her job fun even on the hard days. Being among joyful guests celebrating love was like food for her soul. But right now, a trip to the dentist for a root canal sounded more appealing than being stuck in this room. Too bad she was contractually obligated to be here until the bitter end.
Ciera pushed the plate of half-eaten wedding cake in front of her. “Great job today. The wedding was lovely.” She adjusted the strap of her ice-blue dress as she stared dreamily around the room, as if taking in all the decorations.
Paige closed her eyes for a moment and massaged her temples to try to rid herself of the stress headache she’d had since the ceremony. Or, if she was being more accurate, it came on around the same time a certain someone decided to reappear in her life. Blinking her eyes open, she pulled the cake plate closer to her, hoping a sweet treat would help push Brody Paxton out of her mind so she could concentrate on finishing this wedding.
“If you don’t count the ceremony starting four minutes late, cueing the wrong song for the first dance or all of the vegetarian meals being cold, then I guess it was okay.” She cut off a huge bite of cake and speared it with her fork, perhaps more aggressively than she should have.
Ciera shrugged, causing her tight blonde curls to bounce around her head. “No one noticed those things.”
Paige disagreed. She felt sure the seventeen guests trying to force down cold eggplant parmesan noticed, but she didn’t argue.
“What everyone did notice were the Longhorn-orange bridesmaids’ dresses,” Ciera added. She looked out to the dance floor where the bride was dancing among a sea of orange chiffon. “I’ve never been so thankful to be left out of a wedding party in my whole life.”
The thought of Ciera wearing the school colors of her alma mater’s number one rival almost elicited a giggle. “They are an unfortunate color. The first time your cousin showed me a picture of them I thought she was joking.”
“And you didn’t stop her?”
“She said the color signified a time and place that were important to her and her now husband. It’s kind of sweet, really.” Paige paused and studied the bobbing orange mob. Even with the sweet sentiment behind it, she had to admit the amount of burnt orange when all eight ladies were standing together was a bit much. “I tried to pick flowers that would tone down the color in pictures.” Of course, it didn’t help when they were on the dance floor without their bouquets.
“Unless you gave them a bush to hide behind, there aren’t enough flowers to mute that distraction down.”
This time Paige did giggle, just a little, and she shoveled the giant bite of cake into her mouth before the next catastrophe pulled her away and she missed her chance to eat it.
But as soon as the bite hit her tongue she wished she’d been called away first. Whatever cardboard excuse for white cake had been hiding underneath the chalky fondant icing did not deserve to call itself a treat. She considered spitting it out, but since she didn’t have a napkin handy, she forced herself to swallow it in one giant gulp.
“Ugh. This is awful.”
Ciera glanced at the offending plate. “Oh right. People noticed that, too.” She motioned to all the plates with half-eaten cake on their table then pushed her water glass in front of Paige.
It would take a whole pitcher of water to get rid of the taste in her mouth, but Paige settled for a sip from Ciera’s glass. She scanned the neighboring tables for more plates of unfinished cake. As far as she could see, not one person had managed to choke down their whole slice anywhere at this reception. Great. Another thing to add to the list of things that went wrong.
Paige pushed the plate away from her and made a mental note to tell the waitstaff to clear them as soon as possible. Maybe if it was out of sight, the guests would forget how bad it was. One could hope, anyway. “I warned her about the cake. I even told her about the bakery everyone raves about, but she insisted on the one from the magazine layout from the expensive place in the city.”
As soon as she said it, the music switched to a slow song. The crowd on the dance floor cleared and couples filled the space. Like a moth attracted to light, Paige’s gaze went straight to Brody. He stepped onto the dance floor from the far side, looking dapper as always in his dark suit, holding the new girl’s hand. After he spun her once, he pulled Sasha into himself and they glided in perfect rhythm around the floor. Paige let out a long, discouraged sigh. “Everyone wants the pretty cake and doesn’t seem to care what it’s got going on inside.”
Ciera shot her a concerned look. “You okay, sweetie?”
“Brody’s back in town,” she mumbled without taking her eyes off the couple. She and Brody had looked like that when they were together, hadn’t they? All happy and in sync?
“Oh.” Ciera screwed her mouth to the side and glanced in the direction of the dance floor, looking more concerned than surprised. “Yeah. I heard that.”
“Wait? Heard that?” Paige sat straight up and glared at her best friend. “Like before you watched them walk into the wedding?”
Ciera kept her eyes on the dancing couple and waited a second too long before answering. “Maybe.”
“You knew he was in town and you didn’t tell me?” Did she have any idea how much humiliation she could’ve prevented if Paige had a heads-up? The memory of their disastrous meeting in The Chateau caused heat to sear her cheeks. Why would her best friend keep something like this from her?
A pained expression fell over Ciera’s face. “We were waiting for the right time to tell you. We didn’t want to upset you.”
Paige thrust her chin in the direction of the happy couple. Hurt and frustration flanked her already dismal spirit. “Too late.”
Ciera squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry, Paige. I should have told you before tonight, but I honestly thought he wouldn’t come. And if he did, I was sure he’d call you first.”
Paige watched the happy couple gliding around the floor, and she had an idea of what had been keeping him too busy to pick up the phone. A fresh wave of hurt washed over her. “How long has he been in town?”
“I’m not sure. Georgia told me about it a week ago. I guess his company moved him back to work out of the office here.”
“Georgia knows!” Paige shrieked, a little too loud. She glanced around to see if anyone had noticed then lowered her voice. “Am I the last to find out?” Seriously, did any of her friends know how to work a phone? Or drop a text, send a smoke signal, anything? What was wrong with these people?
Ciera took a deep breath. “You’re not going to like this next part.” She surveyed the room as if looking for help
to deliver whatever she was about to say.
“He’s one of the groomsmen in Georgia and Lane’s wedding. We were trying to figure out how to tell you.”
Paige didn’t move as she tried to absorb this news. Georgia, Ciera and Paige had been close friends since they met in college, and the two women were bridesmaids in Georgia’s upcoming wedding. The one where they would all be spending the weekend at their favorite beach in the Florida panhandle which just so happened to be the very same beach where she and Brody had first gotten together. She could almost taste the iced white chocolate mocha they would sip as they strolled through the cute town, lost in conversation, letting all the other coffees they’d gone to get for their friends go cold.
Sure, she knew Brody was friends with Lane before they started dating. Lane was the reason they met, but she never even considered him being in the wedding. When he went overseas, Paige had assumed he had abandoned all of them.
She watched the happy couple spin around the dance floor as she let Ciera’s words settle over her. So, it really was over. Tears pricked her eyes.
This wasn’t how their story was supposed to go. Brody’s temporary European assignment was supposed to be a speed bump, something to give their perfect story an interesting twist when they told it at their fiftieth wedding anniversary. But here he was, holding some other girl in his arms.
“Who is she?” Paige whispered, afraid that if she used a full voice her tears would spill over her eyelids. And once they started, she didn’t know if she’d be able to stop them.
Ciera didn’t bother to turn around to look at the girl Paige asked about. “Some actress who’s old summer camp friends with Lindy Grant. I guess she’s about to start a new TV show that will be filmed in Austin, and she’s staying with Lindy while she decides if she wants to get a place there or stay here and make the hour commute.”
Actress made sense. She held herself with the kind of confidence and grace which begged people to look at her. And she was annoyingly beautiful. She was the complete opposite of Paige, which somehow felt even more discouraging.
“How’d they meet? They look pretty chummy for two people who just arrived in town.”
Ciera shifted, stealing a glance at the couple. “According to Georgia, they actually met in Europe a while back. She was on location for some sort of movie near where he was living, and Lindy set it up so he could show her around on her day off. I guess she was charmed by him and they kept in touch.”
“And they just so happened to move to the same place at the same time?”
“She’s telling everyone it’s fate.” Ciera rolled her eyes. “They started dating as soon as he got back in town.”
“I don’t think I like her.”
Ciera laughed. “No? If it makes you feel any better, according to Georgia, neither does Lane.”
It did make her feel a little better, in a sad, petty sort of way. She propped her chin on her fist and watched the happy couple. “I should get back to work.” Or at the very least, she should stop staring at them. Watching Brody with his new girlfriend was a bad idea, but she couldn’t make herself look away.
Someone dropped into the chair on the other side of her and startled her. For the first time since the song had started, she tore her gaze away from Brody to see Aiden’s cheerful face. And what was even better than seeing a friend was the delicious sweet scent drifting up from the paper baskets he held in each of his hands. “Food truck’s here with the midnight snacks,” he said. “Time for some decent desserts.”
Paige glanced at her watch. “I didn’t realize how late it was. I have to go make sure it’s in the right spot.”
Aiden and his investment partner owned one of the most popular restaurants in Hilltop. As a wedding gift to his cousin, Aiden had Cedar Break’s food truck bring late-night snacks to the wedding partiers. According to her master timeline, she should’ve been out there five minutes ago to make sure everything was up and running.
“Don’t worry, Wedding Boss. I made sure the truck was exactly where you told us it needed to be, and my staff was ready to start pumping out desserts. Your assistant’s outside keeping an eye on it.” He slid the paper tray holding his famous chocolate lava cake across Paige to his sister. “It’s taken care of. And there’s already a line.” He winked at her and shoveled a forkful of cherry turnover a la mode into his mouth.
Aiden Pierce was more punctual than she was. Tonight was full of surprises. “Thanks.” She looked into his eyes, trying to convey how much she appreciated his help.
“My pleasure. Now, what’s with the somber mood? What are we talking about?” he asked through a full mouth.
Ciera cut into her cake and the liquid chocolate center oozed out. “Unexpected wedding guests.” She nodded her head at the dance floor.
The music had changed to a fast song, but Brody and Sasha were still out there. Even though they weren’t touching now, watching them dance to this song was even worse.
Aiden scooped up another forkful of pie and shoveled it into his mouth. “Aww, yes. The European dude.” He reached across, snagged Ciera’s chocolate cake and slid it to Paige. “Looks like you could use this.”
Ciera, whose fork was midway between the cake and her mouth, froze. “Hey. What about me?”
Aiden tipped his chair to look at his sister from behind Paige, held his hand up to block his mouth and pretended to whisper. “Cici, you’re not the one whose ex just waltzed back in town with a Hollywood actress on his arm.”
“You know I can still hear you.” Paige grabbed the fork from Ciera’s hand and cut off a hearty-sized bite of her absolute favorite thing on Cedar Break’s menu. She hoped the bitter taste of disappointment wouldn’t ruin it.
Aiden draped his arm over her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. It had been a crummy night, but the embrace of a good friend brightened her gloomy spirit a bit. Chocolate cake didn’t hurt, either.
“If it makes you feel any better, I heard everyone thinks she’s not all that,” Aiden said.
Paige rolled her eyes. “You’ve known about her for like five minutes. How do you know what everyone thinks?”
Aiden swallowed the large bite in his mouth. “I’ve been shooting the breeze with everyone in the room for the past four hours. People talk, and they have a lot of opinions about her.”
Ciera took a sip of her drink. “I already told you Lane said she has no personality.”
Paige cut off another big bite of the cake and swiped it across the bottom of the bowl to soak up the liquid chocolate. “Is this supposed to make me feel better? Brody’s gorgeous new girlfriend is boring?”
“Boring is a big deal,” Aiden said. “No one likes boring.”
Ciera nodded. “Truth.”
It could’ve been truth to these two, but the fact was, Sasha had Brody and all she had was a growing void where he had once been. “Maybe being devastatingly beautiful trumps boring.”
“Occasionally in the short term, but never in the long term.” The seasoned voice came from behind them. All three turned around to find Aiden and Ciera’s grandmother, lovingly known to all as Gram, standing behind them.
Aiden hopped out of his seat and kissed her on the cheek. “Gram, here. Take my seat. How are you enjoying the reception so far?”
“I’d be enjoying it more if I were involved in this beautiful versus boring conversation. Sounds scandalous. I need a little scandal in my life.” There was a twinkle in Gram’s wise eyes as she sank into the seat Aiden had vacated with her gaze glued to Paige.
Ciera leaned across her to fill Gram in. “Paige’s ex-boyfriend is back in town and he brought an actress with him.” She snagged the fork from Paige and pulled the cake in front of herself.
Gram nodded as if considering the situation. “And how much of a looker is this new girl?”
Ciera shot Aiden a worried look. Paige appreciated
her friend trying to spare her feelings, but it wasn’t a secret. Anyone with eyes could see what kind of beauty they were dealing with. Paige looked right at Gram and gave her the most honest answer she could think of. “She could launch a thousand ships.”
“She’s very pretty,” Ciera added. Aiden gave Paige’s shoulders an encouraging squeeze.
“I see.” Gram twisted her mouth to the side in thought. “This reminds me of the time when Lorissa’s ex-husband returned with a supermodel who was as dumb as a box of rocks.” Gram often lacked a filter. Whatever thought ran through her head came out of her mouth, which Paige loved. It was always entertaining and so different from anything she’d grown up with.
“Are these real friends or soap opera friends?” Aiden asked. Until Paige met Gram, she was unaware soap operas still existed. Apparently they did. And Gram still watched them with diligence.
Gram gave Aiden a stern look. “Soap opera friends are real friends, dear.” She turned to Paige. Her weathered hand wrapped around Paige’s. The warm, maternal gesture was like a hug to her broken heart. “Did you love him?”
Visions of their year together paraded through her mind. Happy memories of sweet moments when the word forever sparkled with anticipation.
Paige let out a sigh. “Yeah.”
Sympathy flashed across Gram’s face. “Do you still love him?” Her voice was a little quieter this time, a little more personal. Which seemed appropriate since the question felt personal.
Sure, her heart had broken when he left, which dampened love’s euphoric glow, but hope had managed to keep some of the spark alive. In the back of her mind, even on her loneliest days, she clung to the image of him coming back. Someday they could pick up right where they left off, share life together, grow old together. That was love, right?
“I think so,” she said.
Gram squeezed her hand, her voice returning to its normal cheerful tone. “Then do what Lorissa did.”
Confusion fluttered through her. Gram’s sage advice was coming from a soap opera character? “What did she do?”
