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The words hang heavily in the crisp morning air, sending a tremor straight to my core. I look at the woman who used to feel like a second mother to me, seeing the raw worry in her eyes. But she left me too, by deciding to move out of the house next door shortly after my world came crumbling down. I let out a quiet breath.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I will.”
I find Drew at a small table near the big windows overlooking the lake, laptop open, focused on his work.
“Mind if I join you?” I ask, cradling my coffee mug in both hands.
He looks up from the screen and does a double take, his eyes sweeping over my outfit before a wide smile spreads across his face.
“You look like you're feeling a million times better,” he says, shutting his laptop to give me his full attention.
I smile, pulling out the chair directly across from him. “I feel much better. Thank you for letting me get that extra sleep this morning. My body desperately needed it.”
“Good. I’m glad,” he says softly, his gaze lingering on me.
“I just ran into your mom out in the courtyard,” I say, taking a slow sip of my coffee. “I had no idea she was coming out for the wedding. I’ve missed her so much.”
His eyes brighten at my admission. “She’s missed you too, Cam. Honestly, I’m really glad she was able to find time to make it out here.”
“Drew, I’m really sorry about last night… I shouldn't have…” The words tumble out before I can lose my nerve. He interrupts me before I can finish the apology.
“Cami, I’m not sure how much you actually remember from last night, but I wanted to kiss you,” he says softly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck nervously. “I just… I want to kiss you sober. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't wake up and regret it in the morning.”
“Oh,” I breathe, a wave of realization washing over me as the blurry memory finally clicks into place.
Drew reaches across the table, his fingers gently brushing against my hand.
“What I did to you six years ago… I need you to know the truth, Cami. I need you to know why.”
But before he can finish the sentence, the heavy wooden doors of the dining hall burst open. Cooper comes storming into the room, his eyes scanning the tables frantically until they lock onto us. He sprints across the floor, completely out of breath.
“There you guys are!” he pants, slamming his hands down onto our table. “I have a very, very big problem. I need your help right now!”
I scoot my chair back in concern. “Cooper, breathe. What is going on?”
“I lost the rings.”
“You what?!” Drew and I shout in perfect unison, our voices echoing off the tall windows.
“I had them this morning! They were right here in my pocket, and now they’re gone. Ivy cannot know about this!” he groans, pacing a frantic line up and down the side of our table, clutching his hair. “We have a meeting with the band in thirty minutes to go over the set list. I don’t have time to look for them!”
“Okay, okay, stop pacing.” Drew commands, his instincts taking over as he stands up. He looks at Cooper, then cuts a quick, knowing glance back to me. “Tell us exactly where you’ve been today, step by step.”
Thank goodness I decided to put on a workout set this morning, because we have spent the last hour and a half sprinting up and down this massive estate.
We’ve turned the place upside down. We crawled on our hands and knees across the plush green grass, searching between the chairs neatly lined up for the ceremony. We tracked down every single member of the catering and decorating staff on the property, practically begging them for answers. We checked the main desk's lost and found twice. We even sifted through the dirt along the entire winding pathway that leads down to the lake shore, our eyes scanning every inch of the rocky sand with no luck. We’ve hit a dead end.
“What do we do?” Drew asks desperately.
“We only have one last place left to look,” I say breathlessly, wiping a bead of sweat from my forehead. “The coffee shop in town. Cooper was there right before he met us.”
“Alright, let's go!” He smiles.
The two of us sprint across the gravel straight over to the valet station. Seconds feel like minutes as we wait. The black Mercedes chirps, its engine roaring as it pulls around the turning circle of the front entrance.
Drew pulls the passenger door wide open for me, waiting for me to crawl in before he slams it shut, then sprints around the hood and throws himself into the driver's seat.
The top is down, and the breezy afternoon wind is warm against my skin, blowing my hair wild and loose over my shoulders. Drew turns the radio volume dial up until the bass rattles the car doors.
