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“Toast…toast…” they chanted like a couple of frat boys.
Okay. He had this. He’d anticipated the need for some kind of statement tonight, so he’d rehearsed one. Short and sweet and to the point.
He signaled for the waitress to refill everyone’s glass then smiled at the occupants of the room. “On behalf of Kitty and myself, I’d like to thank everyone for joining us tonight to celebrate tomorrow’s nuptials. To Sharon and Alan, best wishes, and may you always be surrounded by the love of your families.” He took a sip of his champagne, signaling that the toast was over.
He waited for the prerequisite polite applause, but instead, Greg shouted out, “That’s it? What about you, dude? Let’s hear about you!”
What about him? He was about to sit down, but then the spoons began clinking again.
“When are you and Kitty gonna tie the knot?” This time it was Frank doing the shouting.
He could feel Kitty stiffen beside him. He wished he had one of those cigars now so he could stuff it down Frank’s big mouth.
“Aw, c’mon, give a guy a break, huh?” He hoped that would elicit a few laughs and that would be the end of it.
“Let’s make it a double wedding tomorrow!” Greg yelled.
“Yeah!” Frank chimed in.
Mallory and Ginny and the rest of the family looked mortified.
Why hadn’t he cut those clowns off two bottles ago?
“So, after dinner tonight, there will be cigars on t
he patio and there’s dancing in the restaurant’s main room, if anyone is so inclined.” He sounded like a damn fool making some kind of public service announcement, but at this point he’d say just about anything to shut those idiots up.
“You’re not getting off that easy, Pappas!” Greg laughed.
He gazed around the room. Even the wait staff seemed mesmerized, frozen in their tracks as they waited for him to crash and burn.
His chest erupted in flames. Maalox. He needed some stat. Or Tums. Or a fire extinguisher. He’d take whatever he could get.
Kitty firmly placed her hand over the sleeve of his jacket and urged him to sit down. Then she stood up. “Now, now, let’s all play nice here.”
The room laughed and Steve felt some of the acid eating away at his chest ease off.
“The truth is I’m the one with the cold feet. But can you blame me? I mean, look at this guy. Okay, so he’s good-looking and rich, but a girl has her standards, you know?” There was more laughter and this time even her dad had a grin on his face. “But if I ever stoop low enough to make things permanent with him; you’ll all be the first to know.” She raised her glass. “Now, please, let’s make one final toast to the stars of tonight, to my dad and to his lovely Sharon!”
Afterward, Kitty couldn’t meet his eyes. The limo came and everyone piled in, except for himself and Kitty. He hadn’t seen her since she’d excused herself from the table shortly after the toast.
He’d blown it. Totally and completely. She might be able to fool everyone else in the room, but not him. And now she’d taken off.
He had to find her and make things right again.
#
Kitty walked as fast as she could in her heels, until she couldn’t walk anymore, so she slipped them off, letting the still warm sand squish between her toes. The weather had cooled off, but it was still July, which meant the air was thick with humidity. Her hair had probably exploded into Chia Pet territory. Not that she cared.
The night couldn’t have gone any better. Or any worse. The limo had taken everyone back to the house or to their respective hotel rooms in Destin. She’d declined a ride, however. She was simply too wound up to go home.
“You saved my ass in there.” Steve’s deep voice came from behind to cut through the darkness.
She turned around to find him standing just a couple of feet away. He still wore his jacket, but he’d taken off his shoes and socks. It was no wonder she hadn’t heard him. Had he followed her out to the beach? After that fiasco of a toast (thank you, Greg and Frank, future stepbrothers-in-law, extraordinaire!) she wouldn’t doubt that he needed a walk to blow off some steam. After all, that was exactly what she was doing.
“It’s such a cute ass, I couldn’t help myself.”
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his dress trousers. The moon was full, allowing her to make out clearly the weary expression on his way-too-handsome face. He’d worked hard to make tonight a special event and she was grateful for that. But he’d also made it perfectly clear by that awful toast that…that what? It wasn’t his fault that he’d been put on the spot like that. After all, she hardly expected him to declare his love for her in public. At least not the first time, anyway. Steve was an immensely private man. She got that. It was part of who he was and she loved him. But what on earth were they going to say to one another to make it all better?
