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Lori shrugged. “First of all, I said kiss the guy, not practically have sex with him. I mean everyone at the carnival was watching you two. At least you gave them all something to gossip about for a while.”
Back then I thought it was bold of me to have walked up and kissed a sexy man, ten years my senior. But that had faded quickly when the ball dropped, and I found out who he was. My schoolmates had no problem teasing me about it. And for weeks after that I couldn’t walk down the street without having the feeling people were staring at me, talking about me. It did help me with my decision as to where I’d go to college and out of state worked for me. But even now, Lori seemed to enjoy reminiscing about the most embarrassing day of my life.
I huffed and she raised her hands. Grinning, she said, “Don’t be angry with me. Maybe you should ask yourself why you agreed to do it? And before you point fingers at me again, I don’t recall you complaining at the time.”
Not until I found out he was a priest.It had been days later when I bumped into him again, but that time he was dressed in black and wearing his white collar. One he should’ve been wearing in the first place, or I never would’ve been lusting after him.
“You’re right. It’s not all your fault. If you still want me as your maid-of-honor, maybe we should change the subject,” I warned.
“Agreed. So, are you going to tell me what we’re doing tonight?” she asked.
“No,” I stated firmly.
“Didn’t think so, but it was worth a try,” Lori said.
“Then I guess we’d better go home and change so we can get this party going,” I suggested.
“This is a rehearsal for the wedding. We can’t leave until we rehearse,” Lori reminded me.
I wasn’t about to remind her that she’d already done this twice before. “What are we waiting for?” I asked.
Lori looked around and said, “The marriage officiant hasn’t arrived yet. She really is a notary with the power to oversee weddings. She came highly recommended. I don’t know what’s keeping her. I hope this isn’t a bad sign.”
“Probably stuck in traffic.”
The door to the hall opened and I turned to see who entered. My jaw dropped. It can’t be. “Lori, I thought you said you had an officiant.”
“I do. Her name is Katherine Bennett. Why?”
“Because a…. someone else just arrived.” Someone I never thought I’d see again.
She turned around and said, “That’s a priest. What’s he doing here?”
That’s the priest I kissed, and I need to get the heck out of here.“I don’t know. But I’m not feeling well and I need to go to the ladies’ room. Why don’t you go ask him what’s up? I’ll see you shortly.”
I didn’t even give her a chance to respond and rushed off to the restroom. My heart was racing, and I hoped he hadn’t seen me. Once I was behind closed doors, I splashed cold water on my face. Thankfully, I chose not to wear any makeup today, or I’d have another issue to deal with too. When I looked at myself in the mirror I could see how red my cheeks were.
Ellen came into the restroom and asked, “Are you okay? Lori said you’re not feeling well.”
“I’ll be okay. I just need a few minutes to…” Hide.
Since she wasn’t teasing me about the priest, I could only assume that neither she nor Lori recognized him. Then again, they hadn’t been as up-front and close to him as I had been back then. Hell, I can still picture his cologne. He smelled as good as he looked and kissed.
These thoughts were not helping me feel any better. I needed to stay focused on what was important, and that was my friends.
“I can’t leave. We still have the bachelorette party tonight,” I reminded her.
“Is it wrong that I’m glad to have an excuse to cancel it?” she asked.
“You don’t even know what I have planned,” I said.
“No. But no matter what it is, it’s not going to make up for the fact Lori’s parents aren’t coming to the wedding. I’d rather just go home and be alone with Lori tonight, if that’s okay with you,” she said.
“Of course it is. I guess I wasn’t thinking it through,” I said.
Ellen chuckled. “First time for everything, right? You’re usually such a planner. Why don’t you go home? I’ll update Lori.”
I nodded and then asked, “Did she say why the…priest was here?”
