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Without saying anything, I turn and head down the hallway.
I hear Alex call after me, “Come and find me when you’re back.”
I make a mental note not to do that. He is trouble. Big trouble. I can see myself falling into his sexy embrace and then living with the consequences. He doesn’t want to settle down. I doubt he wants to push a baby stroller through a city park early on a Sunday morning. We are opposites because I am the type of person that craves family and connection.
I keep walking and try to expunge that image from my mind. I don’t know why it popped into my thoughts. I’m only twenty-eight. I don’t need to rush into marriage or motherhood. As I stop to open the door at the end of the hallway, I remind myself that it’s okay to want those things. I have two sisters that I adore, and I’m a teacher surrounded by young children most days. It’s normal to want my own family. It’s just not smart to want that with a confirmed bachelor in the shape of a billionaire adventurer.
8
Romantic Bliss (Alex)
The wedding is an hour away, and my mother looks upset. Regina is dabbing away tears with a tissue. Instead of becoming flustered, Imogen remains calm and appears to be soothing her worries.
She does look elegant in her couture-fitted white gown. It hits me that she doesn’t have her father to walk her down the aisle and she never had that storybook wedding some women seem to want. Instead, she became pregnant with me in her first year of college and never married.
Moving closer to them, I ask, “Is something the matter?”
Immy meets my gaze first. “It’ll be sorted out.”
She is holding my mother’s hand and her cheeks are flushed. She didn’t come to my room last night, so she must not be interested in frivolous sex. It’s too bad. I’d like to see her let go and prioritize pleasure.
I look at my mother. “What is the problem?”
Regina’s eyes cloud, but she doesn’t say anything. I’m shocked. She is usually more than willing to advocate for herself or complain about something.
Imogen waves her hand dismissively. “It’s not a big deal. Could you do me a favor and check on the wedding cake? It’s supposed to be taken out of the refrigerator two hours before being served.”
My mother clutches Imogen’s hand, and I don’t press them further. I don’t need to involve myself in the drama. Instead, I say, “I’ll go check.”
As I walk away from them, I can’t help wondering what is going so awry that my mother won’t mention it. It’s as if she is afraid to wish something into existence.
Someone from the catering staff had already removed the cake from the walk-in refrigerator. When I step outside to avoid the craziness in the kitchen, I see Graham, standing near the fire pit.
His shoulders are hunched, and he is alone.
I don’t want to intervene, but I am already out here. “Hey, Graham. Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready?”
He straightens his shoulders. “Hasn’t your mother told you? She’s called it off.”
A rush of cold air hits me at my core. My mother dragged me here for five days to call off the wedding? She insisted on a cozy, holiday-themed event.
“I saw her in her wedding dress two minutes ago.”
“She’s having cold feet. And, she gave me an insane ultimatum.”
I almost feel sorry for him. He doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to Regina. And he also lets his ex-wife walk all over him. “What was the ultimatum?”
“That I sell the theater. It doesn’t make any sense. Your mother loves the theater. And it’s been in my family for three generations.”
I don’t want to know but ask, “Why would she ask you to do that?”
He throws up his hands. “She wants an extended honeymoon. A year-long honeymoon. I need to return to London in April to organize the season.”
“Isn’t your oldest son involved in the theater? Can’t you pass it on to him?”
He looks defeated. “I’ll have nothing. My days will be filled with tennis lessons and sipping cocktails on a yacht somewhere.”
“That’s the conversation you need to have with my mother.”
