AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It is a small wedding, which seems to fit Sarah and Caleb’s family-oriented personalities. There are around sixty friends and family in attendance from all around Hawaii and the Seattle area.
I slip my feet out of my sandals once I sit in my seat, crunching the hot, white sand between my toes. If nothing else comes of this vacation, at least I will return to Seattle with a nice tan.
I haven’t seen Theo since this morning, and for some reason I’m nervous to see him. Maybe it is all the wedding talk with the ladies or maybe it is because Eve told me to ask him how he feels. About me. About us.
Hellfire. I’m sweating.
I grab the wedding ceremony procession card left on my seat and fan myself. The absolute last thing I need is to finally come face to face with Theo after hours apart and have smelly pits.
How does one even approach this question?Hey, Theo, I know we’re only faking dating, but silly me, I went and caught real feelings for you. So…how about you?
Well, that’s terrible.
As much as I don’t want to think about Derek, he’s my most recent and longest relationship to date, so as far as references go, he’s it. We flew a few flights together and during a long layover in Washington D.C., he took me out for dinner and drinks. We hit it off and I felt this pull to him. Once we made it back to Seattle, he pulled me to the side and said he had a lot of fun with me and was hoping we could see each other again. I told him I’d like that.
Ten months later, he breaks my heart in the middle of dinner. A dinner I was under the impression was going to render a proposal. And then he just walked out, leaving me to fill up on complimentary bread and drown my sorrows in wine.
Hell, Cate. What cheery memories to relive before a wedding. Stupid brain.
I had never been one to date, even before Derek. No one asked me out during my foster care high school years, and I have kept myself busy with work ever since.
Plain and simple. I am not good at dating – or relationships, for that matter. Dating Derek was different than what someone would call a normal relationship, because we only saw each other an average of ten days a month due to our conflicting schedules.
Maybe Mindy wasn’t the first or only woman he was seeing behind my back?
Oh. Good. Lord. Make this stop. What is this rabbit hole I have willingly crawled into?
How can I be this bad at… well everything that pertains to men and dating?
I rub my forehead, sighing loud enough for people all around me to glance over at me. I wave my hand awkwardly, as if to say,“Hello, I’m fine. Lovely day for a wedding, isn’t it?”.
“Is this seat taken?”
My eyes skyrocket up to see Drew, Ruth’s husband, standing in the aisle.
There is a seat next to me available, so I scoot down and give him the aisle seat, instead of having him crawl over me to sit.
“Sorry,” he wipes a bead of sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. “I meant to grab a seat earlier, but Ruth needed me to get the earrings she left in the car this morning. I hope it’s ok to sit with you.”
“Of course,” I nod politely. I look around and notice almost every seat is filled. The only seats available are four in the front row for the parents of the bride and groom. “So, do you know if the ceremony is starting soon?”
He bobs his head, looking unnerved, almost rattled. “It should be starting any second now,” he glances down at his watch. “My two monsters will be attempting to walk down the aisle with buckets of flowers.”
“That’s exciting!” I say with a little too much gusto and mentally note I need to turn my enthusiasm down a notch.
“You would think.” He whips his head around to scan the beach behind us. “I wish they would have had a run through with the kids. They are not exactly stellar with following instructions. I can already see one of them tossing themselves on the ground throwing a fit and the other one stealing both buckets of flowers and taking off down the beach like a maniac.”
I pat his arm. “I’m sure they’ll be alright.”
Drew’s eyes meet mine and a sense of anxiety and irritation seep in my direction. “Do you and Theo plan on having kids?” He asks, but he is not looking at me anymore. He is more focused on drinking out of his water bottle.
The question shouldn’t catch me off guard at this point, since the ladies have been talking of only mushy gushy things since I woke up this morning, but I’m not prepared for Drew to ask me about future children.
“Umm, we haven’t talked about kids.”
“If he’s anything like Caleb, he’ll want an army of them.” Drew remarks flippantly.
My throat is instantly dry, my hand rubs up and down my neck as if that will help. “An army?” I wheeze, but Drew continues talking as if I am not sitting next to him.
