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The most egregious offence was failing to RSVP, obviously. Interrupting Anthony’s speech was a close second.
‘How upset are you, honey?’ Jen asked. ‘You can be real with us.’
Samantha looked from her newest to her oldest friend and laughed. She felt really stupid. How about that? Roman had a life he’d never hinted at. It included a flat with killer views and a fiancée who knitted for fun. She thought about his last text, the one she hadn’t answered and her laughter died in her throat.
‘None of this matters,’ Jasmine said. ‘Roman left his old life behind to start over here. He met Samantha and vibed with her. The past is past. Over. Done.’
‘Except the past is very present at my wedding reception,’ Naomi said.
If Samantha were keeping score, she’d have to award Naomi with a point. Tara wasn’t some shadowy figure in Roman’s past. She was sitting at her seat and seducing her date. And she’d had no choice but to sit from her perch of honour and watch. It was a miracle she wasn’t sick.
With the door left unattended, there was no one to stop Hugo and Adrian storming in. Hugo assessed the scene and took charge. ‘Hate to break this up, but they’re waiting on the bride.’
‘Right.’ Naomi smoothed the skirt of the dress. ‘Do I look OK?’
Adrian gave his professional assessment. ‘A little shiny.’
‘Hmm … We want a glow, not a shine.’
Jen came to her rescue with a face mist and absorbent tissues. Samantha couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. It was her fault the bride was drenched in sweat. She should be indoors, in a temperature-controlled environment, chatting up her guests, working the room, and collecting envelopes stuffed with cash. This wasn’t her big special day. The spotlight shouldn’t be on her.
Within minutes Naomi was ready to return to her guests with a fresh and dewy complexion. She slid a worried look Samantha’s way. ‘Will you be all right, Sammy?’
‘She’ll be fine,’ Hugo answered. ‘Adrian and I will take over. Get out of here.’
Left behind with her new caretakers, Samantha felt ridiculous. ‘I should go with them. I’ll miss the first dance.’
‘Just relax,’ Adrian said. ‘If you’ve seen one princess bride twirl around a ballroom, you’ve seen them all.’
She’d seen her fair share of twirling princesses, almost exclusively on TV.
‘Besides,’ Hugo said, ‘don’t you want to know what Roman and the mysterious Tara were up to at our table?’
‘No, not really.’
‘They weren’t up to anything,’ Adrian said. ‘Don’t give the girl a heart attack.’
Hugo sighed. ‘You’re naïve. It was so charged, Anthony asked them to clear the room in case they started a fire.’
‘But not in a good way,’ Adrian rushed to add.
The image of Roman and Tara out there somewhere, sipping from an open bottle, hashing out their problems and reaching a compromise, made her nauseous.
‘This is what we know,’ Adrian said. ‘Tara is sorry for her behaviour – whatever that behaviour was, I couldn’t say for sure. She flew down here on a whim. She’s staying at the Blue Moon Beach Resort.’
That last bit of information was superfluous.
‘Roman handled it like a boss,’ Hugo said. ‘He asked her point blank what she hoped to get out of this stunt. Want to know what she said?’
Samantha glared at him. Was he really going to make her ask?
Adrian implored Hugo to adopt a more straightforward approach. ‘Darling, please, no more guessing games. You’ll wear her out.’
‘Come on! You’re taking the fun out of this.’
‘Fun?’ Samantha cried. In what world was this fun?
‘Point taken,’ Hugo said. ‘The bottom line is this: she wants him back. Dropping in like this was a grand gesture to melt his heart.’
