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The harsh, screeching sound of a digital alarm echoed through the room and broke up the moment. Everyone stared at the tablet in Paige’s hand. Everyone, that was, except Paige, who was still trying to figure out what Brody was doing here. And why was he withher? And, for that matter, who was she?
Brody pointed to the tablet. “You, uh, want to get that?”
Paige stared at it for another second, trying to comprehend the sound. Since Brody had walked through those doors, she was having a hard time comprehending anything. 0:00 flashed on her screen.
“The bride!” She bobbled the tablet and fumbled with the off button, trying to get the noise to stop. The heat from her cheeks worked its way down her neck. “I gotta go.”
She looked up at the newcomers. An expression of cool acceptance crossed Brody’s face. Her already sagging spirit plummeted.
Aiden’s hand pressed against the small of her back in a gesture she assumed was supposed to calm her frazzled nerves. “We’ll catch you after the ceremony.” He winked. Then he looked to Brody and Sasha and held his hand out to the side door. “Shall we?”
The trio crossed the room and exited to the garden. Paige stood frozen in her spot, watching through the windows as Brody and his date claimed the last two empty chairs. Brody undid his jacket and ran his hand through his perfect hair before he settled it on Sasha’s knee. Her own knee tingled, remembering exactly how his touch felt.
The string quartet finished their song and silence filled the air. It was the signal for the officiant to lead out the groom. She glanced at her watch, shook her head to try to clear her thoughts, then dashed across the room as fast as her ballet flats could carry her to the bridal suite.
One minute and thirty-eight seconds behind schedule.
So much for pulling off the perfect wedding. Paige plopped down in the empty chair next to her best friend, Ciera Pierce, and let out the long, defeated sigh that had been building up insider her all evening. “I need cake.”
Normally she loved wedding receptions, which made her job fun even on the hard days. Being among joyful guests celebrating love was like food for her soul. But right now, a trip to the dentist for a root canal sounded more appealing than being stuck in this room. Too bad she was contractually obligated to be here until the bitter end.
Ciera pushed the plate of half-eaten wedding cake in front of her. “Great job today. The wedding was lovely.” She adjusted the strap of her ice-blue dress as she stared dreamily around the room, as if taking in all the decorations.
Paige closed her eyes for a moment and massaged her temples to try to rid herself of the stress headache she’d had since the ceremony. Or, if she was being more accurate, it came on around the same time a certain someone decided to reappear in her life. Blinking her eyes open, she pulled the cake plate closer to her, hoping a sweet treat would help push Brody Paxton out of her mind so she could concentrate on finishing this wedding.
“If you don’t count the ceremony starting four minutes late, cueing the wrong song for the first dance or all of the vegetarian meals being cold, then I guess it was okay.” She cut off a huge bite of cake and speared it with her fork, perhaps more aggressively than she should have.
Ciera shrugged, causing her tight blonde curls to bounce around her head. “No one noticed those things.”
Paige disagreed. She felt sure the seventeen guests trying to force down cold eggplant parmesan noticed, but she didn’t argue.
“What everyone did notice were the Longhorn-orange bridesmaids’ dresses,” Ciera added. She looked out to the dance floor where the bride was dancing among a sea of orange chiffon. “I’ve never been so thankful to be left out of a wedding party in my whole life.”
The thought of Ciera wearing the school colors of her alma mater’s number one rival almost elicited a giggle. “They are an unfortunate color. The first time your cousin showed me a picture of them I thought she was joking.”
“And you didn’t stop her?”
“She said the color signified a time and place that were important to her and her now husband. It’s kind of sweet, really.” Paige paused and studied the bobbing orange mob. Even with the sweet sentiment behind it, she had to admit the amount of burnt orange when all eight ladies were standing together was a bit much. “I tried to pick flowers that would tone down the color in pictures.” Of course, it didn’t help when they were on the dance floor without their bouquets.
“Unless you gave them a bush to hide behind, there aren’t enough flowers to mute that distraction down.”
This time Paige did giggle, just a little, and she shoveled the giant bite of cake into her mouth before the next catastrophe pulled her away and she missed her chance to eat it.
But as soon as the bite hit her tongue she wished she’d been called away first. Whatever cardboard excuse for white cake had been hiding underneath the chalky fondant icing did not deserve to call itself a treat. She considered spitting it out, but since she didn’t have a napkin handy, she forced herself to swallow it in one giant gulp.
“Ugh. This is awful.”
Ciera glanced at the offending plate. “Oh right. People noticed that, too.” She motioned to all the plates with half-eaten cake on their table then pushed her water glass in front of Paige.
It would take a whole pitcher of water to get rid of the taste in her mouth, but Paige settled for a sip from Ciera’s glass. She scanned the neighboring tables for more plates of unfinished cake. As far as she could see, not one person had managed to choke down their whole slice anywhere at this reception. Great. Another thing to add to the list of things that went wrong.
Paige pushed the plate away from her and made a mental note to tell the waitstaff to clear them as soon as possible. Maybe if it was out of sight, the guests would forget how bad it was. One could hope, anyway. “I warned her about the cake. I even told her about the bakery everyone raves about, but she insisted on the one from the magazine layout from the expensive place in the city.”
As soon as she said it, the music switched to a slow song. The crowd on the dance floor cleared and couples filled the space. Like a moth attracted to light, Paige’s gaze went straight to Brody. He stepped onto the dance floor from the far side, looking dapper as always in his dark suit, holding the new girl’s hand. After he spun her once, he pulled Sasha into himself and they glided in perfect rhythm around the floor. Paige let out a long, discouraged sigh. “Everyone wants the pretty cake and doesn’t seem to care what it’s got going on inside.”
Ciera shot her a concerned look. “You okay, sweetie?”
“Brody’s back in town,” she mumbled without taking her eyes off the couple. She and Brody had looked like that when they were together, hadn’t they? All happy and in sync?
