Deep in my heart though, I knew that this could not be true in any way. My brain could argue with logic, but my heart knew the truth. Nobody knew about her, as I’d kept my pain a secret, but Laura was the one that got away. No, the one that I shoved away. Even if it was for her own sake.
My phone rang again. For fuck’s sake. I considered throwing it into the lake so that nobody could ever contact me or bother me again, especially right now.
Oh, fuck! It was Dad. “Hey, Dad!”
“Cade.” Dad sounded like he was in the middle of doing something important and I had bothered him, even though he was the one who’d called. “I want to set up a meeting with a potential campaign adviser. He’s an up-in-comer on the Beltway.”
“I’m stuck in Michigan planning the wedding,” I reminded him. I could hear the disappointed silence on the other end of the line, so I quickly added, “Set something up for when I come back to D.C.”
“Sounds good.” Then suddenly, his tone softened, “I remember my wedding…your mother looked radiant. I know it’s hectic, so let your mother do most of the work and we can get you back here to focus on your campaign work. Trust me when I say that the planning might be a pain in the neck, but it’ll all be worth it when you see your bride walking down the aisle.”
He hung up before I could reply. He’d always do that. When he was done talking, the conversation would be considered as over. No sense in waiting around exchanging pleasantries.
But my dad was wrong. It wouldn’t be “worth it” for me in the end. I couldn’t ignore the truth that I simply wasn’t in love with my bride. Seeing her walk down the aisle would not bring out any feelings inside me. Because those feelings were never there.
I knew better than to tell my dad all this, of course. And that I didn’t want to do the campaign. Senator Kirkpatrick wasn’t a man you said no to, which had made him successful but, in my opinion, it had made him a lousy father.
Keeping my phone back in my pocket, I looked back out over the lake. I didn’t say “goodbye” out loud, but felt it in my heart. I sighed deeply before walking back to my car and driving into town to meet the event planner.
Ten minutes later, I pulled up in front of a small office building in the downtown area. Entering the ground floor reception area, I rechecked the directory on the wall and there it was, on the second floor—High Point Events. I took a deep breath. Let’s hope that this wedding planner knows what they are doing, so that I can hand it off to them and wash my hands of the entire fucking deal!
Stepping off the elevator and walking in through the office door, I saw that the space was immaculately decorated and arranged, with ivory-colored couches and coffee tables nestled between numerous floral arrangements and photographs of various brides and grooms on their wedding day adorning the walls. There were various magazines and binders on a bookshelf in a corner of the room, labeled WEDDING, BIRTHDAYS, ENGAGEMENTS and HOLIDAYS. The whole room made me realize—again—that this wedding was really happening, and it wasn’t just a bad dream. I was stuck in a deal that I’d had no part in making.
Thankfully, there was no one around to see my nervousness. “Hello?” I called out.
“Be with you in a moment!” a feminine voice responded from one of the rooms behind the reception desk. I tried to peer behind me but all I could see were filing cabinets and decorations hanging from the door frame, no humans. That must be the room where the actual work happened, cluttered with decorations and files, while the reception was kept meticulously clean for clients and visitors.
“Not a problem,” I replied, lying. I wanted to get this dreaded meeting done with as soon as possible, so that Mom could not add anything further and the event planner locked in everything today itself.
I walked over to the bookshelf and picked up a magazine with a smiling bride on the cover. Of course! It was full of tips and tricks for picking the perfect wedding destination. Fun. I couldn’t help thinking what a big sham the wedding industry was, with planners and vendors blowing up prices for everything from dresses to cakes, for one damn day. I knew t
hat this annoyance was because of my situation, but I try as I might, I just couldn’t get into a good mood.
The soft click-clack of heels on the floor alerted me and I turned around to look at the planner. I took a deep breath and put on a smile to seem friendly. After all, this poor woman had nothing to do with my miserable life, but hopefully she’ll understand what a pain wedding planning is and will sympathize with me.
The magazine slid out of my hands and landed on the floor with a loud whack. My jaw dropped and felt my eyes popping out of their sockets, just like in the cartoons.
The event planner stood in front of me, her hand outstretched, but the expression on her face also turning from happiness to that of shock. It was the face from my memories, the woman I’d dreamt about for years. The woman I’d loved and lost, the girl who still haunted me. I stared at her, standing in front of me in a body-hugging dress, her curves accentuated like a supermodel’s, the full breasts leaving a lot to be desired in my mind. Her thick, dark auburn hair was carefully pulled back away from her lightly freckled face, the light brown eyes twinkling in surprise and I could feel a flashback of a decade full of memories running through her mind.
Laura Loomis.
2
Laura
When he turned around, my whole body went numb. For nearly ten years I had done my best to put Cade Kirkpatrick out of my mind. And here he was now, standing in my office.
Memories from ten years ago flashed in my mind. He was the boy I’d fallen in love with, many summers ago, when we’d graduated from high school and spent the most magical time together at his lake house. That time with him had been perfection, there was nothing that could ever match up to it. As a naïve teenager, I’d fallen for him hard and fast, Cade being the first and only person I’d made love to. And oh, how wonderful it was! Who could imagine that a girl like me, growing up in a trailer park to a single mother, could have a fairy-tale romance with rich, hot, muscular Cade Kirkpatrick, the son of a famous actress and a senator!
That summer, I’d been so happy. Even to this day, when things got a bit overwhelming, I would cry in the shower, thinking about what I’d lost and what could have been had Cade been around in my life. But I didn’t tell anyone about these thoughts because I didn’t want anyone’s pity. I could imagine their voices—Oh honey, you really thought you’d get to be with him?
Yes. Yes, I had. I had been seventeen when we’d met, young and stupid, though my stupidity had had some severe consequences. Consequences I was happy about though, so that no one could judge me on my past.
Long ago, I had resigned to the fact that Cade was in D.C. with his holier-than-thou snobbish father and his airheaded, status-obsessed mother. He would never come back to the Park. What reason did he have to come back? The glitz, glamour and attention that his family craved was in places such as New York City, Los Angeles and D.C. The Park could not offer them any of these things.
And yet here he was, standing in my office, looking as handsome as the day I’d last seen him. I recognized him instantly, of course. Ten years had passed but he still looked as youthful as he did in high school. He was tall and had filled out more now, looking more muscular. I guess he was still working out, the fitting slacks and shirt being proof, but he’d left the collar unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up, so that he seemed casual and approachable.
My eyes traced the veins on his exposed forearms, regaling at the fact that I still knew every inch of him. From his curling blond hair to his muscular calves to the emerald green eyes into which I had stared so many times that I could still easily find them in a crowd.