As quickly as she could she opened the door and slid behind the wheel.
“Be careful,” he said, shutting the door, creating a barrier between them.
Madeline backed out of the driveway and headed toward the airport, never looking back. Tears steamed from her eyes and her sobs shook her whole body. She’d given him away, again. This time it was forever.
Alone, Kathy sat staring at herself in that dammed mirror in Regan’s spare bedroom on her wedding day.
The house was already too full of people, and her dress, so lovely and elegant, constricted her. The rental company had arrived at nine and set up the chairs for the ceremony and the tent and tables for the reception. The caterers arrived at ten, and the florist was finishing the arrangements on the altar and on the tables.
Heidi, Kathy’s hair stylist, had driven out for the wedding. She had just finished Kathy’s niece’s hair and left the room to fix herself up for the wedding.
Her hair was perfect, her veil the one she’d always wanted, and the dress… oh the dress. She sighed. She couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful. Everything about the day was going to be picture perfect.
The tiny bubble that had started as nerves and stirred into fear began to rise in her chest and settled in her throat as if to strangle her. Everything was perfect, and yet she wasn’t happy.
The image of Madeline and Carlos in the driveway the morning earlier had etched its way into her head and had kept her awake all night. She’d watched him kiss his ex-wife. Nothing had ever hurt so badly. It was innocent enough, she tried to convince herself. They’d been married and they remained close friends. She’d had this information going into the relationship, and nothing had changed.
Madeline was a decent person. She’d fought a battle that Kathy hoped she herself never would have to face, and she’d won. A vacation in Mexico was well deserved. And Kathy thought the timing was wonderful.
Oh, she’d have welcomed her at the wedding, and Madeline wouldn’t have been obtrusive. She’d have been decent enough to sit in the back, blend with the crowd, and exit almost unseen. Never would she have ruined Carlos’s wedding or Kathy’s perfect day. Genuinely, she was just that nice.
It should have been a comfort that Madeline had left the country, but it wasn’t.
She’d seen Carlos’s face when Madeline had driven away.
He was crushed.
He was still in love with his ex-wife.
That strangling fear pushed tears to the surface, and she swallowed them back. He was here, wasn’t he? He’d shown up at his sister’s house and changed into the tuxedo they had rented. The photographer was with him taking pictures of him and his children, his sisters, and his parents. Regan had given her the update just moments before she’d gone to feed her son, put on her dress, and meet her brother for those very pictures.
Kathy knew she was foolish to be upset. But was it right to be dressed in the dress she’d picked or to actually walk down the aisle? Would he love her like he’d loved Madeline? Was she fooling herself into thinking that her stress was about the wedding?
A tap at the door kept her from processing the question.
Regan opened the door, and she and Arianna walked in dressed in their royal-blue dresses. Regan held a flute of champagne, and Arianna one in each hand.
“We thought you could use this.” Arianna handed Kathy a glass.
“Thank you.”
“To the future Mrs. Keller.” She lifted her glass, and her sister did the same.
Kathy stared blankly at them both and then raised her glass, clinking it against theirs. In a mere hour she would be Mrs. Carlos Keller.
She sipped the champagne, but it was bitter on her tongue and burned her stomach as it landed there like a weight.
Madeline stood before the mirror in her hotel room. The bathing suit Arianna had lent her fit perfectly, and she couldn’t take her eyes off her chest. The swells of her breasts were beautiful, and she wanted to weep. She’d been afraid to believe she’d see them again.
Her hair was growing back in, but it stood straight up, only about an inch tall. The wigs she’d brought would be a must. Then again, maybe she’d opt for a colorful scarf under a large-brimmed hat.
A giddy bubble erupted in her stomach. She was about to walk out of her hotel room and sun herself on the warm beach. She’d never done that. The worries and cares that she’d carried on her shoulders for the past year already began to drip away.
Madeline wrapped her head in a bright orange scarf and situated the large, floppy hat on her head. Just for fun, she added a dangling pair of earrings and picked up her oversized sunglasses. She was a sight, she thought. And if she just picked up that book on the bed, her towel, and ordered herself a big, fruity cocktail, perhaps she’d forget that at that very moment, the man she loved was marrying someone else.
Carlos paced the floor in Zach’s office. The bow tie around his neck was choking him.
Zach crossed the room, stopping in front of the liquor cabinet in the corner. He took down three glasses and poured each with two fingers of brandy. He handed one to Curtis and another to Carlos. He picked up his own and held it high.
“To you, my brother. May you be forever happy.”
“Ditto,” Curtis added.
They all drank down the brandy, and Carlos let it sizzle in his throat. He’d seen family members from both sides filter through the house. His sisters and Kathy’s sisters had run back and forth in their blue dresses. Her niece was dressed to match the women, and her nephew looked dapper in his mini tuxedo. But his tuxedo was uncomfortable and confining, and the bow tie was strangling him.
He’d been married; that wasn’t making him nervous. He loved Kathy, he was quite certain of it. But what had him on edge was the fact that he couldn’t make himself care about the wedding, which was only moments away. All he could think about was Madeline and wonder if she’d landed in Mexico and if she was okay.
“Dad.” Eduardo’s voice snapped his attention from the empty glass of brandy. “They’re ready for you.”
He looked at his son, so handsome in his tuxedo. It wouldn’t be long before he was the one standing among his family and friends marrying a woman he loved. The thought tugged at Carlos’s heart.
“Where’s your brother?”
“Right here,” Christian said, walking up behind Eduardo. “She looks beautiful, Dad.”