Chapter 28

Beth settles into a seat next to Adrian’s parents, while Adrian takes his place next to his brother. The church fills with smiling guests and the quartet of violins and harps starts playing soft music. Beth joins as the crowd stands, turning toward the back doors.

The bride is wearing an elegant mermaid cut with a small train, decorated with tiny clear crystals sewn into the bridal-white material and she looks stunning as she walks down the aisle.

The minister greets the attendants and proceeds to say nice, beautiful things about the happy couple. A few minutes later the couple say their vows and the minister pronounces them husband and wife.

The wedding reception is small but beautiful. From writing the piece on Adrian for 'Buzz', she learned that his parents run a family business that is just as successful as Triad Technologies. So she had imagined that the wedding would be big and elaborate, filled with celebrities and socialites and food she’s never heard of. But it’s the opposite. It’s a small wedding, with a few guests of close friends and family and a local band.

****

The evening goes by quickly as they alternate talking to Adrian’s friends, hanging out with the bride and groom, and dancing together.

Out on the dance floor, Adrian pulls her close and rests his cheek against her forehead. He uses the opportunity to whisper in her ear. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”

“You have. But that’s okay. I don’t mind hearing it again.”

They continue dancing in comfortable silence. One song ends and a new one begins. Beth is grateful it’s another slow song so she has a reason to stay tangled in Adrian’s arms. She shuts her eyes and enjoys the moment.

By the time they’re sitting around a table to a delicious meal, Beth is feeling like part of the family. The way Adrian has his arm around the back of her chair and keeps toying with the ends of her hair doesn’t hurt either.

She watches the friendly banter between the siblings, feeling like she’s in the middle of a tennis match, moving her head back and forth, back and forth, just to keep up with their constant chatter. She joins in the laughter when one has a particular good burn on another. The conversation is easy and unencumbered and when she sends a casual look toward Adrian midway through the meal, his smile makes her chest tighten. She’s starting to get the warm, glowing feeling that Alya might be right. Maybe he does like her in a romantic sort of way.

When they have a minute alone, Beth trails her hand across his shoulders and down his back, drawing his gaze to her. She sees longing blazing in his dark eyes. He grabs her thigh and leans in, but the anticipated kiss never comes. Their private moment is interrupted by the sound of Adrian’s best friend clearing his throat.

“I hate to interrupt. You two look like you’re having a good time but it’s time for the best man’s speech,” Colin says.

Beth tucks her hands into her lap, though Adrian’s hand remains secure on her leg under the table. He returns Colin’s knowing smile with a tight smile of his own.

He takes a deep breath and stands. “I’ll be back shortly,” he says before giving Beth a quick kiss on her cheek.

She sips her champagne and watches him from her quiet corner of the room as he climbs on the stage. His speech is both funny and emotional and the wedding guests are positively eating out of his hand. Of course, with the way he looks in a tux, he could stand up there and not say a word and everyone would still be half in love with him.

"It’s not every day you get to bear witness to one of life’s great love stories,” Adrian says as he lifts a glass. “I consider myself blessed because I know these two as they are together. They bring out the best in each other. The best in all of us. To Emma and Vincent.”

Beth lifts her glass along with the rest of the room. When Adrian gets off the stage, he’s swallowed in a crowd of guests consisting mainly of women.

“Having fun?”

Beth turns and finds one of Adrian’s cousins sitting beside her. She quickly flips through her mental Rolodex trying to remember all the names she’s learnt this night. Mandy? Macy? No, Mollie.

She smiles. “I am. This is such a beautiful wedding. And your family has been so warm and welcoming.”

“Well, we’re all glad to see Adrian in a relationship. I haven’t seen him this happy since Mia.”

Beth’s throat feels tight. That name again. If it keeps popping up, it must be significant. And if it is, how has Adrian never mentioned it?

“It’s kind of a pity that never worked out,” Mollie continues, unaware of her torment. “Why, what’s wrong with me? I shouldn’t be saying that. I’m glad Adrian’s with you.” When she stops talking to look at Beth, she frowns, concern etched in her brow. “Are you okay? You seem really pale.” Mollie clasps her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. “Oh my God, did you not know he was once engaged?”

Beth feels like she’s been kicked in the stomach. Engaged?

“No, no, I knew.” She hadn't known, of course, but she can’t admit that now. Not when Mollie still looks frightened that she’s said something she shouldn’t have. “He just wasn’t exactly liberal with the details,” Beth says, trying to ease her conscience.

What she says works. Mollie’s face relaxes. “Classic Adrian.”

“What happened? With the fiancée?” she asks despite her better judgement. She shouldn’t be fishing for information about Adrian from his relatives behind his back.

The other woman gives a short nod. “It was a rough one.”

Rough for Adrian or his fiancée? For some reason, Beth has a hard time picturing Adrian being hurt by a woman. He seems the type to let the messy emotional stuff roll right off of him.

Mollie hesitates and looks away guiltily. “It’s not really my story to tell. Honestly, no one really knows what happened. One minute, they were happily engaged, then they disappeared for a couple of months after that tragic incident. Later we’d heard that the engagement had been called off. That was the last we heard of Mia.”

There was another kick in the stomach. Much harder this time. What tragic incident?

“Thank you for telling me,” Beth says, not really sure if she means it. Navigating this weird thing happening with her boss is hard enough without knowing about the ghosts from his past.

“Well,” Mollie draws in a deep breath and squints as he studies someone from afar. “It was lovely meeting you. I hope I’ll be seeing more of you.”

Beth forces herself to smile. “Bye, Mollie.”

She stares at Mollie’s receding back, feeling completely rattled and struggling to catch her breath. She can’t help it— she is mad. Mad that he hadn’t trusted her enough to mention a rather significant detail about his past. He’d been engaged for crying out loud. That sounds like something worth mentioning.

But it isn’t just anger rippling through her. It’s fear.

She stands up. She’d been having a lovely day but now she’s ready to leave. She scans the room in search of Adrian.

Her footsteps falter and her breath hitches when she catches a glimpse of him uncomfortably wedged between three women. There’s a girl who can’t be a day over twenty-three wearing tiny body-hugging dress, a bona fide cougar in a dress revealing way too much cleavage, and a woman about Beth’s age who looks, well… nice.

She orders her feet to keep walking, her dumb heart going into overdrive when he sees her out of the corner of his eye and turns his full-blown smile on her.

“Hey, babe.”

Beth blinks. Babe? He’s never called her that. She realizes then that the gesture is for show, staged for his audience of three. He moves toward her and before she can register his intent, he’s slipped a hand around her back, brushing his lips against hers. The kiss is meant to be casual, just to scare off the women, but there’s nothing casual about the electricity between them.

She forces herself to snap out of it. She looks at the other women as though just now spotting them. “Oh! Hi there.”

The cougar is long gone, experienced enough on the prowl to know a lost cause, but Ms. Tight-Dress and the blonde linger as though hoping their conversation with Adrian had been so stimulating that he might ditch his girlfriend for one of them.

“Beth, this is Mirabelle and Lora.”

“Hello!” Beth says in the perfectly pleasant voice of a woman who is secure in her relationship, confident that her man wouldn’t step out on her. “I’m Beth.”

The younger girl gives the faces of smiles before fixing Adrian with one last sultry gaze and then disappearing. The last woman, the blonde with the sweet face, smiles at Beth, but her gaze immediately goes back to Adrian with hopeful longing. “Nice to meet you, Adrian. Thanks so much for the advice.”

“Glad I could help.”

The woman manages a final smile before leaving. Beth turns to Adrian with a look asking what just happened, but he just shrugs.

“Ready to get out of here?” he asks.

Even though her insides are freaking out, she keeps her face stoic. And even though she’s itching to ask him one of the millions of questions floating around her head, all she can muster is a weak, “Yeah.”

They go to find everyone to tell them that they are leaving.

Beth smiles at Vincent and Alya. “It was really nice getting to meet you. And congratulations once again,” she says to Vincent.

“Thank you,” Vincent says.

“Let’s hang out one day soon. Maybe a trip to the mall,” Alya says.

Adrian rolls his eyes.

“I’d love that.”

“Alright. Bye. You two go have a nice rest of your evening,” Alya says, shooing them away.

In the parking lot, Adrian takes her hand, which gives her that warm feeling in her belly again. But this time, it’s not all positive. The casual intimacy of before is slowly slipping away.

For the last few days, she’d been feeling like everything with Adrian was good, feeling the first sense of security that maybe he wouldn’t rip her heart out.

Now she isn’t so sure anymore. She feels strangely like crying and she isn’t even sure why.

Or she isn’t willing to admit why.