Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 288(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 288(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
“You screwed one of my bridesmaids,” I say, my voice breaking, as I’m wondering what he thought the outcome of this would be.
“Not just one,” a female voice says from nearby.
I whip my head back down my row of bridesmaids to see that it was my friend Kelsey who just spoke. She’s giving me a contrite look. Lately, I’ve been wondering about that bitch.
“That was two years ago,” Eric counters angrily. “And it was only one time.” Ugh, like that’s ok? I think I may puke.
My brother Drew is out of his seat swinging at Eric before I even know what’s going on. Eric hits the floor with a much louder thud than my bouquet made.
“No!” Mandy cries, lunging at my brother.
As I watch the chaos around me, I have a complete out-of-body experience when my dad comes to my side. He puts an arm around my shoulders and leads me back down the aisle, shielding me with his body. I turn in to the familiar warmth of him, not wanting anyone to see me as I quietly fall apart inside.
It’s an absolute nightmare. My wedding has turned into a Springer episode in about thirty seconds flat.
It’s hard to hurry down the aisle in the fancy Jimmy Choos I splurged on for today, but I try. And every time I slip and fall to the side, my dad is there to steady me.
When we make it to the stone-floored lobby of the church, my dad rushes me into the room we were waiting in just five minutes ago.
“What the hell is happening?” I cry, sitting down on a wooden chair that’s one of the few pieces of furniture in the small room. “I can’t even…I don’t know…”
The door to the room opens and Julie, another of my five bridesmaids, looks into the room.
“God, Reese, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”
I give her a helpless look, tears welling in my eyes.
“Please tell me you didn’t sleep with him, too,” I say shakily.
“Oh, hell no. I would never!”
“I know, I just…I don’t know what to believe or who to trust right now.”
“Julie,” my dad says, “go ask the ushers to close the doors to the sanctuary for the next ten minutes. No one leaves this church until I’ve gotten Reese out of here.”
“Okay.”
She pulls the door closed and my dad looks down at me.
“Are you okay to go?”
I nod and stand up, wiping the tears from beneath my eyes. “I want to get as far away from here as possible.”
When my dad opens the door, Eric is standing there giving me a pathetic look. One of his eyes is purple and swollen, and his nose is bleeding. I’ll have to thank my brother for that later.
“Reese, will you please just listen?” Eric pleads. OMG, is he fucking kidding me?
Thankfully my dad cuts him down with just a look. “You’d better get the fuck away from her, or I’ll give you another black eye to match the first one.”
My idiot ex continues, like either of us cares at this point. “I know it sounds bad…”
My dad shoves Eric aside and leads me across the lobby of the church. I don’t know where I’d be right now without him. Probably still standing at the altar, sobbing. There’s anger, sure, but it’s still buried under the complete shock I’m feeling.
I was betrayed by not only my fiancé, but also my best friends. Mandy and I were college roommates. She’s the one who encouraged me to go to culinary school and pursue my dream job. When my mom was dying of cancer five years ago, Mandy was the one who sat with me while I cried, sometimes for hours at a time. She held my hand throughout my mom’s funeral.
Her betrayal hurts even more than Eric’s, in some ways.
“Reese, just hear me out,” Eric says from behind us. “I never meant—”
The dark, carved wood doors to the sanctuary are thrown open, and my brother Drew storms out, his murderous gaze fixed on Eric.
“Shit, no!” Eric cries, cowering.
That’s the last thing I see before my dad walks me out the church entrance and down the stairs, and then we make a break for his SUV. He unlocks it as we run, keys in hand, and when we get there he opens the passenger door, helps me in and shoves the train of my wedding gown onto my lap.
A dirt trail flies behind his Yukon as we leave the church, and I don’t let out the breath I’m holding until we make it to the highway.
“Thanks, Dad,” I say softly.
“How are you?” He looks over at me and I shrug.
“I’m still processing, I think.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised about Eric, but Mandy…” He shakes his head. “I thought a lot more of her than that.”