“Jarred!”
Turning around, he saw Susan hurrying toward him, dark sunglasses on her face. She was dressed impeccably, as if the thought of having one single hair out of place disgusted her. Jarred himself much preferred Kinsley’s bedhead than to his ex, but he stood on the sidewalk anyway, his hands in his pockets. He could be civil. After all, they had both found love in different places. “Susan.”
“Oh Jarred,” she said, pushing the sunglasses back to reveal red-rimmed eyes. “I was having tea at Claridge’s when I saw you. I don’t know what to do. ”
Surprised by her outburst, he watched as her eyes filled up with tears. He had never seen her so distraught before. “What’s wrong?” he asked politely, wishing that he hadn’t stopped now.
She sniffed, pulling out a handkerchief to dab at her eyes. “It’s Baron. He’s cheating on me. I know he is.”
Feeling awkward, Jarred wanted to tell her that she had gotten herself into this mess. He couldn’t help that her husband was cheating. Hell, the entire social scene knew that Baron was never the type to be faithful and marriage wasn’t going to change that. But that wasn’t his problem, not anymore. “Listen,” he said, wanting to give her some kind of advice at least. “Don’t stay if you think this isn’t going to work. Life’s too fucking short to settle for anything less than what you deserve.”
Her eyes widened. “Who are you and what have you done with Jarred Maloney?”
“I’m just a different person now,” he shrugged. He wasn’t about to share with her what was making him different now, even if it was apparent. “Just think about what I said.”
Susan closed her mouth, a slight smile appearing on her lips. “And to think, I could be that lucky girl.”
“You were that lucky girl,” he reminded her gently. “Goodbye Susan.”
Before he realized what was happening, Susan was pressing her lips to his, the overpowering smell of her perfume making his stomach turn. He pushed her away, wiping at his mouth as he walked away angrily. She had her chance and now his future was with Kinsley. It couldn’t come soon enough.
20
Kinsley fluffed out the skirt of the dress and then stood back, tears coming to her eyes as she looked at Rachel all decked out for the first time. “You look beautiful,” she breathed as her cousin looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Rachel turned around and Kinsley saw that there were tears in her eyes as well, smoothing down the tulle skirt. “I just, I can’t believe that this day is finally here. I feel like it has been a long time coming but now that it’s here, I just don’t know what to do.”
Kinsley smiled, wiping at the tears hastily so that they wouldn’t ruin her carefully applied makeup. “You’re going to walk down that aisle and say your vows. That’s what you are going to do.”
Rachel gave her a teary smile and turned back to the mirror. “Yes, that’s what I am going to do.”
Kinsley couldn’t help but feel happiness for Rachel and Jamison, knowing that what Rachel had said was true. They had waited a good while to make this official, but today they would become husband and wife. The feeling had to be amazing in itself. For a split second, she tried to picture herself in Rachel’s shoes, walking down the aisle to find Jarred at the end of it, waiting for them to become one in the eyes of their friends and family, her heart racing at the fact that it could happen and not in some kind of false way in order to get Jarred’s trust fund and her flat. It was no longer about either of those things, or at least she liked to hope that it wasn’t. For her, it was about the love she felt for him, the way he made her happy. Life seemed so much brighter whenever he was around.
“I’ve got to get my mind off of this wedding or I am going to hurl,” Rachel announced, breaking Kinsley out of her thoughts. “Hand me my cell. I want to check my social media.”
Kinsley reached over and grabbed her cousin’s cell phone on the bench, handing it to her. “What? Are you going to go into withdrawal in Jamaica?” Jamaica was their honeymoon destination and Jamison had already told Rachel that the cell phones would not go with them.
“Shut up,” Rachel said with a grin as she thumbed through her phone, her smile dying as she stared at her phone.
“What? Did someone die?” Kinsley asked. “Don’t cry for god’s sake. You will ruin your makeup.”
Rachel looked up and Kinsley felt the first stirrings of dread in her stomach as she saw the look on her cousin’s face. “Damn Kinsley, I’m so sorry,” she said softly, handing over the phone. Kinsley took it and looked at the picture, her heart dropping into her stomach. The image looked as if it was taken across the street, the zoom distorting the characters slightly but there was no doubt on who it was. Jarred was standing on the sidewalk, his arms at his side as Susan was pressed up against him, her lips on his. The caption said something about them getting back together but to Kinsley it didn’t matter. All she saw was that kiss. Jarred was kissing Susan.
“Aw honey,” Rachel said, her skirts rustling together as she walked over and hugged her. “I’m so sorry. This sucks.”
Kinsley felt the tears start to form in her eyes and handed the phone back to Rachel, hugging her arms around her waist to combat the overwhelming pain that was forming in her chest. Jarred had cheated, on her. After everything they had done, how she had stood up for him to her boss. The sex, oh god he’d cheated on her! She couldn’t take this. With a sob, she turned away, looking out of the window. Why now?
“Kinsley,” Rachel said, laying a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “I, I really don’t know what to say. I know you loved him.”
“I love him,” Kinsley whispered. That wasn’t going to disappear because of one picture or after a week or a month or even a year. She had fallen head over heels in love with a man that she thought she could trust, a man that she thought had really opened up to her. But she had been wrong and the crushing pain was the result.
A knock sounded on the door and Kinsley swiped at her tears before turning to face Rachel with a wobbly smile. “Come on, let’s get you married.”
Rachel looked at her, concern in her eyes. “Kinsley, I don’t think—”
“No,” Kinsley interrupted. “I’m not going to let this destroy this day.” She would fall apart later. This day was about Rachel and Jamison. Her life could wait.
The ceremony went off without a hitch. Kinsley pasted a smile on her face as she watched Rachel tie the knot, inside falling apart bit by bit. Her life was in shambles now, her heart broken. She couldn’t even stand to be in his presence but was going to have to be until she could tell him to bugger off and start rebuilding her life, without him.
After a dozen pictures, she walked into the reception hall with her escort, doing the little choreographed dance that the entire wedding party had worked on before falling into the crowd, dropping her posy on the wedding cake table as planned. An arm snaked around her waist, pulling her against a familiar body. Instead of the butterflies she used to have, now Kinsley only felt sick. “Hey beautiful,” Jarred said against her ear, his hand caressing her stomach lightly. “What did I do to find you in a place like this?”