Pulling up a chair to join her, Skye sat down with a weary sigh. “You can’t blame them for trying to get a deal, but we still have to pay the staff and cover the cost of everything.” Her head leaned back. “At least they were decent enough to want to donate the food. We need to make some calls and see who can take it and if there are any restrictions.”
“I’m on it,” Leanna said. “But I need to sit for a few minutes. This whole day has been exhausting.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I’m so happy you were still here. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to handle this alone.” She paused before glancing Skye’s way. “And…why didn’t you leave?”
“Morbid curiosity,” she murmured. And rather than engage in more conversation, she simply closed her eyes and wondered what they should do next. They had to break down the room they’d just set up, load everything up in the truck and take it back to their warehouse-slash-office. It was going to be tedious, and they were still going to have to wash everything even though they didn’t use it, but…health codes prevailed.
She had no doubt that everyone was going to want to talk about what happened and she hoped Josie didn’t want to come and join in to help.
Everyone knew not to let Skye help because she had a reputation for being a bit of a klutz. And because of it, she had never worked in the food service industry–not in high school, not in college, just…never. Even thinking about it was enough to make her shudder.
The food, the mess, the noise, the risk of dropping a tray of food on someone…yeah, totally not her thing.
So when it was time to gather the crew and tell them how the rest of this day was going to go, they would already know she’d be the one directing, not helping.
And Skye would get to that in another few minutes. She just needed a little more time to let the events of the last few minutes really sink in. Beside her, Leanna let out a long breath and stood up.
“I’m going to go and call around about the donations. First, I’m going to feed the staff, and then we’ll talk to them about how we’re going to break down the room. Is that okay with you?”
“Absolutely. Thanks, Lea.” Once her friend walked through the kitchen doors, Skye let out a long breath of her own and glanced around the room that looked so festive and yet would see no celebration today.
That’s when her psychology-major mind kicked in.
What would make someone do what the officiant did? Why would he wait until the ceremony to profess his love like that? If he was close enough to Tracy and Elliott to volunteer to perform the service–if that was even the way it was–why not say something sooner? What has to be going through someone’s mind to think that the actual ceremony was the proper time and place to make a declaration like that?
“I mean, for the love of it, wouldn’t it have been better to go speak to the bride before she walked down the aisle?” she murmured as she reached over onto the table and picked up one of the place cards, absently studying it. With a flick of the wrist, she tossed it aside as anger simmered just below the surface.
What kind of woman can just walk away from the man she is supposed to love and marry? How can a few words from some…some…guy, make her issue a flimsy apology before she runs off? Did she even love Elliott at all or was this wedding an excuse to get away from her parents or some other kind of cry for help?
“I hate people like that,” she said, touching a silk sunflower in one of the centerpieces. “Did she even give poor Elliott more than a cursory thought before turning and running?” She paused. “All I can say is good luck to the new groom, because if she was heartless enough to walk away from one man, she more than likely won’t have any problem walking away from you.”
“Did you say something, Skye?” one of the servers said as she walked by.
“What? Oh…um, sorry. Talking to myself.” And with a smile, she stood and walked toward the back of the room and gazed longingly at the exit. While Skye knew Leanna would totally be fine if she left now, it just didn’t sit right with her to dump everything on other people. There was still no sign of Josie and this was something they’d never had to deal with before so she’d suck it up and do her job because…well, just because.
It was a toss-up whether to go right to the kitchen or to head down the hall to the groom’s suite and see what was going on. No one would question her being there now. She and Josie had been best friends since the sixth grade and she was practically family. There had been a long line of people who followed after Elliott once he made his exit and she doubted he’d even notice if one more person showed up to offer him…what? Advice? Condolences? What was the proper etiquette for someone getting left at the altar?
That’s when it hit her how wrong it was for her to go back there. To know that all his family and friends just witnessed what was probably the lowest point in his life…she now wanted to go and shoo them all away. He must have felt like he was punched in the gut and now had an audience around him when he probably wanted to be alone. She couldn’t imagine that he had seen this coming.
But Tyler was warning him…
Still, even if it wasn’t Elliott, no one deserved to have something like this happen to them–especially when they’re good and decent, like Elliott. He was one of the good ones, and she’d like nothing more than to get five minutes alone with Tracy to put her in her place. After all, how could she possibly look at such a sweet face and then leave him?
And Elliott had a really sweet face.
A kind face.
Sandy brown hair, gray-blue eyes, and black-rimmed glasses…he had kind of a sexy geek vibe about him.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Elliott Sullivan was the total package and didn’t deserve to be humiliated like this.
The poor guy…
Wistfully, Skye looked around the room one last time and felt an overwhelming sense of sadness that no one was going to enjoy the beautiful décor and the food or celebrate the union of two people.
It was a little heartbreaking.
And as she made her way toward the kitchen, she wished someone would come out and give her an update so she could know if Elliott was okay.
“An embargo?”
“Yup.”
“But doesn’t that normally deal with government or trading goods or…”
“Stop being so literal, Elliott!” his father cried out before taking a moment to compose himself. “All I’m saying is that maybe…enough is enough. For right now, at least.”
Scanning the worried faces staring at him, Elliott had to wonder how long they had all been waiting to have this kind of talk with him.
“But…Dad…”
Holding up a hand to stop him, Martin Sullivan stood tall and gave his son the stance that never failed to put him in his place. “Son, we have watched you valiantly search for that perfect someone for years. You wear your heart on your sleeve and there was a time when it was admirable and sweet. But even you have to admit that something just isn’t working here.”
Sighing, he nodded. Why deny it?
“All we’re saying is that it’s time for you to take a step back and maybe re-evaluate some things in your life.”