His eyes instantly went to his mother. She was always his biggest champion–his biggest supporter and the one who always believed in him. She looked so pretty in the plum-colored gown she had finally decided on. For months she searched and conducted surveys in the family to help her pick. They had all celebrated her decision and now look where they were–in a tiny groom’s suite celebrating nothing. He could see the weariness in her eyes–the sadness.
The pity.
Damn.
“So what exactly is it you’re saying here, Dad?” he asked, rubbing a hand over his face and wishing he could simply be alone. Having so many witnesses to his humiliation certainly wasn’t helping anything right now. And who thought it was okay for his entire extended family to come in here?
His mother was the one who responded, however. “Elliott, you need some time where you aren’t thinking about being in a relationship. A little time where you focus on yourself and realize it’s okay to be alone.”
Seriously?
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be focused on being alone right now, Mom,” he said wearily. “As a matter of fact, I can guarantee when I get home later, it will be blazingly obvious that I’m alone.”
“Again, you’re being too literal,” his father said, crouching down in front of him as if Elliott were a child. “Your whole life, you’ve been searching for someone to be with–your other half–and because of that I don’t think you truly know yourself or how to be alone. You’ve got this vision of who you would be as part of a pair. I think it’s time for you to figure out who you are as just yourself.”
But Elliott already knew the answer to that.
Lonely.
“I get what you’re saying, Dad. I do. But being alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Trust me.”
“Maybe you should take up a hobby!” his aunt Ruth chimed in. She was eighty-eight and had hair as yellow as the sunflowers in the centerpieces and always seemed to have something to say.
Like now.
“Um…”
“Maybe you can take up yoga or learn origami!” she suggested.
“Aunt Ruth, I don’t really think origami…”
“I know I always adore getting one of those little paper creatures,” she interrupted. “I once had a friend who made me an origami frog that could actually leap!” She laughed softly. “It was such a beautiful little frog. So sweet.”
Groaning, Elliott was about to respond when someone else spoke up.
“No, he needs something a little manlier–like knife making or glass blowing!” his sister Josie called out and when he looked up at her, she winked and he knew she was trying to lighten the mood.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” someone else called out. “Elliott’s not the kind of guy who’s going to build weapons. He needs something that’s a little more his speed–maybe birdwatching or model train building?”
Okay, now he wanted to know who said that! Jumping to his feet, he scanned the group and saw his cousin Nick was the smartass. “Model trains? Seriously?”
All his cousin did was smirk.
Next thing he knew, everyone was throwing out suggestions–most of them equally ridiculous–so he stood up on his chair, stuck his fingers in his mouth, and whistled as loud as he could until the room went silent. With fifty pairs of eyes on him, his shoulders sagged.
“Look, I appreciate all of you and how you’re looking out for my best interests here, but…this is just all a bit much to think about right now.” Stepping down, he did his best to put a smile on his face as he turned toward his parents. “I get what you’re saying, and I promise to think about it.”
That should have been it.
But it wasn’t.
Clearly, there were some strong feelings about what was going to happen next.
“I’m sorry, Elliott, but we’re all in agreement here,” his father said sternly. “You are not allowed to date, get involved with, or ask anyone to marry you for at least a year.”
“Not allowed?” he cried. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
Doing his best to remain calm, Elliott tried to reason with him. “Dad, I am a grown man. You can’t just…forbid me from dating! Now I’ll admit that I am going to need some time to move on, but…”
“A year, Elliott,” his mother said. “You’ve tried things your way and it hasn’t worked out for you. Maybe take some advice from others who have had…let’s just say…more success in their relationships. I think we know what we’re talking about.”
And then fifty heads seemed to nod in unison.
Damn them.
“We are all actively committed to making sure you stick to this,” his father continued. “So plan on seeing a lot of us–all of us–over the next year. We’re doing this for your own good.” He placed a hand on Elliott’s shoulder. “Because we love you and we don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
“Maybe you should get a dog? Or some fish?” Aunt Ruth called out.
He couldn’t hold back the sigh. There was no way he was going to win this argument right now, so rather than try, he simply thanked everyone for coming out and said he needed to be alone.
Amazingly enough, they all listened and walked out of the room together after hugging and kissing him goodbye. Josie was the last one to leave and she hugged him extra hard. “I’m so sorry this happened.” When she pulled back, she gave him a weak smile. “I’m here for you if you need to talk.” They were only eleven months apart and more like twins than anything, and he always turned to her for support but right now, he seriously just wanted to be alone.
When it was down to just Tyler in the room, Elliott sat back down.
“Man, that was…intense,” he murmured.
“Which part?” Tyler joked, sitting beside him. “Seriously, you okay?”
He shrugged. “I’m still a little shell-shocked.”
“I’m so sorry, Elliott. Really. Now I feel even worse about the things I said before the ceremony. Although, if you think about it…”
“Not the time for that,” he quickly interrupted. Because…yeah. He’d already thought about it.
They sat in silence for several minutes before Tyler spoke again. “C’mon, let’s get out of here. We’ll go grab a beer and a burger and just chill. What do you say?”
It sounded good, but…
“I appreciate it, but I really just want to go home and…be. Rain check?”
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll drive you home.”
Right. Because he didn’t have his car here because he and Tracy were supposed to be taking a limo to the airport later to go on their honeymoon to Belize.
Daniel was probably buying himself a ticket and packing his suitcase right now.
The bastard.
Together, they walked out of the room and Elliott noticed the catering staff scurrying around cleaning up the room. Hopefully they all got paid and would be happy to be able to go home early rather than hanging out all day serving wedding guests.
Then he wondered how much the average server made. Did they get paid by the hour? By the gig? Were they getting shorted on their pay since there wasn’t a reception? His mind was spiraling but at least he wasn’t simply thinking of himself right now.