Page 124 of The Au Pair Affair

“All right, here we are.” Carlos took out a set of keys and unlocked a door marked “Reserved” with an efficient twist of his wrist, turning on the light inside. “This is where you will be expected to arrive at three thirtyp.m.tomorrow. On my signal, you will exit the door and walk arm in arm toward the ceremonyarea. Like so...” He waved them toward each other, but they didn’t budge. “Like so.”

“We don’t have to act the whole thing out. Three thirty, arm in arm, go stand under the gazebo thing. We get it.”

Tallulah frowned. Probably. He couldn’t see her, but there was surprise and disapproval in her tone when she said, “Burgess.”

Carlos sniffed. “Getting this perfect might not seem like a big deal to you, but it will be a big deal to your friends if you get it wrong.”

Fine. That made sense. The last thing he wanted to do was blemish the wedding of two people who’d figured out how to make their relationship work. Two people he kind of loved.

Burgess grunted.

Carlos took that as his cue to shuffle Burgess and Tallulah. “Like.So.”

Burgess kept his gaze trained straight ahead as they walked slowly toward the ceremony site, her orange and basil scent wreaking havoc on his senses. When they reached the grass where the seating area would be in the morning, his whole rib cage drew tight, so he switched to replaying his final game at Syracuse, as he often did, but the memory of the roaring crowd did nothing to soothe him now. By the time Burgess reached the end of the “aisle” he felt like he’d been shot full of holes.

“Great,” Carlos said, behind them. “Now you two can get into position and wait for the bride and groom to make their way down the aisle, as well. Wells, have you given the ring to Burgess for tomorrow?”

No response.

Wells was too busy staring at Josephine in the moonlight, visibly mesmerized.

Affection radiated back at him from his bride-to-be, their fingers twining together.

For the first time, Burgess ached at the sight of what they had. Coveted it, even.

“Wells,” Burgess said, clearing his throat. “The ring?”

“Yeah, I have it, man. I’ll give it to you in the morning.”

“Great.” Burgess backed away from the group, unable to stop himself from giving Tallulah one last look, starved for eye contact with her after going so long without it, but finding her staring down at her hands, instead. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

Tallulah did her best to keep a smile plastered to her face all through dinner, but she was completely numb from head to toe. Burgess had taken a seat on the other side of the room, even though his name card was right across from hers. There was an older gentleman in his place, an apparent friend of Josephine’s parents, and he chatted happily about the Florida weather and how it compared to Costa Rica, but only a third of his words were sinking in.

All she could do was replay the moment she’d walked down the aisle with Burgess.

How distant he’d been.

But Burgess hadn’t mentally checked out, had he? Not voluntarily.

She’d forced him to.

Acknowledging that to herself made her heart rattle and dive down into her stomach, the taste of her martini souring in her mouth. He’d told her that making love with her when she wasn’t all in, sure of their relationship, would mess him up. And it clearly had. While trying to keep herself protected against being hurt again, she’d hurtBurgess.

She’d ignored his request for sensitivity, even though he’d had such a hard time giving it. How could she do that? It wasn’t until later, as she lay down on her hotel room bed, that she realized how selfishly she’d behaved. Tonight she’d arrived at the rehearsal planning to apologize, but he’d evaded her. Avoided her.

Especially now, as he sat as far away as possible.

Tallulah reached for her water glass and realized her hand was shaking, so she pushed it into her lap and took a few deep breaths.

“It could very well rain tomorrow morning, I hear. A little sun shower to keep everything green,” said the Floridian across the table, while forking some shrimp into his mouth. “But you know what they say, rain on your wedding day is good luck.”

“That’s true,” Tallulah said, trying to appear interested, but her gaze strayed to Burgess at the other table and her whole body throbbed, like a giant heartbeat. She wanted to be sitting next to him so badly, a notch formed in her throat. “They do say that. Rain and weddings.”

“It was clear as a bell on my wedding day. That should have tipped me off.”

Tallulah made herself laugh. “Oh dear. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m the one that’s sorry. I let a good one get away.” He chuckled. “She’s remarried now with a couple of kids. Grown ones. That’s the part I can’t believe. It feels like we were married yesterday, but that can’t be true if she’s been remarried long enough to have college-aged children, you know? Time goes by fast, doesn’t it?”

---