Page 84 of Bumping into You

“Believe it, mate,” I say. “you’re marrying your childhood crush tomorrow on a beautiful cruise ship overlooking endless seas of blue, with your best mates by your side cheering you on.” I hold up my beer in salute, and we all cheer.

But there is a heavy feeling in my chest the rest of the afternoon. What’s going to happen with Gwen and me once this cruise is over?

Chapter 37

Gwen

I’m relaxing in my room going over last-minute items with Courtney on the phone when a knock sounds at my door. Hope at seeing Niall surges through me before I realize the knocking is coming from the hallway door, not our shared door.

“One moment, Courtney, let me get this,” I say into the phone, then hold it against my chest as I open the door to see Trent.

“Hey, Gwen,” Trent says, looking sheepish. “How are you?”

“What’s wrong, Trent? What’s happened?”

“Well, you know how I was responsible for holding onto the rings?”

“Yes. . . .” I say, my nerves spiking.

“Well, I seem to have misplaced them.”

“Excuse me? You. Lost. Them?” I ask through gritted teeth. “As inthewedding rings? As in the rings that Greg and Holly need to get married tomorrow?”

“Well,” he says, taking a step back, “I misplaced them.”

“Then I suggest you un-misplace them. The wedding is tomorrow, Trent. Tomorrow!!”

“Right, okay, I will go recheck my things,” he says, stepping back into the hallway just as I register the sound of Courtney’s voice coming through my phone.

“Gwen?” she says. “Can you hear me?”

I had completely forgotten she was still waiting on me. I pick up the phone and say, “One minute, Courtney.”

Then turning my focus back to Trent, I say, “I suggest you turnyour room inside out. Check everything and everywhere even if it doesn’t make sense. And please tell me the moment you find them, and not a word to anyone in the meantime, got it? I’ll figure something out as a backup plan.”

“Gwen?” asks Courtney through the phone. “What’s happened? Anything I can help with?” I put my phone back up to my ear, Trent eyeing me warily.

“Actually, yes, we do have a problem. Trent is here and has just informed me that he’s lost the engraved wedding rings.” I send another glare in Trent’s direction.

“Oh,” says Courtney, “that is a bit of a situation. How about I help him look for those rings?”

“That would be great,” I say. “I’ll help you look too.”

“And,” says Courtney, “there are a few places on the ship where we can get backup rings if we don’t end up finding the original ones.”

“Okay, good,” I say. “The rings are engraved though. If we do have to get new rings, we’d need to make sure they’re engraved too.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” says Courtney. “Would you text me what the engravings are in case we have to go that route?”

“Yes, I’ll send you a text right now.” After sending the text, I say, “Thank you, Courtney. I appreciate your help with this.”

“My pleasure,” says Courtney. “Tell Trent I’ll be over there shortly.”

I shut the door after relaying the message and hanging up with Courtney. Ugh, please let this be the only thing that goes wrong today.

I’m just about to leave with Trent to search for the rings when Gillian rounds the corner looking a little worried.

“Hey, Gwen. Hey, Trent,” she says. “Gwen, do you have a second?”

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