Page 1 of Shameless
1
Blake
“What did you say?”I asked, hoping I’d misunderstood my brother.
“Stacey isn’t coming,” he repeated.
My gaze moved to Spencer’s. “What do you mean, she isn’t coming?”
My sister-in-law frowned. “She told me she couldn’t go through with the wedding. She and Molly left.”
“Why?” I growled. How could she leave without at least telling me why she couldn’t marry me? I thought things were perfect between us. Last night, we had talked about Cabo and everything we were going to do, which wasn’t much, considering we’d planned to be naked most of the time. How, in only a few hours, had it all turned to shit?
“She didn’t tell me,” Spencer replied.
“And you just let her leave?” I snapped. Spencer wasn’t the person I was angry with, but my blood was raging.
“Hey!” Brandon interjected. “This isn’t Spencer’s fault. I know you’re hurt, but don’t take it out on my wife.”
“I know,” I bit out and stalked to the door. When Stacey and I had toured the venue, we had been shown where the bridal suite was located; I headed there even though Spencer had said Stacey left. I needed to see for myself because I didn’t believe Stacey could cut me so deep.
Maybe in the time Spencer had been talking to us in the groom’s suite, Stacey had come back.
Maybe she had forgotten something at home and ran back to get it.
Maybe it was all a joke.
Not bothering to knock, I flung the door open. The room was empty, and I knew damn well Stacey’s mother and Molly should have been in the room getting ready.
I took my phone out of the pocket of my slacks and hit the button to call her, only for it to ring once and then go straight to voicemail. I called again, but it did the same thing. Over and over I tried to get through, but it was clear she’d turned off her phone.
In less than five minutes, my life had gone from damn near perfect, to spiraling out of control. How could Stacey leave me at the altar? We’d kept our fling going for years before making it official, and she was the first woman to work her way into my heart. There was only one other time I thought I’d loved someone, but even with Miranda, my high school girlfriend, it wasn’t the same as my feelings for Stacey.
And now my heart was on the floor, flopping around like a dying fish.
With my phone still in my hand, I slid down the wall behind me and hung my head as I tried to make sense of it all. Except, nothing added up. What had changed her mind?
Unlocking my phone, I went to text her, only to stop when I read the last one from this morning:
Can’t wait to marry you today!
I’d replied:
Not as much as me baby!
Clearly, that was the truth.
“Hey.” I looked up to see Brandon standing in front of me. “She really left?”
“Seems so,” I whispered as I looked back down at my lap.
“You tried calling her?”
“Yeah.”
“And nothing?”
“Straight to voicemail.”
