No cell reception.”
“So, you pitch a tent over there?” she asked.
“Nope. The boat has a cabin.”
With a bed? she wanted to ask. Fortunately the words stayed safely in her head, and he couldn’t hear the crash bang of her heart that followed the racy thought.
Just then the trio of musicians began to play a soft wedding march. Everyone turned to the aisle, which was covered by a white runner and ran between the two groups of folding chairs. Moments later the blonde flower girl and dark-haired ring bearer walked by, followed closely by matron of honor, Maggie Potter. Then Jill, wearing a strapless, cream-colored satin-and-lace gown, walked by holding the hand of her seven-year-old son, who was giving her away. She was a stunning redhead, and C.J. took after her. He looked especially cute in his tuxedo.
Ellie glanced at the groom, waiting under a rose-covered arbor with his brother and the minister. Adam’s expression said he was equal parts dazzled and in love as his bride stopped in front of him.
“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” the reverend asked.
“I do.” C.J.’s voice was loud and clear. “Adam’s gonna be my dad for real now.”
Ellie’s throat clogged with emotion and tears filled her eyes. What was it about weddings that made her so emotional? She hardly knew these people, but the setting was beautiful and romantic. And the three of them were officially beginning their journey as a family. She felt a tear slide down her cheek. Then another. She brushed them away, hoping no one would notice, but a second later Alex was holding out a folded white handkerchief.
He leaned close and said, “I always carry one for weddings.”
She smiled when he pressed it into her hand and moments later was especially glad to have it. The vows and a spectacular kiss had her sniveling like a baby. Immediately after the ceremony, the wedding party disappeared with the photographer for pictures. Guests stood and milled around on the grass or headed to the decorated tent nearby, set up with tables for dinner.
“Thanks. I’ll return this after it’s washed.” Ellie held up the handkerchief. “For the record, I’m glad you were packin’.”
“I always cry at weddings.”
“Right.” She laughed. “I’m completely mortified. You must think I’m a big baby. But I just couldn’t help myself. It was such a beautiful wedding.”
“Don’t apologize. It was beautiful and nice to know some people get a happy ending.” His tone was either wistful or bitter, and it was hard to tell which.
Feeling the way she did about him made personal questions a slippery slope straight into the fires of hell, but she couldn’t keep the words in her head this time. “Who broke your heart?”
“What makes you think someone did?” After they stood, he put his hand on her elbow to guide her over the uneven grass.
The touch of his warm fingers threatened to short-circuit her thoughts. “What you said about happy endings implies that you didn’t get one.”
“I didn’t. Mine failed in a fairly spectacular way.”
She looked up expectantly but he didn’t say more. “Would you like to talk about it?”
“Not really.” But a devilish gleam slid into those smoky eyes and burned the shadows away. “Although I could be persuaded to. If you have that drink with me.”
She wanted to. Technically it wouldn’t be abandoning her principles about getting involved with a man at work because they weren’t at work. “Okay.”
They walked into the tent, where a bar was set up just inside the entrance. Alex ordered white wine for her and a beer for himself, then guided her to an unoccupied white-cloth-covered table in a secluded corner. Small white lights and flower arrangements of roses, orchids and star lilies transformed the interior into something magical.
As the setting and wine worked their magic on her, Ellie began to relax. He pulled out a chair for her, and when they sat and faced each other their knees brushed.
“So, tell me about your spectacular failure,” she said.
“I was married.”
Past tense. She appreciated the straightforward honesty. It was information the jerk at her very first job had kept from her. Just to be sure, she asked, “‘Was’?”
“Divorced.” He took a long drink from his beer, and there was something so masculine about the way his neck muscles moved as he swallowed.
“How did you meet her?”
“On the job.”
Wasn’t that always the way? It was why she was ultra cautious now. The only problem with not trusting was the intense loneliness. Touching Alex even a little made her miss having a man hold her, kiss her. Love her.
“Was this in college?”
“Nope. I was the boss and needed an executive assistant. She was qualified. And beautiful. It turned into more.” Even the dim lighting couldn’t hide the way his mouth pulled tight. “Then she told me she was pregnant.”
“So you married her.”
“And convinced her to move to Blackwater Lake because it’s a great place to raise kids.”
“She didn’t like it here?”
“Partly. Mostly she didn’t like me all that much.”
“Idiot.”
He smiled. “I appreciate that.”
Ellie was aware that she wasn’t a poster girl for great instincts where the opposite sex was concerned, but she’d seen how Alex handled the people who worked for him with amazing fairness. They’d move heaven and earth if he asked. You didn’t get that kind of loyalty by being a jerk.
“So you weren’t the one to end it,” she said.
“No. As it turned out, instead of proposing marriage when she said she was pregnant, the question I should have asked was ‘Who’s the father?’”
The meaning of his words sank in. “Oh, no—she let you believe you—”
“Yeah. I enjoyed having a son while it lasted.” There was raw bitterness in his voice now. “Dylan was almost a year old when she said she wanted his real father to raise him.”
She could see the truth on his face. “Y’all loved that little boy.”
“I sure did.”
“I’m sorry, Alex—”
“Don’t be.”
“It’s not pity,” she protested. “I’m sorry for that child because his mother is a moron. Y’all are probably better off, except that you miss that baby.”
“He’s
