Jenna had been adjusting the veil over her hair, wishing her mother could have lived to be there at her wedding, when the text had come through.
Sorry. Can’t make the wedding. Changed my mind. Keep the tickets for the honeymoon.
She’d stood dry-eyed, shocked and unable to comprehend what had happened, until her father came through the door to lead her down the aisle. One look at her face and he’d grabbed the phone from her hand.
After a few choice words, he’d hustled her out of the church into the waiting limousine and taken her to the home she’d grown up in, where she could lick her wounds. Carly had done the honors of sending everyone home and canceling the reception and wedding band. She’d joined Jenna and her father at the ranch, ready to take one of the rifles over the mantel to Tyler’s lying, cheating heart.
Jenna had heard through the grapevine that Tyler had slept with Jenna’s former best friend, Audra, on the night of his bachelor party. He claimed Audra was more fun than his boring bride, and he couldn’t go through with the wedding knowing he’d be stuck in a mundane marriage for the rest of his life.
Jenna had planned her wedding for the date her parents had been married in February. But as an accountant, she couldn’t plan their honeymoon until after tax season. She’d almost forfeited her tickets until Carly talked her into going. She needed to show Tyler and, more important, herself that she wasn’t boring. She knew how to be adventurous.
Of course, she had to take Carly along with her to show her how to do it.
Carly pulled in front of the resort hotel, shifted into Park and got out.
“Aren’t you going to park it yourself?” Jenna asked. “I don’t mind walking a little.”
Carly clucked her tongue. “Don’t be so tight. We’re only here for ten days. You might as well live a little. Let the valet park it for us.” Her friend tilted her head. “Come on. It won’t kill you to be a bit extravagant.”
“I just don’t like spending when I don’t need to,” Jenna grumbled as she got out of the vehicle and joined Carly on the sidewalk.
Carly handed over the keys to the valet and sauntered into the hotel.
Once inside, Jenna eyed the front desk. “I’m going to ask whether my suitcase has arrived.”
“Okay. I’ll go on up and be first in the shower. I have a date with Quentin tonight.” Carly frowned. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Jenna did mind. She didn’t enjoy eating alone in a restaurant. But she didn’t want to hold Carly back from having fun. “I don’t mind at all. I was thinking of splurging, like you said, and ordering room service and soaking in that incredible hot tub.”
“Mmm.” Carly grinned. “Sounds great. And I’ll definitely want to be out of the room when you do it. That’s one disadvantage to having the bridal suite. It was meant to be shared with your lover, not your girlfriend.” She winked. “You should order champagne and do it right.”
“Why? It’s not like I’m celebrating.”
“Yes, you are.” Carly hooked her arm and marched her toward the concierge. “You’re celebrating your liberation from marrying the wrong guy.” She stopped and faced the concierge. “We’d like to order a lovely bottle of champagne delivered to the bridal suite.”
“No, really.” Jenna’s face heated. “It’s not necessary.”
The man behind the counter stared from Carly to Jenna and back. “Which is it to be?”
Carly shook her head. “Champagne to the bridal suite within the next twenty minutes.” She named a brand that Jenna hoped was on the cheaper end of the wine list. “Thank you.” She grabbed Jenna’s hand and tugged her toward the elevator. “Come on. You have some hot-tubbing to do.”
Jenna dug her feet into the tile floor. “I will, but I need to check on my missing luggage.”
Carly let go of her hand and nodded. “That’s right. And I was headed for the shower and a date.” She saluted. “I’ll see you in the suite. I hope your bag came in.” Her overwhelmingly cheerful friend spun away and disappeared into the elevator.
Jenna waited at the bellman’s stand next to the registration desk. A rush of young people converged on the desk, tying up the bellmen and the clerks. A gentleman stood close to the bellman’s stand, tapping his toe impatiently as he checked into the hotel.
Jenna could see everyone was busy and figured it would take time for anyone to free up and help her. Prepared to return later, she spotted her hard-sided gray case between the registration counter and the bellman’s desk.
Excited that her suitcase had finally arrived, she scooped it up and headed for the elevator, saving the bellman one more person to deal with. Glad to have the case with her dinner clothes inside it, now she could relax and enjoy the rest of her “honeymoon.”
As she stepped into the elevator, she thought of Carly and the man she’d just met at the zip-line excursion. Was her friend brave or foolish to go out with a man she knew nothing about?
Deep down, Jenna wished the man called Sawyer had asked for her number or asked to take her out on a date while in Cancún. She and Carly could have double-dated with the two men.
Perhaps she was being silly, but she’d thought she’d felt a connection with him. The warmth of his body at her back, the security of his arm around her waist.
Was she so desperate to be with a man, she had started reading into things? Hadn’t she learned with Tyler that men weren’t attracted to women like her? Or at least not for long. She was too boring, afraid to take risks, stuck in her ways.
Jenna tugged the rubber band out of her hair and shook her unruly curls loose. Well, maybe it was time to be more daring. She’d ask Carly to get the number for her date’s friend.
In the meantime, Jenna had a date with a bottle of champagne and a hot tub.
Funny thing was...she didn’t even like champagne.
No sooner had she entered her room than Carly stepped out of the shower. “I’m done if you want to rinse off,” she called out. The door to the bathroom stood wide-open. Carly leaned against the counter, applying makeup, her slim, athletic body wrapped in a towel.
“No, I’ll wait for the hot tub,” Jenna said and set her case on the floor.
“The champagne beat you here. Help yourself. I already poured a glass.” She turned and raised her glass, then drank a sip of the sparkling liquid.
Jenna figured that since it was paid for, she might as well try to enjoy it and poured a glass. She carried it to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean. The sun was still up, shining over the water. People crowded the beach, some swimming, others soaking up the sun. Families corralled children, and lovers lay entwined on towels, smooching as if they were the only ones on the beach.
Sighing, Jenna downed a long gulp of the bubbly liquid. This would have been her and Tyler’s honeymoon had he gone through with the marriage.
Now, two months after
