Always The Wedding Planner, Never The Bride Part 28

And there it was. That chill that he remembered so well. It moved over her like a December wind, bringing up the vacant frost in her eyes, the frozen attempt at a smile, the crooked tilt of her mouth.

"Fine. You obviously have a whole monologue worked up, Andy. So I'll just sit here quietly and let you have center stage. Go for it."

In years past, the reference would have knifed him, backed him up. But that was then, this was now.

"Thank you, Maya," he said with a frost all his own. "The direct approach is best, so I'll just say this to you straight out: I want you to stop. Don't try to enlist my mother, don't talk to my friends. And do not-ever!-come to my home again. Do you understand?"

She brushed her hair back and stared at the table for a long moment.

"I'm getting married, Maya. I'm happy, I'm in love, I have a life, and there's no place for you in it."

When she glanced up at him, he couldn't miss the glint of damp emotion.

"I'm not trying to be cruel."

"Nice try, but no cigar," she sniffed.

Andy wanted to groan. "What are you looking for here, Maya?"

"Oh, I don't know, Andy," she flared. "Maybe a second chance at something I messed up? You used to believe in second chances."

"I still do," he told her. "Just not with you and me." She nervously brushed back her hair again before firmly taking his hand. "We had something perfect for a while, didn't we?"

Removing his hand from her grasp, Andy sighed. "It wasn't perfect."

"You loved me."

"I did. You're right. But that was a long time ago, and I've moved on. I've built something really special with Sherilyn-"

"Sherilyn," she repeated softly.

"-and I'm not going to jeopardize it. She's my future, Maya. You are my past."

He waited for a time, but she didn't look up at him or offer a response.

"To push your way from the past to the present is only going to hurt Sherilyn, and yourself in the long run. So just stop, Maya. Please, just stop."

He began to wonder if she'd turned to salt.

"Are you listening to me?"

"I hear you," she finally replied on raspy emotion.

"But are you listening?"

Maya looked up at him and narrowed her eyes, sarcasm flas.h.i.+ng. "I'm listening, Andy. I'll leave you alone. I'll disappear. I won't upset Sherilyn."

Andy leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms as she glared at him.

After a moment, she softened. "Sorry," she muttered.

He paused, swallowing before he said, "I still believe things happen for a purpose, Maya. We weren't meant for each other. I've found the woman I was meant for, and there's someone else that you're meant to be with."

She blinked, and a single teardrop cascaded down her cheek. "Any idea where he is?"

Andy smiled. "Just around the corner."

Wedding #3 at The Tanglewood Inn October 2010 CarolAnne Venetti-Angelo Diamonte Traditional Italian wedding with ceremony at St. Andrew's A multi-course Italian meal developed by Anton Morelli: Non-traditional Italian Wedding Soup Antipasto-olives, stuffed mushrooms, cheeses, mortadella, prosciutto, and calamari Main course of tortellini stuffed with ricotta and herbs; Rosa di Parma (rolled and stuffed beef filet); Asparagi alla Parmigiana (asparagus wrapped in a Parmigiano crust) Cake: Creme brulee wedding cake with intricate ribbon detail

17.

Sherilyn pushed open the swinging door to Emma's kitchen and klunked down at a stool before the door fell still. Fee and Pearl were seated at the other end of the table watching Emma perfect the curved petal of a beautiful arched lily.

"'Sup?" Emma asked her without looking away from her work.

"I've got a consultation in two hours, and some of the information I need is in my BlackBerry, which I can't seem to find anywhere."

"Oooh, that's not good," Fee commented. "I'd be up a creek without mine."

"Same here," Sherilyn whimpered. "I've been through my hotel room at least three times. I've checked my office, the car, I've retraced my steps all over the hotel."

"What about at the house?" Pearl chimed in.

"It could be there, but I've been trying to reach Andy, and he hasn't picked up his phone. I guess he's with patients or something."

"I'm just about finished here," Emma told her. "And I've been thinking about a protein shake from this place next door to where I used to work. We'll run by and get a couple of them, and I'll ride to the house with you to have a look around."

"Really?"

"Really!"

Sherilyn dashed up the sidewalk ahead of Emma the moment the car came to a full stop in the driveway. She jammed her key into the lock and pushed open the front door. Henry galloped down the hall toward her, his tongue hung out to one side and his eyes completely obstructed with fur. The impact of dog against both legs jarred her, and she held on to the doorjamb to keep from falling.

"Hey, Henry," Emma greeted the dog as she pa.s.sed him to catch up with Sherilyn.

"It's got to be here somewhere. Where did I leave it?"

"Upstairs?"

"I wasn't up there." She set the plastic cup on the counter and circled the kitchen twice before coming in for a landing on the wooden seat of one of the dining chairs. "Emma, what did I do with it?"

"Don't panic," she replied before slurping the last of her shake through the thin straw. "Just take a deep breath and think."

"Don't panic?" she questioned, pus.h.i.+ng to her feet and pacing through the kitchen. "I've got my life in that BlackBerry. All of my numbers, my appointments." She paused in thought before gasping. "Ohh! Em!"

"What?"

"The guest list for my wedding. It's in my BlackBerry."

"We'll find it."

"Like my first dress? Or the second one after that? We were going to find those too. I swear, I think this wedding is cu-"

"Stop!" Emma cried, jumping in front of her and holding up both hands. "Don't even say that out loud."

Sherilyn nodded and bit her lip.

"We could still find your dress. One of them." The lilt in her voice at the end of the statement betrayed her. Emma obviously wasn't exactly believing it herself.

Henry, bored with them already, trotted into the living room and hopped up on the sofa.

"Okay. Your phone. Let's concentrate on finding your phone."

"I know I had it with me. I checked my email-"

Crunch-crunch-crunch.

"-and I sent a text to Pearl, I think."

Crumple-crunch-cruuuunch.

"What is that?"

They both turned back at the same moment. Sherilyn shrieked, and Emma bolted toward the dog at a full run.

"Nooo!" Sherilyn whined. "Henry, no!"

"Oh, Sher." Again, Emma's inflection betrayed her.

Sherilyn covered her eyes with both hands. "Don't tell me."

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?"

"The good?"

"I found your BlackBerry."

Sherilyn's heart sank with a thud. She didn't need to hear the bad news.

"The bad news is that it's in about four hundred small pieces . . . Bad dog! Really, Henry! Very baaad dog!"

Sherilyn shooed Henry away from them and carefully gathered each and every piece of metal, plastic, and unidentified substance on and around the sofa. She hovered over it on the coffee table as Emma moved the couch cus.h.i.+ons to check for more debris.

"This dog is unbelievable," Sherilyn mumbled at a downward angle while lamely attempting to put the shattered Humpty-Dumpty phone back together again. "I'm not a dog person. I told him I'm not a dog person. But did he care? No.

He picks the mangiest, most ill-mannered, garbage-smelling dog he could find in the bushes, and he brings the thing into our lives. It belches and pa.s.ses gas, it barfs every time something moves-"

"Umm, Sher?"

"-I'm not kidding. You put this dog in the car, s.h.i.+ft into drive, and he pukes all over the place. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. If I told you what happened the other night. We just turned our backs for a minute, and he'd eaten our dinners right off the table, and to make matters worse-"

"Sher!"

She snapped her head upward. "What!" And Emma jumped slightly in response.

"Sweetie, I think you're losing it."

Sherilyn seethed. "Well, welcome to the party, Emma Rae!"

She meticulously brushed the pieces of her phone into a neat pile with both hands before contorting slightly in order to push it all into the pocket of her coat. When a few pieces fell on the floor, she knelt down and picked them up, dropping them in with the others.

She wondered if it was possible-Could she actually feel her blood boiling?

Without a word, she walked over to the back door, flung it open and stood back, staring at the clueless dog wagging its stub of a tail and panting happily at her.

"Get out."

"Sher!"

"I mean it. Get out, Henry!"

Henry shook his fur from head to paw, and he sat down and grinned at her.

"Do you think I'm joking?" she asked him through clenched teeth. "Get out of my house this instant!"

"Sherilyn, stop it."

"No, Em! I want this dog out of my house and out of my life right this minute!"

The dog looked confused as he walked like he was on a death march toward the door. He looked up at her for a moment, then cast a glance back at Emma before he slowly and obediently left the premises. He looked back again at the edge of the deck, but Sherilyn slammed the door and walked away.

"Sher-"

"Don't you dare, Emma. Not one more word about that dog."

"-you are not going to send Henry packing, out into this cold weather. This is not you," she said, hurrying toward her and grabbing her by the shoulders with both hands. "You are not this cruel."

"Cruel? I'll show you cruel." Sherilyn began unloading the contents of her coat pocket, then pointed to the mess strewn across the dining table. "This . . . This is cruel!"

A little voice from deep inside told her to stop. She heard it clearly, like crystal bells clanging at her.

"You think this isn't me? Well-" Tears rose in her eyes, and her extremities began to feel weak, as if she'd been suddenly injected with some sort of warm anesthetic. "Well, it is me. It's the new me." She began to sob as she added, "Pleased to meeeeet yooou." She dropped down into the nearest chair and collapsed into her arms atop the chunks of BlackBerry before her.