Marci snuck into Wendy’s office and dropped into the chair across from her desk.
Wendy looked from the computer to Marci and arched a brow. “What the hell are you doing here? You said you were staying in Arizona another night.”
“Hi, Marci. How was your flight? Did the weather suck? Did you sign those damn divorce papers? Did you kill that bitch?”
Wendy’s expression softened. “Sorry. I’m…” She waved her hand. “Tell me! Tell me everything. It’s done, right? Like, signed on the dotted line and that bitch is history, done?”
Marci gave a firm nod. “Yes. It’s done. She is history.”
Wendy jiggled in her chair. “It’s not normal to be this happy, is it?”
“Probably not.”
“I’m going straight to hell and I think I’m okay with it.”
Marci chuckled.
Wendy composed herself. “So how are you with everything?”
Marci considered her next words. To be honest, she hadn’t expected to feel so good about an ending. But she did. She felt great. “I’m fantastic, actually. It was the best feeling in the world to cut her cheating ass loose.”
Wendy snagged her reading glasses off the tip of her nose and pushed her hands toward the ceiling. “A-to-the-hell-to-the-men! Hallelujah! Praise God. Hail Mary. Head, heart, shoulder, shoulder. All that holy good shit. I’m so freaking happy right now I could scream!”
Marci chuckled. “Don’t go overboard. Your computer might self-destruct or something.”
Wendy looked back at Marci and lowered her hands to her lap. “I think I see my best friend in those eyes again.”
“I think I can feel your best friend in here again.” Marci shrugged. “That happens when you give someone five minutes to explain why they stabbed you in the back.”
“You did not!” Wendy snapped her glasses against the desktop. “You know she’s a lying sleaze. You can’t trust a damn thing that comes out of her mouth.”
“I needed to hear her answer.”
“What the hell for? So she can blame you? Isn’t that what cheaters always do? Turn into victims when they get caught?”
That’s exactly what Ashley had done. She’d blamed Marci. Blamed her for starting a new career and leaving her dreams in the snow. Blamed Marci for trying to make a great life for them no matter how hard she’d tried to keep their romance alive with surprises and gifts. She’d blamed everyone but herself.
Exactly what Marci had done.
Marci let Tessa’s face bloom in her mind. She’d asked that question for Tessa. Because Tessa promised she would find her closure.
Damn, had she ever found it. Ashley had called her dream stupid. Blamed Wendy for getting in her head. Ashley had deflected the question in every way possible.
Every door had slammed shut with every word that spilled off her lips and then the revelation, the ties that had bound her, had begun to unravel. She’d seen Ashley for exactly the person Wendy had seen all along. Seen her crystal clear.
And even though she didn’t hate Ashley, she didn’t like her at all. Not anymore.
“Closure.”
“Um-hmm. And did you find it?”
“Absolutely.”
“Oh my God. You’re actually smiling. I haven’t seen that particular facial expression in years.”
“Don’t exaggerate. It hasn’t been years.”
Wendy dismissed her with a wave of her glasses. “Whatever you say, buttercup.”
Was Wendy right? Had it been that long since she was actually happy? Yes. Maybe it had been. Obviously she’d been blind this whole time. Obviously only the outside world could see that she was drowning in her own hell.
And that world, and that hell, was over now. That place and time was in her past. In her rearview mirror. Exactly where it belonged.
As immature as it was to wish for such a thing, she hoped karma found Ashley one day. She hoped someone Ashley loved with everything she had inside her, broke her heart in the exact same way. Then and only then would she understand the magnitude of her actions.
But at the same time, Marci felt free. Light. Reborn.
Instead of being petty, she should be thankful.
Maybe one day she would be.
For now, that door was closed. That past gone. And she was so ready to move on with the next step. Ready to make sure she lived every day making sure that the piece that Ashley got, the piece Marci thought she broke, wasn’t the best piece she had to offer.
Thanks to Tessa, she knew there was life on the other side.
“What time is the wedding?” Marci couldn’t wait to talk to Tessa.
Only a few more hours, and she could face her again. Ask for her forgiveness. Ask her if they could start new. Have a redo. And then see where this thing, this incredible, fun thing, could go.
She’d felt it all along. That grip of need. That seed of want. That thing inside every person that let them know they’d met someone special. That they didn’t want to be without them.
Tessa had made her feel that thing again and she didn’t want to lose her hold on it.
“Three hours. I’ve visited both sites and I must say, this is going to be one hell of a finale.” Wendy perched the glasses on her head. “But what Tessa did still blows my mind. Her imagination is priceless. She brought the damn beach to the mountain.”
“The beach?”
“Yes. The beach. The bride wanted a beach wedding. The groom wanted a mountain wedding. So Tessa called every landscape company within a hundred-mile radius until she found someone willing to haul the sand to her.”
“Impressive. Doesn’t surprise me though. She’s not a take no for an answer kind of girl.”
“Impressive isn’t the half of it. She turned the whole space into a tropical forest with heaters and beautiful decorations. Every species of succulent plant is on the mountaintop right now. It’s the most beautiful, thoughtful wedding I’ve ever seen anyone plan.”
“She’s a pretty thoughtful person,” Marci admitted. And sexy. And demanding. And sexy when she was being demanding.
What would it hurt to go find her now? To hell with waiting until after the contest was over. She wanted to see her now. Wanted to kiss her now. Wanted to drop to her knees and earn forgiveness. Right now.
It was insane how crazy she was about that feisty little fireball. How ridiculous she’d been all along. From the very beginning. If only she hadn’t been closed to the subject. Closed off to finding love again. To commitment. If only she hadn’t blamed Tessa’s sister for Ashley’s wrongdoings. If only she hadn’t been such an asshole.
“Very thoughtful. But I need to tell you something,” Wendy said.
Marci felt the punch coming but couldn’t prepare herself for it. Not today. Not when so much weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Not when she had a mission of making her wrongs right again.
“Good or bad? Please don’t tell me anything bad today. I’m happy and I even smiled for you.”
“She’s decided not to accept the position at the resort, even if she wins.”
“Damn, Wendy. All you had to say was it’s very bad.” Marci raked her fingers through her hair and sighed. “Fuck. It’s because of me.”
“No doubt. Can you blame her? You were a complete jerk.”
“Let me go talk to her. I can change her mind.”
Wendy shook her head. “Not a chance in hell. You stay away from her until all of this is over. If she wins, you can work your magic and talk her into staying. Or at least try. I’m actually super bummed about it. But what she doesn’t know, she has emails already pouring in. I have at least twenty-three solid offers from very reputable venues and resorts asking for her. I may have screwed up by doing the weekly televised interviews and pasting pictures into the blog and website. Maybe I should have kept this little contest all to myself instead of looking out for some of the losing teams. I don’t want to lose her to any of them.”
“Tonight. I’ll talk to her tonight. I’ll change her mind.” Marci hoped.
Wendy was right. No good would come of her getting in the middle of a wedding that Tessa and her crew had worked hard on this week. Her final round in this competition. She didn’t need any added stress to an already heated competition.
With a sigh, Wendy leaned against the desk. “Now that you’re back to the old Marci, have you taken a good look around? Notice anything? Recognize anything?”
“Notice what? Just spit it out. You keep hinting, and obviously I’m missing something super important.”
Wendy watched her for several seconds, those eyes drilling into Marci, then she put her glasses back in place and turned her attention back to the computer. “Just let me know when you do. In the meantime, you need to go grab an empty room and get cleaned up. You look like shit. And stay the hell away from Tessa until this thing is all over. I mean that.”
Marci wanted to push her on the mystery, on what she was missing, but Wendy wouldn’t budge. She knew Wendy well enough to know that. She would hold out until Marci saw it for herself. Which sucked because obviously Marci was missing something pivotal.
“So cheerful you are.” Marci pushed out of the chair. “How did I ever survive without your whip?”
“You didn’t. That’s why you dragged your ass back up the mountain.”
“Smartass.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
* * *
Tessa and Danny stood at the back of the rows of chairs, opposite of Seth and Sally, watching in fascination as their bride, Harley, stepped through the curtain and took in her surroundings for the very first time.
Her expressions transformed from curiosity to complete shock to utter amazement. Tears welled in her eyes and her hand flew to her mouth.
That look, that stunned expression of adoration, was the only thing Tessa needed to see to know that she’d done the right thing. She’d gone outside the box and made the unthinkable a reality for that very expression. She didn’t need to win to know she’d just made Harley the happiest girl on earth. She’d given her a dream wedding. That was priceless.
Harley took her daddy’s arm and started down the aisle. The smile on her face was contagious, and the love on Robert’s face at the end of the aisle was adorable.
They were so in love, and every person witnessing such a precious union was blessed to be in their presence. And they all knew they were blessed.
Tessa didn’t know what it felt like to be a mother, wasn’t sure she ever wanted to know, but she had a sneaky suspicion it was something super close to the warm and fuzzy emotion snaking all through her body right now. She’d never been more proud of planning a wedding than she did for these two.
They were perfect and their love was like a beacon of hope.
It truly existed. This can’t live without you love.
Tessa could barely contain her gushing delight. This wedding was her baby. Their baby. That was their bride. Their groom. From the sand that the landscape companies swore couldn’t be delivered, to the tropical oasis even her crew thought was questionable, this was their seed finally blooming into a magnificent flower.
Harley spotted Tessa and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Tessa gave her a quick wink while she fought back the tears.
Danny wrapped his arm around Tessa’s shoulders and drew her close. “You just became her hero,” he whispered.
Tessa let her head fall to his shoulders and nodded, too choked up to respond, and watched Harley continue walking toward her beaming groom.
Everything was so beautiful. Not just the surroundings. Not that she had given them both exactly what they had wanted. Not that she had gone far outside the comfort zone of safe. But that she’d done it for two people who truly deserved it. For two people who were so in love everyone around them felt it too.
They reached the end of the aisle, and her daddy bent down and placed a kiss against her cheek then moved to sit besides his wife, Harley’s mother.
Harley turned to Robert, a look of pure adoration on her face, and joined him in front of the archway.
She looked stunning in her sleeveless off-white Bohemian style gown that ended just below her knees. The tattered edges drifted around her legs with the light breeze tricking every eye around them into believing they were on a beach somewhere, that the heat around them was from a sun beaming down on them. Her head was adorned with a flower crown with trails of ribbon dangling down her back. And her feet were entwined with crocheted toe sandals that wrapped around her ankles.
Tessa thought of her own life. Would she ever fall in love? Would she ever get a wedding? Did she even want one or would she be content without all the fuss? If she ever fell hard for someone, would they love her with every ounce of their being?
Thoughts of Marci bled into her mind. She’d struggled over the past few days to keep her out. Demanded she stay out. She wanted Marci gone. For good and forever. She didn’t want to think about her. Didn’t want to want her. And she sure as hell didn’t want to miss her.
But she did. Dammit. She missed her. Missed the easy way they had connected. And the makeup sex. She very much missed that.
But more than those traits, she missed their common denominator. Their love for nature and the instant attraction that had bound them both together.
More important, she missed not knowing what could have come next for them. She shouldn’t wonder. At all. Marci was too unsteady. She wasn’t secure on her feet. Didn’t trust. Maybe she didn’t want to open up ever again. Maybe love wasn’t in her future.
And why did Tessa care? She wasn’t looking for love either. God knew, she’d had enough of spreading her magic over marriages she felt were doomed from the beginning. Hated wasting her time for people who’d already done the rodeo once or twice before.
So what if Marci didn’t want a forever after? So what if she wanted to fuck her way through the rest of her life? So what?
But the so what was the part that nagged at Tessa the most.
She cared about that so what.
Dammit. She did.
For the first time in her life, she cared about someone else’s desire to never feel love again. She wanted Marci to find that closure. She wanted her to see that she’d simply been with the wrong one the whole time. And that was okay.
Fuck. It was. It was okay. Maybe it took more than once or twice or even three times for people to find their perfect fit. Their perfect person.
Had she been blind all of these years? A hypocrite through every second wedding? A bitch with every third?
God. She had. She was willing to tell Marci to dust off her knees and get back on the horse. Why wasn’t she willing to be happy for those who did just that? Who got back on the horse. Who went out and found happiness. Who believed they had found their person and went for it.
And why was she suddenly coming to this realization?
Because she missed sex?
No. She couldn’t be that shallow. Sex was all around her. In every bar. Every nightclub. Hell, she could find sex online.
So why couldn’t she shake this one? Why couldn’t she shake Marci? And how was she supposed to move on wondering what could have come next for them? Why was it a constant hum in her mind? That next step.
That next step was love.
Warmth spread over her as the word echoed in her mind.
Yes. It was love.
She had felt it all along.
She’d been fooling herself from the second Marci accused her of cheating. Even earlier. When she’d scanned her surroundings in a room of flashing strobe lights and found Marci staring back at her. Then. She’d even felt it then.
What an idiot she’d been. Thinking that what they had would end with the ringing of the contest bell. Thinking that win or lose, it meant their finale as well.
It hadn’t meant that. It could have gone further. Could have reached further. Of that, she was sure.
What they’d found in each other couldn’t have ended there. She was a fool to believe otherwise.
In just a few short weeks, she’d tripped and fallen flat on her face in love. Yes. She’d done that. The unthinkable. The unimaginable. She’d done it. Fallen in love. That thing she didn’t believe possible for herself. Love. She’d felt love. Still felt it. That feeling was in every thought of Marci. Every memory. Every flash of their time spent together.
It was love.
And now it was all gone. In the blink of an eye, that glimpse of hope, that flutter of emotional attachment that she’d never experienced before, had vanished.
Tessa would never get to know if Marci found her closure. If she found her answers. If she could ever open her heart again.
It made her sad. For Marci, she’d like to know that she’d moved on and found happiness. That she’d gone after that dream. If her ride or die pushed her to grab it. If she helped her grab it.
Marci deserved that. And Tessa wished only the best for her.
But the fact remained. Marci was gone. She’d skipped out like a coward. She’d blamed the wrong people. And now she was gone.
Maybe one day she’d run across Marci again.
She’d ask her why. Why had she left. Why had she done it without saying good-bye.
Maybe Tessa would get her own closure in the answer.