Seventeen

 

Dakota arrived at work on Monday, mocha in hand and ready for the week. She opened the front door and was surprised to see the Ducati gone. She hadn't seen it in the parking lot.

Marina ran up to her. "What are we going to do about the missed weddings? I've got two stressed brides."

"Take a deep breath," Dakota said, not feeling a bit of worry. The weekend had done wonders for her outlook on life. She'd spent the whole time lounging around, replaying every moment with Clay over and over.

Her heart leaped just thinking about him.

"We can all do yoga if you want," Marina exclaimed, "but these brides are frantic. They wanted to be married, but they're not!"

"Give me a few minutes, and I'll talk to them." Dakota glanced around. "Have you seen Clay?"

"No. We—"

"Was a motorcycle in here when you came in?"

Marina gave her a double-take. "What? No. In here?"

"Never mind." Dakota smiled. He must have gotten it over the weekend. "Take an early break, okay? Everything's going to be fine. I'll handle the upset brides." She patted Marina on the shoulder and headed into her office.

Once settled in, she turned on the laptop and found the information for the two unmarried brides from the previous weekend. She called the first one.

"Hello?" came a stressed feminine voice.

"Hi, Shana," Dakota said, trying to be as calming as possible. "This is Dakota Hunter from The Chateau."

"What are we going to do?" Shana exclaimed. "All my guests were planning on showing up on Saturday. They had plane reservations, time off work, and everything. What about my cake and the food? My flowers? They're going to be wilted!" The poor girl went on and on.

Dakota let Shana vent all her frustrations until she was done. "It's all going to work out. I promise. First of all, everyone understands that weather conditions are out of anyone's control. Your guests will be able to switch their plane reservations and work schedules. The florist can keep your flowers fresh. She's the best of the best. Everything else will work out, too."

"But when am I going to get married?" she wailed. "I was supposed to be on my honeymoon right now. We couldn't even fly out for that and come back for the ceremony later."

"I understand your stress," Dakota said. "We at The Chateau are going to do everything in our power to fix as much of this as possible. That's why you hired us."

The poor girl broke down into a fit of sobs.

Dakota talked with her for another half an hour until she was breathing normally and done venting.

Aria came in. "That was really impressive. I hope you're up to dealing with another one."

"Sure," Dakota said. "But we're all going to have to work extra hard this week. If we have to rent out local churches or even City Hall, we're going to make sure these brides are married by the weekend."

Aria nodded. "No problem."

Dakota checked the time. "Have you seen Clay?"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he called in sick. He's got some sort of stomach virus. I didn't get the details because he was too sick to stay on the line."

"Oh, no." Dakota's heart plummeted. "I hope he's okay."

"He did say he was going to the doctor if he didn't feel better by noon."

"Thanks."

"Sorry to add more to your plate, but can you call Mikaela? She's just as upset as the other bride."

Dakota took a swig of her coffee. "I'm on it. I need you and Marina to call around and find places we can have these weddings."

"You got it, boss." Aria saluted her and disappeared into the hall.

It was tempting to call Clay, but she didn't want to bother him. He probably needed some sleep, and besides, she had another worried bride to calm down.

The morning flew by in a blur. Lunchtime seemed to arrive in a matter of minutes, and Dakota's stomach rumbled, demanding food. She ordered takeout for herself, Marina, and Aria. They ate while working out details of the four weddings coming up that weekend.

"Each of us is going to have to oversee one wedding," Marina pointed out.

Dakota swallowed and nodded. "We'll be fine."

"Will Clay be up to it?" Aria asked, eyes wide. "Not only is he sick, but he hasn't even overseen one wedding."

It was hard not to get sucked into all the stress. Dakota took a deep breath. "He'll be here with one of us and the rest of our staff. Marina and I will take the ones off site. Everything will be fine." She smiled widely, trying to convince them, even though she wasn't entirely convinced herself. They would have to make do, and they had no other choice.

They continued brainstorming, and by the time lunch was over, everyone felt better.

"You two call back Shana and Mikaela. I've got to find out what's going on with Charlotte Pemberley."

Marina's eyes widened. "I thought her wedding wasn't for a month."

"It's not, but she still hasn't had her initial dress fitting." Dakota threw her garbage away and headed for her office. She slunk into her chair and glanced over at the desk Clay usually sat at.

As much as she needed to call Charlotte, she needed to call him more. She pulled out her phone and called him. It went to voicemail.

"Hey, this is Clay. You know what to do."

Beep.

"Hi, Clay. This is Dakota. I'm really sorry to hear you're sick. If you need anything, just let me know. Hope you feel better soon. Bye." Dakota hung up, feeling stupid. She'd wanted to say more, but wasn't sure what would be crossing the line. There was no way to say she'd been thinking of him all weekend without sounding either stalkerish or desperate.

Hopefully he wouldn't notice. She got back to work, and before she knew it, her stomach was rumbling again. As tempting as it was to power through, she knew she needed the break.

Aria and Marina were in a conference room, both typing furiously on their laptops.

"Let's call it a night," Dakota said.

Marina looked up at her, her eyes wild. "I still haven't found a place for Shana's wedding."

Dakota gave her a reassuring glance. "I'll work on it at home. You get to your family."

"Are you sure?" Marina asked.

"Of course."

"Mikaela's wedding is secured for City Hall," Aria said. "They agreed to it and I'm getting everything set up now."

"You go home, too. We've got all week to set everything up."

Dakota went home and worked in her office until she fell asleep at the keyboard. She woke up with a kink in her neck and a sore shoulder. Groaning, she rubbed both and then went upstairs to bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes.

The next few days went by in a hectic flash while Clay was still out sick. He'd left a message with Marcel, saying the doctor told him the stomach flu was going around and lasting three to five days.

On Thursday, Aria popped into Dakota's office. "Have you heard from Clay? We're going to have to figure something out if he's not going to be able to work on one of the weddings."

Dakota glanced at her phone. Still no calls or texts from him. "The doctor said it would last up to five days, right?"

Aria nodded.

"Then he should be fine by Saturday."

"You hope."

"I'll give him a call. And if he's still sick this weekend, my sister can help. She said she set the day aside in case we need anything at all."

"At least that's something." Aria slid her finger around her tablet's screen. "Okay. Just let us know what's going on when you find out."

"Will do."

Dakota turned back to her laptop, but couldn't focus on the screen. For about the billionth time, her mind wandered back to the snowy evening with Clay. Not the awkward part, but of him wrapping his arms around her and giving her those electrifying kisses.

She pulled out her phone and called him.

Voicemail again.

Either he was really sick or his phone had died.

Or he regretted the other night.

Dakota shoved that thought from her mind. He was sick, and that was all there was to the story. Logan and her mom had also gotten it and had been bedridden for days.

He probably didn't have anyone to take care of him. What if he was languishing in his apartment, dehydrated and unable to call for help?

Her heart thundered. She needed to get over there to check on him. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier?

She shut down the laptop, slid on her coat, and grabbed her purse. She ran from the building, not bothering to tell anyone where she was going. They had her number.

Dakota went to the nearest grocery store and picked up some already-prepared chicken soup, crackers, and popsicles. All the things a sick person needed.

On her way to his apartment, she noticed a cherry red motorcycle parked on the side of the road. She slowed, and sure enough, it was the familiar Ducati.

Confused, she pulled into the nearest parking spot. Which store would he be in? The only stores were a baseball card shop, a secondhand bookstore, a barbershop, and the jeweler. Maybe he was getting his hair trimmed.

She climbed out, curious.

No, he wasn't at the barber's. Was he a closet card collector? Nope, no customers in there. Just a couple bored-looking guys behind the counter.

Dakota glanced in the jeweler's window on her way to the bookstore. She froze mid-step. There Clay stood, at the counter in the section where they kept the engagement rings. She'd been in there enough times to know.

Mouth gaping, she stared at him. He stood, partially turned from her, talking to the lady behind the counter.

Her mind raced, trying to figure out why he would be there.

He turned and held up an engagement ring into the light.

That explained everything. He'd gotten back together with Lauryn. He wasn't sick. He'd been avoiding Dakota.