Pink Champagne Read online

  Chapter 1

  Quenby paced back and forth, her white heels clicking against the wooden floor. Macon and Indigo kept trying to get her to stand still so they could pin on her veil, but she wasn’t having it.

  She was dressed the part, but no longer sure there was going to be a wedding. Macon had done Quenby’s hair up in a French roll, topped with a tiara, but her veil lay on a nearby table. Her friends had given up on trying to pin it on her for the moment.

  “At least I know what I’m getting with him.” She knew she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince them, but she didn’t care. “Guys cheat. It’s what they do. He would never leave me. He hasn’t so far.” Besides, he was financially stable, intellectual, and dependable—other than the cheating thing.

  “Yeah.” Indigo, her maid of honor, snorted. “I guess that’s true. He didn’t leave you the first time or the second, or…what number is Lisa? Fourth? Fifth? Tenth?”

  “Please,” Quenby said. “There have not been ten.” Her gown had a tight bodice glittering with rhinestones. The skirt billowed out around her. She had to lift it up in both hands to keep from tripping over it as she paced back and forth across the room.

  “I don’t know why you’re doing this to yourself, Quen. You’re so much better than him.” Macon, Quenby’s friend from her college field hockey team, threw up her hands. She wore her wavy brown hair loose down her back and her red, strapless gown showed off her tanned shoulders. Macon was one of Quenby’s bridesmaids. Or she would be if the wedding happened.

  She wouldn’t cry and ruin her makeup. The warm tones Indigo had blended on her face and that went so well with her reddish brown skin were too perfect for her to mess up with her stupid tears.

  “He was late. To his own wedding. And now he’s standing out there all smug,” Quenby muttered.

  “What was that?” Indigo perked up. “Was that the sound of you coming to your senses?”

  “Not everybody has a marriage based on monogamy. What about swingers?” She never stopped pacing as she spoke.

  Indigo shook her head, the small diamond stud in her nose flashing in the sunlight. “That’s crazy talk. It’s hard enough for me to be here for this without you talking crazy talk.”

  The song changed. Indigo and Macon looked at each other as if they were attending a funeral instead of a wedding.

  “That’s our cue, I guess,” Indigo said. She lingered as if hoping Quenby would tell her not to take that cue.

  “Last chance, Quen,” Macon said.

  Quenby nodded, waving them out of the door. “It’s fine. Really.” She watched them walk out of the double doors with the other bridesmaid. The three of them let the doors close after them.

  She’d just found out Derek spent the night with some woman named Lisa after his bachelor party. Adia had caught them and told Quenby. Adia had been too disgusted to show up at the wedding that day. Hypocrite.

  When the wedding march came on, Quenby walked out of the dressing room and woodenly took her father’s arm. She plastered on a smile for her dad who was completely in the dark about Derek’s indiscretions. Her dad already treated Derek like a son.

  He led her down the aisle to her groom. She felt so cheated that she couldn’t enjoy the sight of him. Broad shoulders under his black tux. Auburn hair cut close. Green eyes twinkling at her. Looking like he could do no wrong.

  Her friends thought she was blind to all his wrongdoing. At least she knew what she was getting with Derek. He was handsome, smart, and he had a great job. And guys were going to cheat. That was the way it was. Her mom and dad had gone through their ugly days when her dad was younger and couldn’t keep his eyes or hands to himself. Derek would probably grow out of it, too. Just like her dad.

  She kept telling herself this as her dad gave her away and Derek smiled into her face. It was that smile that started undoing her resolve. Then he mouthed ‘I love you’ to her while the preacher was rambling away. She couldn’t concentrate on the preacher’s words because a sick feeling of rage and humiliation came over her in that moment. Derek really thought she was an idiot. He could at least acknowledge that she knew what the situation was as well as he did.

  She glanced behind her. Indigo gave her a look that clearly said, “don’t do it.” Macon didn’t look much happier.

  When the preacher asked if anybody had any objections, Quenby found herself saying, “I do.”

  “No, honey. Not yet,” Derek said. Murmurs of laughter followed his statement. She had to turn away from his stupid grin before she slapped it off his face.

  She looked out into the congregation. What would she say to those people? The groom was a whore? Sorry and thank you for coming?

  “No, Derek. I can’t do this,” she said. The church went dead silent.

  The smile faded from his face. “Can’t do what?”

  Quenby stumbled backward a step and felt Indigo’s hand close over hers. Clearing her throat, she continued in a loud, steady voice. “I’m not marrying you.”

  Macon stepped forward to make a quick, impromptu speech to the guests. Indigo, Derek, and Quenby stepped into an alcove behind the altar.

  “You’re not—what? Why?” He looked genuinely confused. How was that possible? Then again, knowing the size of his ego, how could she ask that?

  “You know why,” Quenby hissed.

  “Quenby, this is not the time or the place,” he said from behind that fake grin.

  Indigo threw down her bouquet. “Don’t you dare talk about the time or the place now.” She stepped between him and Quenby said in a hushed yet angry tone, “You weren’t thinking about all that last night.”

  “I’m talking to Quenby.” Derek lost the fake smile and craned his neck to look Quenby in the eyes.

  “What did you just say to me?” Indigo barked.

  “No, you’re not,” Quenby said. “I’m done with you.”

  “What the—you can’t just—I mean, there are people from my company here.” He shook his head. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “No, it’s what you got into, not me. Lisa ring a bell?”

  Derek groaned and rolled his eyes. “Fucking Adia.”

  “Don’t you dare talk about my friend like that.”

  “Like your friend has room to talk.” Derek darted a glance at Macon’s back.

  “At least he’s honest about the way he is.” Quenby didn’t agree with what Adia had done, but she was certainly going to defend him to this creep she’d almost married.

  “Geez, I thought the two of you weren’t even talking anymore after what he did to Macon.”

  “So that made it safe for you to do your dirt, huh?” Quenby sneered at him.

  “Quenby, let’s just talk this out. Don’t do this. Don’t throw us away.”

  “I’m not the one who did the throwing.”

  “I love you.”

  “Don’t you say that. After all the chances I gave you.” Quenby’s voice was oddly flat. Then, she screamed. “Don’t you say that shit!”

  “Do you have to be so loud?” he asked, putting his hands up. “Calm down.”

  Some of the guests who were leaving the church turned and looked over their shoulders to see what all the commotion was. Derek assured them everything was fine.

  “Okay. You’ve done enough damage. Why don’t you just go?” Indigo said.

  Derek said, “Again. This is between me and Quenby.” He glared at Indigo.

  “Don’t talk to her like that.” Quenby shook her head. “And don’t you mean it’s between me, Lisa, and you?”

  “Why now? You could’ve let me know something before we got up in front of all of these people.”

  “That’s all that matters to you, huh? Appearances.”

 
“Okay, I’m done.” He shook his head and threw her a disgusted look. “You want me gone? I’m gone.” He started to walk away.

  “Good riddance,” Quenby said even though part of her still wondered if she’d made the right decision. Just a tiny, stupid part. They’d been together for five years, since her sophomore year of college, so it was kind of hard to ignore that nagging bit of doubt.

  He stopped and turned around. “And you know what else? It got boring in the bedroom at the end. Better the next guy than me.”

  Quenby’s mouth dropped open in shock. Indigo started to step forward, but Quenby held her back. This was Quenby’s fight.

  “I’m done. Through with your lying and cheating forever,” Quenby said. She clenched her teeth.

  “You’ll be sorry. I won’t,” Derek said. He headed for the back door to the church. Quenby looked all around, but there was nothing handy to throw at him. She took off her heels and aimed them at him. Two perfect shots caught him in the back of his head. He grabbed the base of his neck, yowling from shock, pain, or both. He turned, offered her some choice words, and walked out of the church between his mother and best man.

  “Quen,” Indigo said softly, taking her by the arm. She and Macon led Quenby back to her makeshift dressing room. Quenby sagged against her friends, emotionally eviscerated, letting them drag her behind the doors. She leaned against a wall before sliding down it until she was in a sitting position. She then sprawled out on the floor.

  Macon called out, “Your dress!”

  Quenby ignored her.

  Indigo pulled up the top of her red, satin dress. “You know you made the right decision.”

  Macon said, “Quenby, say something, anything, just so we know you’re not in shock.”

  “That bastard,” she murmured.

  Her friends had to agree.

  Chapter 2

  Caleb let out a low whistle as the last of the guests filtered out of the back of the church. It’d been quite a shindig already, and apparently there was more to come. Before everyone left, one of Macon’s friends had made an announcement that everyone should still head over to the reception site for a party. As they left the church, some people muttered about how they couldn’t wait to see what kind of party it was going to be after what happened.

  As he was leaving, one man said, “All I know, and all I need to know, is there’s going to be booze.”

  Caleb watched Macon dash down the aisle to where he lounged in the last pew. Her brown hair bounced against her shoulders as she ran, and her blue eyes were wide and frantic looking. She braced her hands against the back of the pew in front of him and leaned over it. “I’m gonna stay here a while longer and ride over to the community center with Indigo.”

  “What about your friend?” he asked. “The, uh, bride.” Should he still call her that?

  “She’s riding over with her mom and Talitha,” Macon said. “You have a piece of paper or anything? And a pen?”

  “I have my phone.” He pulled it out of his pocket. “Why?”

  “Good, put this address in your GPS. It’s for the place where the reception’s going to be held. It’s the community center in a subdivision near here.” She blew a puff of air upward, temporarily lifting her bangs from her forehead. “I’ll meet you over there.”

  “Go ahead,” he said after pulling up the GPS on his phone. She rattled off an address, and he typed it in.

  The woman who’d made the announcement about the party earlier appeared from behind a door at the other end of the church. She said, “Macon, what’s taking you so long? We need you back here.”

  “Gotta go, thanks, bye.” With that, she was gone, jogging down the aisle. The carpet muted the sounds her heels made as they thumped the floor.

  Caleb looked down at his phone, flipping it back and forth between his hands. Macon hadn’t mentioned anything about the bride being such a looker. Then again, why would she have? The woman was supposed to have been taken. But she wasn’t. A good thing because the groom had been a real jerk. For that and…maybe other reasons…he was glad she remained single.

  Quenby. He was pretty sure that was her name. He’d never heard of her until a few days ago when Macon decided to drag him on a plane and all the way to Virginia to be her wedding date after her original date backed out at the last minute. She claimed she couldn’t go up there without a date in case Adia showed at the wedding.

  He could’ve gone sailing with his dad and brother that weekend, but there’d be plenty other weekends for that. It was good to get away sometimes. Besides, Caleb was all for doing his part to keep distance between his cousin and Adia. And he’d never been to Virginia before that weekend. Tagging along had been the right decision for more reasons than one. He thought of the one glimpse he’d gotten of the bride’s face when she’d turned around and told them there would be no wedding. Angry, scared, or maybe both, but still beautiful. She’d made him forget all about whatever it was he’d been checking on his phone.

  Good thing she was all the way up here in Virginia and he lived in Georgia. That kind of beauty could make him forget about his strike against relationships. And that was not the kind of thing it would be smart to forget. Like he told his mama every time she started hinting around about who was eligible and whose daughter needed a date to her niece’s debutante ball and all that other nonsense, women were nothing but trouble. He planned on steering clear of them for awhile. Well actually, he told Mama he was “focusing on his studies.” Mama Fletcher-Smith didn’t tolerate insubordination, after all, and he avoided picking a fight with that woman when at all possible.

  He stood, stretched, and checked his pocket to make sure the key for the rental car was still there. After taking a last look around, he walked out of the glass door at the back of the church. Blinking against the late afternoon sunshine, he looked toward the parking lot at the side of the church. It was almost empty now, but a few people stood in groups, talking and laughing.

  Time to get over to the community center. With any luck, he would at least get to meet this Quenby. After all, looking never hurt anyone, and he sure enjoyed looking at her.

  He followed the GPS lady’s instructions to a subdivision a few miles away from the church. A concrete sign with brick pillars on either side of it was on his right as he turned onto the road that led into the community. Harper’s Row was written on the sign in large, burgundy script.

  He drove slowly past the cookie-cutter, two story, Colonial style houses. Spying a small parking lot in front of a square, brick building at the back of the subdivision, he pulled in and parked. He got out of the car and hit the “lock” button on the remote. He looked around at the few cars scattered in the parking lot. He didn’t know anybody, and it was going to be kind of hard to just blend in with the crowd with so few people there. He had two options: go inside and shuffle around, making small talk with strangers until Macon showed up or wander around outside for a while.

  Option two seemed more appealing. He preferred being outdoors whenever possible. He started whistling the melody to a song that kept coming on the radio recently—he couldn’t remember the name of it, but it seemed like that song was everywhere those days—and headed for the back of the building.

  He almost collided with a woman coming out of the building. She wore what seemed to be a caterer’s uniform—black pants, a white blouse, and a black vest and bowtie. She was barking into her phone while tugging at her hair and seemed not to notice him at first.

  “Whoa. Sorry about that,” he said, grabbing her shoulder to steady her.

  She seemed annoyed until she looked up at his face. Then she smiled. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Can I help you with anything?” he asked. She seemed pretty stressed out.

  “We’ve got it under control.” She nodded to a white van at the other end of the parking lot. Two people dressed similarly to her were shouting at each other and struggling with a stainless steel chafer.

  “You sure abo
ut that?” he asked as one of them almost dropped an end of the chafer.

  She looked over at the two and rolled her eyes. “Temps. Hard to find good help on short notice, you know?”

  “I really don’t mind helping.”

  “I can’t put a guest to work,” she said, turning her adoring gaze back to him.

  He nodded in the direction of the two catering staff members. “Let’s get over there before somebody gets hurt.”

  “Okay.” She laughed.

  He led the way over to the van while asking her about the catering company. He was only casually interested in her answers until she told him the company was owned by Quenby’s mother.

  Chapter 3

  Her mother had asked her almost daily if she was sure about the pink champagne. Each time, Quenby said yes. She didn’t care if it wasn’t “traditional” or what her mother considered “wedding appropriate.” Quenby had to have it.

  She and her friends turned the reception into a Freedom Party. Quenby wasn’t letting a good party go to waste. Her friends had asked a thousand times if she was sure. They seemed to think maybe she needed to go home and let the shock wear off or something. There was no shock. She was fine. Going home and sulking would mean that Derek had won. No way was she letting that happen.

  Indigo made the announcement about the Freedom Party at the church to everyone still there after the debacle. She told them the wedding was off, but they were invited to Quenby’s bash. Quenby had taken her hair down so that it fell over her shoulders in soft curls. She’d changed into the dress she’d bought for after the reception—a sleek, black number that showed off the shoulders she and the personal trainer at her gym worked so hard on—and headed over to the Freedom Party with her mom and Talitha.

  Her mom disappeared as soon as they got there—she’d probably gone to yell at her caterers for something. She did that when she was stressed out.

  Macon and Indigo came up to her and Talitha soon after they walked in the door of the community building. They seemed to come from nowhere. Quenby poured herself a glass of pink champagne while they peppered her with questions.