Marry Me (19 page)

The day of Noelle Robinson's wedding turned out to be picture perfect, with a sky so blue it almost hurt to look at it. Only a few puffy, white clouds marred the perfection. Julia took this as a good sign.

Julia had spent a lovely morning with Roger at the country club. This time she'd brought Amy along, and sure enough, the stiff-necked manager melted like a wax candle under her cavity-producing sweetness.

Once things looked well in hand, Julia left Amy in charge and headed over to Seth's church, where Betsy was herding the wedding party. Julia hadn't heard about any catastrophes from that end, so she could only assume everything was going according to plan. At least she hoped so. She knew for a fact that every groomsman and bridesmaid had been present and accounted for at the rehearsal last night.

At the church, she found a parking space, jumped out and sprinted for the stairs. She had a hand on the door when someone called her name. She turned and saw a dark-haired man hurrying up the steps behind her. She recognized him as the brother of the groom. He was dressed in boxer shorts and a tuxedo shirt. Something about the odd attire caused her whole body to tense.

“Hi,” Julia said. “Michael, right? Groom's brother?”

“Yeah, but right now I wish he wasn't,” he said through clenched teeth.

Oh, that look is not good. Not good at all.
“Why?”

Instead of answering, he held out a folded piece of paper. Julia stared at the sheet as if it were a rattlesnake coiled and waiting to strike. “What's that?”

Michael's eyes turned black with rage. “It's the reason I'm ready to disown my baby brother.”

Every organ in her entire body constricted. “Please tell me that's not what I think it is.”

“Sorry.”

Her hands started shaking. “He's not coming, is he?”

“No.”

I'm gonna' pass out.
“What happened? He seemed fine last night. Nervous, but okay.”

“He took off while I was in the shower. I came out and found this on the dresser.”

“Where's he gone?”

“To find himself apparently,” Michael said, lips compressing into a thin, white line. “He claims he doesn't love Noelle anymore, and that he's not ready to settle down.”

A bitter laugh escaped her. “Right. That's always a good excuse. Did he take someone with him on this journey of exploration?”

Michael winced in answer.

“At least tell me it's not a friend or relative.”

After another long hesitation, he cleared his throat. “One of the bridesmaids.”

Unbelievable. “Typical. And no one knows yet?”

“No.”

“Great,” she said, through gritted teeth. “Do you want to do the honors?”

Now
he
looked ready to pass out. “I don't think—”

“Never mind,” she said, grabbing the note. “I'll go, but I need you to call the country club and get Amy Vining on the phone. Tell her to stop everything and get over here. I'm going to need her to start making phone calls.”

Michael looked like he was about throw up, but he nodded. “All right.”

The walk to the bride's room was the longest of her life. As Julia entered the church, the first person she saw was Seth coming out of the sanctuary.

“Hi, Julia.” He took one look at her face and stopped dead. “Are you all right?”

“No.”

“What's wrong?” he asked, reaching her side in two steps.

The words wouldn't even come yet. “Could you come with me?” she asked. “I have a feeling you might be needed.”

Alarm flitted across his face. “Has someone been hurt? Doug?”

Wordlessly, she waved the piece of paper in her hand.

A harsh breath hissed through his teeth. “Oh…”

They both started down the hall.

Betsy spotted them first, and her face lit up. “Hi, Julia! Everything is right on schedule. Noelle is almost dressed. Everything fits, by the way. The photographer should be ready to go in about fifteen minutes.”

Julia held up a hand. “Betsy, I need you to do something.”

“What?”

“Start calling people and tell them not to come. There's not going to be a wedding today.”

“What? But why?”

Julia waved the little white flag again.

The color instantly drained from Betsy's face. “Oh, no. Oh, poor Noelle.”

“Yeah, and I've got to go in there and tell her.”

“I'll go start making calls,” Betsy said.

The bride's room was once again a scene of chaos and confusion. Five women in maroon halter dresses performed a madcap ballet as they finished preparations. Noelle Robinson was today's prima ballerina. She was already in her wedding gown. The pure, white dress had little, puffy sleeves, a demure, sweetheart neckline, a fitted waist and a full skirt embellished with what looked like a million tiny pearls.

She looked like one of those figurines you'd see on top of the wedding cake. All at once Julia realized she was about to dash this young woman's dreams.

Seth stepped closer and settled his hands on her shoulders. “Do you want me to tell them?”

“No, I'll do it.” She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “I need to speak to Noelle. Alone.”

Noelle giggled. “What? Has my father forgotten to pay a bill?”

Julia searched the room until she found Noelle's mother and silently pleaded for help. Mrs. Robinson took one look at Julia's face and immediately started herding everyone else out.

Once the room was clear, Mrs. Robinson turned. “Okay. Why don't you tell us what's going on?”

For the first time Noelle started to look concerned. “Has something happened to Doug?” Her eyes widened. “There's been an accident! Has he been hurt?”

“Not exactly.”

Mrs. Robinson was no dummy. Her jaw tightened, and a mother-bear expression entered her eyes. “Where is Doug?”

Julia started to sweat. Why, oh why had she let herself get stuck with this job? “I don't know how to tell you this other than to just say it. Doug won't be coming today.”

“What do you mean, he's not coming?” Noelle asked.

“He's left town. I'm sorry.”

“That can't be,” Noelle said, shaking her head, as if she couldn't have heard right. “He said last night… he told me how happy he was. There must be some mistake.”

“I wish there was.”

Julia held out Doug's note, but Noelle only stared at it.

Mrs. Robinson wasn't so reticent. She snatched the paper, unfolded it and quickly skimmed over the words. Her lips pursed. “It's true honey. He's decided he can't get married right now.”

Noelle giggled with relief. “Oh, so it's cold feet. If that's all, we can wait.”

“I don't think waiting will help,” Mrs. Robinson said.

Noelle's cheeks paled. “Is there something else in his note? Something besides him having cold feet?”

Mrs. Robinson raised anguished eyes to her daughter. “Oh, Noelle…”

What remained of the softness disappeared from Noelle's face. “Let me see.”

“Honey, trust me. It's best if you let it go.”

“Mother, give it to me,” Noelle said, holding out her hand.

Without another word, Mrs. Robinson handed over the paper.

“He's run away,” Noelle said in disbelief. “With Carrie. He ran away with my best friend. How can that be? She's been here all day.”

“Actually, she forgot her necklace at home, so she left to go get it,” Mrs. Robinson said. “That must have been about forty minutes ago. I didn't even notice she hadn't come back.”

Noelle folded the note again in precise lines, focusing on the task rather than the occupants of the room. “How could Carrie do this? And Doug? Why didn't he tell me?”

Mrs. Robinson choked back tears. “I don't know.”

Noelle finally looked up at Julia, with an almost unnatural calm “What do we do now?”

“I've already told Betsy and Amy to start calling the guests,” Julia said. “Amy will tell the country club staff and the caterer to hold off.”

“But what should I do?”

“I think you should take all the time you need in here to let this sink in. I'll tell everyone outside to go home, so you don't have to answer any questions right now.”

“All right.” Noelle released a long, slow exhale. “Do you think I could be alone?”

Mrs. Robinson was crying openly now. “Noelle, I don't think that's a good idea.”

“Just for a minute, Mom,” Noelle said, keeping her eyes trained on Julia.

Mrs. Robinson sighed. “Okay, honey. I need to call your father and tell him what's happened.”

Seth gave Noelle a hug before he left. “I'm here if you need to talk to someone.”

“Thank you, Pastor Graham.”

Julia started to follow Seth out of the room, but Noelle called out. “Miss Richardson?”

“Yes?”

“Could you stay with me?”

“Wouldn't you be better off with your mother or a friend?” Julia asked. “Or I can call Seth back?”

“My best friend ran off with my fiancé. I'm not too keen on friends right now,” Noelle said. “Or men. Even ones who are ministers. Plus, I think if I look at my mother right now, I'll lose it completely.”

Julia shut the door and stood in front of it, unsure what to do.

“Could you help me out of this dress?” Noelle asked, her voice still sounding calm. “I can't bear to wear it another minute.”

“Of course.”

Despite the row of tiny pearl buttons, the gown had a zipper. Julia lowered the fastening, and the dress slid to the floor in a silken heap. Underneath was a bustle. She untied the string at the waist, and yards of crinoline landed on top of the gown. Noelle stepped out of the garments and walked across the room.

Julia leaned over to pick everything up, but Noelle waved a hand. “Leave everything there for now.”

Noelle grabbed a canvas bag from the corner and pulled out jeans and a button down shirt. After she was dressed, she sank onto the settee with a weary sigh. “Carrie and Doug. How could I have missed that?”

Julia chose a chair next to the door and sat down. “I'm sure you didn't want to see it. You loved Doug and trusted him. You trusted them both.”

“Carrie dated Doug in high school. They were even king and queen of the prom, but she broke it off when they went away to college. She wanted to date other guys, you know?”

“That's not unusual.”

“I never looked at Doug until a couple years ago. Even then I felt guilty somehow. Like I was betraying Carrie.”

“How did she feel about you dating her ex-boyfriend?”

“She made good on her vow to date other guys. She stayed away after college. Got a job in Dallas. I talked to her about Doug, and she said she was happy for me. Then she moved back six months ago.”

“Did she come home for him?”

“She told me no. She just wanted to reconnect to her small-town roots.” Noelle blew out a harsh breath. “Stupid me.”

“You're not stupid, Noelle. You trusted them, and they let you down. People do that all the time unfortunately.”

The tears Noelle has held back earlier filled her eyes. “I feel like such a fool.”

“You're not a fool either.”

“I was. A fool to think someone as wonderful as Doug could ever love me.”

“Okay, first off, Doug wouldn't rate as wonderful in my book. He's a jerk. A cowardly one at that. He let you prepare for this day, knowing he wasn't going to go through with it. He arranged it so you would have to face this humiliation on your own.”

“I guess you're rig—”

“I'm not done yet.”

Noelle blinked at the blunt tone. “Okay.”

Julia got up and started pacing. “Where was I? Oh, right. Secondly, you're better off knowing this now, rather than figuring it out years from now when you're stuck with a husband who doesn't love you and kids to disappoint. This may hurt, but trust me, ending a marriage — or staying in one that's a lie — is the most painful thing you can imagine.”

“Have you been divorced or something?”

“No, but I lived through my parents' endless string of marriages. I know what can happen when you marry the wrong person and then have to tear the marriage apart. It leaves scars that never quite heal.”

Noelle wiped a hand across her cheek as a wobbly chuckle escaped. “So, you're saying I should be thanking him?”

Julia's mouth curved. “Maybe not today. Right now he's an unmitigated — uhh, jerk.”

“It still hurts though.”

“Of course it does.”

“I had so many dreams. I already knew what our kids would look like.”

“You can still have dreams. They'll be different than what you imagined, that's all.”

“Do you think I'll find the one for me?”

How do I answer that, when I'm not sure “the one” concept has any basis in reality?

“I'm probably not the best person to ask,” Julia said. “I'm a cynic myself. All those scars, you know. The longest relationship I ever had lasted all of six months.”

“Oh,” she whispered.

I'm the worst counselor of all time. I should have lied.
“Look, I assume you're a churchgoer, right? You wouldn't be getting married in one if you weren't.”

“I grew up in this church.”

“If there's one thing I've heard since I got here, it's that everything happens for a reason. Do you believe that?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, then you've got to believe that He has a purpose for this. He has a plan for you, and if you're meant to have a husband and family, He'll bring them to you when the time is right.”

Noelle took a deep breath and managed a real smile. “Thank you for reminding me of that.”