Page 58 of Cut The Cake

“Jenny?”

“Are you all right?”

“What’s wrong?”

The concerned chorus rose from across the room. Jenny’s shoulders slumped. The oddest sensation that someone had just pulled the rug out from under her left her unsteady on her feet. Her gaze dropped from the television to the troubled faces before her. From opposite ends of the room, Mildred and Alicia started toward her. Her movements stilted, she waved them back to their seats.

What was she supposed to say? How was she going to stand here and tell everyone that they’d wasted their time? That the wedding they’d worked so hard to pull off was nothing more than a farce? Pain stabbed her chest. It stole her breath.

She couldn’t tell them. She couldn’t explain something she hadn’t even begun to understand herself. “I—I need a minute.”

Clamping her hand over her mouth, she raced for the door. A sob escaped from between her fingers as she dashed down the hall to the ladies room. Once safely out of sight, she propped her hands on the cold porcelain. Her shoulders hunched. Tears streamed down her cheeks. They ran down her chin and splashed into the empty sink.

Had Kay intended to get married in Vegas from the beginning? Had the effort she’d poured into the wedding, the adjustments she’d made whenever Kay had changed her mind, the phone calls and the weeks of worrying over every detail been a ploy? Another part of an elaborate ruse her cousin had come up with to keep the paparazzi at bay? The idea was too painful to contemplate, and she hiccupped, unable to catch her breath.

She could hardly believe Kay had sent her here on what had amounted to a wild goose chase. It seemed ludicrous to think her cousin had spent thousands of dollars on a pretend wedding. But what else was she supposed to believe?

Why didn’t I see this coming?

But she had, hadn’t she?

She had to admit, right from the beginning, she’d had her doubts about Kay’s decision to get married in Heart’s Landing. Yet she’d gone along with the plan. Had she really been surprised when her cousin’s wedding had morphed from a small, plain wedding into an elaborate extravaganza? Slowly, she shook her head. She should have known better. Worse, she’d drawn everyone else in town into Karolyn’s scheme. Now, they’d have nothing to show for their hard work. They’d never forgive her for her role in this fiasco.

Who was she kidding? She’d never forgive herself. She pounded her fist on the counter. Metal clinked. She wrenched the fake engagement ring from her finger and stuffed it in a pocket.

No more.

Before she’d come to Heart’s Landing, she’d had a life. Sure, it hadn’t been as thrilling as her cousin’s. Maybe she hadn’t felt completely fulfilled, but she’d chosen to put her family first. She’d had a job she was good at, a roof over her head. She hadn’t had someone special to love, but she’d had hope, hope that one day she’d find her Prince Charming.

Then, Kay had sent her to America’s top wedding destination, and she’d lost everything.

From the minute she’d set foot in the town where romance coated the buildings and dripped from the eaves, she’d felt like she’d finally found her place. She’d pictured the reactions of Mildred and the twins when Kay stepped out of her limo and thanked them personally for helping to plan her wedding. They’d have been thrilled. She’d seen herself working beside Alicia at the Captain’s Cottage, helping other brides have their special day. She’d imagined what it’d be like to buy a quaint little house of her own, to build her future in Heart’s Landing. She’d fallen in love with Nick.

But then, her dreams, like her heart, had shattered. Because, despite everything—the promises, the planning, the hours people had poured into her wedding, the expense—Kay had done the unthinkable. She’d betrayed them all.

Me, most of all.

She’d never be able to go back to L.A., never be able to work for her cousin again. Not after this. As for her dream of putting down roots in the town she’d come to think of as home, that had been crushed, too. Once her new friends realized they’d wasted weeks preparing for a wedding that wasn’t going to take place—and that she’d been lying to them from the moment they’d met—they’d never forgive her. Alicia would withdraw her job offer.

As for Nick … she might as well face it. She’d given her heart to a man who didn’t love her in return. Whatever small hope she had of rekindling their friendship, it had died the instant Karolyn and Chad had said, “I do.”

Worst of all, she had no one to blame for her crumbling hopes but herself. It was all her fault. She’d known from the beginning that Karolyn’s plans for a simple wedding were doomed to failure. Yet she’d gone along, rolled with every change, kept her cousin’s huge secret the entire time. In the end, she’d ruined everything and lost her one chance for friendship. For happiness. For love.

She closed her eyes. Her legs buckled, and she collapsed to the floor. More tears seeped through her lids and slid down her cheeks.

Nick was on his feet before Jenny made it to the door. “I have no idea what’s wrong,” he said, answering the unspoken question that circulated throughout the room. “But I’ll find out. Trust me.”

Questions, each more troubling than the last, raced through his mind as he hustled down the hall in search of the woman who’d handed him his walking papers. Had she suddenly fallen ill? Had something on the evening news upset her? Had her fiancé called off the wedding?

He gave himself a swift chewing out for the thrill of hope that passed through him at that last one. He was resigned to the fact that they could never be more than friends. And what kind of friend wished her fiancé had practically left her at the altar? Not a good one, he admitted.

Besides, it hadn’t happened. He might have pitched in like everyone else who’d rushed to Jenny’s aid this evening, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself from watching her every move. She hadn’t received a single call, hadn’t received any startling messages. There’d been nothing of note on the television other than the announcement that some celebrity had gotten married. No big deal.

He’d have sworn everything was perfectly fine up until a few minutes ago. With their help, Jenny had finished the gift bags in record time. She’d shown her gratitude by having Bow Tie Pasta deliver enough food for two armies. Then she’d stood, no doubt intending to thank everyone for coming out tonight. Not that she needed to. They’d fallen in love with the timid bride who’d gone from wishy-washy to certain in a matter of weeks. Even him.

Especially him.

But if she hadn’t received bad news, what had upset her? Unable to figure it out on his own, he knocked on the door to the ladies’ room. “Jenny?”

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