Page 15 of Beached Wedding

Nope. Not the time or place, sport. Definitely not the woman.

I turned my back on the tub and glanced into a shower big enough for a family of five plus a shaggy dog. There was a bench along the back with a retractable clothes line above it. Three different showerheads offered the full carwash experience.

Lots of room for?—

Where the hell was this coming from? I was definitely in recovery mode if I was thinking about sex, butno.

“Okay, this is weird.” The shower was enclosed by an oversized barn door of frosted glass on rollers. It either closed off the shower or the adjacent toilet stall, but not both. “Nothing says honeymoon like watching your partner take a dump. Am I right?”

I leaned to glance at her through the opening over the tub.

“Finally, a silver lining to having my wedding called off.” She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them.

I came out of the bathroom. “Sandy went looking for you at your mom’s villa. She feels terrible.”

“It’s not her fault.”

“No.” They hadn’t blamed me, either. I wished they had. I wanted to be punished.

“They’re so nice. I wanted to be part of their family from the first time I met them.”

“Same,” I said, meaning it. I loved my foster parents, but their marriage had fallen apart years ago, leaving it in two pieces on either side of the Pacific. Shane’s family was broken, too, but there was a lot of glue in the form of love. In the way Sandy poured it over everyone, especially Shane’s friends.

I moved to the night table and plucked a tissue out of the box, handed it to her.

Ashley eyed me as though considering my comment, then blew her nose. She discarded it off the bed where a handful were already balled up on the carpet. She took a fresh one and used it to dry her eyes and cheeks and down along her jaw into her throat.

“How did your mom take it?” I asked.

She flinched. Shrugged and muttered, “She told me so.”

“What does that mean?”

“That she knew it wouldn’t work out. You weren’t the only one who didn’t believe he loved me.”

“Ash.” I sat on the edge of the bed so my hip was near her bare feet. I had an urge to bracelet her ankle with my hand. It was mostly coming from a place of wanting to offer comfort, but rubbing a woman’s leg, even if it was her shinbone, and even if you were friends, might come across as a pass. Especially when she was in such a bad place.

Her skin always looked incredible, though. Soft and smooth and tanned. My palm itched. I shifted so that I was sitting more with my back to her. I hung my hands between my knees andrubbed my palms together to erase the prickling sensation in them.

“I haven’t even told the hotel yet. I just wanted to be alone. Then I came up here and got hit in the face with this...surprise pity party.” She threw the handful of rose petals into the air. “I don’t know what to do, Fox.” She hugged her knees again and set her cheek atop them. “I have a flight booked to Australia in five days. Do I get on it? Go back to Canada? What?”

“It’s a lot,” I agreed. “Do you want me to talk to the hotel for you? They probably have a protocol for this.” I wondered how often weddings were called off. I suspected most people went through with it once they got this far, even if they knew it was a terrible idea. My foster parents had, mostly because they’d been saddled with me.

“Are you going to change your flight and go back right away?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I was going to get some sleep before I made any decisions.” The far side of the bed called to me, drunken swans, crushed rose petals, and all.

“I guess I’ll pack and go to the villa. Whitney wants to stay.” Ashley sighed. “Mom’s never had a proper vacation and she already paid for the groceries. She won’t let them go to waste. She won’t let me hear the end of what a bust this has been, though. What are Eddie and Sandy going to do?”

“I didn’t ask, but they’re traveling by cruise ship. I expect they’ll stay as planned.”

Her sigh was heavy and deeply sad.

“Listen. Stay here.” I wound up with my hand on top of her foot as the words impulsively left my mouth. “I’ll square it up with Shane when I get back. It’s the least we can do.”

“Don’t feelsorryfor me.”

“I don’t. Well, it’s guilty conscience, for sure.” I rubbed the top of her foot.

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