Page 40 of Her Braun
“Doctor. McMichael. Macmillan?”
She’d said the words separately to make sure that she had them right.
His smile was almost ear to ear. “That’s right.”
“So… is that hyphenated?”
The second his smile fell she knew that she’d picked the wrong thing to say.
“No,” he scolded, “those are my names. McMichael and Macmillan.”
“Oh.” She knew her brows were likely hidden by her bangs the way they shot up at his confirmation. “That’s unique.”
He smiled again and she gave a silent sigh of relief.
She let out a breath and smiled hoping to lighten her own mood. “I had a classmate in college who was named David Davidson.”
His smile froze on his face and his expression reminded her of that old twirling beachball on computer screens when a program was loading.
‘Boy,’ she groaned inwardly, ‘I really need some alcohol.’
Gibson stepped into the bar for a bit of a respite. He'd enjoyed Taylor's wedding in the ballroom, and he'd gone upstairs to the reception while the newlywed couple and the others in the wedding party had gone to take pictures, he'd milled around the restaurant and talked to random people. Small talk. Honestly, he didn't want to spend a lot of time sitting in his assigned seat because there was an empty chair beside his, reserved for his date.
He'd told Taylor he was coming by himself, but his friend, being madly in love, had left the seat open just in case.
Taylor had been his childhood friend and while many of the other boys he'd played with had all moved on to other friends through the years, he and Taylor had stuck together.
Taylor had even asked him to be a part of the wedding party as a groomsman, but Gibson had had to say no. Being a firefighter meant that his schedule was always dicey. Being a lieutenant meant that it was harder to get someone to take over his shifts when he did try to get off at the last minute.
And Taylor and his fiancée had put the wedding together in a few weeks.
It didn't hurt that Emily had been planning her wedding since she was a little girl, so she had a whole book of pictures of everything from flowers to shoes and make-up to rings.
There was no stone left unturned for the wedding and between the vast fortunes of the groom and the bride's families, they didn't have to skimp or go without. The event space wasfestooned in flowers and different kinds of expensive fabrics. And those… twinkling light strings, like the ones that people used in college dorm rooms, but these were fancier.
And the food! Well, he couldn’t complain about that. The thick steaks, fancy baked potatoes, and multi-colored carrots drowning in herb butter. That had been amazing, and he would have eaten more if he’d been allowed to eat in peace.
But the single women in the bridal party had taken it upon themselves to make sure that he wasn’t lacking for conversation.
It would have been great if the food had been lacking, but really, he just wanted to eat and enjoy the music.
Instead, he’d bowed out of the dessert course to take a walk around the hotel. He hoped that while he was gone, the bridesmaids would find other ways to pass their time and he could get a chance to talk to his friend before he left for the bridal suite to change for the start of his honeymoon in Majorca, Spain.
One of the bridesmaids had gushed about it as if she was the one going on the trip. Wishing aloud with her eyes sparkling with dreams that she would have a honeymoon half as grand.
Gibson hadn't said much while she was talking. He'd listened in and nodded, interjecting some words and sounds that hopefully proved that he was listening, but if she was looking at him as a possibility to make that dream come true. She'd be disappointed in him.
He worked for the Center City Fire Department, he explained to her and the fact that he did construction as a side-gig to earn money, too.
That seemed to sour her on his presence.
He didn't hide the fact that he was Taylor's 'poor' friend.
She'd looked at him as if he might be joking, but he made it clear that he wasn't anywhere near Taylor or his bride in the financial sense.
Their families weren't just high-priced lawyer rich.
Socialite rich.
