Page 2 of And the Best Man Ran Away With the Groom

“WHAT?!”Alastor shouts, loud enough for a few people to turn curious heads in our direction. “That fucking shit!Doesn’t even have the balls to do it himself!”

I wince at the vehement anger in Alastor’s voice but know that it’s completely justified.

Xavier just stares at me, completely frozen, his already pale face seeming to have drained of even more colour. Even his normally bright blue eyes look dimmer. That makes me feel even worse than Alastor’s outrage.

“Did he say why?” Xavier asks, finally finding his voice.

“He just said he couldn’t go through with it, and that he’s sorry. He said if he saw you he’d end up marrying you just because he wouldn’t want to let you down, but that wouldn’t be right.”

Okay, so I may have ad-libbed a bit there but if it can help Xavier feel just slightly better it’ll be worth it.

Xavier nods, swallowing hard. “Right.”

“There is a bright side, though,” I say, offering an encouraging smile.

“Yeah, what’s that?” Xavier asks sceptically.

I jerk my thumb in the direction of the winery’s restaurant, where the reception is due to take place in about half an hour. “There’s an open bar right there.”

Despite the cancelled nuptials,the reception is still going ahead. The consensus seems to be that seeing as how it’s all been paid for, there’s no point wasting all that perfectly good food and grog. I have to admit, I admire Xavier for sticking around and putting up with all the people fussing over him and offering their sympathies as though they’re at a wake rather than a wedding. The poor guy looks like he’d prefer for the earth to open up and swallow him whole.

“I’m not sure if we should be here. It doesn’t seem right.” I turn to see Jack’s mum, Linh, standing with my mum, my sister, Alicia, and Jack’s sister, Hannah. Linh looks almost as bleak as Xavier as she glances around fretfully at the other guests, who seem to be giving our little party a wide berth.

“You mean because your son’s a total fuckwit who ran out on his own wedding?” Hannah asks in a mockingly sweet tone.

Linh offers her daughter a disapproving look. “Hannah, do not talk about your brother like that.”

Hannah just shrugs. “He deserves it.”

“Of course, you should stay,” Mum says gently, patting Linh on the shoulder. “You’ve been planning this for months. You should try to enjoy it.”

“If anyone should leave, it’s Trent,” Alicia says. “He’s the one who let Jack escape.”

I roll my eyes. “What was I supposed to do? Bind and gag him and frog march him down the aisle?”

Our conversation comes to an end as the music stops and the hubbub around us indicates it’s time for the speeches.

“Oh god, they’re not actually still doing the speeches are they?” Hannah whispers, a little louder than I think she’d intended.

“Trent, do you have to do one?” Mum asks me.

“I don’t think that’d be appropriate,” I tell her.

“Not unless you want to give the whole crowd a recap of how you helped Jack out the window,” Alicia mutters wryly.

I give her a playful shove, causing her champagne to spill a little over the top of the glass. She glares at me as she wipes her hand on my suit jacket.

“Thanks everyone,” a middle-aged man, who I recognise as Xavier’s dad, says into the microphone at the front of the room where the band has set up. “For those who don’t know me, I’m Graham Newbold, Xavier’s dad. I’ll try to keep this short and sweet—I’m sure you all want to go back to your drinks.” He digs in his pocket and tugs out a piece of paper, unfolding it carefully and bringing it up to his eyes. “Bernie and I...” he gestures to the side, where Xavier’s mum is beaming up at him— “couldn’t be prouder of our Xav. He’s been the light of our lives ever since we brought him home and watching him grow into the fine young man he is today has been a true honour, and a pleasure.” A chorus ofawwsripples around the room as Graham pauses to turn the page over. “And of course, we couldn’t be happier that he’s found a true life partner in Jack—oh, hang on a minute…” Graham stares down at the piece of paper in his hand as though trying to work out how it let him down.

“Graham, darl, you were supposed to edit the speech,” Bernie chastises her husband in a theatrical whisper that carries across the entire room. “Don’t you remember—Jack took off before the ceremony!”

“Yes, I remember, love,” Graham says gently. He stares at the paper again before drawing in a deep breath. “Right. Let me start again.”

Across the room, Xavier is looking absolutely mortified, with one hand over his face, shaking his head slowly as Alastor says something to him.

“Oh my god,” Alicia groansfartoo loudly considering most of the crowd has quietened for the speech. “This is becoming more awkward than the time I walked in on you playing with yourself.”

“Please, say that louder,” I mutter dryly. “And nothing is or will ever be more awkward than that.”

---