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And I will be first in line to wish you every happiness.

Yours, Blu

chapter two

YOURS?SHOULDN’T ITsay Not Yours?

The letter slips from my fingers and drifts to the floor. I stare at it, unable to move or react. I just lost control of my life, and I don’t like it one bit.

Kira grabs the letter and peruses it. “What? Blu’s not coming?”

Ben, subdued, shakes his head in the negative. “He’s not coming.”

“Let me give him a call,” Kira says, pulling her phone from the folds of her dress.

Huh. I didn’t know the monstrosity had pockets.

Ben clears his throat. “I’ve already tried. He’s not answering.”

Loud voices I immediately recognize sound outside the door to the elegant bridal waiting area. Oh no, I can’t handle Blu’s crazy family right now. There are aunts and uncles, cousins, and half-brothers and half-sisters from his parents many attempts at marriage (Mom: three; Dad: five). It’s hard to believe sweet, stable Kira is a part of the boisterous group.

Their approach makes sense. The groom’s side has noticed his absence. The wedding’s supposed to start in just a few minutes.

I should’ve been the first to know. This should be a private moment between me and Blu. Instead, he’s made our breakup a public event.

I get to my feet. “Where is he?” I ask Ben.

“He took off, went on your honeymoon trip,” he says sheepishly.

My face crumples. “He went on our honeymoon to Cancun? By himself?” Blu is not a cruel man. I can hardly comprehend his actions.

“He did. Said he needed to get away.”

I know the feeling. The urge to flee is eating me alive.

The door bursts open and Blu’s crazy family enters like a mob about to attack. Decorum insisted we invite them even though he’s not close to any of them, except Gram. He’s not even all that close to Ben and Kira, even though he chose Ben as his best man.

“They’re ready to start the ceremony and no one can find Blu. Where’s my son? Why isn’t he here?” his father demands, a cute blonde attached to his arm. Must be his new flavor of the month. She looks younger than my twenty-six years and a hint of sympathy for Blu washes over me.

Only a hint. So small it’s gone before I can grasp it.

I have nothing to say. My bottom lip trembles as my emotions attempt to take command. I don’t let them. I’m so stunned, I’m numb. It will hit me soon—and it will hit me hard.

His mother, a statuesque figure, stands in her highest of high heels, one hip jutting out, her hand artfully placed on said hip as though she’s striking a pose in front of a camera. Sunglasses hide any and all emotion. She says nothing. Her body language says she expected this to happen and she’s a bit bored by this interruption in her schedule.

Ben tells them, “He’s not coming.”

Everyone starts talking at once as though they’re filled with the knowledge of how to get Blu to come to his own wedding.

“It’s last-minute jitters.”

“Maybe they had a fight.”

“He let nerves get the best of him. He’ll show.”

“He could’ve gotten lost on the way here.”

“Maybe she cheated on him.”

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