Best Man For The Wedding Planner. Donna Alward
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in the leggings and snug sweater she’d worn tonight. But he shook his head. “I don’t think so, pal. Wedding hookups can be messy, and I’m not in the mood to play games.”
Even if, by doing so, he could give Adele a glimpse of what she’d walked away from.
He didn’t want revenge. He just wanted to put her in his rearview mirror for good.
The subject was dropped for a while, and after one more round of drinks the group departed for the limo and the hotel. Tomorrow they had free time until the rehearsal at six, with the exception of the last-minute fittings.
As he opened the door to his room, he realized he was looking forward to a morning of actually sleeping in and maybe going for a hike or something. He hadn’t been to Banff since he was in high school on a class trip to Calgary. The only thing that would make it better was if his brother, Drew, was here. His younger brother lived for the outdoors, and the wilder, the better. The opulence of the hotel was great, but right now Dan missed his family. They were all grown and spread out all over the country. Drew wasn’t even in Canada all that often anymore. When had they become so divided?
The bed was turned down and he crawled inside, the ache in his gut growing hollower by the minute. Family...love...it seemed both had taken a back seat to success. Or maybe it was that he’d tried to use success to fill the absence of close relationships in his life. Even the women he’d dated...he didn’t ever get too close to them. Why?
He flopped to his side and sighed. And maybe he should stop thinking so much. Damn Adele for being here, and for dredging up all these feelings, anyway.
The wedding was the day after tomorrow. She was the planner. After that, he wouldn’t need to see her at all, would he?
And he could enjoy what remained of his vacation and go back to his regularly scheduled life.
Without her.
A WAITRESS REFILLED Adele’s coffee without asking as Adele opened her spreadsheet with today’s itemized list. The hotel coffee shop had become her temporary office, as it allowed her to be closer to everyone involved than her home office did.
Still, her stomach was in knots, and it was more to do with seeing Dan than the wedding. The distraction was stealing her focus. By tomorrow, changes couldn’t be made. Everything had to be in place by tonight.
Her email notification dinged quietly and she let out a frustrated sigh. Holly and Pete had been talking about the cocktail hour and wanted a change made to the signature drink and an addition to the hors d’oeuvre menu. Two extra people were now attending who had declined before, so final plate numbers also needed to be adjusted. And they were family, so the seating arrangements would have to be tweaked, too.
Nothing was earth-shattering, but Adele seriously appreciated those brides who knew what they wanted, set it up and stayed the course. Still, the fee from this event was significant, and as long as everything went off without a hitch, it was a great addition to her portfolio. She was smart enough to know a lot of her grumpiness was brought on from the arrival of Dan. Particularly since he’d plainly shunned her yesterday.
She took a sip of coffee, her stomach rumbled, and she knew she had to eat some breakfast before tackling anything. Within moments, she’d ordered an apple Danish and yogurt—something healthy to balance out the sweet pastry. Dutifully, she ate the yogurt first, and had just taken a first sticky bite of Danish when Dan walked in, dressed in jeans and a sweater so cozy and soft that he looked incredibly huggable. Add to that his thick, dark hair and the shadow of stubble on his jaw and hers wasn’t the only head that turned.
He saw her sitting there and his jaw tightened, his initial relaxed expression evaporating. The nerves that had already been dancing in her stomach started a jig and she put the pastry back on the plate. The fact that he still seemed to despise her put her on edge, but not as much as her own reaction. Today, like yesterday, there’d been a split second of happiness and warmth when she’d looked up and seen him there. As if her heart reacted before her brain could kick in and say, “No, Delly. He’s not for you anymore.” The truth was, it still hurt.
He hesitated, but then came over. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said quietly, standing beside her table.
“It’s the easiest place to have a base of operations the day before the wedding,” she replied, trying a smile. “Do you want to join me? You look like you could use your first morning coffee.”
There was a slight pause, and then he said, “Why not?” and pulled out the chair opposite her.
Adele wiped her sticky fingers on her napkin. “The baked goods here are to die for. Though they do have some breakfast sandwich options, so you can have your eggs.”
The look on his face was so startled that she blushed. “I mean, if you still like eggs for breakfast. Not that I’d know. Just that you used to...” The heat in her cheeks deepened. “I’m sorry. This is awkward.”
“You think?” he said, but then smiled a little, dispelling a tiny bit of the tension. “Actually, it makes me feel better knowing you feel awkward. Yesterday you were so...together.”
“I wasn’t, really,” she admitted. She met his gaze. “To be honest, seeing you was a huge shock. I honestly didn’t know you were in the wedding.”
“How could you?” He shrugged, and then ordered coffee and “anything with bacon in it” to eat. When the waitress left again, he rested his elbows on the table. “I suppose talking this morning should help clear the air. Then we can go through the wedding without any weird vibes.”
It sounded very logical and smart, except there were already vibes. Adele had walked away eight years ago, but not because she had stopped loving him. In a way, it was because she’d cared about him so much. As her Aunt Sally would say, sometimes you had to let a bird go. And if it came back to you, it was meant to be. Dan hadn’t come back. And she’d built herself a good life in the intervening years.
Still, seeing him brought back way too many memories and feelings.
His breakfast arrived and Adele made a point of taking another big drink of coffee as he added milk to his cup. The shop was quiet; this was not the hotel’s busiest season, though there were always groups of skiers who, at this hour, were probably already on the slopes.
He put down his spoon and met her gaze again. “So, a wedding planner. How long have you been doing this?”
She cupped her hands around her mug. “Oh, five years now? On my own, at least. I started working for a company in Vancouver, and then I came to Banff with a coworker one summer to help with an event. I fell in love with the area, relocated and started my own business.”
“Risky.”
She nodded. “It was. But I started small, and now I run it from my home. The office space is downstairs, on the main floor, and the upstairs is my living area.” She relaxed a little, pleased that they could manage small talk. “How about you? You’re still in Toronto?”
He nodded. “I’m CFO of a clean energy company now. I actually took next week off so I could enjoy a bit of a vacation here. Then I’ll stop in at the new Calgary office for a day or so before I head back. It’s been a small operation for the last two years, but we’re putting things in motion to make it our western hub.”
“Wow. That’s...great. And you sound as if you love it.”
“Yep.”
She tried a small smile. “I guess we turned out okay then, haven’t we?”
He didn’t answer, just reached for his sandwich. As he lifted it, she noticed there was no ring on his left hand. “Not married, then,” she said quietly.
“Nope. No girlfriend, either. Though that’s a new development.”