Piece of Cake: The Wedding Page 2
Holly shook her head and adjusted her bolero. Made from the softest and downiest white angora yarn, it caressed her shoulders. The champagne-colored shantung dress reached to just below her knees. Matching pumps perfected the outfit, as did the bouquet of carnations and orchids.
Unlike Kendal, Holly would walk down the aisle alone. Her ailing father had to abstain from flying, according to doctor’s orders, which he loathed. As for her mother, she was no doubt bossing everyone around in the Princess Hall on the second floor, where the wedding would take place. Holly had hoped to have a quick ceremony at some justice of the peace, but when she saw the vulnerable look in Kendal’s eyes, she thought better of it. The young woman had sacrificed a good portion of her life to help Holly—she deserved a proper wedding. Now when all the states in the US recognized gay marriage, she’d let Kendal decide where they should marry. She should’ve known Kendal would choose her hometown, where they both lived and worked. Before Holly knew what was happening, the entire office was invited, as were both their families. The last time Kendal had told her how many they’d invited, they had a hundred and twenty guests. Kendal had also recommended they register for gifts, which Holly thought was taking it too far, but Kendal only had to breathe the word “believability” for her to give in.
However, Holly did go to New York, to Tiffany’s, and bought a hummingbird pin for Kendal. They’d decided to use simple gold bands for engagement and wedding rings, and giving Kendal the hummingbird the day they exchanged engagement rings had produced yet another unexpected reaction. Kendal had cradled the pin for several moments, an odd little gesture of protectiveness, as if she truly believed it might fly away or that Holly would change her mind and take it back.
“I’m glad you like it,” Holly said and motioned at the lapel of Kendal’s smart black business suit. “It’ll go well with your work attire as well.”
“I’ll never take it off.” Kendal moved as if to attach it, but then handed it to Holly. “Can you put it on, please?”
“Sure.” Suddenly trembling a bit and feeling out of breath, Holly managed to fasten the hummingbird to Kendal’s lapel. “There. I have good taste, I think.” She meant the pin, but her eyes got stuck looking into Kendal’s nearly black eyes. Her new fiancée was a stunning woman. Tall, and even more so with the lethal heels she used at the office, she managed to look willowy and curvaceous at the same time.
“I think so too. As, I believe, have I.” Kendal smiled. “I mean, just look who I’m about to marry.”
Holly guffawed. “Please. I’m more than ten years your senior and nothing but a boring corporate cog in a very big system. You’re the catch. Don’t think I don’t know that.”
Kendal gaped. “Seriously? You’re always the smartest person in the room and the one with the best judgment, but this time you dropped the ball. I’m not going to jump into a self-deprecating game of who’s the better catch, but that said, it’s not me, the lowly assistant.”
Holly still wasn’t used to Kendal speaking to her as an equal. After being Holly’s assistant for more than two years, Kendal had so far kept her distance and adhered to the company’s office rules. Only when they were working overtime alone in the office did Kendal agree to use Holly’s first name.
Holly stood and walked over to the table where a waiter had arranged for champagne and some fruit. She knew better than to pour yet another glass, but she needed something sweet. Dark chocolate and some slices of pear beckoned her. Just as she swallowed the third piece of delicious Belgian chocolate, she heard a knock on the door.
It couldn’t be Kendal, as she was quite superstitious, it turned out, and had insisted they shouldn’t lay eyes on each other until they stood before the altar. Holly would go up the aisle first, and then Kendal would be escorted by her father, but only halfway. Kendal had her own ideas, but the idea of her father giving her away as if she were a woman sold to the highest bidder didn’t sit well with Holly. Perhaps it was extra important for Kendal to show her independence, as this was an arranged marriage.
When someone opened the door, Holly blinked. It was Jasmine, Kendal’s older sister. Holly had never felt any good vibes from the exuberant, feisty woman, and the way Jasmine regarded her now could only mean trouble.
“Hello. What can I do for you?” Holly wasn’t so keen on letting her future sister-in-law into her space but did so anyway.
“You can talk some sense into my foolish sister’s head before this charade goes too far.” Jasmine spoke amicably, but her slanted dark eyes didn’t waver. “This is bound to blow up in both your faces.”
“And why would you think so?” Straightening her back, Holly assumed the regal pose she used when facing the president and the chairman of the board of her company. “Surely your sister is an adult, and our marriage concerns only the two of us—”
“That’s where you’re wrong. My sister’s happiness, or lack thereof, is my business because we’re family. When you break her heart, and that’s just a matter of time as I see it, my mother and I will be the ones picking up the pieces.”
“Why would I break the heart of the woman who saves my future? She deserves everything under the sun, and I’ll make sure I give her anything she wants while we’re together.” Holly had felt Jasmine’s and Mrs. Moore’s animosity from day one, but Mr. Moore had been more benevolent.
“That’s what I meant. While you’re together…with the emphasis on ‘while.’” Jasmine sighed. “Listen. You’re a fantastic person, and Kendal has only had good things to say about how working crazy hours for you will be brilliant on her resume. If you weren’t bamboozling my sister, I’d like you just fine.”
“Why, thank you.” Holly heard her tone grow more acerbic with each word. “I know Kendal is sacrificing a lot by helping me, and I’ve asked myself, and her, many times what her motives are and if she’s sure. We have a good working relationship, but…” Holly sighed and sat down at the small table. She ought to don her work persona and put Jasmine in her place, but truthfully, she was tired of being on a collision course with so many people.
“Are you all right? You’re pale.” Jasmine sounded kinder as she pulled up a chair and sat down beside her.
“I’m fine.” The automatic nature of her own response didn’t surprise Holly. This had always been her mantra. She was fine. No matter how much pressure she was under, she was always, always fine.
“I doubt it. This can’t be what you really want either.” Jasmine twirled a white silk ribbon between her fingers. “I mean, in my eyes Kendal is a true catch, but both of you need to take a breath and think one more time. You need to marry for love, not for a green card or citizenship.”
Holly knew Kendal’s immediate family was aware of the true circumstances. That had been one of Kendal’s terms before she agreed to this charade. She’d also told Holly that her family trusted her to make her own decisions. Holly, on the other hand, hadn’t told her family a thing. For all they knew, Kendal was the love of her life. The words hit her like a fist below her ribs, and Holly whimpered before she could reel herself in.
“Are you really okay? You’re white as a ghost.” Jasmine looked startled. Carefully she touched Holly’s shoulder. “Want me to get you some water?”
“No. Thank you. I’m f—”
“Fine. Yes. You keep saying that, but you’re trembling, and you look anything but. If you walk down the aisle looking like this, people might think Kendal got you pregnant or something.”
Holly guffawed and gave a laugh bordering on hysterical. “Oh, God. Crazy comments are a family trait, I see.”
“Sure is. Our Aunt Corinne is the worst. She adds her own special brand of humor when you least expect it, and often when it’s entirely inappropriate as well. If you’re lucky she’ll be among the ones giving dinner speeches.”
“Great.” Smiling genuinely now, Holly felt somewhat more composed. “So you’re not going to strong-arm me into calling off the wedding?” She scanned Jasmine’s expression.
Oddly enough, Jasmine’s understanding words made Holly realize she couldn’t go through with the wedding. Now she had to find Kendal and absolve her of her promise.
“Thank you for coming to talk to me. You know what? You’re right. I should’ve realized long before today just how selfish I’m being. I can’t tie a young woman down in a loveless marriage, even for only three years. That many years of wasted time for someone her age is a long, long time. Time when she might find the woman who’s totally right for her. Is she still in her room?”
“What?” Jasmine jumped up. “You’re going to call it off anyway? Now? Just like that?”
“Wasn’t that what you wanted, Jasmine?” Holly stood calmly. “From day one you and your mother have been against this arrangement, and I would’ve assumed you’d regard my seeing the light as ‘better late than never.’”
“I—I do. I mean, I…I thought I would.” Jasmine’s voice was weaker now. “Oh, damn. What the hell did I say this time that I haven’t been saying for these last few months? I’ve argued with both of you, but you haven’t listened. And now, in the eleventh hour, you decide to?”
“You came to try one last time, in the eleventh hour, as you put it. Why would you do that if you didn’t think there’d be an off-chance that I’d listen?” Holly knew she was now in CEO mode, during which she usually hammered in her reasoning, tested her opponents’ arguments by using them on themselves.
“I—I—” Jasmine raised her hand as if to shove it through her hair but clearly realized she’d ruin her stunning hairdo. “She’s going to kill me. She’ll know it was me.”
“What do you mean? She as in Kendal?”
“She as in Kendal. And she as in our mother.”
“I would imagine Kendal will be relieved once she realizes she’s regained her freedom.” Holly glanced in the mirror. She looked entirely calm and together on the outside, which was what mattered. But on the inside, her emotions spun as if tossed into a blender, and her stomach clenched around a feeling of devastation she couldn’t allow to surface. “As for your mother,” she told Jasmine, “I can’t guarantee she won’t eviscerate you—and me. I’m going now, but if you need a few moments to gather your strength, you can just remember to lock the door behind you when you leave.”
Holly stepped into the corridor and began walking to the elevator. The Moore family and friends were staying one floor down. Kendal’s room was directly below her own. It should be easy to locate. She entered the elevator, and as the doors closed, the imaginary blender in Holly’s stomach came to a halt. Suddenly the feelings sorted themselves out into neat compartments, and she couldn’t hide her motivation for her decision to call off the wedding.
How could she marry Kendal and subject the woman she loved so hopelessly to a marriage of convenience? And, for purely selfish reasons, it would be agony to live a lie for three long years. She loved Kendal Moore, but that fact had to remain a secret.
Chapter Three
“But, dear child, you’re shaking.” Harrison Moore put a strong arm around Kendal’s shoulders. “Last-minute jitters?”
Kendal was actually closer to panic than jitters. Walking toward the elevators, she could feel her knees literally buckling beneath her, and she wanted to turn and run in the opposite direction.
“I might just need to sit down a bit, Dad. I’m a little light-headed.”
“Over here. On this bench.” Harrison guided her to a narrow bench between two large urns holding tall grass. “Goodness, you’re not fainting on me, are you, honey?”
“I’ll be okay. I just…just need a breather. I need to gather my wits so I don’t make a fool of myself when we walk down the aisle.”
“What do you mean, ‘fool of yourself’?” Harrison frowned where he stood before her. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Her father knew of the arrangement, but as he was more of a pragmatist than her mother and sister, he’d merely seen this as a decision she was old enough to make for herself. Kendal’s mother had often complained about Harrison not being very romantic, but Kendal thought her father was romantic in his own way. Now she dreaded telling him the truth.
“I’m not keeping anything from you. Well, not really. It’s something I’ve reconciled myself to for quite a while now, Dad.”
“Yes?” Harrison pulled at his black trousers before crouching before her.
“I love her,” Kendal whispered, blinking against the sudden tears.
“You love—?” Harrison’s eyebrows knitted. “Oh.”
“Oh is right.” Kendal sighed. “Nothing much I can do about it, except tell her the wedding’s off.”
“I’ve suspected this. I should have asked you about it, but I didn’t think it was my business to pry into.” Her father cupped her chin and Kendal’s tears overflowed.
“Shit, I can’t cry. Not now. My makeup will end up on my chin.” Kendal blotted at her cheeks with her fingertips. “Am I all smudgy?”
“No. You look wonderful.”
Kendal snorted unhappily. “Just wait until my nose starts to run.”
“So you mean to leave her at the altar?” Harrison took Kendal’s restless hands in his. His kind eyes scanned her face, and just like it had been her whole life, she couldn’t hide very much from him.
“I have to save myself from heartbreak. It might be a selfish standpoint, but when you think about it, Dad…my misery could end up ruining Holly’s life for the next three years. Resentment can lead to ugly behavior.”
“Aw, kiddo, don’t give me that. You wouldn’t ruin anybody’s life for any reason, let alone someone you care about.” Harrison shook his head and ran a gentle thumb along Kendal’s left eyebrow. “No daughter of mine could ever be that careless.”
“How about selfish then?”
“You’re helping your boss, who’s become a friend, I think, to save her career for no other reason than—”
“Than the fact I’ve loved her for months and months, Daddy,” Kendal whispered. She pushed at a stray tear.
“Perhaps you do need to let her know that. Whether you decide to get married or not, honey, she should know.”
“And how would I survive that kind of humiliation?” Kendal hiccupped against the constricting sensation in her throat. “I’ve given this a lot of thought. Worst would be if she pities me. Second worse if she loathes me for lying. And third, she might fire me. That would mean I’d never get to see her again, which I suppose makes that a worst-case scenario.”
“I wish I could be more helpful, honey. I know your mother has swung between being supportive and berating. Your sister, well, we all know what Jasmine’s opinion is.”
“No, you don’t. Not anymore.” Jasmine’s stark voice made Kendal and her father jump.
“Jasmine?” Kendal stood, almost strangling her flowers. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I just saw Holly, and damn it, that woman isn’t what I thought. I mean I’ve met her so many times by now, but I’ve never talked to her alone.” Jasmine tugged at her necklace. “I took the stairs down to your floor to beat her to it. She’s on her way here.”
“You went to see her?” Kendal came close to shrieking and quickly lowered her voice. Pacing back and forth across the corridor, she tried to imagine or, perhaps, not to imagine what had transpired between Holly and her sister. Then the last part of what Jasmine just said finally registered. “She’s what? Now? I can’t believe it. What did you say to her?”
“Oh, pretty much the same thing I’ve said all along. I may have put more emphasis on pleading to her sense of what’s right, and she decided to listen.”
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�So, she’s on her way down to call it off?” Kendal’s cheeks grew colder. “She’s going to free me from our agreement and…let me go?”
“That’s what it sounded like, yes.” Jasmine wrapped her arm around Kendal’s waist. “Hey, you okay?”
“You go behind your sister’s back and then ask her if she’s okay?” Harrison sounded somber. “Jassy, you’ve always been a busybody and your sister’s strongest protector, but this time you should’ve left well enough alone. People need to make their own mistakes, if that’s what’s about to happen. If Kendal asks for our support and help, we’ll give her just that, and that goes for you too. But meddling like you do, and your mother’s way of being completely undecided about her opinion, could drive anyone insane.”
Kendal agreed, but Jasmine’s crushed look softened her heart. “Hey, Dad, they both mean well. We’re a feisty family, all of us.”
“Thanks.” Jasmine squeezed her waist. “Oh, shit. Here’s Holly. Guess it doesn’t matter that you see each other’s outfits now when the deal’s off.”
“Guess not.” Kendal turned to face Holly, who strode toward them. Her dress billowed around her, and the downy bolero caressed her beautiful, slender shoulders. Kendal wanted more than anything to pull Holly toward her and confess how much she adored her. Instead, of course, she stood still, clutching her flowers as an inefficient shield between them.
“I need to talk to you.” Holly stopped three feet from Kendal. Her eyes a stormy cognac color, she seemed out of breath.
“Of course. Can we stay here or should we go to my room?” Kendal did her best to sound matter-of-fact since she knew Holly appreciated such an approach.