Aidan definitely deserved better than she could give him. Him and Chloe. The little girl didn’t even know they were dating. Not that the traditional sequence of relationships mattered to six-year-olds. Kate had been around. They had told Chloe they were just friends. Would it seem strange to her if they came back from Vegas married?
Kate shook the thought from her head. It wasn’t going to happen. They would look into an annulment as soon as they got home. In the meantime, she could slowly disengage from Aidan’s life.
Well, except for the fact that her sister Elle was married to Aidan’s brother. That made Elle Chloe’s aunt. Since Daniel and Aidan didn’t have other extended family, that meant Aidan and Chloe would be included in all the family gatherings because in Gigi’s mind the holiday—be it birthday or Thanksgiving or Christmas or Groundhog’s Day—wasn’t celebrated to the fullest without a houseful of family.
Could this get any more awkward?
The server came and took their order.
When Kate asked for toast and more hot tea, Aidan leaned in. “I’m sorry you’re still not feeling well. If you get hungry later, we can get you something. Or if you change your mind, you can share my huevos rancheros.”
The mere mention of the spicy dish made Kate’s stomach heave. She quickly lifted her teacup to her lips and sipped until the feeling subsided.
“He’s so good to you, Kate,” Elle cooed.
Kate hadn’t been aware that her sister was watching them until now.
“You know, now that Jane and I are married, Gigi is going to zero in on you two,” Elle said. “Be prepared.”
Both Kate and Aidan laughed. Kate wondered if it sounded as nervous to Elle and Daniel as it did to her own ears.
“Did attending a romantic wedding make the two of you start thinking about taking your relationship to the next level?”
“Elle, don’t,” Kate said.
Kate couldn’t look at Aidan, but out of her peripheral vision, she saw him shift in his chair.
“Honey,” Daniel said. “Don’t put them on the spot like that. I know you’re happy and you want everyone to be happy, but I’m sure you’ll be among the first to know, right?”
Kate couldn’t even form words. All she could manage was a nervous squeak.
“Aidan, since my sister is impossible, I’m going to talk to you,” Elle continued. She’d always had a determined, one-track mind when she latched on to an idea. “I think that if anyone could tame my sister, you could. It is obvious that the two of you are in love. Why don’t you just do it? Why don’t you just bite the bullet and get married?”
No one said a word. Elle took that as an opportunity to expand on her thoughts. “What time is it?”
She looked at her phone. “It is not even noon and our plane doesn’t leave until eight o’clock. Let’s go to one of those cute little wedding chapels and get you two hitched.”
Kate wasn’t sure if it was her sister’s suggestion or the smell of the food wafting over from the table next to them, but suddenly she couldn’t sit at that table another second more.
“I—I need to get some air,” she said as she scooted back from the table and bolted for the exit.
Chapter Two
The next morning, Kate stood at her dressing table in her bedroom, holding her thin gold wedding band. It glinted in the ray of sunshine streaming in through her bedroom window.
She turned the ring from side to side, letting the smooth metal slide between her fingers as she stared at it. Now that she was home and had gotten a sound night’s sleep, she still hadn’t been able to mentally stitch together the pieces of her wedding that she remembered.
Memories of the night were like images from a blurry film. She remembered dancing with Aidan, and maybe even getting a little emotional over Gigi and Charles’s wedding. She had a vague recollection of picking out the rings with Aidan. He had wanted her to get the diamond-encrusted band. She remembered that. He had been so generous, the way he had insisted. But she had maintained it was too expensive and questioned how they could prove the diamonds were real and not just a cubic zirconia rip-off. That had been a real sticking point for her. She had been such a judicious ring shopper. Where had all that good sense gone when it came time to say I do?
The rest was fuzzy and strange, as if she was watching a movie in her mind where two actors who were playing them in a zany rom-com had purchased the rings and gotten hitched by an Elvis impersonator.
If it wasn’t so heartbreaking, she might’ve laughed at the ridiculousness of it. Her heart ached as she returned the gold band to the red velvet-lined box it came in and snapped the lid shut. As she tucked it inside her jewelry box, she felt as if she was hiding away Pandora’s box. Because that was what it would be if her family found out—a source of a whole lot of trouble.
After they got over the shock, her family would want her to stay married. They loved Aidan. Everyone loved Aidan. Because what was not to love about him?
They would not understand that this had been a colossal mistake.
Her heart ached again. Aidan had been uncharacteristically stoic on their flight home last night. After they had landed, he had gone through all the Aidan motions while making minimal small talk—helping her with her bags and holding doors—but there had been a disconnect. Especially after he had deposited her luggage just inside the door. He had left her with the most paralyzingly platonic peck on the cheek, murmured good-night and walked away, leaving her standing at the door.
What had she expected him to do?
On the ride home from the airport, they had decided to meet the next evening to talk about the fate of their marriage. That was hardly
