"What is going on? You are acting really strange. Did someone die? Should I call Derrick? Perhaps he should come home." She reached for her phone and started searching her contacts.
"The wedding is off," I murmured, turning, my eyes full of tears.
Laura's eyes bulged out of her head as she heard the words leave my lips. "What? Oh my God, Tess." She immediately walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me.
"We have to cancel everything," I muttered as tears poured down my cheeks. "I have to call the caterer and the venue, and oh God, I have to call all the guests." I cried into her shoulder.
"What happened?"
I swallowed hard as the kettle whistled. "He found someone else and figures it's better to not get married."
"That good for nothing, lying asshole!" Laura yelled, stomping her foot. “Did he say who?”
I shook my head while she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tight, doing her best to comfort me. It didn’t matter who he had met. I didn’t care to know. All I wanted was for him to get out of the house and be gone out of my life.
Laura and I sat in the living room working on calling all the guests. Derrick carried the last few boxes of his stuff down the stairs, followed by Maddox, who’d agreed to help him move. Derrick marched out the door without another word, we had done nothing but argue since he had arrived. Maddox placed the box he'd been carrying on the floor and then poked his head into the living room.
"I think that is it, Tess. Just call me if he forgot anything and I'll come by and pick it up."
I looked up at him and nodded. "Okay, thanks, but please don't let him come with you. I don't want to see him again," I said, standing up and going over to him.
"I won't bring him back here. I promise. You can call me if you need anything." He smiled, pulling me in for a hug.
Maddox and Derrick had been best friends growing up. The couple of years I had been with Derrick, Maddox had become a very good friend to me. He was someone I cherished, and I hoped that with the news of us breaking up meant that he, too, wouldn’t disappear from my life.
"Let's go," I heard Derrick call from outside.
"He beckons.” He gave me a half smile and rolled his eyes. “Guess I’ve got to go," Maddox said, winking at me. He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. “I’m on holidays for the next week, so if you’re feeling lonely, just call or text, okay.”
I nodded and watched as he walked out the front door, pulling it shut behind him.
I went in and flopped down on the couch just as Laura crossed off another name on the list and hung up her phone. “Another person off the list,” she said, smiling.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I guess I should now call and try to cancel that trip. Even if I won't get my money back, perhaps they can offer me some sort of credit."
Laura looked up from the list of names and shook her head. "No way. Don't you dare.”
“Don’t cancel the trip?” I questioned, rubbing the tension from my neck.
“That’s right. I was speaking with your mom earlier. Her and I both agree that you should go on that trip, regardless. It will give you a chance to get over everything that has gone on, perhaps even give you a new outlook on things. Call it a self-discovery trip."
I looked at her. She was being ridiculous. "Yeah, okay, let me get this straight. I’m to go on my honeymoon by myself to get over my fiancé dumping me eight weeks before our wedding? That doesn't exactly shout fun," I said, rolling my eyes. I picked up the confirmation email I had printed and searched it to find the number I needed to call and cancel.
I'd just found it when the front door opened, and I heard my mother call out a hello. I looked at Laura and gritted my teeth, not really in the mood to be ambushed by either of them. “Hey, Mom. We're in here," I called out.
Mom came around the corner, a huge smile on her face. "Okay, girls, tell me what I can do to help?" she asked, throwing her coat and purse over the arm of the couch.
"You can convince your daughter to go on that trip, while I continue to call and let guests know they cancelled the wedding," Laura said, looking proud of herself.
Mom looked at me with disappointment written all over her face. Then she sat down and crossed her arms. I could tell from her body language that I was about to get a lecture. "Tess, you paid for that trip. You should at least go. I know how excited you were to go see Paris. Besides, it will do you good to get out of here for a while and away from all of this."
I shrugged and looked at Laura. "You two don't get it. I don't want to go. This should have been my honeymoon. How much fun do you think I am going to have? First, I'll be alone, and second, it's only going to be a reminder of what would have been."
Mom and Laura looked at one another, suddenly smiling as if they had an idea.
"What?" I asked, crossing my arms and rolling my eyes.
"So don't go alone. Take one of your friends. What about Laura?" Mom asked.
"Oh, no, I can't go. I'm heading out to Denver for Christmas. Going to visit my parents," Laura said, putting the phone down on the table.
"Okay, so we need to find someone to go with you. Your father and I cannot go. We have plans already—Hawaii.” Mom brought her finger up to her lips and squinted her eyes as she tried to think of someone. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “What about one of your single, platonic male friends?"
I put my head in my hands and shook it before running my fingers through my hair. "Mom, I don't have single male friends."
"There has to be someone, Tess."
"Like who?" I frowned.
"Teddy, or perhaps the firefighter, oh what's his name? You know the one with those stunning blue eyes?” Mom said, once again bringing her finger to her lips as she struggled to come up with his name.
"Maddox?" I questioned.
"Yes, that’s it, Maddox! He has always adored you. You should ask him," Mom said, Laura nodding in agreement.
“You actually just missed him." Laura smiled.
"Oh, that is too bad. I've always liked him, such a sweet man, and a good looking one too."
I buried my face in my hands. I couldn't believe that, as I stood here, my mother and Laura were plotting to fix me up with someone so I could go on this trip. I rolled my eyes. "Mom, Maddox isn't even my friend. He is Derrick's."
"Now I know for a fact that isn't true. Maddox adores spending time with you," Laura interjected. "Did you see the way he hugged you earlier? And he is single."
I gritted my teeth and looked toward Laura, willing her with my eyes to stop. "Don't you have a list of people in front of you to call?" I interjected.
"Right, phone calls." She giggled as she picked up the phone and began dialling.
Mom turned to me. "Oh, Tess, don't be so stubborn. I agree. I think you need to go on that trip, but I don't want my daughter travelling halfway across the country alone. Plus, everyone else has plans, and if Maddox is single...and willing to go...then I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t ask him."