The room was amazing! Bree had stayed in a lot of different places over the last year and a half since she’d started doing bigger gigs with more famous groups, but none of them had a beach a hundred yards outside of the room.
Standing in the living area of the room, she could hear the ocean outside of the open windows and knew she would be able to hear it from the bed as well. The warm breeze billowed the white curtains, and she stood near the comfy couch and took it all in. She’d managed to get the dream vacation she’d been longing for, help out a friend, and get a performance in all at the same time.
She set her guitar case in the closet and wheeled her suitcase over as well. This place was immaculately clean, and the white and blue decor reminded her of the ocean outside her door. There was a sign on the wall that read, “Life’s a beach,” and so was her front yard at the moment. Practically, anyway. There was a small strip of resort that formed a barrier of green grass between her door and the sand dunes and surf, but it wasn’t much, and she was looking forward to seeing how warm the water was.
It was early afternoon, and she hadn’t even seen Lilly yet. Her former roommate was doing her best to keep her head above water as she helped her sister make sure everything was in order for the wedding of her dreams. She’d told Bree there was a dinner at 6:00 in one of the ballrooms, but she hadn’t sent the agenda she’d been promising for a week yet. That was okay with Bree as long as she knew where she was supposed to be for the wedding itself, which was on Saturday. That was still five days away. In the meantime, she was told she could participate in as many or as few of the wedding activities as she wanted to. The bride was just thrilled she was able to be there.
Bree sat down on the couch and took a few deep breaths. No matter how big or small the gig, performing always made her slightly nervous. The anxiety she was feeling now was different, though. Lilly was about the only person here she knew. While she had met her parents a few times, that was in college, which seemed like a million years ago. They were wonderful people, though. The fact that she had never met Monica, the bride, and didn’t even know the groom’s name was alarming. She thought she should’ve probably asked that question along the way, but every time she talked to Lilly, she was in such a hurry, Bree never wanted to waste her time asking questions that didn’t even matter. All she knew about him was that he’d spent a fortune on this wedding, which meant he was probably loaded and likely came from money.
The idea of a bunch of rich guys being at the wedding would’ve probably been exciting to some people, but Bree hadn’t even thought about dating since Sam. That wasn’t exactly true--she had gone out with a few guys. But she hadn’t been serious about anyone or even gone out with any of them more than a few times. It had been an easy decision to focus on her career and forget about love. After Trent had broken her heart, and Sam had proven anyone could cheat, she was just done with all of it.
She’d been out late the night before playing her last show before she took her week off, so she decided to take a nap before she headed to the dinner. Kicking off her sandals, she set an alarm on her phone to make sure she got up in time to get ready for the get together. The bed was comfortable, and with the ocean air bringing in the sound of the waves, she knew she’d be asleep in no time. Bree closed her eyes and immediately envisioned herself walking along, barefoot in the sand, hand in hand with a mysterious man.
The longer she walked though, the more her mind wandered, the more she realized it wasn’t just any man. His touch was familiar, as was the way he made her stomach flutter. Would she ever escape Trent’s pull? Even in her own imagination, it seemed he was everywhere she went.
Eventually, she drifted off to sweet dreams that didn’t stay with her when her alarm sounded a couple of hours later, but she felt refreshed and happy when she opened her eyes, as if her own subconscious was reassuring her that everything was going to be all right.
The idea that she could potentially meet someone who made her as happy as Trent did before, when they were friends, when there was just the potential of them being together, was enough to make her smile. The kiss they’d shared that night at the cabin was still by far the most perfect one she’d ever had. Even thinking about it took her breath away. If she could find a guy who could kiss her like that, maybe she’d stop dreaming of Trent.
Bree changed into a nice beachy dress, fixed her hair and make-up, and slipped on a nicer pair of sandals than the ones she’d worn in from the airport. She put on a few bangles and a matching necklace and earrings. Satisfied she looked nice but not spot-light stealing, she decided it was time to go.
Except she had no idea where she was going.
Lilly had told her it was in one of the ballrooms, but that was all she knew. She fired off a text to Lilly, hoping she saw it and could give her directions, but she had a feeling it would go unanswered since Lilly had been so busy. She had replied to her text that she’d arrived earlier, but it had taken her a while, and all she’d said was, “Yay! Can’t wait to see you.”
“See me where?” Bree muttered. She checked the time and saw it was a little after six. The dinner would’ve started by now. She could either wander around the resort or just sit there and wait on Lilly. It wasn’t as if she was in a huge hurry to get there. They wouldn’t eat right at six, would they? Wouldn’t there be drinks and mingling and then dinner? Since she knew no one to mingle with, what was the point in being there right when it started?
After a few minutes, Bree remembered she had a map of the resort from when she’d checked in. She grabbed it out of her handbag and studied it for a moment. All of the ballrooms were independent buildings in a row, next to each other, just down the row of rooms where she was staying. They all had exterior doors that led out to the strip of grass and the beach. She could just walk down and see how many of them were occupied. If the windows were open, she might even see Lilly. There were only three. Surely, she could find the right one. There might even be a sign that said “Something/Edge” wedding. Of course, since she didn’t know Monica’s fiancé’s name, she wouldn’t know exactly what the sign might say, but she could figure it out, couldn’t she?
Deciding to give it a try, she took her key card and her phone and dropped them in a small clutch and then headed out. The sun was just starting to descend, though it would be bright out for hours to come. The sky was painted in hues of pinks, oranges, and yellow. It was gorgeous, and part of her wanted to blow the dinner off and go stick her feet in the waves. But she’d told Lilly she’d be there. It was too bad Lilly hadn’t missed her enough yet to check her phone.
Bree approached the ballrooms and heard noise coming from the first one, but there was no sign. There were windows, but she couldn’t see into any of them. They had reflective material on them either for privacy or to keep the glare out or both. Frustrated, she walked to the next one and heard noise there, too, though the third ballroom was empty.
Not sure which one she should try, Bree sat down on a bench between the two and pulled out her phone. Nothing from Lilly. She tried to call her, but her friend didn’t answer. Maybe someone would come by soon, headed to one of the events, and she could ask them which was the one she was looking for.
It was almost 6:30 when she saw a figure coming toward her from down by the rooms. She couldn’t see the man well, but he looked like he was dressed nice--in a button down shirt, slacks, and a tie--so maybe he was going to Monica’s dinner. He was a large man, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest, and something about the way he walked seemed familiar to her, but he was too far away for her to make out his face. He raised his phone, punched something in, and put it to his ear. Bree wouldn’t want to interrupt if he was on the phone when he got there, but if she had to, she had to.
The door to the first ballroom opened, and a man stepped out. She only knew it was a man because she could hear his voice; the door was blocking her view. But his voice was also familiar enough to make Bree suck in a deep breath. “Surely not….” she thought to herself.
When the barrier between them swung shut, Bree couldn’t believe what she was seeing. He had his back to her, but she was absolutely positive it was Trent. And then it dawned on her that the man walking toward them looked familiar because it was Hank. She hadn’t seen him since Christy’s birthday party, years ago, but it was him all right. And she hadn’t seen Trent since that day either.
Until now. He’d hung up his phone. Clearly, he was talking to Hank. When he turned back toward the door, he looked right at her. Bree’s mouth was no longer capable of functioning. What was she even supposed to say? She had no idea, but she needed to figure it out quickly, because Trent didn’t look surprised to see her at all, and he was headed her direction.