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I knew better than to believe in happy endings.
COLE
Introspection was notin my nature, yet I found myself quiet on the ride to the reception. Several things were hitting me at once. First of all, James was clearly in love with Audrey. He’d never been a fan of his family, but running out on Todd’s wedding was still wildly out of character. He’d left because he was in love with his escort.
And he wasn’t the only one.
I wondered what my mom would have thought about Jenny. Probably, she would’ve loved her. Like Jenny, my mother was a warm person—the opposite of my father. If a stranger sneezed near us, she was the first one to always say, “God bless you.” That was one of the small, funny things I remembered about her. She was always smiling. She smiled at everyone in the grocery store and when we walked down the street. People always smiled back.
When I lost her, I lost my smile—my real one. But I felt like since I’d met Jenny, it had somehow come back.
I’d never been serious about a woman before. I had zero interest in forming attachments; I’d always believed a romantic relationship would weigh me down. But I didn’t feel that way about Jenny. Because she was an escort, she was wildly differentfrom the wealthy society women I usually “dated,” if that’s what you could even call it. But it was more than that. Jenny wasn’t the type of person that you got to know—she just sort of happened to you.
Me.She’d just sort of happened to me. And I didn’t know what that meant, except that I couldn’t quite remember what I was doing before I met her.
And I had zero idea what I’d do after her job ended, and she was long gone.
Luckily,James was at the reception. But Audrey was nowhere in sight. Jenny went to the ladies’ room while I found my friend at the bar, double-fisting bourbons. Without a word, he handed me one. I watched, alarmed, as he knocked his back and immediately ordered another.
“What happened?” I asked. “Where’s Audrey?”
“She quit.” He ordered another drink.
I didn’t understand. “She quit…?”
“Me.She quit me.”
“Oh fuck, James. Are you serious?”
He shrugged. “I’m serious about getting shit-faced.”
“What’re you going to tell everyone?” I asked. “We’re supposed to go on the trip tomorrow.”
“I told Todd she’s sick.” He eyed his crystal tumbler, assessing the amber liquid inside. “I’ve decided that, for tonight, this is how I’m handling it.”
“I’m sorry. That sucks.”
“You’re telling me.” He held up his glass. “Anyway,cheers.To Todd and Evie. I hope somebody around here lives happily fucking ever after.”
“Uh…yeah.” I tipped my glass toward his. “That’s quite the toast.”
He muttered something unintelligible. Before James could order another bourbon, I pulled him away from the bar into a quiet corner. “What happened? Why’d she leave? I thought things were going great.”
He shrugged. “Her mother showed up at the wedding. Did Jenny tell you?”
I nodded. “She said the mother’s bad news.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“What did she want? Why did she try and crash the wedding?”
“She’s after money. I’ve given her plenty to shut her up, but she keeps threatening me to get more. But I handled her today.” James sounded sure of himself. “She won’t be back.”
“But still, Audrey’s upset?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s beating herself up about it,” James said. “She said she had no business accepting the job in the first place and that she’s put me in danger.”
“She quit because she wants to protect you,” I deduced.