Wedding Haters (Event to Remember Series-Book 2) (20 page)

“Are you enjoying everything?” Carrie asks
me, completely ignoring my comment. I look back and forth between
Sienna and Carrie. I’m so confused right now. Why is she asking me
if I’m enjoying it? Of course I am; it’s my wedding.

“Excuse me? Why do you care?”

The two women look at each other and smile.
Sienna still hasn’t had much to say since I joined them.

“I don’t believe this. You’re two of the
owners aren’t you?” Sienna exclaims. “This all makes sense now;
this is why you were so accommodating when we were looking for a
venue.”

“Oh love. I’m proud of you and your little
company.” Carrie puts her hand on Sienna’s shoulder and she moves
away. “I’m glad I was able to help you when you were in such a
bind.”

Sienna looks as if she’s about to explode.
She had worked for Carrie for several years and was getting ready
to start her own company when she found out about Carrie and Luke.
I don’t think she’s had any interaction with her since leaving the
company, at least until we ran into her at the spa. I’m wondering
what she’s up to, and I’m sure Sienna is wondering the same
thing.

“Thank you for checking in with us. This
wedding is a huge success as are all of my events so feel free to
leave now.” She walks back into the ballroom before Carrie can say
another word.

I’m still standing in the lobby with these
evil women, and I really want to ask her why she seems so eager to
help Sienna. Carrie doesn’t ever help anyone except for
herself.

“OK, you can tell me what you’re up to,” I
say, folding my arms. “After your history with Sienna, I find too
hard to believe that you would be so willing to help her.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,”
she replies innocently. “This is business and this is what we do.
We have events here regardless of whose company plans them.
Speaking of events, shouldn’t you be getting back to your wedding?”
She’s so smug; I would love to slap that fake smile right off her
face.

As much as I want to get to the bottom of
this nonsense, she’s right; I don’t want to miss another second of
my wedding. If Sienna can turn and walk away from this, then I can
too. I don’t say another word and head back to my reception.

I find Sienna talking to Ace, and she’s a
complete mess. I don’t blame her one bit though. First, Ellie
brings Luke, and then Carrie shows up. It’s almost as if they are
trying to get back at her by using my wedding.

“Madie, I feel so awful. I obviously have a
lot of baggage, and I thought for sure I was past all of this.”

“Stop it. This is not your fault.” I grab her
hands. “Ellie brought Luke here to piss me off. I don’t think that
has anything to do with you at all.”

“I told her the same thing,” Ace agrees.
“Luke is not bright enough to come up with that plan on his own.” I
laugh because that’s so true. Ellie is cunning and manipulative and
this has her name written all over it.

Cole, my new husband (squeal), comes up
behind me and pulls me out onto the dance floor. I explain
everything that just happened with Carrie and Elizabeth. Even he
thinks that something doesn’t add up. “It’s almost as if this was
all part of some elaborate plan?” I tell him.

“Babe, it’s our wedding. Don’t worry about
all of this.” I can tell he is tired of all of the drama, and I am
too. I promise myself that I’m going to enjoy the rest of this day
no matter what happens.

When it comes time to throw my bouquet, I
call all the single women. Sienna, Stephy, and Ellie are all
standing in the front. Is it completely childish of me to hope that
neither of my cousins catch it? I count to three, and I throw it.
Sienna almost had her hands around it when Ellie came in a grabbed
it from her.

“YES! This is perfect timing! Luke, baby,
look at this!” She throws her arms around his neck, and they start
passionately kissing. Both of them are definitely buzzed. Ellie is
not one who would normally act like this in public. So either this
is all for show or she’s almost drunk.

Grandmother doesn’t look happy at all, and
this could possibly be the first time she has ever been noticeably
upset with Ellie, at least when I have been around. I can’t imagine
that those girls have ever disappointed her in some way. Who knows,
I guess there’s a first time for everything? There I go again,
obsessing over this. I probably should make an appointment with a
therapist as soon as I get back from my honeymoon.

“It looks like someone is getting lucky
tonight,” Cole says with a mischievous grin.

He’s gross.

“Excuse me, everyone.” I spin around in a
panic to see Ellie with the microphone. She and Luke have stopped
making out just in time to get her hands on the microphone. Someone
needs to stop her because you never know what will come out of her
mouth, especially considering the fact that she was a bridesmaid
and now she’s not.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this great party, but
I just want to tell my cousin Madison that I’m so happy for her,
and I think we can all agree that this wedding has been great.” The
guests all cheer loudly, and I stand frozen in my Jimmy Choos.

“While I’m up here, I have an announcement to
make because my whole family is here for this celebration. Mom,
Grandmother, Aunt Karen, Uncle Bill, my sister Stephanie, and
Madison, I want to announce that . . . I’m engaged!” She starts
jumping up and down like a child in a toy store. She holds up her
left hand to show a gorgeous ring. Luke joins her behind the
microphone, and they kiss again. What kind of sick and twisted show
are they putting on? This has to be a nightmare that I’m going to
wake up from. Ellie is going to marry Luke? He’s going to be a part
of my family? I turn to Sienna, and she’s in shock as is the rest
of my family. Once over the shock, Grandmother, Aunt Kate, and
Stephy start cheering and rush to hug Ellie and Luke. Somehow, she
kept her engagement (and relationship) a complete secret, and she
chose my wedding to make the announcement.

“What just happened?” Craig asks me. I don’t
have a good answer, so I just shake my head slowly. “Holy crap!
This wedding is going to put us at legendary status. This is
fantastic!”

I shake my head at him and walk away. I’m
looking for Cole when Ellie finally catches up with me.

“Madie! Isn’t this the best news? I hope you
don’t mind me announcing it here. You know how hard it is to get
all of our family together, so I thought it would be the perfect
time.”

I’m about to say something when Luke joins
us.

“Madison, I haven’t had a chance to say
congrats.” He wraps his arms around me and hugs me. I don’t hug him
back. “Isn’t this crazy? We’re going to be cousins.”

“I’m speechless,” I reply. “So, how long have
you two been together? I had no idea.”

They look at each other and start to laugh.
Ellie starts talking. “We only met a few months ago, but when you
find the right one, you just know it. Right, baby?”

“Yes.” He leans in and kisses her on the
nose. Gross! I feel like throwing up but I don’t want to ruin my
gown.

“Madie, I know things have been rough between
us, but I’m happy for you and I hope you will be happy for me,
too.”

I just stand there because I feel like I’m in
a weird alternate universe. Not only has this been the best night
of my life, it’s also been the strangest. This isn’t even about my
issues with Ellie anymore; now this is about Luke. I hope he has
changed because after what he did to Sienna, I wouldn’t even wish
that on Ellie.

“Ellie, are you sure about this? You don’t
really know him.” I point at Luke.

I have nothing to lose by being honest with
her. It may not make a difference, but at least I can say I tried
just in case.

“How dare you!” She glares at me. “I find the
love of my life, and you’re trying to ruin my engagement. Madison,
you really are so selfish.” She starts to walk away, but I stop
her.

“You can think what you want about me, but
you don’t know all the history between us. Luke is a cheater and an
opportunist. You . . . you can do better.” I didn’t mean to
hesitate when I tell her she can do better because I think she
can.

I’m completely taken off guard when Luke
interrupts our conversation. “Madison, I understand how you feel
and you’re right. What I did was awful, and I will always regret
hurting Sienna like I did. But I’ve changed a lot in the past
several months, I’ve grown up, I’ve found myself, and I love Ellie.
I hope in time you will see that.”

I scowl. “So tell me this, after all the
history you have with Sienna and me, why would you blindside all of
us and just show up here tonight? Why not tell me beforehand? And .
. . did you know that Carrie would show up tonight also? Did you
know that she owns this place?”

It’s not that farfetched of a question
because I still wonder if this is some big plan thrown together
from the devious duo—Carrie and Luke. I did read in the tabloids
that Carrie had dumped Luke months ago, but you never know what’s
true and what’s not. Even if Luke knew anything, he would never
admit it.

“Carrie was here? Why? I haven’t seen her in
months.” He hangs his head. “That’s a part of my past that I’m not
proud of and, frankly, want to forget. If I could change any of
that, I would, but I can’t. I hope you and Sienna can find it in
your hearts to forgive me, especially because we’re practically
family now.” He grabs my hand and holds it. I slowly pull it
away.

“I didn’t tell you about Luke and I because
of everything that has been going on,” Ellie adds. “I didn’t want
you to think that I was doing it on purpose. We haven’t exactly
been on the best terms.”

She does have a point.

“Hopefully we can all move on from this and
maybe we can hire Sienna to plan our wedding,” Ellie chimes in.
What? She’s completely lost her mind. She can’t possibly be
serious.

Before I can reply, Cole joins us. “Well, I
suppose I should say congrats. I had no idea you two even knew each
other.” He holds his hand out to shake Luke’s hand. I roll my eyes;
Cole was always oblivious to Luke’s true nature. He always liked
him despite my extreme dislike for him.

“Babe, we have more guests to thank.” I grab
his hand and drag him away before he makes plans to play golf with
Luke. Cole doesn’t play golf but that’s what guy friends do, right?
The last thing I want to do is start having regular dinner parties
with Ellie and Luke because he and Cole become besties.

“Come on, Mads, this is our wedding, so you
need to stop looking so miserable. People are going to start
talking,” he says with a wink. “At any time they may start to
wonder if you regret marrying me.” I hit him on the arm.

“Nobody’s going to think that.”

I need to get my mind off of this family
drama. “Just think, in a few short days we will be in Hawaii on our
honeymoon.” He kisses my hand, and we visit with the rest of our
guests.

I make my way around talking to people.
Caycee and Lauren from my salon tell me that this is the most
entertaining wedding they’ve ever been to.

“I hope that’s a good thing,” I say.

“YEAH!” Lauren says.

“The entertainment almost makes up for it not
being at the Four Seasons.”

She looks like she may cry. I can’t believe
this girl is still upset about the Four Seasons. She was probably
more devastated about the location change than Grandmother.

I laugh. “I’m glad you’ve enjoyed
yourself.”

“Don’t forget to pack your ‘gifts’ for your
honeymoon.” She gives me a wink. I promise her I will.

I continue to make my way around the
ballroom. My parents have been sitting with Cole’s parents and have
really hit it off.

“This has been such a great wedding, and how
exciting for Ellie. That Luke seems like a nice guy,” Mom says.
Obviously, my mom doesn’t know the connection between all of
us.

“I hope she’s not making a mistake.” I didn’t
mean to say that out loud, but it just came out.

“Honey, why would you say that?” I give my
parents a quick synopsis of our past with Luke.

“Oh,” Mom pauses, “well, people can change.
He seems very taken with her, so we can just hope for the
best.”

“I guess.” I don’t bother getting into this
discussion with her because it’s just not worth the trouble.

Cole joins us and my mom completely changes
the subject. My parents love Cole (but who doesn’t), and my mom
especially loves his comedy routines. Cole tells my parents all
about some upcoming shows he has scheduled.

All things considered, my wedding is a
success. I probably thank Sienna a million times. She has even met
a few potential clients, so hopefully any negative publicity that’s
flying around will go away. She doesn’t really say anything about
the announcement of the engagement, and I don’t bring it up. She
will when she’s ready. I did see Luke go over to her, and they
talked for maybe a minute or two. I would have loved to be
eavesdropping on that conversation.

We hug all of our family and friends and are
whisked away in a rented Rolls Royce (another gift from Cole’s
parents). I have no idea where this money keeps coming from. I
wonder if I’ve married into some long-lost Kennedy relatives.
Anyway, Cole cheers loudly and obnoxiously as we drive away, and
I’m not ashamed to say that I join him.

Chapter 16

The next morning I wake up to Cole snoring
lightly next to me. I stare at him for a few minutes and roll back
over and think about the events of the past few weeks and
especially last night. I keep replaying everything in my head, and
then I hear my phone buzzing from my bag. Who would call me the
morning after my wedding night? I’m going to kill them.