That Night with You (35 page)

“
That stinks, Mads.”
Charlie pointed to the bouquet. “I’m gonna be sick.”

“
Maybe we should get her
some water,” Lizzie offered, pulling at her tea-length, drape-cut
silk dress. With alternating flowing layers of tie-dyed teal and
chocolate fabric hanging loosely about the front and back of the
dress, she reminded Madison of a colorblind hippie who had created
the monstrosity during a drug-induced designing rampage.

Madison cringed as she recalled her
own image in the mirror when she had prepared for the event at
Caroline Peevy’s posh Highland Park home. She could not wait to
hear the barrage of acerbic comments she was sure Hayden was going
to inflict at the reception.

Pushing a daydreaming Madison aside,
Carolyn Peevy came up to Charlie. “She’ll be fine,” she asserted,
and patted Charlie’s neck with a damp paper towel. “Linney, get the
candy from my handbag,” Caroline called to her daughter, another of
the fashion challenged bridesmaids in the room.

Nelson’s sister, the renowned high
school gymnast, dashed to a dark pink handbag that perfectly
matched the mother of the groom’s chic, pink crepe Chanel dress.
For a split second Madison could have sworn that Caroline Peevy
purposefully dressed the three bridesmaids in the unattractive
frocks to make herself look good.

Caroline took a piece of hard candy
from her daughter. “You need to eat this. You haven’t touched a
thing all day, and with all of this excitement, your blood sugar is
low.” She unwrapped the candy and placed it in the palm of
Charlie’s shaking hand.

All eyes watched with mounting anxiety
as the bride sucked on the candy, and even Madison sagged with
relief when Charlie’s color returned.

“
I’m feeling
better.”

“
You’re sure?” Madison
pressed.

“
I’m fine.” Charlie
laughed, sounding like her old self. “It’s not like I can cancel,
Mads.”

“
Okay, crisis averted.”
Caroline Peevy began fluffing out the skirt of Charlie’s wedding
gown. “Girls, take your places at the back of the aisle.” She
motioned to Madison. “Get them lined up, while I get her
ready.”

Heading out of the room,
Madison approached the alcove that opened to the nave. Built of
white stone arches on either side, the church floor was filled with
dark wooden pews crammed with guests and adorned in pale blue and
chocolate bows. A red carpet had been placed down the center aisle
to guide the wedding party to the altar. Gazing ahead, Madison’s
eyes rose to the grand oak-covered chancel at the far end of the
church, where the altar stood covered with white linen and
decorated with a simple gold cross. Above it, rising up to the
vaulted walnut ceiling, were the seventy-seven silver pipes of the
massive organ encased in matching oak woodwork. The
horizontal
Trompette en chamade
dominated the center of the façade. In the air,
the sweet strains of organ music entertained the guests as they
waited for the wedding to begin.

Madison strained to look down the row
of pews, searching for Hayden’s thick, brown wavy hair and rugged
features, but as she snuck from one side of the alcove to the
other, trying to get a better view of the packed church, she could
not find him.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed
her arm. “Come on, girl,” Caroline Peevy chided. “Take your place.
It’s time.” She dragged Madison back to the alcove that opened to
the center aisle.
“Now remember, go slow and don’t rush. You’re first, and set
the tone for the rest of the bridal party.”

F
iguring
resistance was futile at this point, Madison just
nodded.

While stepping over to take the arm of
a dashing gray-haired man in a black
suit waiting for her at the start of the aisle, Caroline
instructed, “Go slow and remember to smile.”

The handsome
gentleman next to Caroline winked at Madison. “You’ll do just fine,
Madison, not to worry.”

“
Thanks, Dr. Peevy.”

She waited as
the famed Dallas cardiac surgeon escorted his wife to their pew at
the front of the church. Once the Peevys were seated, Madison
clutched her smelly bouquet, sucked in a deep breath, and headed
down the aisle.

Smiling
sweetly, just as Caroline had insisted at the rehearsal, Madison
slowly marched along. Her eyes volleyed back and forth between the
pews, and as one face after another turned out not to be Hayden’s,
a sinking feeling came over her. Determined not to let it show,
Madison kept up her smile until she reached the end of the aisle.
Frantically searching those front pews as she turned to the left of
the altar, Madison wondered if she had missed him. Perhaps he had
been further to the side and out of her line of sight.

P
assing
Nelson, she winked. Decked out in his rented tuxedo, he looked
pale, but happy. The slender man—with the unruly, frizzy black hair
and soft brown eyes—had always held a soft spot in Madison’s heart
because of his easygoing nature and deep love for
Charlie.

W
aiting for
Lizzie to join her at the altar, Madison took in the unencumbered
view of all the guests and her happiness wilted as her hope
disappeared into the cold stone floor. He was not there.

The organ music instantly
changed and
Felix
Mendelssohn's “Wedding March” reverberated throughout the church.
All the guests stood as the bride slowly came down the aisle to her
groom.

But
Madison’s eyes were not on the bride, they were on the guests,
searching for Hayden.
He didn’t come
. The thought repeated over and over again in her head until
it was interrupted by the words of another.

“
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today….”

***

“
Did you try his cell
phone?” Lizzie asked.

Madison raised her cell phone in her
hand. “I tried it. Goes right to voice mail.” She put the phone on
the black onyx and gold bar next to her and retrieved her flute of
champagne. “Now how in the hell am I to get home?”

“
Barry and I will bring you
home,” Lizzie told her. “Maybe he was in an accident. Have you
tried the hospitals?” Lizzie’s innocent brown eyes made Madison
want to hug her for not doubting Hayden.

She searched the white and
gold-painted ballroom of Arlington Hall, noting that some of the
wedding guests were seated at white linen-covered tables eating
their food, while others were still standing in the long line that
snaked around the grand hall, waiting for the buffet. At the front,
between two large white Corinthian columns, was a stage where a
band was setting up to play.

“
I don’t think he’s in the
hospital, Lizzie.” Madison gulped back more of the bubbly gold
liquid in her glass.

“
I’m sure he didn’t stand
you up without a damned good reason, Madison,” Lizzie loudly
proposed to be heard over the din of the crowd.

“
Oh, I’m sure he has a
reason.” Madison cast her eyes to her drink. “I just don’t want to
hazard a guess at what it is.”

Charlie came up to them. “You two
disappeared right after the pictures; what’s up?”

Her veil was gone and on her left
hand, the shiny three-carat diamond was now partnered with a
diamond-clad wedding band.

“
Where’s your groom?”
Madison questioned, glancing behind her.

“
I left him talking to his
friend, Jimmie, from law school. They were going on about some case
Nelson has.” Charlie’s blue eyes worriedly scanned Madison’s face.
“Is he still a no show?”

Madison held up her champagne flute
and nodded.

Charlie gave Lizzie a worried frown.
“Maybe he got in an accident?”

“
I already said that,”
Lizzie affirmed.

“
Look, Mads, perhaps
something came up and—”

Madison held up her hand. “Forget it,
Charlie. You were right about him. He was using me and had no
intention of ever getting serious. Tonight proves it.”

Charlie took the champagne from her
hand. “You don’t know that, Madison, and you certainly don’t
believe it. If you ask me, you’re crazy about this guy, and it’s
killing you that he treats you this way. Hell, it’s killing me.”
She banged the glass down on the bar next to her.

“
There she is.” Charlie was
picked up and twirled around by a tall, lanky man in a black tux
and disheveled thick black hair. When her feet returned to the
floor, Charlie kissed her new husband’s lips. “What are you girls
talking about?” Nelson inquired in his unusually deep
voice.

Madison looked over his hooked nose,
full, wide mouth, and high forehead…and for a moment envied her
friend. For the rest of her life, Charlie had someone to be there
for her, making Madison wonder if she would ever know such
contentment.

“
Madison’s date never
showed,” Charlie told Nelson.

Nelson’s dark brown eyes narrowed with
concern. “Isn’t he your boss?”

Madison nodded.

Nelson gave Madison an encouraging
smile. “Screw him. You don’t need that kind of man, Madison. There
are lots of men here tonight who would do a lot better by you than
your boss.”

Madison felt guilty. She didn’t want
to be talking about such a depressing subject as her love life at
her friend’s wedding. It was a happy occasion, and no matter how
devastated she felt, she could never let it show.

“
Never mind about me,
Nelson. I’ll be fine.” She put on a brave smile.

“
I know you will. You just
need to find someone new to forget about him.” Nelson turned to his
wife. “You ready to take our first dance together? The band’s
waiting for us to dance before they start their set.”

Beaming, Charlie let Nelson lead her
away. Lizzie and Madison watched as Nelson slipped his arm about
Charlie’s shoulder as he guided her to the white-tiled dance floor
set up in front of the stage.

“
I need to find Barry. He
left ten minutes ago to get me something to eat,” Lizzie stated as
she scanned the room. “Are you going to be all right,
Madison?”

She patted Lizzie’s hand. “Go and find
your date. I’m just going to stay here and watch their first
dance.”

Lizzie took off in the direction of
the buffet tables as Madison checked her phone once
more.

“
Damn things,” a man spoke
up behind her. “Always got to keep checking them to see if you’ve
missed anything.”

Madison was about to turn to the voice
when a handsome man in a black suit appeared in front of her. He
was of medium height with a wide set of shoulders and lots of
blond, curly hair.

“
Yeah, technology,” she
remarked with a shrug. “What are you going to do?”

He pulled his cell phone from his
pocket. “My addiction is email. I’m always checking to see if I got
any. What’s yours?”

Madison put her phone back down on the
bar, uncomfortable with his piercing blue eyes and how they were
examining her face and figure. “I was, ah, just waiting for a phone
call.”

“
At a wedding?” He laughed,
and the sound took Madison by surprise. It was a jovial chortle
that instantly made her stop and look at the man with a renewed
interest.

“
I was waiting to hear from
a friend.” She picked up her champagne.

He held out his hand to her. “I’m
Jimmie by the way, Jimmie Kirkland. I went to law school with
Nelson. You’re Madison, right?”

Madison shook his hand, recalling
Charlie just mentioning Nelson’s friend. “Are you looking for
Nelson?”

“
Actually, he told me to
come over here and talk to you.”

Madison suddenly felt foolish. “I
see.”

A booming voice came over the speakers
at the front by the stage, announcing the first dance of Mr. and
Mrs. Nelson Peevy. Madison peered through the crowd, wanting to
catch a glimpse of the important moment.

“
So this friend you’re
waiting to hear from,” Jimmie moved next to her at the bar, “is he
a boyfriend?”

“
No. He’s just a friend.” A
twinge of sorrow meandered through Madison’s heart.

Jimmie’s blue eyes perked up. “Glad to
hear it.”

The strains of a famous rock ballad
from the eighties blared across the ballroom as the lights dimmed.
Madison stood by the bar, not sure of what to say or do, when
Jimmie edged closer to her.

“
You’re drinking
champagne?”

She nodded.

He waved down a bartender dressed all
in black. “Another champagne, and a scotch and soda.” When the
bartender hurried to get their drinks, Jimmie returned his
unsettling eyes to her. “Nelson told me you’re an architect; where
do you work?”

“
Parr and
Associates.”

“
Never heard of them,”
Jimmie confessed. “What do you build there?”

Madison told him about her design for
the Martins as they waited for their drinks. She thought she would
have a hard time talking to a stranger, but somehow Jimmie made her
feel at ease as he asked her questions about architectural
design.