Christmas Wedding by Tess Thompson

Author:Tess Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tess Thompson

5

Rafael

* * *

Around three that afternoon, Rafael let himself into the hotel room. He’d been out for most of the day with Stone, Nico, and Trey, having a tame bachelor party. They’d had lunch in town and then rented snowshoes for a hike through the woods. The afternoon had ended with expensive scotch and stinky cigars. His muscles slightly fatigued from exercise and his mind calm from the quiet of the woods, he shrugged out of his jacket. Where was his bride? The suite was quiet. Too quiet.

Something was wrong. A darkness hung in the air, like the interior of a funeral home. The hair at the back of his neck stood up as he called out to Lisa. There was no answer. Glancing around, everything looked the same as when he’d left. The door to the other bedroom where the wedding gown and the bridesmaid dresses were hidden remained closed. The bathroom door was also closed. Even if Lisa were in the shower, she usually kept the door slightly ajar. He crossed the room and tapped on the door. “Lisa, are you in there?”

“Yes.” The sound of splashing water told him she was in the tub. That was a bad sign. She only took baths when she was upset. What had her mother done? “Come on in.” Her voice sounded muffled and strange. Was she crying?

He opened the door a few inches. Thick steam shrouded his view, but he made out the outline of Lisa sitting in the middle of the tub. Her face was buried in her drawn-up knees.

He shut the door to keep the warmth in the room and crossed over to her. “Sweetheart, what’s the matter?” He knelt next to the tub as she lifted her face to him.

Puffy red eyes peered at him. “My parents are getting a divorce.”

He rocked back on his heels and then plopped hard onto the floor. “What?”

“Yes. They told David and me this morning.”

“The day before your wedding?”

She nodded. “Good timing, right?”

“I’d say.” His mind had gone from to calm to enraged in a matter of seconds. What was wrong with these people? Couldn’t it wait until after she returned from the honeymoon? It was as if they wanted her to be as unhappy as they were.

“It’s my dad. He wants out.” She went on to tell him they’d been in counseling and that her father realized he’d been miserable for years. “You won’t believe what Mom told me today. She said they got married because she was pregnant. It’s like everything was a lie. My whole childhood.” She started crying again, speaking through her tears. “I kept it together until after Mom left.”

“She was here?” He knew it.

“Yes. She threatened to leave before the wedding, but I talked her out of it. I was calm when she was here, like I was channeling someone else. But the minute she left, everything just crashed in on me.”

He was sweating under his ski pants and sweater in the warmth of the bathroom.

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