From the book
The wedding was off. Cancelled. Canned. Kaput.
Nina Cormier sat staring at herself in the church dressing room mirror and wondered why she couldn't seem to cry. She knew the pain was there, deep and terrible beneath the numbness, but she didn't feel it. Not yet. She could only sit dry-eyed, staring at her reflection. The picture-perfect image of a bride. Her veil floated in gossamer wisps about her face. The bodice of her ivory satin dress, embroidered with seed pearls, hung fetchingly off-shoulder. Her long black hair was gathered into a soft chignon. Everyone who'd seen her that morning in the dressing room--her mother, her sister Wendy, her stepmother Daniella--had declared her a beautiful bride.
And she would have been. Had the groom bothered to show up.
He didn't even have the courage to break the news to her in person. After six months of planning and dreaming, she'd received his note just twenty minutes before the ceremony. Via the best man, no less.
Nina, I need time to think about this. I'm sorry, I really am. I'm leaving town for a few days. I'll call you.
Robert
She forced herself to read the note again.
I need time.... I need time....
How much time does a man need? she wondered.
A year ago, she'd moved in with Dr. Robert Bledsoe. It's the only way to know if we 're compatible, he'd told her. Marriage was such a major commitment, a permanent commitment, and he didn't want to make a mistake. At forty-one, Robert had known his share of disastrous relationships. He was determined not to make any more mistakes. He wanted to be sure that Nina was the one he'd been waiting for all his life.
She'd been certain Robert was the man she'd been waiting for. So certain that, on the very day he'd suggested they live together, she'd gone straight home and packed her bags....
"Nina? Nina, open the door!" It was her sister Wendy, rattling the knob. "Please let me in."
Nina dropped her head in her hands. "I don't want to see anyone right now."
"You need to be with someone."
"I just want to be alone."
"Look, the guests have all gone home. The church is empty. It's just me out here."
"I don't want to talk to anyone. Just go home, will you? Please, just go."
There was a long silence outside the door. Then Wendy said, "If I leave now, how're you going to get home? You'll need a ride."
"Then I'll call a cab. Or Reverend Sullivan can drive me. I need some time to think."
"You're sure you don't want to talk?"
"I'm sure. I'll call you later, okay?"
"If that's what you really want." Wendy paused, then added, with a note of venom that penetrated even through the oak door, "Robert's a jerk, you know. I might as well tell you. I've always thought he was."
Nina didn't answer. She sat at the dressing table, her head in her hands, wanting to cry, but unable to squeeze out a single tear. She heard Wendy's footsteps fade away, then heard only the silence of the empty church. Still no tears would come. She couldn't think about Robert right now. Instead, her mind seemed to focus stubbornly on the practical aspects of a cancelled wedding. The catered reception and all that uneaten food. The gifts she had to return. The nonrefundable airline tickets to St. John Island. Maybe she should go on that honeymoon anyway and forget Dr. Robert Bledsoe. She'd go by herself, just her and her bikini. Out of this whole heartbreaking affair, at least she'd come out with a tan.
Slowly she raised her head...
