Chapter 80

Chapter 80

That Saturday, Andrew agreed to drive with me in the company van to Eliza’s house so that we could pick up the final group of dresses that Nikolas was repairing. I thought that it would be

nice to have someone to talk to on 1 way there, but Andrew was unusually silent. Unlike our typical silence, this made me feel awkward and had me shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

“Andrew,” I said when I couldn’t take the quiet anymore, “is everything all right?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, staring out at the windshield without blinking.

“You just seem a bit quiet today. Is everything okay?”

He shrugged.

“I don’t feel like talking, I suppose.”

“Are you sure that’s it?”

I watched as Andrew’s n*eck muscles and jaw clenched. His grip on the steering wheel tightened until his knuckles turned white. Instinctually, I reached

him to hold his hand, but then I stopped and put my hand in my lap.

toward

“I’m sure,” he said through his teeth.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked softly.

At the sound of my timid voice, his eyes softened, and his features relaxed slightly.

“No, love, it’s not you,” he said. “Goddess knows it’s not you.”

He took one hand off the steering wheel and grabbed mine with it, entwining our fingers. He brought my hand to his l*ps and k*ssed the knuckles gently before setting our interlaced hands on the console.

“I have a lot on my mind, that’s all,” he continued. “I don’t want to burden you with it.””

I considered prodding him more about it. After all, I was his girlfriend now, wasn’t that what I was supposed to do? I had opened up to him, so it would only make sense for him to open up to me in his time of need.

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Chapter 80

Then I decided that if he was going to talk to me, it should be on his time, not mine. Pushing him to talk would only force him to close up more, and he might never trust me enough to talk to me about anything personal.

I squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

“All right. Just know that if you need to talk to anyone, you can come to me.”

He smiled slightly, but I could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

“I know.”

When we arrived, Eliza and Nikolas were waiting on the porch for us. They welcomed us with open arms, hugging us each tightly like the children they always wanted, rather than the ones that Nikolas got. They must not have seen. the tabloid article yet.

Between Andrew and me, we were able to load the remaining dresses within. an hour. In typical Eliza and Nikolas fashion, though, the couple insisted that we stay for lunch. We couldn’t say no to that.

“So, do I sense something different between you two?” Eliza asked as she served us gazpacho.

I suppressed the sly grin that wanted to cross my l*ps.

“No, nothing at all,” I said.

“Are you sure?” Nikolas asked, looking from Andrew to me. “There seems to be a certain glow around the two of you.”

“I assure you, nothing has changed between us,” Andrew said with a much more convincing neutral tone than I could manage.

Eliza smirked.

“If you’re sure,” she said with a wink. “Whatever has not happened, we’re happy for the two of you. You deserve each other.”

I forced myself not to blush. I would not let an elderly woman’s compliments embarrass me so easily.

“So, are you two looking forward to your wedding?” I asked in an attempt to

Chapter 80

change the subject.

“Of course. We talk about it every day,” Nikolas replied.

“We were just looking at pictures of the beach online earlier today,” Eliza added. “It’s so beautiful and brings back so many memories.”

I loved the way in which Eliza and Nikolas lit up at the mention of their wedding. It warmed my heart to see two people so wholesomely in love. Now that Nikolas’s sons had been taken out of the picture, they could live the happily–ever–after that they deserved.

“We did get an interesting call from your boss, though,” Eliza said, suddenly contemplative. “I think her name is Lily.”

I exchanged a look with Andrew and braced myself. I should have known that this was coming. Even though I had taken on their wedding pro bono and shouldered all the work myself, Nikolas and Eliza were still technically Ever After Weddings clients. As long as these rumors were circulating, Lily would want their wedding to be handled by someone with a more pristine reputation.

Som

“She said that you’ve been having issues with keeping up with your work lately and so our wedding will be handled by one of your colleagues,” Eliza continued. “Is that true?”

I stared down at my bowl of gazpacho, stirring it mindlessly.

“Not exactly.”

“Then what’s going on?” Nikolas asked.

I sipped a spoonful of gazpacho before setting down my utensil and facing my friends again. It was strange to think about how, in such a short amount of time, I had become so close to these people who didn’t even live in the same city as I did.

“A picture of me was taken out of context, and a tabloid article was printed of me suggesting that I sneak off during weddings to…meet with men….in private,” I replied.

Eliza’s mouth molded into an “O“, while Nikolas cleared his throat and scratched the back of his n*eck.

“I don’t, of course, I continued. “It was a complete misunderstanding.

However, my boss thinks that it’s best for me to handle the behind–the–scenes. workings of Ever After Weddings until the situation blows over.”

My eyes returned to my soup bowl.

“Andrew still wants me to coordinate his daughter’s wedding, but if you agree with Lily, I will completely understand.”

The scraping of a chair on the wooden floor caused me to look up as Eliza stood up and walked over to my seat. She put her hands on my shoulders and squeezed with all her might.

“Crystal, I don’t care what the tabloids say about you,” she said, “I know the kind of person that you are. You are smart, hardworking, and dedicated. You know what we want, and I wouldn’t have anyone else doing our wedding.”

Nikolas patted my arm with his hand.

“I couldn’t agree more,” he said with a smile.

I smiled back at him and raised my hand to wipe the tears off my cheeks.

“Thank you. That means more to me than you could know.”

“We actually have a couple very important questions to ask both of your regarding the wedding, Eliza said.

Andrew and I shifted in our chairs to give her our full attention.

“Crystal, would you like to be my maid of honor?”

My hands flung to my mouth in an attempt to hold in a squeal of excitement.

“Yes,” I said. “Yes, of course!”

She and Lembraced, Eliza’s grasp much tighter than I would have expected from someone her age. When we parted, she motioned for Nikolas to speak.

“Andrew, Nikolas said, “would you like to be my groomsman?”

Andrew grinned and nodded.

“Certainly, Nikolas. It would be an honor.”

Chapter 80

The two men shook hands across the table.

As Nikolas and Eliza continued to talk about their wedding, Andrew snuck his hand to my thigh and squeezed gently. Our eyes met. Andrew smiled slightly, but I could see that something still haunted him.

He will tell me, I told myself, in his own time.