Chapter Twenty-eight

I missed Sky.

Being without him felt like trying to breathe when there wasn't any air in the room. It felt like I was trying to swim through an entire ocean, each day ending with the waves crashing against my skin and pulling me down to the depths.

And yet, I had to get up each morning and go to work. I had to put on a fake smile as I met with my remaining clients, not wanting them to know what was going on below the surface. I couldn't be a wedding planner who didn't believe in love.

I couldn't be a wedding planner who knew, deep down, that he'd blown his only chance at having a wedding of his own.

Because I knew that there wasn't going to be another Sky. There wasn't going to be another guy who was going to sweep me off my feet and make me feel like there was something special in the air whenever he was around.

And so, the days passed, just like that, with me faking my own happiness, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. It was easy enough to throw myself into my job, the long hours distracting me a little from the hole in my chest, the one that called out for a man who was no longer in my life.

But when I came home to an empty apartment, the loneliness came back home, too.

Today, I was more grateful than ever, since I was handling a new client, one who wanted to plan a ceremony for over five hundred people. Even though it sounded like a logistical nightmare, I was happy to take on the challenge, excited about the possibility of being so distracted by work that I never had time to think about Sky ever again.

The new client was currently sitting across from my desk, with her legs crossed and a bright smile on her face. "I'm so happy you were able to meet with me today. I've gone through a few wedding planners already, but none of them seem to have any taste. For God's sake, the last woman I spoke to was wearing a green sweater with yellow pumps."

"That sounds awful." I pretended to care. "Isn't that an actual fashion crime? Don't the cops come pick you up for that?"

The client laughed as she shook her head. "Oh, Raven. You are just too much."

"I'm also just the right amount of expensive, so you know I'm worth the gamble." I winked. "How'd you hear about me, anyway? It's not often I get brides from out of town."

"It's a funny story." The client chuckled. "I was driving through the city with my fiancé, and he was driving leisurely, like he usually does. The man drives so slowly that he could lose a car race to a tortoise." She paused, taking a moment to laugh at her own joke. "Anyway, we passed by your billboard on the highway, and I just knew that I needed to meet with you."

"My billboard?" I was confused by her reply. "I have a billboard?"

"Did the billboard company not let you know that they already put up your sign?" She sighed. "That happened with my fiancé's business once. They never got around to letting him know that they'd been running his ad for weeks."

"Yeah. I guess the billboard company never let me know," I bluffed. "Thanks for telling me."

"You're oh so very welcome!" She smiled again. "Now, let's get started, shall we? I was thinking of something in the winter, but I don't want a winter-themed wedding or else it'll look too much like prom."

And as she continued to rattle ideas for her dream wedding, listing off her desires and specifications, my mind wandered back to the billboard I never knew I had.

* * *

"Did you guys put up a billboard for me?"

"We put up 85% of all billboards in the state, sir, you're going to have be a little more specific than that." A bored-looking secretary was staring up at me from behind thick-rimmed glasses. "Could we start with your name?"

I was standing in the lobby of a local billboard company, ready to get some answers about the mysterious billboard that'd been advertising my business. I still had no idea where it'd come from, but I was dying to find out the truth.

"Sorry. My name is Raven Williams?"

"Is that a question?"

"No?" I changed the inflection in my voice. "I mean, no. That's not a question. My name is Raven Williams."

"Raven Williams..." The secretary blew out a breath as her fingers typed, flying along the keyboard in front of her. "Sorry. You're not in our system."

"But you're advertising my business."

"If you say so." The woman shrugged. "But it looks like you never placed an order with us."

"Right. I never placed an order with you."

"Sir, if you never placed an order with us, then why are you asking if we put up a billboard for you?"

"No, that's not..." I struggled to explain myself. "Listen, someone bought a billboard from you guys on behalf of my business."

"How nice of them." The secretary's response was deadpan.

"Can't you at least tell me how that happened?"

"It's possible that someone went through our ad agency instead of directly through the office," she continued. "But people only do that if they'd like to remain anonymous."

"But can you still see their name? In the system?" I asked.

"Right, but as I just said, Mr. Williams, people won't go through all that trouble unless they don't want to be figured out."

"Could you at least tell me if it was a man? Who placed the anonymous order?" I begged. "Please? I'm kind of in a weird spot in my life right now--"

"We're all in a weird spot, Mr. Williams." The secretary sighed, looking down at her computer screen. "But yes. The order was placed by a man. Does that make you feel any better?"

"Could I get a first name, too?"

"Goodbye, Mr. Williams." The secretary offered me a wave without looking up from her desk.

"Got it. Thanks." I waved at her in return, even though I knew she couldn't see it.

I walked out of the billboard office, just as confused as I'd been when I'd first gone through their doors.

In the guessing game I'd been playing in my head, I was thinking that the billboard was put up by a previous client, someone wealthy and satisfied with my work. It was such a selfless gesture that I figured it had to be someone whose wedding I'd planned, unable to comprehend a random stranger putting in the time and effort to not only design the billboard but secure such a premium spot for it, too.

I carried my confusion about the situation all the way back to my own office as I stepped through the door. I was greeted by Briar and Laurel, with Briar looking over a client's wedding file, and Laurel staring out the window.

"Did you agree to cater this woman's wedding?" Briar asked. "You do know that she's going to have over five hundred guests?"

"Yeah, but you like a challenge, right?" I grinned.

"Oh, I'm not worried about my part. I can whip up a meal for five hundred, just as easily as I can whip up one for five," he went on. "I'm more concerned about you. Have you ever had to figure out the seating chart for five hundred people?"

"No, but I look forward to the sleepless nights that'll come with me trying to figure it out."

"Decorating a venue for five hundred people is going to be a nightmare," Laurel added. "I tried throwing a party for five hundred people once."

"Wait. You did?" Briar seemed surprised.

"Mhmm. Threw it in an old warehouse." Laurel sighed. "We only made it to three hundred before we were at capacity, and then we had people waiting outside for the rest of the night. But they could still hear the music. In fact, some would say that all they needed was to hear the music--"

"So, they were dancing in the streets?" Briar rolled his eyes.

Laurel smirked. "I'm pretty proud of that one."

"Did you two put up a billboard for me? On the highway?" I asked.

"A billboard on the highway?" Briar shook his head. "Sorry, Raven. I like you a lot, but I don't like anyone enough to spend that kind of dough."

"And I don't have that kind of dough to spend," Laurel added. "Are you saying someone put up a billboard for you? Without you having to pay for it?"

"Yeah, but I was starting to think you two pooled your cash together or something," I answered. "You know, because you were trying to cheer me up about the whole Sky thing--"

"Don't say his name," Briar instructed. "The less you say his name out loud, the less you think it in your head, too."

"It's science," Laurel suggested. "Have you asked Clarissa about the billboard, though?"

"Why would I ask Clarissa?"

"Because you were right. If Briar and I were willing to spend that kind of money, getting you a good billboard on the highway is exactly something we would do to make you feel better," Laurel explained. "But you're pretty good friends with Clarissa, too, and she actually has the cash to do something like that for you, so..."

"Right. You're so right." I nodded as I pulled out my phone. I dialed Clarissa's number, waiting for her to pick up on the other line.

"Raven! Baby! How have you been?" she squealed into the receiver.

I cut right to the chase. "Did you put up a billboard for me? On the highway?"

"Oh. You finally saw the billboard."

"So, you did put up the billboard for me?" I was relieved at the mystery being solved. "Clarissa, thank you. That's so sweet."

"I didn't put up the billboard."

"Uh..." I was once again puzzled. "Do you know who put up the billboard then?"

"I'm not supposed to say." She groaned. "I'm sorry, Raven."

"Can't you at least give me a clue?"

"A clue?" She hummed. "Okay. I think I can do that."

"Great! So, what's the clue?" I was eager to get to the bottom of the situation. "What's their hair color? Eye color? Profession? Last event I saw them at?"

"You should think about who loves you, Raven," Clarissa answered. "You should think about who really, really loves you."

Sky.

It was him. It had to be.

Unless Clarissa was leaving out more information.

I decided to find out via a follow-up question. "Was that the whole clue?"

"Yep! Talk to you later, Raven. I need to get back to Trent. We're painting the living room. Call me when you've got it all figured out, yeah?"

"Sure thing." I hung up the phone.

"So, did you figure out who it is?" Laurel asked.

"Yeah. I think I did."

"You don't look happy about it," Briar commented.

"It's complicated," I murmured as I turned to leave my office for a second time that day.