Part 6 (1/2)
”You're the lucky one, Patty” Shandi neither agreed nor disagreed hat Patty had just said ”You've got your whole life in front of you Can do whatever you want, nothing to tie you down And you've got the personality and courage to do it, you know? Even if I still had your freedoe of it”
”You're twenty-two!” Patty laughed ”You're not exactly old! And you've got everything in front of you, plus you've got a partner to do it all with!”
Shandi gave her a thanks-but-you-couldn't-possibly-understand srapher coughed softly frootten she was there
”Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but your mother wants to take a few private pictures with the bride”
”Of course!” Shandi quickly snapped herself back into wedding htly in fully confident, self-absorbed, happy-bride fashi+on
”Thanks so much for your help, Patty,” she chirped as she followed the photographer out to meet their mother
CHAPTER 16:
You Can't Win All The Time
Adam punched the elevator button furiously ”Come on!” he yelled at the button Noas the chance to be a hero, and he wasn't going to miss it The doors finally opened and he rode the elevator to the lobby, dashi+ng to the front desk
”Where's the Hawkins-Bronson wedding?” he belted
”It's in the Hibiscus Grove, down the street The next shuttle should be leaving in about five minutes”
Adam didn't have five minutes He rushed outside and stopped under the porte-cochere desperate for a solution The door a woman out of a red Porsche Carrera while her husband stood with the bags waiting for the valet Adarabbed a blank ticket He ripped the ticket in half and gave the bottom portion to the man, who looked at Adam's khaki shorts and flip-flops suspiciously
”Our valet had an eency phone call,” Adam said calmly ”I'm an office intern, and they asked lanced nervously over theback But, the rabbed it, skipped quickly to the driver's side, and sped off toward the Hibiscus Grove, his adrenaline pu with the 160,000 accelerator under his foot
He left the car outside the small villa nestled next to the Hibiscus Grove and dashed through the door onto the terrace Elegantly dressed, beautiful people were ne, all s the crowd Ada for T J Where was he?
He ran to one wall of the terrace If he stood on it, he could get a better view of the crowd He cli with adrenaline ”T J, where are you?” he muttered under his breath
He scanned the crowd But his eyes darted back to the corner Did he just see what he thought he saw? Who was that standing under the palm tree? It couldn't be
Adam's heart sank No, it didn't sink; it collapsed, crashed, plummeted to the center of the earth All the blood in his head rushed to support it and he felt like he was going to faint Lisa-his Lisa-was in the gazebo And she was kissing-it couldn't be! -the Indian guy from the incubator
He shuddered He didn't kno to process this What the hell was going on? He climbed off the wall and sat down He needed a drink A waiter passed by with a tray of ain, to confirazebo There was no doubt: Lisa and Sundeep were holding hands He was s her head, her perfectly sculpted golden curls falling down her back Adarabbed another
”Did you decide to crash the wedding?”
Adam turned his head toward the voice The ht stood next to hilass of cha Adaht expression
Adam took a deep breath and tried to refocus on why he had come ”I have to find T J,” he stammered ”T J Bristol Do you know hiht over here”
Ted turned towith an older woman, and so didn't see the stunned expression on Adauy before; at the party last June, giving the toast for T J His brain couldn't handle all of this
Ted turned back before Adam had time to recover his expression He lifted his eyebrows in a what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-this-kid grimace as T J broke away from his conversation and joined them
T J noticed Adam's dumbfounded face, too ”I see you two have finally met”
”Actually, I don't think we ever officially have” Ted stuck out his hand jovially ”I'm Ted Bristol What's your na Ted's hand
T J rolled his eyes ”Adam Dory,” he said ”Aue ”Well! Ada Ted to punch him
But instead Ted smiled ”It appears there are two extreenuine and war, and Adam blushed There was always talk about Amelia, but it was the first ti he was i, but he felt a weird connection with Ted
”So what's up?” T J asked, ”Why on earth would you co if you didn't have to?”
Adauy was Ted, that ht that he didn't like her boyfriend? And her boyfriend was Sundeep? Unless she was a total slut and she was kissing all sorts of boys in the gazebo No, that couldn't be Lisa wasn't a slut She was perfect-she loved him!
Focus!
”It's Amelia The panel, I mean You have to stop the Q&A,” Ada T J and Ada the conference
”What do you rabbed the phone and stared in horror at its screen Ae, about to lanced at his iPhone It was 10:55 am and he had three frantic texts fro Lisa and Sundeep for that long? How many mimosas did he drink?
”No! We have to stop the Q&A They're going to drill her on questions about juvie!” Adam rushed out T J followed
”The cere to kill you if you miss it”