“Elliot!”
Tyler came bursting into the courtyard, Lena on his heels. She came to an abrupt halt when she saw him standing there, but Tyler barreled toward him at full steam. Elliot scooped the boy up before Tyler knocked him over. He swung him around and then put him back down.
Tyler grabbed his hand, chattering about his ring bearer duties. He even had the pillow to practice with. They walked back to where Lena waited with the other bridesmaids. Tyler kept up a steady stream of conversation that Elliot only half listened to. Tyler kept hold of his hand. And Elliot realized that the thing he and Lena had both been trying to avoid had already happened.
Tyler was getting way too attached to him. Not only that, Elliot was getting attached to Tyler. He was going to miss the kid when he went home. Like really miss him. That wasn’t something he’d remotely expected. But…letting them go was for the best.
He came up to Lena and almost reached out for her but hesitated at the last second. The rest of the wedding party was gathered near the wedding planner, listening to directions for how the ceremony would run. He should probably pay attention to that, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Lena.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.”
“You doing okay?”
She just stared at him, and the vice around his heart tightened another notch.
“Where’s my ring bearer?” the planner called out. She was getting everyone lined up and ready for their practice march up the aisle.
Lena patted Tyler on the head and sent him over.
“Lena?” Elliot asked softly.
She shook her head, not meeting his gaze. “I’m fine, Elliot. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because I was an ass this morning.”
Her gaze shot to his. “Not going to argue with you there.”
He offered her his arm. She hesitated a second but couldn’t really get out of taking it, since it was almost their turn to walk up the aisle.
“Look, Lena…”
“Don’t, Elliot. You don’t need to say anything. We both knew that this was just for fun. The wedding is tomorrow. The vacation is almost over. We’ll go back to our own lives, and that will be that.”
He frowned but couldn’t argue. “I still meant what I said about helping with your business.”
They started walking up the aisle, ignoring the wedding planner who was loudly counting out their steps.
Lena shook her head. “That’s not necessary.”
“Lena.”
“No,” she snapped, coming to a stop.
The couple behind them almost ran into them, and the wedding planner was waving them along.
Lena started walking again, forcing him to move with her.
“I don’t want your help, Elliot. That’s where all our problems started. The rest… That was fun,” she murmured, her eyes darting around to make sure no one else was listening. “But the business stuff… I told you I was no good at that. I didn’t want my bad luck to bleed all over you, too. I’m sorry I screwed that up for you. Let’s leave well enough alone and just go our separate ways, like we planned.”
It was almost the exact wording Elliot had thought of himself, but it hurt coming from Lena.
They reached the head of the aisle where Oz stood glowering at them. He’d obviously picked up that something was wrong. Elliot nodded at him, and Lena gave him a faint smile. He wanted to continue their conversation, but they had to split, her going to stand on the bride’s side, him the groom’s. They were far from done, though. As soon as the rehearsal was over, they were going to talk. He wasn’t going to let her throw away what little he could offer her and Tyler.
He finally cornered her after dinner when the rest of the wedding party was on the dance floor. She’d excused herself to go to the ladies’ room, and when she came out, he grabbed her hand and dragged her to a secluded corner hidden by a large potted palm.
“Elliot, what are you doing?”
“I want to know why you’re turning down my help.”
She sighed and tried to push past him, but he moved in front of her, slamming one hand against the wall to block her. She wasn’t trapped, but she’d have to shove him out of the way to get past him.
She glared at him. “I need to check on Tyler.”
Elliot shook his head. “I’m sure he’ll be fine without your constant supervision for a few minutes. We need to talk.”
Lena threw her hands up and nearly growled in frustration. “No, Elliot, he won’t be fine. He’s a child. One who is pretty good at wandering off and getting himself into trouble, if you hadn’t noticed. See, this is exactly why…”
“Exactly why, what?” he asked, his gaze burning into hers.
She sighed. “It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Yes, there is. I want to know why you won’t accept my help.”
“God, Elliot! Why do you care? What difference does it make if I take your money or not?”
“It makes a huge difference to you! You and Tyler could use that money, and you know it.”
“What is it to you? Some sort of pay off? You feel guilty for what happened between us, so you’re trying to buy me off or something?”
Anger burned through Elliot, slow and hot. “That’s a disgusting thing to accuse me of.”
She folded her arms, her eyes blazing with her own anger. “Well, I can’t figure out what else it is. Yeah, we had some amazing sex. That doesn’t mean you owe me anything. Why complicate everything?”
Elliot stared at her. She was right. Why was this so important to him?
A child’s laughter rang through the hall, and Elliot turned to see Tyler and Oz doing the chicken dance.
“I want to make sure you two are okay.”
Lena’s face softened. “We’ll be fine, Elliot. We were fine before I met you. We’ll be fine long after you’re gone. You need to…let us go.”
Elliot stared into her eyes. He wasn’t sure what he was searching for. She hadn’t said anything he hadn’t already decided himself.
“Fine.” He stepped back and nodded his head. “Fine.”
She moved away from the corner, back toward the rest of their group. She turned slightly, talking to him over her shoulder. “You’re a good man, Elliot. I don’t regret what happened between us.”
He nodded again and watched her walk away, taking with her everything that had made him truly happy.
Chapter Fifteen
Tyler slept peacefully snuggled in their bed while Lena sat on the couch in the little sitting area of their hotel room, a little wine bottle from the mini-fridge in one hand and her empty idea binder in the other. The papers filled with her ideas were spread before her on the coffee table like the world’s worst montage. Here is your crappy life, in 3-D. She’d kept every idea she’d ever had from grade school on up on those pages. Dozens upon dozens of them. Not one of them worth a damn.
“What a waste,” she murmured.
She took another sip of wine, wishing the mini-bottle was three times the size. There was probably a good two glasses worth of wine inside. Enough to take the edge off the grief and overwhelming disappointment raging through her but not nearly enough to erase the last twenty-four hours from her mind. And she really, really wanted it erased.
She hadn’t seen Elliot since their little talk at the rehearsal dinner. He’d disappeared from the festivities. Which had probably been a blessing. If she hadn’t walked away from him when she did, she would have either cried or thrown herself into his arms and begged him to stay with her. Both mortifying choices that she was happy she’d avoided.