After being jilted at the altar, Amber Gardner finds herself in a small beach town and stuck rooming with an unlikely person: her childhood nemesis Cameron, the man she is supposed to hate.
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Amber Gardner and her fiancé were together for two year...
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OLIVIA TAPPED HER WINE GLASS WITH A KNIFE TO DRAW ATTENTION.
The tavern's hall was packed with people, familiar and unfamiliar, creating a loud hum of laughter and voices. I picked a corner table to stay far from the party but watch everything from a great view. Nursing a glass of red wine, my gaze turned to Uncle Joe with everyone else: standing before his birthday cake with a beam of a smile that reminded me of a kid. His smile was infectious, so I matched it, hiding it behind the rim of my glass. Olivia was standing beside him with a grin, too, looking too proud and cheerful.
Uncle Joe's deep voice echoed in the hall, with everyone surprisingly quiet after the warning. "Thanks for coming, everyone," he started off, removing his hat and running his palm over his white hair. He looked a bit nervous about giving out a public speech, and I couldn't relate more. Some of us didn't like to be the center of attention; hence I was lurking in the corner, away from the eyes, in my ironically attention-seeking dress that resembled a disco ball.
I went through all the clothes I'd taken with me and decided this mini dress would be interesting to wear. I imagined wearing it in a nightclub, sipping on my Margarita, or a wild custom cocktail. Not in a small tavern in a coastal town, but Uncle Joe's birthday deserved this particular dress.
"I don't know what to say," he continued with a low chuckle. "You get to have many birthdays when you are sixty-one, but what matters is the people you're with on these days. And I am a lucky old man, surrounded by wonderful people like you." He threw his arm on Olivia's shoulder and smiled down at her. "Including a nosy granddaughter who likes parties too much."
A wave of envy and yearning filled my heart, remembering how much I missed Pops. I wish I could hug him and tell him how much I missed him.
I turned my gaze on them when Cam captured their pose several times, grinning at them. He volunteered to take photos tonight. I had been avoiding him since earlier, so we didn't interact the whole night. He was busy being the photographer, and I was standing too far from his zone. I quickly prepared and went to Tuesday's house to help her with her hair so I didn't run into him in the room.
