Jack & Jilted
FEELING SHELL-SHOCKED, Chloe sat at the head table in the reception hall.
"Are you all right, dear?"
She looked up to see her aunt Mildred, whose wrinkled face was the picture of concern.
"I..." Chloe struggled for words. "Yes. I'm doing all right," she said. It wasn't exactly a lie. She wasn't feeling badly--wasn't feeling anything but numb, so she assumed that meant she was functional. As long as she could function, she was all right.
"Have you gotten a hold of the groom yet?"
Chloe shook her head.
"His family?"
Chloe winced. "His mother told me he's unavailable for discussion," she said, unconsciously mimicking the woman's crisp, overly enunciated way of speaking.
Mildred made a snorting sound. "Convenient. He stands you up on your wedding day, with a note, and now he's 'unavailable for discussion'! That's rich!"
Although she felt the same way, Chloe had had this conversation already with at least a dozen members of her family. All her family, in fact, had stayed to try to eat some of the reception food, since it was paid for. Gerald--Chloe's vanished fiancé and groom--had not bothered to let anybody ... read full excerpt from: Jack & Jilted ebook
