polar opposites of the Harkins. Warm and inviting, they didn’t seem the least bit interested in taking over anything. They stood beside their son and smiled when asked. Again, Shannon encouraged Justin to stand beside his parents and asked them to talk among themselves. Finding the casual and genuine shot was always more appealing than the staged, plastic moments other photographers reached for.
Guests started meandering toward their seats, saving their places and scurrying out of the direct sun, which would hide behind a white cloud every once in a while. The breeze had picked up a little bit, offering relief, but threatening the flower stands poked into the sand.
With an eye on the time, Shannon let Victor and his wedding party go in search of Corrie and the girls. She found two of the bridesmaids hovering by the door of the air-conditioned room the bride was supposed to stay in right before walking down the aisle.
“Is Corrie here?” Shannon asked the girls.
The taller of the two blondes shook her head. “She’s still in our room with Melia.”
“Is she on her way?”
The girls smiled. “Her mom and dad just left to go get her.”
Satisfied with that, Shannon found Ida and waited for Corrie to arrive.
Minutes trickled by as the guests took their seats. Music played softly in the background.
Shannon kept one eye on the far right of the crowd, where Victor stood in what seemed like deep conversation with his brother, and the other eye on the path Corrie would take to the staging room.
She glanced at her watch.
This wouldn’t be the first wedding to start late.
Ten minutes past the hour, Mr. Harkin rounded the corner. Shannon sighed and lifted her camera in anticipation.
And then watched while Mr. Harkin marched straight down the aisle and up to Victor.
The guests paused in their conversations to watch.
“What?” The question came from Victor’s lips and was heard from several feet away.
Without a pause, Victor turned toward the adjacent hotel and took the quick path along the beach.
Shannon found herself racing after him.
Some of the guests started to stand.
Justin waved his hands in the air. “Just a delay, everyone. We’ll be right back.” Then he was gone.
Shannon was a couple of yards behind, holding her camera and chasing the wedding party along the uneven sand.
Victor ran straight into the room where Corrie and her girls had been staying and stopped dead in his tracks. Justin bumped into his brother. Right behind were their parents.
“Where is she?” Victor asked, his voice tight.
Shannon managed to squeeze in between Mr. and Mrs. Brooks and Justin to find Beverly Harkin sitting in the middle of a discarded wedding dress, tears running down her cheeks.
“Oh, no,” Shannon whispered.
Chapter Six
“We found this,” Mr. Harkin said as he handed Victor a note.
He waved the paper in the air. “‘I’m sorry.’ That’s it?”
“She’ll come back,” Mrs. Harkin managed between sobs.
“Unbelievable!” Victor’s arms collapsed at his sides. “‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry’?” He repeated Corrie’s written words and paced the room.
“It’s okay, son.” Mr. Brooks stepped forward.
Victor moved toward the open sliding glass door that led out onto the beach party going on below. He stopped with his back to the group in the room and said, “Does anyone know what is going on? Why?”
He turned then, made eye contact with each person staring.
His scowl landed on Shannon, and the horns he’d managed to hide all day came out. She saw the moment his brain remembered the words she’d said on the plane. “If you were my boyfriend, I’d find the first cabana boy I could and ditch you at the door.”
“You!”
Shannon swallowed her guilt over whatever part she may have played in Corrie leaving the groom at the altar and shook her head. “She didn’t say anything to me about leaving.”
He took a few steps forward, anger surging through every muscle.
She retreated.
“What did you say to her?”
“This is not on me . . .”
“Okay, little brother, simmer down. You’re upset, but this is not the time to start blaming anyone.” Justin approached his brother and pulled him outside.
As they went out one door, the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked in another.
“This is bad.” Barbie, or maybe it was Bitsy, stated the obvious.
“Did she say anything to you girls?” Mrs. Harkin quizzed them.
They both looked at each other and shrugged. Which told Shannon that Corrie had said something.
“Well?” Mrs. Harkin yelled.
Both girls jumped.
“She was nervous. Said she needed a little time to breathe, so we walked next door.”
With all the clothes thrown around the room, Shannon