Bride got in and adjusted her dress while Nick came around to the other side. "Do you work for Vane?" she asked as he slammed his door shut.
Nick laughed out loud. "Nah. But I've learned not to argue with my boss's wife. She might look all nice and sweet, but she's a nasty thing when you get her riled. Amanda said for me to do this, so here I am not making her angry."
He threw the car in reverse and almost gave her whiplash as he spun it around and stomped on the accelerator.
Bride suddenly had second thoughts about being in the car with Nick. He was an odd man.
Who couldn't drive.
He drove them a few blocks over to Royal Street, which was now open for traffic, and pulled up in front of Brennan's Restaurant.
Bride expected Nick to get out again and open the door for her, but he didn't. "He said he'd meet you inside as soon as he could."
"Okay." She let herself out.
Nick took off, tires squealing, the minute she was on the sidewalk.
Okay he must have had something else to do.
Bride adjusted her beaded shawl around her bare shoulders and glanced about, hoping for a sign of Vane.
There wasn't one.
Gathering her failing courage, she opened the door and went inside. A young woman dressed in a white blouse and black skirt was at the mantre d' stand.
"May I help you?"
"Um, yes. I was supposed to meet someone here for dinner. Vane Kattalakis."
The girl looked over her ledger. "I'm sorry, we don't have a reservation for anyone by that name."
Bride's heart sank. "Are you sure?"
The woman turned the ledger to face her. "It's with alright?"
Bride scanned the names. Her stomach tightened even more when she spotted a familiar name.
Taylor Winthrop.
She wanted to die right there in the foyer. Brennan's was her favorite restaurant and Taylor had refused to bring her here. He'd always said it was too pricey for him and that he couldn't see spending that kind of money on a single meal.
What he'd meant was that he didn't want to spend it on her.
She was a fool.
"Thank you," Bride said, stepping away. She balled her hands up in her shawl as she debated what she should do.
All of a sudden, she felt like she was fifteen again, waiting for her prom date to show.
He never had.
He'd found someone else to take and hadn't even bothered to tell her. She'd learned about it the next day from a friend. And when Tabitha had found out, she'd put liquid heat in the guy's jockstrap and a poison-ivy potion in his underwear.
Bride loved Tabitha to this day for that.
But there was no Tabitha here tonight to make it better. Surely Vane wouldn't be so cruel.
Would he?