Lakeside Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance) Read online

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  -

  Lakeside Love

  A Mill Creek Crossing Romance

  Chapter 1

  Erica Dixon had planned the world’s most perfect spring wedding. After waiting until she was almost thirty years old to get married to the love of her life, Max, she was getting antsy for that walk down the aisle. Her palms were actually sweating as she stared in the mirror at herself. Realizing she hadn’t eaten breakfast, she pulled a mint from her purse in the hopes that a little sugar boost would calm her anxiety.

  The beautiful wedding gown she had chosen was understated. She was never one for those flashy wedding gowns that sparkled and glittered. She had chosen a small wedding venue with a select one hundred guests. A mixture of family and friends sat outside under the beautiful pavilion waiting for her to make her grand entrance. Pink and yellow roses adorned the arbor where she and Max would say their wedding vows in just a half an hour.

  It had taken years to get Max to this point, but her final ultimatum one year previous had done it. She’d been dating Max since they graduated from college when she was twenty-two years old. At first, they were head over heels in love. Max was a young business man just starting his company, and Erica was a marketing assistant at an advertising firm.

  When she first brought up the issue of marriage, they’d been dating for three years. Max seemed to put her off at first, but finally said he was afraid to get married until they were both financially stable. After working for two years to become so, Erica started to worry that he wasn’t as committed as she was. So, she did the only logical thing in her mind - she gave him an ultimatum. Either get married or get lost.

  Erica would have never had the gumption to give that ultimatum without her best friend, Callie Davidson, urging her on. Callie was the outgoing one of her set of friends, and she often got Erica to do or say things she wouldn’t otherwise do or say. But, she knew Callie was right. She didn’t want to be an old maid, and thirty was quickly approaching.

  As she stared at herself alone in the bride’s room, she knew that her time had finally come. Her guests were waiting, the doves were ready to be released and the sun was shining bright in the sky on a perfect spring day.

  “Hey, girly,” Callie said as she entered the room with her bright smile. Callie was petite with fiery red hair and a set of blue eyes that could pierce any man’s soul. She had no shortage of eligible beaus chasing after her, but she was too busy playing the field to care.

  “Hey,” Erica said smiling as she looked out the window at her guests waiting in their white folding chairs by the lake. “Isn’t it beautiful today?” she said touching the window. Her dream of being married was about to come true.

  “Yes, it is. Listen, honey, I have something to tell you…” Callie started. Erica could tell by the sound of her voice the news wasn’t good. Callie always kept her “game face” on, flashing her beautiful smile, even when things were bad.

  “What’s wrong?” Erica asked turning pale. She didn’t like bad news, especially not since she’d lost her mother two years ago. She slowly sat down on the dressing table bench.

  “Sweetie, I’m going to give it to you straight. Max isn’t coming.”

  “What? Is he okay?” Erica asked holding a hand to her chest. Her heart was pounding beneath her perfectly manicured hands, and she couldn’t catch her breath. What if he’d been in an accident?

  “Yes, he’s okay for now. Until I get my hands around his neck…” Callie muttered through gritted teeth.

  “I don’t understand…”

  “Erica, he ran off with Rebecca.”

  “What? Rebecca? But…” Erica started to stammer as a tear rolled out of her eye and down her cheek. She couldn’t process what Callie was saying. None of it made any sense to her.

  Erica couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew Rebecca because she’d worked with Max for so many years in his business. Never had she imagined anything was going on between the two of them since Rebecca seemed happily married. How could Max do this to her on the day of her wedding? They been together for so many years, and she found it astounding that he thought nothing of hurting her so brutally on their wedding day.

  Her first emotion was she wanted to reach for something and throw it, but she didn't want to risk hitting Callie in the head. As the tears rolled down her cheeks, she stood up and stared out the window at all of her one hundred guests sitting in their chairs patiently waiting for a bride and groom that wouldn't be coming.

  “Callie,, how do you know he isn't coming?” she asked.

  “Because I texted him. When he didn't show up on time, we started to get worried. He texted me back and told me he left you this note on the front seat of your car. I've already read it,” Callie said handing the letter to Erica. Erica reached out to take it with her hand shaking. She knew that there was no going back after she read the letter.

  Dear Erica,

  I’m so sorry, baby. I really am. We’ve been together for so long, and I just didn’t know how to tell you I can’t marry you. The truth is I am in love with Rebecca and have been for the last six months. She finally decided to leave her marriage last week, and I had to make a decision.

  I know you would want me to be happy just like I want you to be happy. You may never speak to me again, but please know that I loved you very much. It’s just that Rebecca is my true love, and I couldn’t continue this charade by marrying you. It wouldn’t have been fair to either of us.

  Rebecca and I are going out of town for a few weeks, so please gather your things from our apartment in that time. I’m so sorry. I hope you will forgive me one day.

  Max

  Erica slammed the letter on the table and screamed. Callie knelt down beside her and took her hands as Erica finally broke down. Her tears left trails across the front of her dress as she sobbed into Callie’s shoulder.

  “I am so sorry, Erica…” Callie said with some tears of her own. “I know how bad you wanted this. He isn’t worth it. He’s a first rate jackass to do this to you.”

  “What do I do now? How do I move on? I have a hundred people sitting out there under the afternoon sun waiting for a wedding that isn’t happening. I am so embarrassed. Who gets left at the altar these days?” she sobbed.

  “Don’t you worry, honey. I will take care of everything, okay? I will go out there and make sure everyone knows what a lying cheat Max is, including his family who is sitting out there waiting…” Callie started.

  “No… no. I will do it. This will be my first step to starting over. I have to face the music,” she said standing up and walking out of the bride’s room. As she pushed the door leading outside, the band started to play “Here Comes The Bride” and the whole group stood up to watch her walk down the aisle. Only she was alone. Her father was standing there waiting to walk her down the aisle, but she held up her hand to keep him back. Callie whispered in his ear, and he followed Erica as she walked down the aisle alone.

  She could see Max’s parents, who would want to kill their son when they found out what he’d done. She could see her uncle, grandmother and aunt Bertha who was big enough to sit on Max and kill him. Maybe she’d ask her for that favor.

  Then there were five of her sorority sisters, her hairdresser, a few people from Max’s office and various cousins and old friends peppered throughout the crowd. All of them were in for a shock when she shared her news.

&
nbsp; Callie ran in front of Erica and cut her hand across her neck to let the band know to stop playing the music. Tears rolling down her cheeks, Erica stopped in the middle of the aisle, unable to force herself to step under the custom built arbor her cousin had hand carved for her long-awaited wedding to Max. She sucked in a sharp breath and let it out slowly, trying in vain to look calm, cool and collected. She wanted to maintain some semblance of respect and dignity, but she knew it would be hard. She felt like a first class failure who was jilted by the man who was supposed to love her for life.

  “Hello, everyone. I’m so sorry to have kept you all waiting,” she said trying to choke back her tears. If there was one thing Erica Dixon was, it was proud. She refused to reduce herself to tears for fear it would get back to Max. She didn’t want him to know he had affected her this way. “I am also sorry to tell you all there will not be a wedding today.”

  “What?” Evelyn Davies said standing up. Max’s mother had a look of shock mixed with horror on her face. Erica wanted to cry right then because she knew the shock of what her son had done was going to crush his sweet mother.

  “Max has chosen to be with another woman. A married woman named Rebecca who works in his office. He left me a note stating that he is going away for a couple of weeks with her and that our wedding is not going to happen. So, I’m afraid you have all come here for nothing… Please collect your gifts in the reception hall and know you have my gratitude for coming here today to celebrate what was supposed to be my most memorable day as a woman. And it was, but not in a good way…” her voice started to crack, so she turned to head back to the bridal room while Callie kept everyone at bay. As she pushed the doors open to the clubhouse, she could hear Callie fielding questions from guests.

  Walking into the bridal room, Erica fell to the floor in a puddle of emotions ranging from anger to sadness. Where would she go from here? Her sobs were guttural, and came from a place she didn’t recognize. How could she have missed the signs her fiance was cheating on her?

  “Sweetie, your Daddy’s here,” she heard the kind voice of her father as he pushed the door open and pulled her up from the floor. She had always been a Daddy’s girl, and she needed him now more than ever.

  “Oh, Daddy…” she sobbed as she let her emotions out in a flood. She secretly wondered if a person could cry themselves to death, because she felt like she could. “I just don’t understand this.”

  “Honey, I wish I understood it. I thought Max was a good man, but I was wrong too. There’s no way you could have known what a rotten scumbag he is,” he said. The anger of her father was apparent in his tone. Erica heard the click of the door as Evelyn appeared in the doorway.

  “Erica? Can I talk to you?” she asked softly. Erica nodded to her father who stood slowly and told her he would be right outside.

  “You tell that bastard of a son he’d better not ever contact my daughter again. You hear me?” her father said as he passed Evelyn. She looked down at the floor as he walked out.

  Evelyn walked inside and shut the door behind her as she sat down on the small loveseat against the wall. “I don’t know what to say.” Evelyn was a demure woman, full of Southern class. Her embarrassment over what her beloved son had done was obvious.

  “There’s nothing you can say, Evelyn. Nothing is going to make this better, unfortunately,” Erica said before blowing her nose.

  “I am so angry with Max. I cannot believe he did this to you… to everyone. All of these people showed up… the money spent…” she said looking around the room as if she was tallying up some imaginary budget in her mind.

  “This isn’t about money or people’s schedules, Evelyn! This is about the rest of my life. I thought I was spending my life with your son. I was making plans for houses and babies and grand babies. My whole world has changed because he chose to screw some slut!” Erica didn’t know why she was unleashing her anger on Evelyn. For some reason, the thought of her sharing DNA with Max made her want to slap her across the face even though she’d always loved her.

  Evelyn put her hand to her chest and took a deep breath before she stood. She knelt down and looked at Erica in the eye. With her trademark soft voice, she spoke. “Honey, I’m so angry at Max. We all are. I hope you know we adore you and didn’t see this coming at all…”

  “Oh, Evelyn, I know that. I’m so sorry I yelled at you. I’d yell at Max if he was here,” she said reaching forward and hugging her. Evelyn had been a stand-in mother to Erica for the last couple of years, and it would be painful to lose her solid presence in Erica’s life. The sense of loss - Max, his friends, his family - was almost too much for her to bear.

  Chapter 2

  The noise was irritating Erica, but she was unwilling to do anything about it. From the ringing of her home phone to the dinging text messages piling up on her cell phone, she could care less. She was supposed to be on her honeymoon, but instead she was holed up in her apartment which was starting to look like an episode of one of those hoarding TV shows.

  Dishes were piled up in the kitchen while her wedding dress hung in the doorway of her bedroom. She had taken to drawing graffiti on it, mostly curse words directed at her philandering ex-fiance. She no longer cared how much money the dress had cost her; it was worth it to destroy the evidence of the worst day of her life.

  “Erica, open up! I’m worried about you!” Callie called out as she pounded on her apartment door. Erica had moved into a new place just days after her “fiasco” as she called it. Her friends and family had pitched in and moved everything for her as she was in no position to do it herself. However, she had barely left her new place since moving in. She just didn’t have it in her to do anything. Exhaustion plagued her body and depression had claimed her brain.

  “Go away!” Erica yelled from her couch. She had mindless daytime TV shows playing while she lounged around in her yoga pants and a t-shirt stained with chocolate from a particularly bad overnight binge.

  “If you don’t open this door, I’m calling the super to open it for me!” Callie called. Not one to be deterred, Callie would get in one way or another, and Erica knew that.

  “Fine…” Erica said barely able to push herself up to a sitting position on the sofa. “I’m coming…” she mumbled loudly as Callie continued to pound. She knew her friend wasn’t going to let it go, so she might as well give in and open the door.

  When she swung the door open, Callie’s nose immediately drew up as her eyebrows squeezed together. She looked around behind Erica and shook her head.

  “Girl, what on Earth have you been doing in here? This place was brand new a few days ago,” she said pushing past Erica.

  “I’ve been busy,” Erica snapped as she slammed the door. “What do you want?”

  “Well, first off, I want you to stop acting like an ass to your best friend. Second, I, along with the rest of the world, would invite you to take a shower sometime,” she said in her typical sarcastic tone.

  “Whatever…” Erica was immune to her humor.

  “No. Not ‘whatever’. Erica, you’ve got to start pulling yourself together. This is just what Max wanted. You’re letting him win!”

  “I don’t care, Callie! Let him win! He destroyed my life, and now I have become an old maid. I think I will get a few cats and a nice house coat…” Erica said falling down on the sofa in dramatic style.

  “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “You are having the biggest pity party I’ve ever seen in my life,” Callie said sitting down on the coffee table.

  “Thanks,” Erica said rolling her eyes. “Much appreciated.”

  “Listen, you know how much I love you. You’re like the sister I never had, Erica. But this has to stop. Your poor father is worried sick, and Evelyn keeps calling me. What’s your plan?”

  “My plan? This is pretty much it,” Erica said tossing some popcorn into her mouth as she turned up the TV.

  “Stop!” Callie said as she grabbed the remote and turned the TV
off. “You’re acting like a brat.”

  “Seriously?” Erica snapped.

  “Yes, seriously. So you got stood up at the altar. You think you’re the only one in the world that has had it happen to them? So what? Get on with your life, Erica. It’s time to get on with it!”

  “Easy for you to say…”

  “No, it’s not. Don’t you remember my breakup with Paul? I was devastated. You were there to kick me in the butt and make me get up. Now, I’m here for you,” Callie said reaching across and grabbing Erica’s hands.

  “It wasn’t the same, Callie. You weren’t left standing in your wedding gown in front of one hundred people explaining why you weren’t good enough,” Erica said trying in vain not to break down yet again.

  “Is that what this is about? You don’t think you’re good enough?” Callie asked with her eyes wide.

  “Well, if I was good enough, Max would have shown up.” Erica stood and walked to her marred wedding dress. “He threw me away like I was nothing, Cal.”