The Paid Bridesmaid(71)

Mandy came over and asked, “Did you eat any almonds?”

“Of course not, Mother!” Mary-Ellen shot back, putting her hand up to her swollen mouth. “I’m not stupid.”

One of the servers at the brunch said, “The pancakes are cinnamon and almond flour.”

“Is this an anaphylactic situation?” I asked. I knew I should have brought an EpiPen with me, but Krista had talked me out of it, telling me my Mary Poppins bag was fine as it was.

“No, she just needs some antihistamines,” her mom said. I had some in my bag and I dug them out, but Mandy shook her head and named a specific brand that Mary-Ellen responded to.

“I’ll get them,” I volunteered. “I’ll go over to the gift shop right now and see if they have them.” Otherwise I’d have to use a grocery delivery app.

“The pictures are going to be ruined!” Mary-Ellen said with a whine.

Not if I had anything to do with it. I ran out of the villa, headed toward the lobby. My phone rang and I answered without looking, thinking that they might need me to grab something else. “Hello?”

“Rachel?”

It was Camden. I came to a complete stop at the sound of his voice. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Dan. He’s missing.”

I felt my stomach bottom out. No way. There was no way that Dan had taken off. Even if he had, he would have told his best friend / brother. “Okay. Come down to the lobby and I’ll help you look for him. I just have to take care of one thing.”

I hung up my phone and ran for the gift shop. Fortunately, they had the brand Mary-Ellen needed. I sprinted back to Sadie’s villa and made my way inside, handing off the meds to Mandy.

With everyone watching us, I realized I couldn’t just go back out without explaining. “I forgot something in my room. I’ll be right back.”

Krista gave me some serious side-eye, which was warranted. I didn’t forget things when it came to weddings. But there was no way I was letting Sadie know that her groom was missing.

Camden was waiting for me in the lobby and without thinking, I rushed up and hugged him tightly. I could see how worried he was. “It will be okay,” I told him. “We’ll find him. When did you see him last?”

“At the bachelor party thing last night. When we left.”

I had to force back the memories of what had happened outside our rooms after we’d left—something much bigger was happening here.

“You haven’t heard from him since? He didn’t text or call this morning?”

“No, but that’s not unusual. Dan is bad about charging his phone.” Camden ran a hand through his hair out of frustration. “He’s not in his villa. I knocked on the door for fifteen minutes and called his room. No answer.”

“Did you check in with the groomsmen?”

s“Vance says that something happened with Rick last night and that he said he was going over to Dan’s villa to talk. Apparently Rick was pretty drunk and mad that Dan hadn’t chosen him to be the best man.”

“Maybe if they’re not at the villa, they’re someplace nearby? The beach?” I said. I still refused to believe that there was any possibility that Dan had taken off.

“Let’s go check.”

We got to the sliding doors before Camden stopped and put his hand on my shoulder. “Hey.”

I turned, my expression questioning.

He put my face in his hands, looking at me with such incredible tenderness. Then he pressed his lips on mine, kissing me with so much passion that somebody behind us yelled, “Get a room!”

“Sorry,” Camden said as he pulled back. “I just realized that I hadn’t greeted you properly this morning.”

“Uh-huh.”

He started walking away but I just stood there for a second because I was pretty sure that kiss of his had disconnected my legs. I took a tentative step forward and was relieved when I didn’t fall flat on my face.

“Come on,” he said, reaching for my hand, holding on to me tight.

We made it down to the beach closest to the hotel and did find Dan and Rick. Who were on their hands and knees.

“That’s not good,” I said.

Camden didn’t get it right away, and as we approached them I braced for the worst.

Dan glanced up at us as we approached and announced, “My idiot cousin lost Sadie’s wedding ring.”

Rick looked bleary-eyed and sheepish.

This was why people shouldn’t get drunk right before a wedding: they so often did stupid things. Like lose the bride’s freaking wedding ring.

“Aren’t you supposed to have the ring?” I whispered to Camden.

“Dan was going to give it to me this morning.”

“We’ve been out here for hours,” Rick complained. “We’re never going to find it.”

“Keep looking,” Dan said. “People who lose expensive rings don’t get to complain when they have to search for it.”

Much as I didn’t want to admit it, Rick was kind of right. “I know what to do.” Dan probably wasn’t in the mood to hear it, so I turned to Camden. “Believe it or not, this is not the first time this has happened to me. Get a real phone that has an actual data plan and look up the Ring Finders and give them a call. Tell them it’s an emergency, and I bet they’ll get someone out here right away to help. Finding lost rings is what they do. But don’t text them on your phone, because you want them to respond this century.”