Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(61)

Her friend nodded as though in a daze. “I’m sorry to leave you,” she whispered as she stood and wandered aimlessly around the room, rubbing her palms together as if she needed to generate heat.

“Don’t worry about leaving me. I have a good idea what you want to order, and I’ll cover the rest of the show.”

Elisa dug her suitcase out of the closet and set it up on top of the bed, opening it. She emptied the dresser drawers, dumping clothes into the case without thought or order.

“While you’re packing, I’ll check flight times,” Lauren told her as she brought up the Internet on her cellphone, logging in with the airlines. She scrolled down the different time options. Because Las Vegas was such a popular destination, there were a number of flight choices. She read off the results, and Elisa chose one that left in a little less than three hours. While she finished packing, Lauren called and made the necessary itinerary changes.

“I’m sorry to do this to you,” Elisa said when she’d finished.

“I know; don’t worry. There’s only one day left. I’ll follow up on the contacts we made today and catch the early-afternoon flight out on Sunday the way we originally planned.”

“I can’t believe Katie would do something like this,” Elisa moaned again. “Maybe I should have, seeing that her father and I did basically the same thing.”

An hour later, Lauren walked down to the lobby with her friend and saw Elisa off in a taxi. She sighed, and then because she was at loose ends she decided to take this opportunity to play a few slot machines. That had been their original plan: dinner and fun afterward.

Although she was tired and had gone without dinner, Lauren thought she would gamble awhile and then order room service rather than dine alone. She put her cellphone on vibrate because it was unlikely she would hear the ring above the ongoing noise and general racket taking place in the casino. It’d been a bit disappointing not to hear from Rooster. She hoped they’d be able to connect soon.

As she sat feeding money into the slot machine, it came to her that Todd had actually done her a favor by delaying their engagement and marriage. She realized now that she’d been fooling herself when she thought she was in love with the newscaster. What she’d been looking for was stability, a husband and children. Her priorities were askew. Instinctively, Todd must have felt it, too, because he certainly didn’t seem in any rush to get to the altar—well, not until recently. He’d tried several times to contact her, but she kept her responses cool and to the point. It was over. How thankful she was now that she’d met Rooster.

Her first twenty dollars disappeared so fast it shocked her. After wandering aimlessly through the casino, Lauren found what looked to be another fun machine. She sat down and placed another twenty-dollar bill in the slot and pushed the button. After only a millisecond’s hesitation she watched as the figures spun around in a blur. One hit and she won ten dollars. Well, this appeared to be her lucky day.

She’d feel a whole lot luckier if Rooster were to phone about now. With effort, she pushed the thought of him from her mind, remembering something her mother told her years earlier: a watched pot never boils. If she were constantly looking at her phone, it was sure not to ring. Nevertheless, she kept it in her lap in order to feel the vibration.

Twenty minutes later, at about the same time as she was close to losing her second twenty dollars, her cellphone started to quiver. Right away she saw that it was Rooster and her heart raced with excited anticipation.

“Hi,” she said, so glad to hear from him that she felt breathless with happiness.

“Hi,” Rooster repeated.

Like always, he sounded crystal clear. It was hard to believe he was thousands of miles away.

“How was the convention?” he asked.

“Crowded, busy, nuts.”

“Are you exhausted?”

“I was,” she told him, but now, after hearing his voice, she felt a thousand times better. “What time is it there?”

He exhaled as though he, too, had gone through a long, hard day. “Late. I don’t know. I kept my watch on California time so I’d know when I could call you.”

Her heart melted a little. How thoughtful he was; it made her want to cry, missing him so. “Elisa left. Katie and Dietrich decided they didn’t care what their parents said. They drove over to Idaho and eloped.”

“Without any family?”

“From the little Elisa said, the only ones there were their best friends from school.”

“I imagine Elisa is upset.”

Lauren grinned. “That is putting it mildly. Garry thought it would be a good idea if the family met with the young couple. They might not agree with their decision to marry so young, but it’s more important that they support them now, seeing that the deed is done.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

“I agree,” Lauren concurred.

“You’re by yourself, then?”

“I am.” Although she was in a casino filled with people, rarely had she felt more alone. It was an odd feeling, being disconnected like this from all that was familiar.

“What are you doing? Are those slot machines I hear in the background?”

Lauren laughed softly. “You caught me red-handed.”

“Are you winning?”