I checked to see what Brandy was up to, and she was chatting with her sister. She appeared to be sober and so I turned my attention to the massive brunch spread. No alcohol, which was wise. But a ton of everything else. Pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage, muffins, doughnuts, fruit, slices of bread, deli meats, and several different kinds of salads. Knowing that I had a long day ahead of me, I piled my plate high.
Krista was sitting by herself, checking her phone, and I sat down next to her. “Carb-loading, I see,” she commented. “Same.”
She knew as well as I did how exhausting everything was about to be. Despite the frenzied excitement currently taking place, this really was the calm before the storm.
“Are we laying odds on what goes wrong first?” Krista asked and I shushed her.
“No. Sadie’s going to have a perfect day and we’re not going to jinx it.”
“I think you just did by saying that. Everything’s gone too smoothly so far. You know as well as I do what that usually means.”
Shaking my head, I dived into my blueberry muffin. It was almost as big as my whole hand, and so delicious. When I got a mouthful down I said, “Things are going to be just fine.”
It was then that I glanced up and saw Mary-Ellen’s face. Her eyelids and her mouth were swollen. It looked like she’d just gone three rounds with the heavyweight champion of the world.
“Mary-Ellen?” I asked, trying not to sound as alarmed as I felt. “Are you feeling okay?”
“My mouth’s a little itchy, but other than that I’m fine. Why?”
I reached into my bridesmaid bag and pulled out a compact, passing it to her. When she saw her reflection, she shrieked. Everybody stopped what they were doing to look at her.
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.”