by Amity Hope
CHAPTERthree
“Postponing is as bad as canceling. The guests…”
“Again with the guests? I don’t care about the guests!” I had finally pushed my way past numb and stunned. Now I was furious and hurt and so confused I could barely think straight.
“What are we supposed to tell them? Have you thought of that?” He turned to look at me. As if this was my mess to figure out.
“The truth?” I suggested.
“No, Holly, no way. Seriously, what are we supposed to tell them?” Collin demanded. His voice had a warning edge to it.
“I was being serious.” I didn’t bother to keep the edge out of my own voice.
He shook his head. “I’d really rather not do that.” I scoffed at that because it wasn’t a surprise. Admit to friends and family how unscrupulous he’d been? I didn’t see that happening if he could help it. “What happened is no one’s business. But we would have to tell them something. I mean, we would owe them some kind of an explanation.”
I wrapped my arms around myself and turned away from him. We were in my backyard. The rehearsal and the groom’s dinner had passed in a bit of a blur. I was sure it was apparent to everyone my head was not in it. Quite possibly my heart was slipping out of it as well. Collin seemed especially aware. Afterwards he’d insisted on driving me home. My parents had gone in and presumably, had gone straight to bed.
The yard was dark, lit only by soft moonbeams shining down. The air had a chill that was compounded by the dampness it held. It was supposed to storm tomorrow, our wedding day. How fitting.
We’d been outside for a while now. Already, he had begged. He had pleaded. He had made promises. He’d even shed tears. So had I. Rivers of them.
It was ironic because earlier, I’d thought that’s what I wanted. But the moment he started in, I’d started trying to cut him off. I didn’t want to hear it. The problem was, I wasn’t sure what I did want. I didn’t know what I needed. I wasn’t sure if all of his promises and platitudes had been enough. I had to wonder…did he say those things because he meant them? Or did he simply say them because he knew I’d be expecting to hear them?
I didn’t know. Since the first day of winter break, the weekend that he’d proposed, I had been anxiously counting down the days to my wedding. They had seemed to drag by. Now, everything was happening so fast. I could barely catch my breath, let alone think.
This was precisely why Lanna’s suggestion suddenly seemed like the best option.
The best option to me, at least. Collin was clearly not feeling the same way.
We were going around and around. My mind was spinning in circles. The end result was that we were really not getting anywhere. The only thing I succeeded at was making myself dizzy.
Or maybe there were other factors that were making me lightheaded and nauseous.
“I just don’t see the sense in postponing it. Things are complicated enough. Don’t you think?” When I didn’t answer, he threw his hands up in the air. “The wedding is tomorrow!”
“I’m aware of that!” I snapped.
“Holly?” he implored. “Please, please don’t do this. I know I deserve to have you walk away. I do. I know that. But I don’t want to lose you. I love you. I feel like I have always loved you. I know you can’t forgive me anytime soon. But can you eventually? Someday? If there is that possibility, we can make this work. I promise to do anything in my power to make this work.”
I couldn’t find the energy to say anything to that.
“If you love me at all, please don’t walk away from us. Please, marry me. I swear to you, I will spend every day of the rest of our lives making this up to you.” He was back to begging. I was almost waiting for him to fall to his knees. Instead, he moved closer and rested his hand on my arm. His thumb swirled against my elbow. It was the most contact we’d had since that horrible night.
“I don’t know what to do.” My heart was pounding. I was furious that my emotions were betraying my common sense. I took in a breath. It caught in my throat in the form of a sob on the way out.
“Holly,” Collin said as he pulled me closer. My body was shaking. I had to stop myself from trying to shrug him off as his arms wrapped around me. He nuzzled my hair, next to my ear. One arm held me firmly to him, trying to comfort me. His other hand made lazy circles across my back.
Dammit, it felt good.
“I just don’t know if I can do this.” My words came out sounding mangled. The tears were fighting to be set free again. I was afraid to let them loose because I wasn’t sure if I could reign them back in.
“Of course you can. Look,” he said softly, “you’re talking about postponing. Not canceling. Postponing means we’ll do it later. So if you’re thinking we’ll still get married later, why not do it now? Why not save everyone the trouble? Why not save yourself the stress? I know how hard this was to plan. I think postponing is a bad idea. Let’s not wait. Everything will be fine. I promise.”
Every muscle in my body became tense. I shrugged out of his hug.
“You don’t know that.”
“Then I don’t know what else to say or do!” He kept his voice low, but his words were heavy with sorrow.
“Why do you want to marry me?” I couldn’t get Lanna’s words out of my head.
“Because I love you.” He closed the distance between us again. His lips skimmed across my neck and though I didn’t mean for it to happen, I felt myself giving in. He’d said exactly what I wanted to hear. The problem was that I wasn’t sure if the words were true.
I pulled away and narrowed my eyes at him, though I wasn’t sure he could see. “That’s a pretty generic response. I want something better than that.”
“You know what I think? I think no matter what I say right now, you’re going to argue with me about it. I made a mistake and I know it. But anything else I say, you’re just going to find a reason to dispute me.” His tone was sad…and so genuine.
I didn’t want to admit that he was right. Nothing was going to make me happy right then.
“Do you want to marry me because of my dad’s company?” I said the words before I could think them through. Because if I thought about them too long, I’d never get them out. “Why are you hesitating?”
“I didn’t think you were seriously asking. Where is this coming from?” he wanted to know. “Did Lanna put that idea in your head? She’s never liked me!”
“That’s not true. She likes you just fine!” Or at least she had. I wasn’t about to vouch for her feelings on the matter now.
He let out an exasperated sigh. “Just tell me what to do. Tell me how to fix it. I’ll do anything.” He reached over and pulled me to him, wrapping me in a hug. I didn’t have time to step away. I wasn’t sure I wanted to. As furious as I was, I wanted his reassurance. Being with him, it felt too familiar to just walk away from. A stronger person may have done it, but I’d adored Collin for as long as I could remember. He’d always been my weakness.
“Go back in time and undo it.” It was an unreasonable request. But so was what he was asking. There was no ‘fixing’ it.
“I’m trying here,” he said quietly. “I know I made a mistake but I’m trying.”
“How many others have there been?” I asked. I felt his entire body tense up. I used his moment of surprise to pull away. My question caught him off guard, just as I meant for it to.
I hadn’t forgotten his crass comment from the night before. I’m getting married in two days and then after that…
Did he really think before that, it was all okay?
His words had begun to clearly paint me a picture I was sure he didn’t want me to see. Or maybe not, maybe now I was looking for things that weren’t there. Maybe I was making something out of nothing.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know what to think or what I was supposed to feel.
He didn’t immediately say anything. My heart was hammering as I waited.
“None,” he finally sai
d. “It was a onetime thing.” He said it with such conviction that the part of me that had always trusted him felt inclined to believe him.
Maybe he was telling the truth.
Or maybe he wasn’t.
How was I supposed to know?
He didn’t stop there. “It was a onetime thing and it was stupid. It was horrible and reckless and I’m so sorry. I can’t even tell you how sorry. It will never, ever happen again. Please, Holly, I know I don’t deserve it, but please meet me halfway on this.”
I was about to tell him that I didn’t think I should have to meet him halfway when my phone went off. I plucked it out of my pocket. I glanced at it. “It’s Max. I can talk to him later.”
“No, get it now. I need a minute anyway,” he said. He turned away from me and walked toward my mother’s garden.
“Hey,” Max said. “I wasn’t sure you’d answer.”
“Of course I’d answer.”
“Oh, crap. You’re crying,” he said. I could almost see him cringing. “I’m sorry. I can let you go. Or…do you need to talk? Do you want me to come over? Should I send Lanna over?” He hesitated but not long enough for me to formulate a response. “The wedding? Is it off? Is that why you’re so upset?”
“No, it’s still on.” I think…My words had to fight their way out past the fist that seemed to be clenching my throat shut.
“Oh.” His single word was loaded with disappointment.
“Max, please don’t give me a hard time about this.” I wasn’t sure I could take it. Not from him, too.
“All I said was ‘oh’.”
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“I just wanted to check in with you. I feel bad, leaving right away tomorrow. It’s just, if I would’ve known this was going to happen and that you might need your friends around, I would’ve planned to stick around a few more days.”
A frantic little laugh erupted. “If I would’ve known this would happen, I never would’ve accepted when he proposed.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Does that mean you don’t want to go through with it? You don’t have to, you know.”
“You sound like Lanna.”
“She’s a smart girl.”
“Right.” As opposed to me. It was obvious that my friends thought I was behaving irrationally. But walking away…it wasn’t that simple. Not when my heart and my head were still all tangled up, not willing to let go of Collin.
I didn’t want to marry him. The problem was that I didn’t want to cancel the wedding either. I was a hopeless, impossibly heartbroken contradiction.
“I’m gonna go,” Collin whispered in my free ear. He cupped my cheeks in his palm and kissed my forehead.
I just nodded.
I was sure we had more to say. At the same time, all we’d been doing was talking and not getting anywhere. We probably needed a break from each other. Too bad we didn’t really have time for that.
“Holly? Are you still there?”
I cleared my throat before responding. “Yeah, I’m here.” I watched Collin fade into the darkness.
“Do you need to go?” Max asked.
“Actually, what are you doing right now? Can we just talk for a while?”
“Sure,” he said. “What do you want to talk about?”
I wanted him to talk about something that would take my mind off Collin. By letting him walk away, I’d more or less silently agreed to let everything proceed as planned. I wasn’t sure if that was the right decision or not.
To cancel, or not to cancel, either way, I realized I was probably headed for heartbreak.
Whether I liked it or not, whether he deserved it or not, Collin still retained a stronghold on my heart. Because of that, it made it awfully hard to think with my head.
“Tell me about California,” I said to Max. “Tell me about the vineyard and the winery. I want to hear everything.”
~*~*~
“Oh my goodness,” Lanna hissed. “Those two are like vultures!”
I knew she was talking about my mother and Gwen. They’d been hovering all day. Mom had fussed over me as I was having my hair and make-up done. Gwen had followed me around while we were getting ready for pictures at the church. They’d both stood off to the side while the pictures were under way. Anytime there was a break in between, one or both of them were right there.
I knew what they were up to. So did Lanna.
They didn’t want me to have a minute to myself to think things through. Or—to them, worse yet—they didn’t want me to have any time alone with Lanna. They were both well-aware of what my best friend thought of the situation. They were both afraid she’d sway me at the last minute.
They didn’t trust me to be alone with her. They clearly thought there was a very good chance I would bolt.
“Come on!” Lanna said as the last of the pictures ended. She grabbed my hand and tugged me away from Collin. I glanced over my shoulder as we hurried down the aisle, toward the door that would lead out of the sanctuary.
Felicia was leading Mom toward the front of the church. She was pointing at one of the floral arrangements by the altar. Dani was standing in front of Gwen, fidgeting with her corsage. My guess was that the corsage was just fine. My friends were simply accomplices in the distraction Lanna had planned.
She ushered me to a quiet room, closing the door behind us. Her pale blue bridesmaid dress swirled around her as she spun to face me again.
“So, this is it,” she said. The concern on her face was so pronounced it was almost painful.
I blew out a breath.
“I know.” I was feeling ill. But wasn’t that normal? Weren’t jitters just something a bride had to deal with, even under the best of circumstances?
“Are you—”
“I’m sure,” I said, cutting her off. My mind was made up. It just made more sense to marry Collin than it did to not marry him. I was sure he’d been sincere. He’d made a terrible mistake. He regretted it. He would never let it happen again. I couldn’t just throw away our lifelong history. I just couldn’t. That didn’t mean I forgave him exactly because I was nowhere near that point yet. But I agreed with our parents, if we tried, we could work through it.
Couldn’t we?
“Can I just ask you one thing?” Lanna demanded.
“Do I have a choice?” I wondered.
“If this had happened two months before the wedding, not two days, not now when there hasn’t been time to think things through, would you still be standing here?”
“Holly?” my mother called from the other side of the door. She turned the knob but of course it didn’t budge.
“Mrs. Hannigan!” Felicia called. “Can you come look at—”
“Holly? Are you in there?” my mother called again, clearly ignoring whatever it was Felicia had to say. “Open the door sweetheart! We should really retouch your make-up! Holly?!” Her tone had become shrill.
Lanna rolled her eyes.
“Holly, sweetheart? Let me in,” Gwen said, her voice was far too chipper. “Come on, open the door,” she coaxed.
“Maybe they’re not in there!” Dani said as she joined the group outside of the door. Her voice was too loud to pass as natural.
“We should check on the pew bows,” Felicia suggested.
“Holly!” my mother and Gwen both cried again.
The door swung open.
Gwen had gingerly settled onto her knees. Her shimmery lavender dress pooled around her. She still managed to look flawless. Her hair was still coiffed to perfection. She held a bobby pin in her hand, clearly having just picked the lock.
My mother rushed in, Gwen bounced to her feet and followed.
“Oh you poor girl,” Lanna said as she pulled me into a hug. “You never stood a chance against those two.”
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