The Trouble With Cowboys
Page 24
Sorry. You’re sorry? She pictured the precise rows of white chairs, the tent being erected as they spoke, the celebrity preacher, the photographers.
The New York Times.
She closed her burning eyes. Everything would have to be canceled.
At that thought, humiliation arrived on the scene, sinking in past the pain of betrayal. The weight of it pushed at her shoulders, and she grabbed the hair at her nape. Think, Kate! This is no time to lose it.
“Stop, Bryan. Just stop and think about what you’re doing. Maybe you’re letting your issues with your parents’ divorce affect your decisions. This kind of fear is perfectly natural before a wedding, and maybe—”
“No, it’s not that—”
“How do you know?” She forced reason into her tone. Used her soothing voice—the one she used when things got heated between one of her couples. “We love each other. We’re perfect for each other. You’ve said it a hundred times.”
“There’s something missing, Kate.”
She wobbled again and steadied herself with a hand on the chair. “Something missing”? What was that supposed to mean?
As her mind grappled with that seemingly unanswerable question, she felt a hand at her back, leading her into the chair. She was sitting, her head as fuzzy as a cotton-candy machine, her emerald-cut engagement ring blurring before her eyes.
“What do you mean there’s something missing? The only thing missing is the groom. For our wedding that starts in five hours. Five hours, Bryan.” Now she felt the hysteria building and took a full breath, nearly choking on the way the oxygen stretched her lungs.
“I’ll help in any way I can.”
“You can help by showing up for our wedding!”
Her mind ran through the list of people she’d have to call. Her dad, the guests, her publisher. She thought of the money Rosewood Press had spent on this elaborate beach wedding. They’d flown in friends and family from all over the country, paid for the photographer, flowers, caterer, the wedding attire. Kate had only wanted a simple wedding, but with the release of the book, the marketing department had other ideas. “An elegant wedding and a surprise groom just as the book releases. We can ask Reverend James McFadden to perform the ceremony! Think of the publicity, Kate!”
A knot started in her throat and burned its way to her heart.
“I’ll always care about you,” Bryan said.
The words fell, as empty as a discarded soda bottle on a deserted beach.
Enough.
The adrenaline coursing through her veins drained suddenly, leaving her once again weak and shaky. She couldn’t talk to him anymore. She wasn’t going to break down on the phone, wasn’t going to beg him to come back. It wouldn’t accomplish a thing anyway. She’d heard this tone of Bryan’s voice before. He was a man who knew what he wanted. And what he didn’t want.
And he didn’t want Kate. She suddenly knew that fact as surely as she knew tomorrow would be more impossible to face than today.
She cleared her throat. “I have to go.”
“Kate, tell me what I can do. My family will pitch in too. I want to help fix things.”
She wanted to tell him there was no fixing this. There was no fixing her heart or the impending collision of her life and her career. Instead, numb, she closed the phone, staring straight ahead at the holes on the pegboard until they blended together in a blurry haze.
He was leaving her. The man she loved was walking away. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Not to her. She’d been so careful, and for what? A hollow spot opened up in her stomach, wide and gaping.
Instead of the headlines reading “Marriage Expert Finds Her Mr. Right,” they would read “Marriage Expert Jilted at the Altar.”
Kate had never considered herself prideful, but the thought of facing the next twenty-four hours made cyanide seem reasonable. How can this be happening, God? To me, of all people? She’d written a book on the subject of finding the right mate and had managed to find the wrong one instead. By tomorrow the whole world would know.
The story continues in The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter.
Nantucket Love Stories
About the Author
Denise Hunter is the best-selling author of many novels, including Surrender Bay and The Accidental Bride. She lives in Indiana with her husband, Kevin, and their three sons. In 1996 Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she’s been writing ever since. Her books contain a strong romantic element, and her husband, Kevin, says he provides all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too! Visit her website at www.DeniseHunterBooks.com.