Runaway Groom

by Sally Clements

“I didn’t think of the time. It’s earlier here. I’m staying with my brother.”

  “Where are you?”

  “New York. I don’t want to talk about that, I just had to tell you I was thinking about you.” The words were almost growled, as though he resented the compulsion. “I think of you all the damn time. It’s driving me crazy.”

  Joy burst inside April. At least she wasn’t the only one suffering this affliction.

  “So, if it’s the middle of the night, you’re in bed?” His voice deepened.

  “I’m not in my bed.” Six long days and nights without a word. He probably hadn’t even registered June’s wedding was tomorrow.

  “Are you alone?” The sharpness in his tone was evidence he didn’t like the idea of her being in someone else’s bed one bit.

  “I’m alone,” she admitted. “And I’m not even in a bed at all. I’m squashed on a lumpy sofa in my mother’s house. The wedding is the day after tomorrow, remember?”

  “Damn, I’d forgotten. I’m back in London tomorrow. I’d planned on taking a taxi straight to your apartment.”

  “For?”

  “For you. These past days without you have been torture. How long before you come home?”

  “I’m staying with Mum for a couple of days after the wedding.” The thought of cutting her visit short was tempting, but she doused it with a bucket of cold logic. She stroked her stomach under the duvet. “So, you’ve missed me.”

  “You haven’t told me you missed me too.”

  “I have. I do.” She felt the muscles of her stomach contract under fingers. Lying here in the darkness with his sexy voice in her ear was enough to imagine he was lying with her. On her. “I’m lying here in the dark missing you.” His swift indrawn breath gave her courage. “Imagining your hands on me.”

  “I…” He cleared his throat. “What are you wearing?”

  A tatty oversized tee-shirt didn’t sound very appealing, so she improvised. “A short red satin nightgown.”

  “Anything under it?”

  “Not a thing. You?”

  “I’m taking my clothes off and climbing into bed.”

  April’s heart thudded.

  “I’m imagining you lying next to me. Can you feel my hand pushing down the straps of your nightgown?”

  Her mouth dried. “Yes.” Her body went lax, her legs opening. “Your mouth is on my neck.”

  “My hands are cupping your breasts. You know how much I love your breasts, don’t you?”

  “Bite me.”

  Matthew groaned.

  The fact that everyone else in the house was upstairs asleep, and she couldn’t be overheard gave April courage to take things further.

  “I’m touching you.” Her voice was husky. “Stroking your chest, your abs.”

  “Go lower.”

  “You’re so hard for me.”

  “I’m always hard thinking of you, being with you. Take the nightgown off.”

  April pulled the tee-shirt over her head and threw it on the floor. “I’m naked.”

  “Touch yourself,” he muttered. “Feel me brushing against your clit.”

  Her fingers rubbed against her sensitive nub. Her nipples were so hard they ached.

  “You’re so beautiful. Your nipple is in my mouth, I can’t get enough of your taste.”

  Matthew’s words were almost enough. Almost. “My hand is around you, stroking down then up again. I love the feel of you against me. I’m so wet, so ready.” She bit her bottom lip—tasted blood. She moaned, knowing exactly what the sound would do to him. “You’re sliding into me. Filling me.”

  “You’re gripping me so tight. Feel me move inside you.”

  “Oh, Matthew.”

  “April.” His voice was a dark whisper in her ear. “April…Come with me. Come for me.”

  Her breaths were little more than gasps as her fingers brought her close to the edge. The sound of Matthew’s muttered endearments as she surrendered to sensation was more erotic than she would have believed possible. When the shudders engulfed her entire body she whispered his name and heard him reach orgasm a moment later.

  April pulled the covers up and wrapped her arms around herself as her heart-rate steadied.

  “That was incredible, but it wasn’t enough. I need more than a dream of you,” Matthew said. “Call me with your flight details and I’ll pick you up at the airport.”

  “I’m getting in on Monday morning. You’ll be in work.”

  “Wrong.” He made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “I’ll be waiting at the arrivals gate for you. I might even camp out at the airport for the next few days—without you there’s nothing to come home to.”

  “You could climb on a flight to Dublin.” The words were out before her mind caught up, but the idea was attractive. After tonight, the thought of three more days without him was tortuous. “I won’t be able to get away to pick you up, but…”

  “How did dinner with your father and June go?”

  “June bailed. It was just the two of us.” She pulled in a breath. “Even after the conversation with me, June hadn’t told Dad, so I did. He’s sorry about the way he treated you, he wants to meet and make amends.”

  Matthew was silent for a long moment. “Then there’s nothing to stop me coming to the wedding, as your date.”

  April’s heart thudded. Appearing at the wedding, making it clear to her family and all Brookbridge he was with her was close to a declaration of love. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” His voice was definite. “I’ll get a taxi from the airport, and see you in the church, if not before.”

  *****

  There were some times in life April wished the ground would just open and she could fall in. This was one of those times.

  June was wearing heels so high she’d break her ankle if she fell over. Her skirt just about covered her bottom. She looked ridiculous.

  And she’d provided neon mini-dresses to make sure every single one of the six female friends she was dragging out tonight for her pre-wedding party was dressed ridiculously too. Including April.

  “I’m not feeling so great, maybe I’ll just…”

  June held out a hand palm out. “Hold it right there.” She scowled. “There’s no way in hell you’re escaping my hen night, get used to it. I’m going to need someone to stay sober and make sure I get back tonight, and as my sister that duty falls to you.”

  She balanced the pink sequined cowboy hat over her blonde waves, and fastened the ‘bride-in-waiting’ sash across her chest. “Tonight will be fun! Drinking, dancing,” her eyebrows rose suggestively, “men.”

  “Men?” Sheesh, just when she wanted to sound nonchalant, she was squeaking like a mouse. “As in more than one?”

  “I certainly hope so.” June smoothed over the tiny pleated skirt skimming her derriere.

  April swiped a hand across her clammy forehead. “It’s just…the wedding is tomorrow, you should take it easy and make sure you’re not hung over.”

  “This is my last night of freedom. I intend to have fun.” June took a tiny compact from her bag and examined her reflection. “You could do with a little fun too. Or are you afraid Matthew will object?”

  They hadn’t mentioned Matthew since the day at his house. “I’m my own person. I don’t need Matthew’s approval.”

  June picked at the edge of her gel nail, feinting nonchalance. “So it’s still going on then, is it? The thing with Matthew? Only you haven’t mentioned him, and I wondered if it had fizzled.”

  “I know he didn’t reply to the invitation, so he won’t be coming to the reception, but he’s coming to the wedding.”

  June’s eyes opened wide. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  “What about all the reasons you stated for him not being there?”

  “Dad will be fine with it…”

  “And Mum?”

  Mum. Their mother had never forgiven Matthew for the imagined sin of running out on June.
The possibility that she would react badly, even that her heart might give out seeing Matthew at the church was a very real one. “I need to talk to her.” April turned to the door.

  “Talk to her tomorrow morning, before the wedding. The longer she has to think about it, the worse it will be.” June tilted her head to the sitting-room. “Right now, she’s having fun with her sisters. Do you really want to destroy tonight for her too?”

  Gales of laughter floated in the air from the room next door. June was right. Mum was having more fun than she’d had all year, and bringing Matthew into the discussion right now would definitely damped the celebration. All of April’s aunts were one hundred percent anti-Matthew too, so they’d all get involved.

  She groaned.

  “Anyway, you and I have somewhere to be tonight.” June’s gaze flicked the length of the neon minidress she’d provided as hen-night wear for all the bridesmaids. “Pull up those knee-socks and let’s go out and see if the limo is here yet.”

  What happens to women when they go to a hen-night?

  If the pack of rowdy revelers stuffed into the back of the limo was any indication, they turned into crazed nymphomaniacs. No doubt her abstinence colored her judgment. The others had been downing jelly shots like they were going out of style. She’d already had to prise a tall stranger’s hands off her sister’s backside in the second pub they’d crawled to. And then had June pout at her as though she was being an old stick-in-the-mud.

  And they hadn’t even got to the nightclub yet.

  Bren swigged from an open bottle of champagne, rubbed her hand over the top, and handed it to June. “We’ll have a couple of drinks in O’Brien’s, then we’re off to the club.”

  April knew she was frowning, but reckoned she was entitled. At this rate they wouldn’t be home until the early hours, and the amount of drink June had consumed meant she’d doubtless be throwing up before morning.

  If Mum and her sisters were still up when they got home, there’d be hell to pay. And June would be out of it, so the wrath of her elders would fall squarely on April.

  The limo slowed and stopped outside the last pub on the pub-crawl, O’Brien’s.

  One by one, like drunken lemmings, the girls stumbled out.

  April brought up the rear, picking up a discarded sparkly Stetson and carrying one of Bren’s shoes abandoned in her rush to get inside.

  The entire pub turned and gawked at their entrance.

  Oh great.

  “Kiss the bride!” Bren squawked to the room in general, waving at June. “It’s her last night of freedom! Anything goes!”

  A couple of guys looked interested and sauntered over, so April stalked in front of her sister like a miniature bodyguard. “They’ve had too much to drink, lads,” she said quietly. “Back off, would you?”

  With sympathetic grins, they returned to their seats.

  “Ah, April,” Bren wailed. “We’re supposed to be having fun!” She scanned the bar then stopped and licked her lips. “OMG I think I see....” She started across the room, in a funny up and down gait as one foot was clad in a six inch heel, and the other bare. “I do!” Her hands flailed in the air as she reached her intended target. “Nick Logan. I thought it was you!” Without ceremony she plonked down on his knee.

  Matthew’s brother. The only one of his siblings who still lived in Brookbridge. June and the rest of the hens seemed safe enough attacking shots lined up on the bar, so April went to his rescue.

  She held out Bren’s shoe. “Hi, Nick.”

  Nick Logan was the town vet. He looked as though he regretted not bringing a tranquilizer gun with him. I bet he doesn’t get mauled like this on a daily basis.

  Bren put her shoe on, almost falling off Nick’s knee in the process. When she straightened, she whacked him in the eye with her pink sequined cowboy hat.

  Nick winced, and then mouthed “Help” at April.

  “You’re missing out on vodka shots, Bren.”

  Bren plastered a kiss square on Nick’s startled face. “Gotta run, sweet thing. We’re going on from here to Mulligans. Maybe you’ll join us?”

  “Uh, I’ve got a busy day tomorrow, so I doubt it.”

  Bren pouted. She stood on wobbly legs, and wandered away.

  Nick’s face was a picture of relief. “Thanks, April. So, big day tomorrow?”

  “Yes. The wedding is at eleven.” Once, she’d been totally relaxed with every member of the Logan family, but over the past few years she’d avoided them all. It felt good to break the ice.

  Gales of feminine laughter reached her from across the room. “I’m charged with keeping this lot in check. I better go.” Nick’s smile reminded her of Matthew’s. “It was good to see you.”

  He covered well, but she caught the flash of surprise in his eyes. “Good to see you too. I hope it all goes well tomorrow. Do give June my congratulations.”

  “I will.” She patted Nick’s shoulder, and went back to bridesmaid-wrangling.

  The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak—probably due to the fact that the spirits had been consumed by the flesh, and the result wasn’t pretty.

  Despite the desire to stay in the club until closing time, various members of the party were decidedly worse for wear, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to look after all of them.

  April called the limo and arranged a pick-up.

  They’d dropped off the others at their homes, and now only June and April sat in the limo parked outside their house.

  “Can you give us a couple of minutes, Tony?” June asked the driver.

  He nodded, climbed out, and lit a cigarette.

  June placed a hand over April’s. “I just wanted to talk to you before we…” She waved a hand in the direction of the dark house. “Well, I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” She stared at the limo’s carpet. “I’m sorry I never told you the truth about Matthew.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  June’s gaze snapped to April’s. “Yes. It does matter. I ruined your friendship with Amy, and when you told me you and he were together, I almost poisoned that too.”

  She looked so wretched, April’s heart clenched. “I just don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me.”

  “I thought you’d hate me.” June chewed her bottom lip. “You looked up to me, and the thought you’d lose respect for me, you wouldn’t like me anymore…” Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m an awful person.”

  Alcohol always made June maudlin, but there was a core of truth to her words. “You’re not an awful person.” April hugged her sister close. “I guess I’ve been pretty judgmental in the past. I’m sorry too.”

  All her life she’d seen things in black and white, putting some people like her sister on pedestals, and damning others. It was hardly surprising June had wanted approval so much she’d been afraid to reveal the truth of her first wedding break-up.

  Everyone deserved a second chance. And people she loved deserved more—they deserved her understanding for whatever choices they made.

  April found a tissue in her bag and wiped the mascara trails from her sister’s eyes. “I love you, June.” She reached for the door handle. “Now, let’s get you to bed.”

  *****

  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky the next morning.

  With a team of aunties giving the bride breakfast-in-bed together with copious jugs of coffee, April slipped into her mother’s bedroom. “I need to talk to you.”

  Margaret Leigh pulled her robe tighter and sat down on the bed. “Is everything okay, April?”

  April nodded and sat down next to her mother. “I’ve been seeing someone and it’s serious.”

  Margaret’s face lit with a smile. This next bit was going to be hard.

  “I want you to have an open mind.” She warned heart sinking as her mother’s expression changed to worry. She breathed in deep. “It’s Matthew Logan.”

  Margaret’s eyes widened. “Matthew.”

  “Yes. Matthew.” She g
rasped her mother’s hand. “I know you don’t like him, I know you think…”

  Margaret’s mouth thinned. “He ran out on your sister.”

  “I’ve spoken to June, and it turns out he didn’t. The end of their relationship was a joint decision. They were both very young, and if they’d married it’s more than likely they’d have broken up by now. June and Michael are perfect together. They’re having a perfect wedding today, one that will last. I care about Matthew.”

  Her mother’s eyes took on a faraway look. “I always liked him. I was so disappointed when they broke up. I can’t understand why June wouldn’t just tell us their breaking up was a mutual thing.”

  “She didn’t want us to be angry with her.”

  Margaret thought for a long moment. “All of the wedding preparations had gone ahead. I suppose it was easier on her to be the jilted one than calling it off.” Her mouth tilted in a smile. “I can’t believe you decided to wait until this morning to tell me.”

  “June invited Matthew to the wedding. And he’s going to be there.”

  “Ah. Does your father know?”

  “I told him the last time I saw him. He’s okay with it.”

  Margaret stood. “Then I’m okay with it too.” She pulled her daughter into a hug. “Now go and help your sister into her dress.”

  April floated to the door, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

  “April.”

  She turned at the doorway.

  “If he hurts you, I’ll kill him.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  June had been transformed from a pale, hung over wreck to Helen of Troy. Or at least April’s idea of what Helen of Troy should have looked like.

  Her long blonde hair curled around her shoulders. The silver wedding dress fit perfectly and gleamed in the afternoon sun as she stepped from the wedding car and glided up the path to the old stone church.

  What was most beautiful about her was the look on her face. Pure, unadulterated joy.

  April sighed.

  She hadn’t heard from Matthew, and had no idea what time his flight was getting in, but with luck he’d be already in the church. Her heart quickened at the thought of seeing him again. Her mother had broken the news to all her relatives, and laid down the law. They were to shelve any lingering bad feelings they had about Matthew and treat him like a member of the family.