Laura took in a shaky breath. She would have to recount the story so many times. She hadn’t even told her family, friends, or the wedding party. “He called it off,” she said simply.
Bonnie covered her mouth with a wrinkled hand. “Called it off?”
Laura nodded.
Bonnie moved her hand to her chest. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Was everyone eager to help because Wyatt Bend was a small town or because everyone pitied her? Laura fidgeted with her silver bracelet. “I wondered if you might refund my deposit. I don’t think I’ll be in town much longer, and I’m going back to Florida.”
Bonnie picked up a rag from the worn table and wiped away droplets of water around the bouquet. “Of course, honey, but you should give Wyatt Bend a chance. It may not seem like much, but it has a lot of heart. I’ve lived here my entire life.”
Laura forced a smile.
“As the saying goes,” Bonnie said, “ ‘Bloom where you’re planted.’ ”
Laura wasn’t sure if she had been planted in Wyatt Bend or left to wither on the side of the road.
The bell clanged as the door swung open.
Laura blinked to make sure she was seeing properly. Her best friend, and maid of honor, Rachel Smith, stood in the midst of a jungle of houseplants and Mylar balloons.
“There you are,” Rachel said, hands roosted on her hips.
Seeing a piece of her past life in Florida step into Wyatt Bend left Laura speechless.
Rachel pushed her oversized sunglasses on top of her head. Flawless, as always, Rachel wore dark jeans that made her thin legs look even thinner, black boots, and a sleek gray shirt. Rachel always looked so stylish, making Laura’s ruffles and pearls appear old-fashioned in comparison.
Rachel threw her slender arms in the air. “I’ve called your cell phone a thousand times. I called your mom, and she didn’t know where you were either. I thought something had happened to you in this Podunk town.”
Horrified at what her friend had just said about Bonnie’s hometown, Laura looked back to see a pleasant smile plastered on Bonnie’s face.
“No offense,” Rachel said, glancing in Bonnie’s direction and waving a hand toward her. “I called. I e-mailed. I texted. Where have you been the last couple of weeks?”
Laura cleared her throat as she struggled for an answer. “I’ve been busy, and the cell service from my provider is pretty sketchy out here. What are you doing here?”
“I took a few days off work to help you.” Rachel threw her shoulders back like a proud puppy. “Surprise!”
Rachel had scored a job as a buyer for a department store after they’d graduated college, but her real passion had always been designing clothes. She’d done an amazing job designing the wedding dress Laura wouldn’t get to wear.
Laura reached out to hug her friend. She should have been relieved to see her, but feelings of shame and embarrassment overwhelmed her. What would Rachel think of her when she learned Thomas had dumped her?
“You should see the look on your face,” Rachel said, pointing a manicured finger in her face. “For once, I surprised you.”
Laura felt like another load had landed on her shoulders. She looked to Bonnie for help, but Bonnie ducked her head and disappeared through a black curtain at the back of the room.
Laura faked a smile. “You definitely surprised me. How did you know where to find me?”
Rachel held up a piece of paper folded in half. “You gave me your entire itinerary for the next six weeks. Remember?”
Seeing her hour-by-hour schedule in someone else’s hands, Laura realized just how overboard she had gone with the wedding planning. No wonder she had run off the groom.
Rachel slid a silky strand of black hair behind her shoulder. “You must be overwhelmed with everything you need to take care of. Not to fear, the maid of honor of the century is here to help you.”
Rachel’s huge silver hoop earrings swung as she looked around the room. “Where did that lady go? Shouldn’t we get started?” She opened the piece of paper. “We have to be at the bakery in half an hour.”
Laura’s mind spun.
Rachel stopped and cocked her head. “So you’re on schedule, right? Everything is going as planned?”
Laura wanted to laugh, but she didn’t have the energy. “Not exactly,” was all she could muster.
Rachel wrapped an arm around Laura’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m here to help.”
Laura wished Rachel could help, but it was too late for that.
“After we finalize the cake, you have to take me out to the new house.” Rachel clasped her hands together. “I can’t wait to see this amazing place I’ve heard so much about.”
The only thing amazing about the house right now was the fact it was still standing. “There’s not much to see.”
Rachel lifted her eyebrows. “Will it still be finished before the wedding?”
Laura froze.
“Are you alright?”
Her best friend stood in front of her, waiting, but the thought of telling her about everything that had happened made Laura want to run. Laura blew out air to calm her pounding heart. “I don’t think there will be a wedding,” she said, each word painful to utter.
Rachel slapped her hands against the tops of her legs. “You’re eloping. Vegas?”
Rachel wasn’t making this easier on her. Running off to Vegas was something Rachel would do, but nothing Laura had ever considered. “No. That’s not what I mean. Thomas and I aren’t getting married.”
Rachel cocked her head as if Laura spoke another language. “I don’t understand.”
Pressure built up behind Laura’s eyes. “He doesn’t want to marry me.” By the time the words were out of her mouth, Laura couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
Rachel’s hand stroked Laura’s back. “I’m sure it’s just a case of cold feet. He’ll come around.”
Laura shook her head as she dabbed her fingers at the wetness under her eyes. “I don’t think so. He walked out, and I haven’t seen him since.”
Rachel sighed. “You have to call him.”
Fear gripped Laura’s throat. If she talked to Thomas, it might sever the last thread of hope she had that they might work it out. Thomas said it was over, but calling off the wedding would be final. There would be no turning back.
On the other hand, what if he wanted her back? Could she ever forgive him?
Rachel dug through her quilted black leather bag with the designer logo and pulled out a phone encrusted with black rhinestones. “Here. My reception might be better.”
Laura stared at the phone, afraid to touch it. Rachel shoved it into her hands.
The curtain swished open, and Bonnie stepped out with an armful of roses. “Is everything okay in here, ladies?”
Laura sniffed her running nose. “We have to be going. Thank you for everything. Do you know the number for Heidi at the bakery?”
“Of course.” Bonnie winked at her. “I’ll take care of it.”
Laura trudged out the door toward the truck, clutching Rachel’s phone. Rachel was right. She needed to talk to Thomas.
The click of Rachel’s heels behind her on the sidewalk stopped. “What is that?”
Laura turned around to find Rachel pointing at the truck, her face twisted in horror.
“It’s all I have right now,” Laura said, thankful she hadn’t been stranded without a vehicle.
Rachel pursed her shiny lips together. “You make the call to Thomas. I’ll wait in my rental car.”
Inside the truck, Laura’s stomach burned and her mouth was dry. She rested her head on the steering wheel, afraid she would vomit. God, I know I already asked You to help me with the snake, but if You exist, I could use a little strength right now.
With shaky hands, she dialed the number she had called almost every day for the past two years. She held her breath.
Ring. Had he already left for Florida? Ring. Maybe he was at his parents�
� house. Ring. What had he told them about the breakup? Ring. What if she never spoke to him again?
Laura cringed at the sound of his voice on the voice-mail message. A few days ago she believed she would spend the rest of her life with this man. Now she heard the voice of a stranger.
The message beeped, and Laura hesitated. “Please call me back. We need to talk.”
Her heart pounding, she hit the button to end the call.
Now she couldn’t do anything but wait.
Laura pulled the clattering truck to a stop in front of the house and watched Rachel’s car creep down the gravel road.
In college Rachel had once refused to stay at the hotel Laura had chosen for a ski trip because it didn’t have a hot tub. Laura couldn’t foresee a night in this old house morphing into a fun slumber party.
Laura turned back to the windshield with a crack snaking across it and tried to see the house through the eyes of her city-dwelling friend—peeling paint and a yard full of tall grass and weeds; it was nothing more than a ramshackle building. When Laura purchased the house, all she could see was potential, but the hard truth was further from her vision than she had realized.
A piece of paper stuck between the door frame and front door fluttered in the breeze. Laura hurried out of the truck, ran up to the porch steps, and pulled the paper out of the space.
She unfolded the note. Thanks for the snakes.
Laura refolded the paper and stuffed it in her pocket. No need for Rachel to spend the night worrying about encounters with snakes. If Connor said the problem would be taken care of, she believed him. Right now she didn’t have another option. She couldn’t tell Rachel they would be sleeping in their vehicles tonight.
Laura turned around to see Rachel slam her car door. Rachel’s mouth opened, but nothing more than a squeak escaped.
Looking down on Rachel from the porch, Laura could read the shock all over her face. “I know what you’re thinking,” Laura said. “The house needs a little work.”
Rachel pushed her dark sunglasses to the top of her head and revealed the deep crease between her eyes. “ ‘Needs a little work?’ No offense, Laura, but this place is a full-blown disaster.”
Laura winced. Rachel’s honesty was one of the things Laura appreciated about her, but she was being especially harsh today. She said she had come to help.
To be fair, Laura hadn’t exactly painted an accurate picture of what the house looked like. Laura hadn’t seen the house clearly herself. She had been so wrapped up in the wedding and her big plans for the future that she had failed to see the house for what it really was. Maybe that’s what she had done with Thomas. She had only seen the man she wanted him to be. “Come inside. Let me take you on a tour.”
Rachel moved up the porch steps like they might disintegrate underneath her. “Fine, but I hope the inside is better than the outside.”
The outside was a palace courtyard compared to the green carpet and water-stained walls inside the house. Laura looked down at the warped boards of the porch and opened the door wide for Rachel. “Just promise me you’ll keep an open mind.”
Rachel tiptoed over the threshold as if entering a haunted house, her keys from the rental car jingling in her hand.
“The staircase railing is original,” Laura said with an overwhelming need to justify the house. She stepped around in front of Rachel. “The wood floors run through the living room, too. We … I mean … I just have to rip out the carpet.”
Rachel’s head and body didn’t move, but her eyes jumped all over the entry. She wrinkled her nose. “And what is that smell?”
Laura crossed her arms and took in a deep breath. “Just mildew from a little water damage in the living room.”
Rachel’s lips drew into a ruffle. “Water damage, huh?” She wandered from the entry through the dining room to the kitchen.
Laura trailed her and fought back the defenses rising in her chest.
Rachel turned the knob of the corroded kitchen faucet and scowled as it spit water. After turning it off, she pressed a finger against a dusty corner of wallpaper sagging beside the avocado-green stove.
The walls of the room felt like they were leaning in toward Laura. “Let’s take a look at the bathroom,” she said, eager to escape. “It has a gorgeous claw-foot tub.”
Rachel whipped around and blocked Laura’s path. She stared straight into her eyes. “You don’t belong here.”
Laura’s spine straightened. Her friend’s blunt assessment of Laura’s circumstances caught her off guard. “What? Rachel, I’m not going to—”
“If it’s the money, I’ll put the plane ticket on my dad’s credit card,” Rachel said. “Thomas can pay him back when he comes to his senses. This is all his fault anyway.”
Laura took in a sharp breath. “I don’t have a job or a car or an apartment in Florida anymore.”
The corner of the dry wallpaper Rachel had touched crackled as it fell farther down the wall. “You don’t have any of those things here. You’re going to start over in Florida. Find a new job. Sleep on my couch for a while.”
Laura shook her head, but before she could respond, Rachel pointed a long fingernail at her chest. “Thomas was crazy to convince you to move to Oklahoma in the first place. You belong back in Florida with us.”
She could blame Thomas for a lot of things, but she had agreed to move to a new state and sign the papers for the house. Laura had convinced herself it would be a big adventure, but this wasn’t the kind of adventure she had in mind. “If I leave without doing anything, this place will go into foreclosure.”
Rachel’s shoulder rose to her earring. “So what? That kind of thing happens all the time.”
It wasn’t that simple. If the house went into foreclosure, Laura would deal with the financial fallout for years. Laura also needed closure or something that made her feel that all the pain meant something. Rachel would never be able to understand that. “I feel like I have some things to take care of before I can leave.”
Rachel threw her arms out and turned side to side. “This is crazy, Laura. Just look around you. What are you doing here without Thomas?”
The words pricked at Laura’s face, but maybe Rachel was right. She could never fix this mess on her own. She would only dig herself a deeper hole. Laura stepped back and let the cool wall hold her weight.
Rachel exhaled. “I talked to Bryan.” Her tone had shifted from critical to sympathetic. “I called him just before we came here.”
Thomas had introduced Bryan and Rachel. The four had double-dated and gone to movies and concerts together, days that were a world away from her life today. “And?”
Rachel’s chin dipped to her chest. “Thomas is on his way back to Florida right now.”
Laura reached out for the kitchen counter and clung to it. “He left? Already?”
Deep inside, Laura had hoped he’d show up and say it was all a big mistake. The realization that it would never happen jabbed in Laura’s chest. Of course he was going back to Florida. There was nothing to keep him in Wyatt Bend. Thomas had never wanted to work for his father but had agreed out of obligation. Thomas had simply never had the courage to admit it to his family.
Rachel grabbed Laura’s hands. The keys jabbed into Laura’s skin. “I’ll talk to Thomas. I’m sure Bryan will, too. Maybe he’ll change his mind.”
Is that what she wanted? A life with Thomas in Florida?
“You guys will figure it out. You can get married in Florida.” Rachel held up a broken cabinet handle lying on the counter. “Leave all this behind you.”
Laura rubbed a hand over her eyes. “I don’t know….”
Rachel’s arms fell to her sides. “I can’t support you staying here. I’m going to change my ticket and fly home tomorrow. I hope you’ll come with me.”
Laura wasn’t surprised Rachel decided not to stay, but it still hurt. She needed Rachel now more than she ever had. “I’m not ready to go back to Florida yet.”
“It doesn’
t make sense,” Rachel said, her voice rising. “I can’t understand what’s holding you here.”
Laura stopped, the truth on the edge of her lips. What could Wyatt Bend give her that Florida couldn’t?
Her mind raced with thoughts of the time she had spent in Wyatt Bend.
The chance at a new life.
Chapter 6
Connor leaned over the blueprints spread out on the hood of his truck. The graders moving the dirt on the site for the new bank thundered beside him. He enjoyed the beginning stages of a project when everything remained on schedule and on budget.
His baby brother, Will, parked his spotless truck next to Connor’s.
“You’re late,” Connor said as Will got out of the truck.
Will looked to the display on the front of his phone. “No. You’re early, as usual.”
His brother wore slacks and a pressed button-up. Connor could see himself in the reflective lenses of Will’s sunglasses. This was a job site, not a photo shoot for GQ.
His little brother was a whiz on the business side of things. His mind worked in numbers, and he had a knack for closing a deal. Connor only beat him in age by a little over a year, but he still looked at him as his goofball little brother. “I can’t believe you got the contract for this job pushed through so fast,” Connor said. “How’d you do it?”
Will picked up Connor’s thermos of coffee and poured himself a lid full. “Just my charming ways, I guess.”
Connor shook his head. “Yeah right.”
Will turned around and leaned on the grill of the truck. “How’s the timeline looking?”
Connor’s head spun as he added up the list of everything he needed to accomplish during the next few weeks. “Fast, almost too fast.”
Will cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
Too fast didn’t normally exist in their world. The sooner they completed a job, the sooner they could move on to something bigger and better. It was almost a game between Connor, Will, and their father. “Between your house, this project, and all the other construction jobs I’m juggling, I’m stretched pretty thin.”
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