Make Me Believe: Jilted: The Bride

by Tarina Deaton

  Rowan watched the girl work up a tear while the woman was looking at her, but as soon as she turned around the girl sneered at her back.

  Some things never changed…mean girls especially.

  “He’s free. Go on back.” The woman resumed her seat.

  Rowan walked around the counter to her dad’s office. The girl in the chair was sniffing as if she was truly crying. Rowan paused with her hand on the door handle. “Don’t bother,” she said.

  “What?” the girl asked.

  “If you think tears are going to save you, this must be your first time here. He has two daughters—tears aren’t going to do anything except annoy him.” She entered her dad’s office, not bothering to wait for the girl’s response.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  He came around the solid wood desk. “Hey, sweetie. This is a surprise. What brings you here?”

  “I brought your lunch. Mom said you forgot it.”

  “Oh, darn.” He took the bag and placed it in the small refrigerator near the door. “This whole week has blown my routine to pieces. I feel like I’m drowning in reports.”

  “Isn’t the Assistant Principal supposed to pick up some slack for you?” she asked, taking one of the chairs across from his desk.

  “Normally, yes, but she’s on her two-week training with the National Guard.”

  “Ooh, a military woman. I bet the students love that.”

  “They definitely don’t get away with a lot, but the school is feeling her absence—and mine the last couple of days.”

  “Is that why Weeping Willow is outside?” she asked.

  “Who?” He looked at the door and then nodded his head once. “Oh, yes. Allison usually handles her,” he said with a sigh.

  “Ah. That explains the tears. I told her not to bother since you have two daughters.” She winked and smiled.

  He chuckled, which was her objective. He looked stressed and worn down. The worry of the last week had taken its toll on him.

  She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the edge of his desk. “Dad, would it be better for you and Mom if Michael and I postponed the wedding? It’s a lot of travel and stress on top of this last week.”

  “What? No, of course not.” He walked around the desk and pulled her up into a hug. “Your mom and I discussed that last night when I suggested she not attend and we Facetime the wedding for her. She almost bit my head off. She was very clear about the fact that even if she had cancer, she would be there to see you get married. So no, you don’t need to move the wedding date.” He held her away by the shoulders. “We’ll both be there.”

  She hugged her dad tight before letting go. “Thanks, Dad. Do you mind if I walk around the school a bit?”

  “Feeling nostalgic?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “A little.”

  “Sure. Get a visitor badge from Beth. Don’t want a hall monitor mistaking you for a student.” He winked. “And send Jessica in.”

  It really hadn’t changed that much. The wall murals were different, but otherwise everything was the same. She found her senior locker and, just for shits and grins, tried the combination. Feeling it catch, she banged on it twice—her trick for opening the stuck lock—and pulled it open.

  The stench of old gym socks and rotted lunch hit her and she slammed it shut almost immediately. Apparently, a boy had the locker this year. Shuddering, she continued aimlessly down the hall.

  Faint notes drifted from the music hall and she continued in that direction. She’d spent hours in the upper balcony doing homework while Luke had band practice after school. Except for baseball and softball season when they’d both had practice.

  The door opened easily and she entered the dimly lit balcony. A few steps in, she stopped and a small gasp escaped when she saw Luke on the stage with his old music teacher.

  Why didn’t her dad warn her Luke was here? Had he known? Even if he had, would he have thought to warn her?

  She turned slowly to sneak back out when the door she’d entered slammed shut with a loud bang. Cringing, she waited to see if they’d noticed.

  “Rowan?” Luke’s voice carried clearly from below.

  They’d noticed. She turned back around and walked down a few steps. “Hey. Hey, Mr. Adams.” She waved, keeping most of her attention off Luke. It was impossible not to appreciate how good he looked, though. In a tight gray t-shirt and track pants with a faded Flat Holler High baseball cap, he looked like her Luke.

  The thought froze her in place. Not her Luke. Not anymore.

  “Hi, Rowan,” Mr. Adams called up. “Here to see your dad?”

  “Yes. He forgot his lunch.” Why did she feel like Baby saying she carried a watermelon?

  “How’s your mama doin’?” he asked.

  “She’s a lot better, thank you. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I heard the music and…I’m gonna go.” She pointed over her shoulder at the door. “Sorry.”

  “Rowan, wait!”

  She hurried to the door at the sound of Luke’s voice. Yes, she was running. No, she didn’t care that it made her look like a coward. She knew her limits and weaknesses. Double chocolate ganache cake—and her sweet tooth was twinging.

  Luke caught up Rowan in the middle of the hall after sprinting out of the music room and up the stairs.

  “Rowan. Rowan!” He grasped her elbow to slow her power walk. Thankfully, she stopped and turned.

  “Hey,” she said.

  Hey? That was it? They hadn’t seen each other in half a decade and all she had to say was hey?

  “You look good,” he said. She did. Her hair was longer and a little lighter. Her amber colored eyes were just as bright and deep as he remembered. She looked…curvier. Womanlier. He probably wasn’t supposed to be noticing things like that but, hell, he was a guy and she had always been his ideal.

  “Thanks. You do, too.” She fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt.

  “How long have you been in town?”

  “Only a few days. Mom had a medical scare.”

  “Is she okay?” He took a step closer. The pulse in the base of her neck throbbed and he heard the small, sharp intake of breath.

  “Yes,” she said. “The tests all came back clear. I’m actually heading home tomorrow.”

  Shit. That wasn’t enough time. His mouth was as dry as if he’d been stuck in the desert for years and was suddenly being teased with a cold bottle of water.

  Before he could say anything else, she said, “I need to go.”

  He grabbed her hand before she could turn around. “It was good to see you, Rowan.”

  She slowly pulled her fingers out of his grasp. “You, too. Take care, Luke.”

  Lacing his fingers on top of his head, he watched her push through the double doors leading outside and disappear. Fuck. Hearing her voice had been bad enough, but seeing her again was like a knife to the chest. It had taken everything in him not to drop to his knees and beg her forgiveness. The wariness in her eyes had gutted him. She’d never looked at him like that—as if she didn’t trust him.

  As if she didn’t trust herself.

  He dropped his hands and stared at the exit. Everything happened for a reason—he was a firm believer in that. Maybe this was life’s way of telling him to take another chance. He hadn’t seen or talked to her in years and now he’d done both in the space of two weeks.

  A kernel of an idea formed in his head. It was crazy. So beyond stupid it wasn’t funny and could very well end his career, but he was tired of wondering what if. Tired of feeling like a big chunk of him was missing.

  Fortune favored the bold. And the stupid. Lord knows he’d never been accused of being a genius.

  Chapter 10

  “For the love of—If your sister walks any slower, I’ll be getting married before you do,” Claudia said.

  Rowan peeked through the crack in the door. Adalynn wasn’t even a quarter of the way down the aisle and she’d started a good thirty seconds ago.

  “She is taking the step-pau
se instructions to extremes.”

  Rowan stepped away from the doors, out of the line of sight. “Even the minister looks annoyed.”

  “Three more steps and it’s your turn,” Claudia warned. “You still have time to run if you want to.”

  “What?”

  Claudia looked over her shoulder. “Maria said I should ask you.”

  “Why would she tell you to do that?”

  “No idea.” She squinted at Rowan. “Do you?”

  “No!” She pushed her shoulder. “It’s your turn—go.”

  “Okay. I’m going.” She stepped to the side and pulled open the door. “Cluck like a duck if you change your mind.”

  “Ducks don’t cluck.” Rowan gripped her bouquet and closed her eyes. A sniffle from behind her made her glance over her shoulder.

  She smiled at her dad. “Are you crying?”

  He rubbed under his eyes. “It’s not every day I walk my baby girl down the aisle.”

  “Dad…I’m not exactly a baby anymore.”

  “You’ll always be my baby girl. Even when you have babies of your own.”

  Rowan kissed him on the cheek and he kissed her forehead in return. Her dad had always been a solid influence in her life. A calm in the storm of her mom and sister. She loved them, but she was more like her father than she was them and she had always been Daddy’s girl. She’d thought about using Heartland’s I Loved Her First as her processional song, but Stephanie had talked her out of it. It wouldn’t have been great for pictures if her dad was bawling the whole way down the aisle. She settled for using it for the father/daughter dance instead and planned to have a fist full of tissues ready.

  Stephanie stepped over to them. “Okay. It’s time.” She maneuvered them in front of the double doors, then moved behind Rowan to spread out the train of her dress.

  The doors opened and the first notes of the traditional wedding march played. The guests stood with a loud rustle of clothing. Rowan took a deep breath and smiled what she hoped was a serene smile. With butterflies in her stomach, she stared straight ahead, her eyes on Michael. Seeing his huge grin, her smile felt more real. This was happening. She was walking to her future.

  Closer to the top of the aisle, her eyes darted to Maria, standing at the end of the second row. Her easy smile didn’t give away that she’d suggested Rowan run.

  Why had she? She always swore by her “feelings.” Rowan and Claudia might roll their eyes at her, but one of Maria’s feelings was how she’d met Michael in the first place. So why had she told Claudia to ask Rowan if she was sure?

  They reached the altar and Michael stepped forward. Her dad kissed her on the cheek and whispered a soft, “Love you,” before he sniffled and stepped aside.

  Michael took her hand, winked, and they faced the minister and stepped forward together.

  Luke glared at the entrance to the church through the windshield of the rental car. He’d figured Rowan’s mom would put a wedding announcement in the paper and, sure enough, he’d found one in the Johnson City Press.

  They’d looked good together, Rowan and her fiancé. They’d pick a candid picture for the announcement and he hated that she’d looked so happy in the picture.

  He was enough of an asshole to hope she wasn’t as happy as she seemed. He was also enough of an asshole to do what he was about to do.

  The clock on the dash told him the ceremony began ten minutes ago. If he waited much longer, it might be too late. He shut off the engine and grabbed his guitar from the back seat. “Let’s do it.”

  With a white-knuckle grip on the neck of his guitar, he stalked across the parking lot and into the foyer of the church. A guy in a rental tux stood in front of the double doors talking to a woman with a clipboard. Yeah, he’d been to enough award shows to recognize a rental.

  “Hi. Can I help you?” the woman asked.

  “Friend of the bride,” Luke said.

  “Sir.” She gave him a once over from his old, beat-up baseball cap to his equally beat-up boots. “The ceremony has already started.”

  “That’s all right—I’ll sneak in the back.”

  “Dude, she said no.” Rental tux stepped in front of Luke and tried to bow up.

  Luke scrunched up his face. “Did you just ‘dude’ me?”

  Cheap tux pointed toward the outside door. “Take it back outside before I take you myself.”

  He scoffed. “Sure thing, Keanu.”

  The guy drew back his elbow and fist like he was trying to win his girlfriend a stuffed bear at the county fair by hitting the punching bag hard enough.

  Luke ducked and used the guy’s momentum to push him to the ground. “Don’t get up.”

  The woman tried one more time. “Sir! You can’t go in—there’s a wedding in progress!”

  He pulled open one of the doors. “I know. I’m here to stop it.”

  Charging through the doors, he quickly found the Rowan. She took his breath away. He’d always thought she was beautiful but it had sharpened somehow in the last six years. In her dress and veil, with her hair cascading down her back, she was breathtaking.

  Bitterness churned in his belly like acid. She should be standing up there with him. Time to fix that.

  He cradled his guitar and sang the song that had poured out of him as soon as he’d made the decision to stop her wedding.

  I hate to interrupt (No he didn’t)

  But do you believe in second chances? (Please give me one)

  I’m hopelessly romantic

  It’s true

  Our history is rough

  But I think I learned some lessons

  So this is my confession

  To you

  I know I let us both down a time or two

  I’m not that guy you thought you knew

  And if you’re ready

  Let’s give this a chance again

  You need to understand

  I’m always gonna be your man

  Rowan finally glanced at him. Her gaze was filled with trepidation. Maybe a little embarrassment. Definitely not with love and gladness at seeing him.

  The groom—he refused to think of him as anything more than a prop—said something and Rowan looked back at him. She took a step closer, then the guy kissed her on the cheek, turned and walked away.

  What the fuck? Luke was equal parts elated and pissed the hell off. Who the hell walks away from the woman they were getting ready to marry thirty seconds ago.

  Rowan spun and rushed down the side aisle, her maid of honor close on her heels.

  “Rowan!” He tried to follow her, but her dad stopped him in his tracks, her mom close behind him.

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” she shouted.

  “Sharon. I will handle this.” Rowan’s dad turned to him. “Luke. I’d like to say it’s good to see you, but I’m just gonna ask what it is you think you’re doing.”

  “Sir, I need to talk to Rowan.”

  Her mom leaned around her dad and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you think you should have thought about that before now?”

  “Sharon.”

  Well aware of the audience around them, many of them filming the spectacle he’d created, he lowered his voice, hoping it wouldn’t carry past the small group. “I was an idiot before. I’m man enough to admit that. I’m also man enough to make a fool of myself for the woman I love.”

  Adalynn chimed in. “Kind of inconvenient to figure that out right now, don’t you think? What? You didn’t want her until you couldn’t have her?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Then what’s it like, Lucas Stone? What’s it like that you come barging into her wedding?” her mom asked.

  The wedding planner rushed up to them. “The police are on the way. I’ve never had to call the cops on a wedding before. The reception—sure, but never the actual wedding.”

  Luke looked at Rowan’s dad as the most reasonable person. “Mr. Mitchell?”

  Before he could get a response, th
e planner raised her clipboard in the air and yelled, “Here! Here!”

  Luke looked over his shoulder as two police officers approached from the back of the church.

  “Sir, we’re going to need you to come outside. Now,” the first cop said.

  The second cop cocked his head. “Hey. Aren’t you Luke Stone?”

  Luke sighed. “Yeah.”

  “I saw your show the other night. Great concert.”

  “Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  “Are you kidding me right now?” Mrs. Mitchell asked. “He interrupted my daughter’s wedding! Do you know how much money we’re out because of his little publicity stunt? Thousands!”

  “Mrs. Mitchell, if you’ll let me talk to Rowan, I’ll pay you for whatever it cost.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Damn right you will. And you’re still not seeing her.”

  The second cop gripped Luke’s elbow. “Mr. Stone, you really need to come outside so we can figure this out.”

  “Yeah. Fine.” He gripped the neck of his guitar and sent a frustrated look in the direction Rowan had escaped. This wasn’t how he’d envisioned it when he’d thought up his crazy plan. It had more of a romantic comedy feel to it in his head. She’d slap him, they’d share a passionate if not angry kiss, she’d slap him again for good measure, and then they’d run down the aisle with huge grins on their faces while the bridal party broke into an appropriately happy song.

  Maybe that was going a little overboard, but it sure hadn’t ended with him getting hauled off by the cops.

  Chapter 11

  Claudia followed her into the side room before Rowan could close the door, which annoyed her a little—she wanted to get away from everyone.

  She settled for pacing back and forth in the small room. “I can’t believe he did that.”