Hope Burns

by Jaci Burton

  Emma blew out a breath. "Thank you. This will all be over soon. I promise."

  "Is the stress getting to you?" Molly asked.

  "Just the past week or so. It had been fairly calm and organized before that, but now it seems as if there's some crisis, or some detail that needs attending to every day."

  "It has been intense, Emma, but you have to trust us all," Jane said. "We'll take care of it. We have taken care of everything so far, haven't we?"

  Now Molly felt even guiltier that she hadn't been here for all those details. She should have never agreed to be the maid of honor. She sucked at this. She hadn't even come to the wedding shower. Chelsea and Jane had been lifesavers, handling everything in Molly's absence and telling her not to worry that she couldn't make it.

  "Yes, you have taken care of everything."

  "And now Molly's here, which is what you were worried about the most," Jane said, offering Molly a genuine smile.

  Which made Molly feel even worse, because Jane and Chelsea didn't pass judgment on her stupid idiosyncrasies. Like her abject fear about returning home.

  "Emma, can you come here for a minute? Aunt Louise wants to take a picture of you with all of us."

  Emma shot a panicked look at all of them before smiling and standing. "Sure, Mom."

  After Emma went inside, Jane turned to them. "I'm glad Will and I did the small wedding. Between his job and mine, and both the kids, we had enough to deal with."

  "Hey, you had a party at the house, at least," Chelsea said. "It was a great one, too."

  "Yes. With catered barbecue." Jane looked to Molly. "I got barbecue sauce on my dress. There are lovely photos of a very inappropriately placed stain."

  Molly laughed. "But did you have fun?"

  "We did. Our friends were there, our families were there, we love each other, and it's done. Now we're one family--me, him, and my kids. Correction--our kids."

  "How's the adoption process going?" Chelsea asked.

  "Good. Faster than I thought it would."

  "You're adopting?" Molly asked.

  Jane shook her head. "Will's adopting my kids from my first marriage. Long story short, my ex abandoned us, he lost his parental rights. Will loves those kids like they're his, and they love him as well. He wants them to be his."

  Molly sat back. "How do the kids feel about him adopting them?"

  "We had a lot of heart-to-hearts. They're sad about their father, but they understand now that he's not coming back into their lives. And they love Will. He's their father now. They want him and they want his name. It's what I want as well, but ultimately, the kids had to be on board with it. Even though they're young, they had to believe in Will and love him like a father, which they do."

  "Sounds like you have a perfect family."

  Jane smiled. "Oh, far from it. We're a work in progress, but it's right for us. There's a lot of love, and that'll get us through anything."

  Molly once thought love was enough as well, but it hadn't been. It hadn't even been close. Then again, she'd mistaken something else for what she thought was love. Passion and the stupidity of youth.

  She wasn't a teenager anymore but she wasn't stupid, either. She'd grown up a lot over the years and she'd learned to be more cautious. She'd never confuse passion with love again. Too many mistakes could be made.

  "So, how are you liking Austin?" Chelsea asked.

  "I love the pace there. It's very hip and music oriented. I think I might stay there awhile."

  "That would be a first for you, wouldn't it?"

  Taken aback, Molly could only stare at Chelsea.

  "Sorry, I tell it like it is. I don't mean any offense. But you move around a lot, don't you?"

  "That's true. I've got a case of wanderlust, I guess. I always think a place is the perfect fit--until something better comes along."

  "Kind of like Chelsea and men," Jane said with a smirk.

  Chelsea shot Jane a look. "Hey. I am not at all like that. Besides, it's been three months since I've been out on a decent date."

  "Uh-huh," Jane said. "Define decent date."

  "Dinner and a good movie. Followed up by drinks at his place or mine, and a hot kiss to end the evening."

  "Or hot breakfast the next morning?" Jane waggled her brows.

  "No, that would be a perfect date. I'd be satisfied with decent at this point."

  Molly laughed. "A bit of a dry spell?"

  "Honey, you don't know the half of it. It's like every available man in this town has pulled up stakes and moved to Alaska."

  "I find that hard to believe," Jane said. "I've fixed you up with several eligible men. You're just too picky."

  Chelsea studied her nails. "I am picky. And I have high expectations." She fluffed her gorgeous red hair. "But I'm worth it."

  "There you go," Molly said, taking another sip of her coffee. "Never settle for less than the best."

  "Is that what you're looking for, Molly?" Jane asked. "The best?"

  "Me?" She laughed. "I'm not looking at all."

  Chapter 4

  HANGING OUT WITH the guys was so much more fun than dealing with women and all the baggage they brought to the table. Carter knew he'd be hung from the nearest tree if his mom ever heard him say that--or any of his ex-girlfriends. But none of them were here right now. Just his best friend Luke, Luke's brothers, Reid and Logan, and Will Griffin, all of them groomsmen in the wedding.

  They were currently sitting in the No Hope At All bar, run by Sebastian Palmer, or "Bash," as everyone called him.

  "This round of tequila shots is on me," Will said, ponying up the money.

  Bash lined up the shots, including one for himself. He'd closed down the bar for the day, since he was in the wedding, too.

  "I'm monitoring all your drinking. If you show up drunk for the rehearsal dinner, it's my ass on the line," Bash said.

  "To Bash," Will said.

  They all downed their drinks. "No, wait," Will said. "That wasn't my toast. Another round."

  "You all suck," Reid said, shaking his head. "You can't even get drunk right."

  "Oh, and you can?" Luke crossed his arms. "Wait. Tell me. They drink better in Boston, too."

  "Hell yeah."

  "You wanna take him out back and beat the shit out of him?" Logan asked.

  Luke laughed. "That might be fun."

  "You two don't scare me anymore like you did when we were kids. Besides, I can drink you both under the table and then kick both your asses."

  Logan snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

  "I'll lay money on Reid," Carter said, giving Reid a critical once-over. "He looks like he's been doing Krav Maga. His arms are beefier than the last time he was here."

  Luke frowned. "You'd take my little brother over me?"

  "Somebody has to."

  Reid slapped him on the back. "Thanks, Carter."

  Bash rolled his eyes, but poured the drinks. "Last one. I'm locking up the tequila."

  "Does that mean you're pulling out the whiskey next?" Carter asked with a grin.

  "You wish, Richards. No, this is the last round. Then I'm making coffee, so none of our law enforcement officials sitting here--or their friends--arrests us.

  "I could get us a highway patrol escort," Will said. "Then none of us have to drive."

  "Yeah, but we'd still be drunk," Logan said, taking the glass Bash had poured. "So do your toast, Will, and we'll be good boys. Because nothing's worse than a pissed-off woman."

  "True that," Will said, then turned to Luke. "To your last day as a single man."

  Luke groaned. "Again."

  "Try and do it better the second time than you did the first," Logan said.

  "It'll help that the second wife is a much better choice than your first one," Carter said.

  "A-fucking-men to that," Luke said. "Let's drink."

  They took their shots, then Bash cleared the bar and poured them all sodas and coffee.

  Carter grimaced as he took a sip of the coffee
Bash had poured for him. "The tequila was better."

  "You say that now," Logan said. "Until Emma's mom knocks your drunken ass down over dinner."

  "Good point." He drank two cups of coffee, had a soda, and by the time they left, felt clearheaded. He was glad he hadn't driven Rhonda today, though. He'd bring her to the restaurant tonight. Not that he wanted to show off for anyone in particular.

  Okay, maybe he did.

  After they left the bar, he went home, showered, changed into his navy blue suit that he didn't much want to wear, but when Georgia Burnett told you to wear a suit, you wore a suit. She said they were going to church tonight, and even though it was just for rehearsal, they were still going to be in God's house and you had to dress up.

  You didn't get on Georgia's bad side. After picking out a tie, he climbed into Rhonda and headed over to the church. He pulled into the lot and parked, then got out, straightened his tie, and walked through the front doors.

  It was quiet except for the sounds of voices coming from the front of the church. Emma and Luke were already there, along with Reid and Logan. Logan's girlfriend, Desiree, was there as well. And there was no mistaking Chelsea's fiery red hair as she sat in the front pew next to Jane.

  And over where Emma's parents were talking to the minister stood Molly, wearing a dress that hugged her body all the way to her waist, then flowed out from her hips. The dress had bright flowers on it, but honestly, all he noticed were her bare shoulders and her tan skin. Her hair was loose, waves cascading halfway down her back. She sported high heels that had no business being worn in a church, showcasing legs he had no business thinking about in a church, either.

  "Got some sins to confess, buddy?" Bash slapped him on the back and gave him a smirk.

  "Probably."

  "Why don't you save it for another day? Let's get this shindig going. I'm starving."

  "So what you're saying is, you're just in it for the food."

  "Oh, no. I'm totally here for Luke and Emma's happily-ever-after. I'm all about the love, man."

  They walked down the aisle. "It's not good to lie in church, Bash."

  Bash gave him a lopsided grin as they made it to the front of the church.

  "Is everyone here?" the minister asked.

  Emma's mother looked around. "Yes, I believe so."

  "Then we'll get started. For those who don't know me, I'm Reverend Barry Greenwood, and I'll be performing the service tomorrow. I like things informal, so please call me Barry."

  Barry got things in order in a hurry. He sent the bride, her parents, and the bridesmaids down to the back of the church, and Luke and the guys set up at the front. Luke stood first in line, followed by Logan, his best man, then Reid, Carter, and Will.

  "I'll be first in line to grab him if he makes a run for it," Will said with a grin.

  "I don't think he has any intention of running. Look at his face."

  Will looked around the guys, then shook his head. "You're right. He's like a lovesick puppy."

  "Kind of disgusting, isn't it?" Logan asked.

  Carter rolled his eyes. "You're even worse the way you're looking at Des."

  Logan grinned. "She's been on a movie shoot for six weeks and just got back three days ago. How am I supposed to look at her?"

  "I'm surprised you're even here," Reid said, glancing down the aisle at Desiree. "She looks hot."

  "I could kick your . . . You're lucky we're in church, kid."

  Carter laughed, but then Bash started up the aisle with Emma's mom, so they all had to straighten up. He delivered her to the front row, then Evan, Luke's friend on the police force, escorted Martha down the aisle. Though Martha wasn't technically family, she was the McCormacks' housekeeper and the closest thing Luke, Logan, and Reid had to a mother since their own had abandoned them. And she had a grin a mile wide at being considered the mother figure at Luke's wedding.

  The bridesmaids started down, with Barry informing them about how to walk.

  "Not too fast, ladies. This isn't a race. But don't take all day, either."

  Carter was fascinated with Molly's walk, especially since she did everything in her power to avoid making eye contact with him as she made her way down the aisle and over to where the rest of the bridesmaids were standing.

  Jane's six-year-old daughter Tabitha was going to be the flower girl. She had such a serious face as she practiced walking down the aisle with a plastic basket. Tomorrow, it would be filled with flowers.

  Cute.

  Then Emma's dad walked her down the aisle. Luke cleared his throat.

  "It's just the rehearsal, Luke. You don't get to choke up until tomorrow," Logan said.

  "Yeah, yeah."

  They went through the motions, with Barry explaining what would happen at every step. It went pretty fast, which was good, because, like Bash, Carter was hungry. So when Barry told them they were good to go, everyone headed out to the restaurant.

  Bash rode with him.

  "Taking Rhonda tonight, huh?" he asked on the way.

  "Yeah. She's my date." Nothing like taking your '67 Mustang Shelby as your date for the night. She was also going to be his date tomorrow. Less complicated that way. He typically didn't bring a date to a wedding, and he especially didn't need or want one at this event. He had enough issues to deal with.

  They were going to have dinner in Tulsa at the Polo Grill on Utica Square. Emma's parents had provided the rehearsal dinner, and Georgia Burnett had fine dining down to an art form. She'd booked a private room, so they all gathered in there, where cocktails were provided.

  Carter headed for the bar to order a whiskey, straight up, determined to ignore Molly the rest of the night.

  Except she was dragged to the bar by Jane and Chelsea and Emma before he had a chance to get out of the way and go hide among his friends.

  "Carter. You brought Rhonda with you tonight," Chelsea said.

  "Yup."

  Molly cocked a brow, then looked around. "Who's Rhonda?"

  "His car."

  She smirked. "You named your car?"

  He shot her a look. "You named your car."

  "That's different," she said with a shrug.

  "In what way?"

  "Never mind."

  He took another drink, figuring the less said, the better, since their first meeting didn't go all that well.

  "Oh, you have to see Rhonda," Jane said to Molly. "You'll understand then. Let's go outside and you can show her, Carter."

  Such a bad idea. But Emma already had Molly by the hand, pulling her toward the door, so he downed the contents of his whiskey in one swallow, then followed the women outside.

  There was no doubt about it, Rhonda was impressive. He always kept her gleaming, and her navy body paint with white stripes stood out in the crowded parking lot. She got a lot of looks from passersby as well.

  "Oh. So that's Rhonda," Molly said.

  "Yup."

  "I can see why you'd name her. She's a beauty." Molly turned to face him. "It was always your dream to own a '67 Shelby."

  He was surprised she remembered. "Yeah, it was."

  "You must be doing very well."

  "I'm doing okay."

  "He's doing better than okay. He owns four auto repair shops now," Emma said with a wide smile. "Worked his butt off over the years. At least that's what Luke tells me."

  "Worth the hard work for something like Rhonda. She'd go very well with my hair," Chelsea said with a wink.

  "I'll take you for a ride in her sometime."

  "It'd be more fun if I got to drive her."

  Carter shook his head. "No one drives Rhonda but me."

  Chelsea sighed. "You're no fun, Carter."

  He slanted his gaze toward Molly, who looked as miserable as he felt.

  "We'd better go back inside before people start missing us," Emma said.

  Carter held open the door as the women walked inside. He caught a whiff of Molly's scent--something vanilla--as she walked by. He got in line be
hind her as they made their way back to the private dining room, trying not to notice the tension in her shoulders, the stiffness in her back, or the sultry sway of her hips that was more natural than affected, because she was definitely tense walking in front of him.

  When they got back to the room, she went one way, and he went the other.

  Wasn't this going to be fun?

  He did a lot more drinking than eating during dinner, and it was a good thing he didn't have to give any toasts because he was starting to feel the effects of the whiskey. Emma's parents toasted, wishing the couple well, and Martha and her husband, Ben, did as well. He barely tasted the food, which was a shame, because the steak looked really good.

  All he could think about was Molly, who kept her focus on her sister. She smiled at the appropriate times, and laughed when someone told a joke. But her laugh didn't meet her eyes, and she no doubt wanted this to be over as much as he did.

  He was just going to sit here and wait for everyone to leave and have another drink.

  "You okay?" Luke asked as the party broke up and everyone started to leave.

  Carter looked up, smiled, and nodded. "I'm fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

  "Okay."

  After everyone left, he headed to the bar and asked for another whiskey. Then another. He was going to have one hell of a headache tomorrow, but he'd deal with it.

  Tonight, he just wanted to forget.

  MOLLY CLIMBED INTO her car and turned the starter, listening to George cough as he struggled to come to life.

  She also noticed Carter's Mustang still sitting in the parking lot. Everyone else had left.

  She shouldn't care, but she'd noticed--out of the corner of her eye when she shouldn't have been looking, but couldn't seem to help herself--that he'd been downing a lot of whiskeys tonight. She also noticed--even though she shouldn't--the look on his face.

  Misery. Unhappiness.

  Not her problem. She was miserable and unhappy being here, too.

  George sputtered and conked out on her.

  Dammit. She'd just wait five minutes, like usual, and start him up again.

  She should have just ridden with her parents as they'd suggested. But her independent streak refused to allow her to sit in the back like she had when she'd been a kid. She wanted the option to flee if necessary.

  Currently, there'd be no fleeing.

  As she counted down the minutes, she stared at Carter's car--or, Rhonda, as she was called. She sure was pretty. She hoped Carter wouldn't stumble out of the bar drunk as hell and bash Rhonda into some tree.

  Not that it would be her problem if he did.