“No, he didn’t.” Ginny doesn’t sound convinced. “But he clearly still has feelings for you, Mace. Did you try to talk to him?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know what to say. We had nothing to do in the cell, so I was reading this diary entry of mine to him, and it got us all hot and bothered. I think it just made us remember old times. Plus, I mean, isn’t the ball kind of in his court? He’s the one with the fiancée.”
“True. But you’re the one who always said you were never getting into a relationship. He probably thinks you’re still in that place.”
“Maybe. I kind of confessed I was feeling lonely these days.” I reach into my purse and pull out the bull ring. “And he gave his wedding ring back to me after we returned from Vegas. Like it wasn’t hard at all.”
Ginny takes the ring out of my open palm. “Such a perfect ring for Logan. Strong but vulnerable. I wonder what kind of band he’s going to wear for this wedding.”
I don’t know, but seeing it on his finger may well stop my heart from beating.
I’m going to throw up.
“Please Gin. Change the topic.” I take the ring back from her and hide it away in my purse. “Talk about you for five minutes. Or five hours.”
“Well…” Her face lights up. “I do have something to tell you, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it much. But you’re the only person I can tell, and I have to confide in somebody.”
“What is it?”
“Okay.” She lowers her tone. “You know Nickel?”
Oh, God. She slept with him. When? And I didn’t stop it. What kind of a friend am I? I should have been at her side day and night instead of consumed with my own problems.
“He stopped by last night,” she says, confirming my absolute worst fear.
“You slept with him?”
“No!” she says, and I exhale. “We just played guitar and sang and talked all night, well, until three a.m., and then he left. Dave was out drinking, whatever.” I can tell how this hurts her, but she moves on. “Nickel came by with the final playlist for the reception. And we got to hanging out, and we just have so much in common. I didn’t know boys could be this interesting!”
I rest my cheek on the palm of my hand and review what’s happening right now.
Ginny’s more excited about a new boy than the man she’s due to marry in four days.
And I narrowly avoided kissing Logan right before his wedding to another woman.
Things are shaping up to be far more interesting than I’d like them to.
Logan
The bachelor party for Dave is never-fucking-ending. We’ve been at the bar for hours, and once I nixed meeting up with the girls, all Dave wanted to do was stay here and drink. Listening to a drunk Dave whine about the wedding is worse than when he’s sober.
“You need to talk to her,” Blake says to Dave. “You and Ginny aren’t on the same page right now, dude.”
Dave does his usual when he’s uncomfortable. He reaches for his drink.
But I’ve had enough.
I grab it out of his hand and hold it out of reach.
“Talk to her, you fool,” I say. “Before you rush down that damn aisle.”
“Oh, you should fucking talk,” Dave says to me angrily. “You’re getting married just as quick, but you don’t even know Gigi, and she’s not pregnant! You have no reason to rush.”
“Plus,” Blake cuts in, his expression triumphant. “You have another woman out there that you’re thinking about right now. Don’t you, Wild?”
Dave laughs as I shoot Blake a murderous glare.
“Not your fucking business,” I growl.
“Same here.” Taking advantage of my distraction, Dave grabs his drink out of my hand. Then, he swallows it in one gulp and slams it on the bartop. “We can’t all be you and Macey where you grew up together but nothing tears you apart. Not a drunken Vegas marriage, not marrying somebody else…nothing. I envy you, Logan.”
I turn away from him. Because he’s wrong. Marrying somebody else will for sure tear Macey and me apart.
Chapter Twenty
Macey
Ginny’s wedding day is here.
I jump up and pull open the blinds.
A beautiful sunny day, just as I’d hoped, just as the weatherman predicted, but you never know. I breathe a sigh of relief, and then I remember Logan. God, please let me survive this day with him. I haven’t seen him since the jail cell incident, and that’s on purpose. He lives next door to The Cowherd, and we only don’t see each other for days like this if we’re in a fight. So I guess we’re in some sort of a fight. A sexually-charged, awkward-as-fuck, fight.
I spent the last four days helping Ginny stay calm, doing last-minute wedding errands for Mrs. Rattles, and writing Ghost Love. I’ve made it all the way to the final chapter, and I’m stuck. I don’t know how to find the heroine’s happy ending with her true love. Maybe their time has passed, or maybe it never was to begin with. It was so long ago, and now they’re in a completely different world. A ghost world.
I get to the Bridal Salon at seven o’clock sharp and am horrified to see my mother standing there with Eloise and Mrs. Rattles.
Mama’s got on her pale pink dress, the one she told me she’d be wearing to Ginny and Dave’s wedding.
Ginny, her sisters Meagan and Lily, and her two cousins, Erma and Sue from Houston, are already in their gowns.
“Y’all look so beautiful!” I kiss Ginny’s cheek. “Your dress looks just perfect! And I love your hair swept up like that. Am I super late?”
“Not at all. Mama freaked out that my belly looked even bigger this morning, so she made us all get here an hour early in case Eloise would have to let out my waistline again.” Ginny spins around. “But she didn’t! My little munchkin is helping his or her mama out and staying small for one more night!”
I pat Ginny’s belly and then turn on Mama.
“What are you doing here? Please, please don’t tell me you and Daddy are having another wedding.”
Mama laughs heartily. “Of course not, baby. I think three weddings are enough for one couple, don’t you? Remember our last ceremony?”
“Hard to forget, Mama.”
I had graduated high school when Mama and Daddy finally remarried after far too many years of “living in sin.” The rumor somehow started again that this wedding could be “the one” to free our favorite author, but Mama swore it wasn’t her doing this time. I believed her. I think it was the head librarian, Esther Coyne, who knows how much Mama loves Jane Austen’s novels, and she’s seen with her own eyes the hours Mama spent poring over the microfiche in the archives section, looking for any and every extra little clue about the legend. And Esther just wanted Mama to cash in on her passion. I think she thought it would be fitting if my mother, with all her flaws and bad luck in love, would prove out to be the queen in the story after all.
Logan came to the wedding alone. So did I. And when Mama and Daddy danced to their song, Logan and I kissed on the dance floor. Ginny and Dave saw us and started cheering, so Logan pulled me outside, and we made out under the oak tree on the pavilion. My back got sore from leaning up against the bark of the tree trunk, but I didn’t notice till the next day.
I didn’t ever want to let go of that evening. My parents together in wedding outfits and Mama so beautiful in her white gown. She’d been working out all winter to be in shape for the day, and you could tell. She looked ten years younger than she is, and I told her so. She told me to hush up and not say such lies, but then I overheard her telling everyone what I’d said.
“Oh, Macey’s such a card. Telling her old mother she looks twenty-seven. Can you imagine?”
“That was a beautiful day.” Mama smiles and looks off into space.
I continue to stand with my hand on my hip until she refocuses on the present. “Helena invited me. She thought it would be fun for all of us to get dressed together.”
“Girls,” Eloise says. “Come up to the fr
ont of the shop where the three-way mirrors are so I can look at you and make you even more beautiful. And Macey, head to the back, and I’ll be down to help you get dressed.”
Mama claps her hands. “Oh, this is so much fun!”
I shoot her a look. “This ain’t my wedding, Mama.”
“Isn’t,” she corrects me. “Isn’t.”
Ten minutes later, I’m standing next to Ginny at the very front of the store, up on the platform with my back against the wall-length windows that face the street. Meagan is blasting “Sweet Home Alabama” out of her iPod while she and Lily dance around the store and thoroughly piss off Eloise. But Meagan could always do pretty much whatever she wanted in her family, and Mrs. Rattles just smiles and even joins in for a moment.
“Dance, Gin.” Meagan claps her hands. “Come on, this is your wedding! Happiest day of your life!”
Ginny’s sour face can’t be masked, so I grab her by the hand and spin myself around.
“See, Macey’s in the spirit!” Meagan says. “You look beautiful, Gin—you’re hardly showing at all. Although, I don’t agree with the idea of fireworks before the wedding. Dave will see you in your dress!”
Mrs. Rattles isn’t pleased with Meagan’s comment.
“The fireworks were my idea,” she says to her daughter. “I thought it was lovely and original.”
I give an enthusiastic nod. “I think it will be fine. Dave and Ginny are having a baby together—a lot of things don’t go in the order of tradition, but that doesn’t make them wrong.”
“Now let me look at you both.” Eloise turns her focus to Ginny and me. “You’re the last two down the aisle, after all.”
“Oh, that’s who they’ll remember.” Mama winks at me.
I swipe at her with my hand, but I miss. Mama laughs, and so do I, and I pull her up onto the platform with me. “Sweet Home Alabama” is one of our favorite songs, and Mama joins me in dancing to the chorus. My hair is loose as Mama and Ginny insisted I should keep my “eye-catching” waves undone, and it swings wildly off my shoulders as I loop my arm through my mother’s and twirl her around.
Then my gaze catches in one of the mirrors.
Logan’s outside the store window.
He’s standing completely still, and he’s staring at me.
I stop dancing and turn around quickly, too fast for him to cover. Our eyes lock through the glass, and my stomach drops at the obvious heat in his gaze. His whiskey eyes are smoldering, and the emerald flecks flash in the sunlight.
I cross my arms over my chest self-consciously. My boobs feel too exposed all of a sudden; in fact, all of me does. The dress may be floor-length, but it’s fitted to my figure, and I’m not used to dressing up, especially not in front of Logan.
Mama tells me not to hide myself, that I look beautiful, but when I ignore her she turns and looks out the window.
“Well,” Mama says. “Look who it is. The about-to-be-married Logan Wild, who can’t take his eyes off another woman.”
I shout-whisper at her to shut it. She waves to him then, forcing him to acknowledge her, and he comes inside the store awkwardly.
“Logan,” Eloise says curtly. “I see Gigi went in another direction with her dress, did she?”
“Um…” He shoves his hands into his jeans pockets. “Yeah.”
Ginny climbs off the platform to say hi, and the married and twice a mother Meagan flirts her ass off with him, but I stay right where I am. Mama looks up at me and nods her approval, and I dare say I feel good having my mother’s backup right now.
Logan escapes the store as quickly as he can without so much as a hello to me. Although he glances at me twice out of the corner of his left eye—I notice, and if I didn’t, Mama’s right there to point it out as soon as he leaves.
I stand numbly while Eloise finishes the final touches on our dresses before the wedding. I can’t believe I haven’t talked to Logan since we almost kissed. It would be so much easier if I had and we’d already broken the ice.
Damn.
And then, Mrs. Rattles says we must go have a peek at the wedding cake. Apparently Elaina begged for her cake to still be used also, and Mrs. Rattles agreed as long as the price dropped by a hefty fifty percent. The bakery knows Ginny’s wedding is going to be televised, so they agreed.
“So now I get two cakes.” Ginny shakes her head as we walk next door to the cake shop. “I mean, seriously?”
“At least you’re not having two weddings,” I say to her.
I stand next to Mama inside the bakery, bored out of my mind and waiting for Mrs. Rattles to run out of air with her rave reviews of Elaina’s cake. I would give a lot to get out of here right now.
Like he read my mind, I glance out the window just as Logan’s motorcycle pulls into the parking lot.
He gets off his bike and puts his helmet onto the seat. Then, he pauses and looks up at the storefront like he’s debating whether or not to barge in.
“What in the world is he doing here?” Mama mutters to me. “He’s all dressed for the wedding, I see. My, doesn’t he look handsome?”
Yes, he does. For starters, his suit fits him perfectly. The black tie and white shirt work his cool factor to perfection, and his hair is styled in that way I personally love—tousled but in an orderly fashion.
Shit. Logan Wild is sexy as hell. And for one red-hot minute, he was my husband.
He’s apparently made his decision because he strolls purposefully up the store walkway and then steps inside the swinging door, causing the welcome bell to go off.
Ginny turns and smiles at him. “Hey! You here to taste my cake?”
He grins back at her and then touches my arm. “Mace, can I talk to you for a minute?”
I walk away from Mama’s looming form as she tries to overhear us and lead Logan to the corner of the shop.
“What’s up?” I say. “You look amazing by the way.”
He blushes, and his reaction makes my palms sweat.
“I thought maybe I could give you a ride to the fireworks,” he says. “I can’t imagine you’re enjoying this scene too much.”
We both wince as Mrs. Rattles’s voice climbs even higher.
“I’d like to take you up on your offer.” I squirm. “But my dress—”
“The square’s two blocks from here. Does the skirt—I don’t know, stretch without ripping?”
“Yeah.” Partly why I love the dress. It’s flexible. “I want to go. But I’m kind of in the middle of this cake thing.”
“Exactly why you should come with me.” He leans in close and looks into my eyes. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
I’m sure you will. You always have.
I make my decision in less than a second.
“I’ll meet you at the square,” I tell Ginny.
She winks at me as I leave.
I’m free.
I grab Logan’s hand without thinking and practically run toward his bike. When I recover enough to realize what I’m doing, I drop his hand cold, not looking at him as I do so.
He tosses me his helmet. “I don’t have the spare with me. I had to make a quick getaway.” He lightly touches my dress. “You look…”
“Hot?” I joke.
“Steaming.” He kisses my cheek. “You look beautiful.”
He reaches out and brushes a stray hair off my face, and those familiar goose bumps rise up on my arms.
“I can’t wear this.” I hand him back his helmet. “It will ruin my hair. You know how untamed my waves are to begin with.”
He locks his gaze with mine. “Untamed’s not a bad thing, Mace.”
My palms start to sweat. “No. Not bad.”
But I’m feeling bad right now. In the best way possible. I clench my fists to resist my nearly uncontrollable urge to pull Logan’s head down to mine and kiss him senseless.
He insists on me wearing the helmet, and I wrest my eyes away from his and climb onto his bike. I manage to tuck the skirt part of my dress up around m
y knees so I’m still covered in all the important areas.
My arms go around Logan’s waist. “All set.”
Once he starts the engine, I lean my head against his shoulder and hold him close to me. We reach the gazebo in less than five minutes, and I force my arms to let him go.
The fireworks are about to start, and it’s still blistering hot.
I glance over at Ginny sitting next to me in her chair. Her dress is too long and too fancy for her to sit on the ground on a blanket like I am. Sweat forms on her brow as she uses my knitting needles and yarn to cast on. She’s concentrating so hard on what she’s doing it’s like nothing else can get her attention. I guess my last-minute idea to bring along knitting materials to calm her nerves may be working too well.
“I think it’s time to stop.” I try to take the needles from her.
She stubbornly refuses to let go and continues to work on knitting her third row.
Logan, Blake, and Dave walk over just as I’m wrenching the needles and yarn out of Ginny’s hand.
“You must let go!” I say sternly.
As I pull, one of the needles slips out of my hand, and the force somehow carries it toward Logan. It stabs him in the neck.
“Jesus!” he says.
“I’m so sorry. Oh, dear.”
We all laugh, even Ginny, for the first time all evening.
“Who knew knitting would be the deadly art?” Logan says as he, Blake, and Dave sit with us. “So, Mace, who are we walking down the aisle with, anyway? Are you with Flip?”
“Of course she is,” Ginny says. “Dave’s brother is his best man, and Macey’s my maiden of honor.”
“And I’m with your cousin, Gin?” Logan says. “The one with the super-large ears?”
“That would be Erma,” I say as Logan and Dave laugh.
Ginny and I admonish them and try not to smile. Erma’s ears are the largest I’ve ever seen. They’ve been that way since she was a kid. Mama used to pray she’d “grow into them one day,” but they seemed to keep growing right along with the rest of her.
Gigi comes over and clings to Logan, not taking her hands off of him even to take a sip of water out of her dainty little water bottle her father had handmade for her from some famous glass shop in Manhattan. I turn away to talk to Ginny, but I can hear Gigi giggling on my right.
Wild Girl: A Cowboy Romance Trilogy (Wild Men Texas Book 3) Page 9