About a Dog

by Jenn McKinlay

  Mac, Jillian, and Carly slipped easily into their Windsor blue bridesmaid dresses and then turned their attention to Emma. She had chosen a simple strapless silk wedding gown with a sweetheart neckline that was fitted all the way to her hips and then flared out around her feet.

  Her hair was half up half down and the stylist had fastened her veil on the back of her head so that it draped down over the thick waves of her blonde hair to end at her lower back. She was so enchantingly lovely that Mac wouldn’t have been surprised to find her growing in a flower garden as its crowning glory.

  A knock sounded on the bedroom door, and Jillian opened it to let Emma’s father in. When he saw her, he tipped his head to the side and two tears slid down his cheeks, one on each side.

  “You are as beautiful as your mother,” he said. His voice was a rough rasp and he wiped away the tears with a flick of his finger.

  “Oh, Daddy,” Emma cried. She rushed forward and hugged him tight. He hugged her back and kissed her head.

  “Walk with me?” he asked. She nodded.

  The girls watched from above as father and daughter strolled about the garden in the backyard. When Emma returned, it was clear she had been crying. Carly went into a panic, but ever prepared Jillian took Emma in hand to repair the damage.

  Emma sat at her mother’s vanity in the corner of her parents’ bedroom while Jillian fixed her makeup. Carly and Mac sat nearby on the bed.

  “Is everything okay?” Mac asked.

  “Yes.” Emma nodded. She pointed to the pearl necklace at her throat and the matching drop earrings dangling from her earlobes. “My dad gave me these.”

  “Oh, they’re lovely,” Carly said. “How thoughtful.”

  “They were my mother’s,” Emma said. Her eyes welled up. “She wore them on her wedding day.”

  “No, don’t start that again,” Jillian said. She fanned her face with her hands as tears filled her eyes, too. “Here, gently pull on your lower eyelids; it will make the tears recede.”

  “Oh, hey, that works.” Emma sniffed. She took a deep breath and touched the pearls at her throat. “You know, I feel like she’s here with me and I feel like she’s happy for me.”

  “She is,” Mac said. “She absolutely is.”

  Then Carly started to bawl and the four of them ended up in a sloppy group hug, all while trying not to mess up their hair and makeup.

  Damage control took a little more time than had been allotted and it was a bit of a mad dash to get into the limo to get to the church, but the four friends giggled all the way there. When Emma panicked about not saying the right name during the vows, Carly made them laugh by throwing out ridiculous endearments that Emma could use in place of Brad’s name.

  “I take thee, snookums,” she offered. “No? How about pickle, buttercup, honey-toast?”

  Emma was laughing, so the glower she sent Carly had no heat when she said, “If I mess it up and say any of those, I am holding you personally responsible.”

  Carly grinned. Then she took Emma’s hand in hers and motioned for them all to join hands. “You won’t. You love Bradley Thornton Jameson.”

  “And you’re going to marry him,” Jillian said.

  “And live happily ever after,” Mac added.

  “I am, I really am.” Emma’s voice was full of wonder.

  Mac held the hands of her closest friends and felt as if the well of happiness inside of her was overflowing. Nothing could spoil this day. Nothing.

  Chapter 34

  Mac had seen her share of tuxedos in her lifetime, but she had never seen a man make a tuxedo look like that—a walking advertisement of hotness to make a girl swoon. Truly, she could only look at Gavin out of the corner of her eye since she was afraid a full-on look at him would render her incoherent.

  Seriously, the cut along his broad shoulders, the black bow tie against the crisp white dress shirt with the black buttons, the Windsor blue pocket square that matched her dress—all of it made her want to take a bite out of him, which was not a response she’d ever had toward a man before. It was thrilling and alarming.

  The music began and Zach and Carly started down the aisle; Sam and Jillian waited until they were halfway to the altar and then they began. Next up were Gavin and Mac.

  Mac turned around to look at Emma, standing with her father. All brides were beautiful but Emma raised it to a whole new level. It wasn’t the petite blonde thing she had going for her, although that obviously wasn’t a hindrance, but rather it was the radiance that sparkled off of her like sunlight on water. Emma was in love and she was marrying the man of her dreams. There was no substitute for that sort of magic.

  She winked at Emma and Emma winked back. Then they both giggled.

  “You ready?” Gavin asked her.

  She nodded and clutched her bouquet of yellow roses and blue hydrangea in her left hand and put her right hand on his elbow. He put his free hand over hers as if to reassure her. When he smiled down at her, Mac forgot for a second that they were supposed to move forward. She pulled her gaze away from his and focused on the altar that seemed a million miles away.

  They walked slowly, smiling at all of the faces turned toward them. When one of Gavin’s aunts who had an inability to whisper said, “What a lovely couple they make,” Mac had the horrifying thought that everyone in the church could tell there was a thing happening between her and Gavin.

  As if sensing her stress, halfway down the aisle, Gavin leaned close and said, “You look beautiful.”

  Mac glanced at him, quickly. She couldn’t let herself get sucked into that blue-eyed vortex again for fear that she’d forget how to walk and make a complete ass of herself.

  “I thought the same thing about you,” she said.

  As they passed the aunts, Mac heard Aunt Sarah wolf whistle. Gavin snorted a laugh and Mac pulled him close and whispered, “Don’t laugh, I think that was for you,” which only made him laugh harder.

  At the altar, Mac took her hand off his arm and she wondered if he felt her reluctance to let him go. He grinned at her and went to join the boys, and so the ceremony began.

  The service was touching, poignant, and beautiful. The guests laughed and cried and laughed again. When Brad was informed that Emma was now officially his wife, he whooped with pure undiluted joy, then he dipped her and kissed her in a way that left every woman in the church a little weak in the knees.

  The wedding party followed the bride and groom out the door and the receiving line began. Because Gavin was family, he knew just about everyone in attendance and he happily introduced Mac to them all. He kept his hand on her lower back and Mac noticed several of the guests exchanging speculative looks with one another. She knew she should try harder to keep it on the down low, but she just couldn’t make herself care when she was so happy to be beside him.

  After line up duty, it was on to pictures, while the guests set out for the brewery to start warming up for the party to follow. The photographer made it easy and the wedding party escaped the flashbulb pretty quickly while the bride and groom lingered.

  Brad and Emma were taking the limo when they finished the photos, so Mac went to join the girls in the Jeep, but Gavin had other ideas and grabbed her hand and pulled her over to his truck. When Zach and Sam waved him over to their car, he waved back, pretending not to understand.

  “Smooth, really smooth,” Mac said as he shut the door behind her and hurried around to the driver’s side.

  “What I lack in finesse, I make up for in charm,” he said. He started up the engine and shot out of the parking lot. “Besides, I figure the sooner we get out of here the sooner we can start making out. My best guesstimate is we have fifteen minutes before anyone notices we’re not where we’re supposed to be.”

  “A lot can happen in fifteen minutes,” Mac said. “Pull over.”

  Gavin hopped the curb and Mac laughed
while he shoved the truck into park and reached for her.

  • • •

  “Rough ride?” Carly asked as she reached into Mac’s hair and adjusted a loose hair clip.

  Mac felt her face go hot. Carly laughed.

  “Girl, you’ve got it bad,” Jillian said.

  “You have no idea,” Mac said. She didn’t even have to scan the room to know where Gavin was. He was standing with his father, talking and enjoying a cold beer while staring at her.

  As if they were attached by an invisible string, Mac knew where he was at all times. She also knew when he was looking at her, because she could feel the heat of his gaze on her skin like a physical touch. Whenever he wasn’t looking at her, she took advantage and gazed her fill of him. So, this was love, then. This crazy, giddy, borderline obsessive feeling was love.

  It was a shock to realize that she’d never had this before. She’d thought she’d loved Seth, but looking back, it paled in comparison to little more than a crush. And then she’d thought she’d loved Trevor, but it had never been like this. In retrospect, it had been mainly a relationship of convenience. How sad.

  Emma’s wedding stager had done an incredible job transforming the brewery courtyard. Colorful paper lanterns and strings of white lights had been strung across the length of the open roof. Round tables with white tablecloths and bunches of blue hydrangea and yellow roses just like in the girls’ bouquets decorated each table, while huge pots of yellow rose bushes and blue hydrangeas were tucked all around the outer edge of the courtyard.

  Four different food stations were placed in each corner of the large space, serving everything from Maine lobster to pasta to prime rib. Because it was a brewery, there was an endless supply of beer and the wine Mac and Gavin had picked up in Portland was being served as well. A big glittery dance floor had been laid out on one end of the courtyard and the DJ had set up beside it. No one was dancing as yet, but Mac had a feeling it was only a matter of time.

  She glanced at Gavin, again, and this time he caught her. He said something to his father and put his beer down. Then he crooked his finger at her and Mac was done for. She walked across the dance floor to meet him without even saying a word to her friends.

  Then she was in his arms and everything was right in her world. The DJ caught on quickly and put on some danceable music and they busted out their waltz moves and danced the next three songs together, before Carly cut in, suggesting that there would be talk if the two of them didn’t stop looking at each other like they were about to do the naughty.

  Mac left Gavin to Carly with a sigh. When she stepped off of the dance floor, she saw Emma watching her. She had a questioning look on her face, and Mac felt her heart drop into her feet. Guilt does make for a fast elevator ride down when it hits the panic button.

  Mac forced a smile, which felt marginally maniacal, and dragged Zach out onto the dance floor in a total cover-her-own-ass maneuver. Emma beamed at her and waved and then turned away. Mac sagged in relief right as Zach stomped on her instep with his enthusiastic gyrations. Karma can be a bitch.

  Mac was careful for the rest of the evening, keeping her distance from Gavin during dinner, cake cutting, and bouquet tossing. The reception went on well into the night. Since Brad and the boys owned the brewery, there was no end time and most of the guests were happy to party as long as it lasted. Aunt Sarah badgered the DJ into playing the hip-hop song “Make Me Better,” to which she and Aunt Charlotte showed off their grooving moves. They even got Mr. Tolliver to join them.

  Mac was standing by a window in the courtyard, enjoying the cool breeze at her back, when Gavin strode out of the crowd toward her. He’d ditched his jacket and his bow tie was undone, as were the top buttons on his collar. He held out his hand to her and she took it.

  She didn’t bother to look and see if anyone was watching them. Right now, she just didn’t care. He led her through the courtyard, now lit up solely by all of the twinkling lights and paper lanterns overhead, until he reached the exit that led outside. With one furtive glance behind him, he pushed open the wrought iron gate and pulled Mac after him.

  She was in his arms before she had a chance to gauge his intentions. His mouth was on hers as he backed her up into the side of the building. Mac kissed him back, breaking away only when she had to breathe. Darn it.

  “I love my sister, I really do, and I’m happy for her, I am,” he said. “But can we leave now?”

  Mac laughed. “The aunts are still in there bumping and grinding; are we really leaving before two septuagenarians?”

  “If they were going to be doing what we’re going to be doing, they’d be gone already,” he said. “I know because your Aunt Sarah told me so.”

  Mac clapped a hand over her mouth. “She didn’t!”

  “She did!” he said. He pressed his lips to the base of her throat. “Oh, and your Aunt Charlotte said something about how she bet I had nice pecs.”

  “Oh, my god, they’re out of control,” Mac said.

  “And so are we. Come on, I’m taking you home.” Gavin bent his knees and wrapped his arms about Mac’s upper legs as if he would carry her all the way home if he had to. She laughed and put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.

  “Easy there, big boy,” she said. “I have to say good night to Emma.”

  “Ugh,” he groaned.

  Then he let Mac slide slowly down the front of his body, making her woozy with desire. Because she just couldn’t help herself, when her face was level with his, she paused to kiss him with every bit of longing she felt.

  “Mac! Is that you?”

  Mac started and turned to see Trevor, staring at her in shock as if he’d just been shot and she’d been the one to pull the trigger.

  Chapter 35

  “What are you doing here?” Mac asked Trevor. She pushed against Gavin’s shoulders and he set her back on her feet.

  “I came to talk to you,” he said. He looked furious. “Now who’s this and what the hell is going on?”

  Mac glanced from one man to the other and back. This could not be happening. Not now. Panic made her brain shut down and she couldn’t remember anyone’s name.

  “I’m Gavin,” Gavin answered when Mac let the silence go on too long. “Gavin Tolliver.”

  “Emma’s little brother?” Trevor roared. “I thought you’d be a pimply teenager. This? This is the young man Emma asked you to babysit for two weeks?”

  Mac felt Gavin stiffen beside her. He removed his hand from her hip and she could feel his hot stare on the side of her face.

  “What did he say?” Gavin asked. His voice was so soft she had to strain to hear him, which made it all the more devastating.

  Mac didn’t want to look at him. She knew it was going to be awful. She closed her eyes, willing the entire mess to go away.

  “Mac,” he said.

  She turned to look at him—how could she not—and saw the two red patches of color on his cheeks. She knew from when he was young that was his tell when he was upset or embarrassed. It felt like a knife to the chest to know that right now she was responsible for that look.

  “It’s not what it sounds like,” she said. She reached out to touch him but he stepped back as if unsure of her.

  “Oh, it’s exactly what it sounds like,” Trevor argued. “Emma asked her to play single girl to your sad boy for the duration of the wedding, which I imagine was pretty damn convenient with me, her boyfriend, in London for the whole event.”

  “Boyfriend?” Gavin asked through gritted teeth. He looked like he was choking on the word.

  “No, we broke up,” Mac said.

  “When?” Gavin asked.

  Mac knew it was going to sound bad. Still, she had to tell him the truth. “Yesterday, officially, but we were on a break for two weeks before that.”

  His nostrils flared and he gave her a quick nod. �
��I see.”

  “No, you don’t,” Mac said. “I wanted to—”

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Emma asked as she tripped through the gate with Brad at her side. Then her eyes landed on Trevor and her mouth made a small O.

  “Yeah, Mac’s boyfriend just arrived,” Gavin said. “Since she’s not going to be available to babysit me anymore, I guess I’d better go.”

  He strode forward, shook Brad’s hand, and kissed his sister’s forehead.

  “Gavin, wait, I can explain—” Emma began but Gavin held up one hand in a stop gesture.

  “Don’t,” he said.

  His eyes found Mac and he looked at her with unabashed hurt as if he couldn’t believe that everything that had happened between them was a lie. It wasn’t, but Mac didn’t know how to tell him that. Gavin turned his gaze back to his sister.

  “Emma, I love you,” he said. “More than just about anyone, ever, and I know you love me like that, too, but you have to stop trying to manage my life. I’m okay. I always have been.”

  With that, he turned on his heel and strode from the reception, breaking Mac’s heart with every step he took. He didn’t look back and when his truck pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the road, Mac felt as if her insides were curling up in an attempt to cushion themselves from the hurt. They couldn’t.

  “This is all my fault,” Emma wailed. Brad pulled her close and hugged her.

  In moments, the rest of the wedding party arrived outside in the courtyard as if answering the Bat Signal over Gotham.

  “Hello, Trevor,” Carly said. Too much champagne made it impossible for her to control the curl of contempt on her upper lip.

  “Trevor who?” Zach asked. “Is he a wedding crasher?”

  “You might want to rethink the wardrobe if you’re crashing,” Sam said. He glanced up and down at Trevor’s jeans and tucked in polo shirt.

  “He’s my ex-boyfriend,” Mac said. “The one who paid Ralph Lester to pretend that Tulip was his dog, so that I couldn’t keep her.”