***
Penny stared at Blake where he stood, his hand trembling on the doorknob, emotion welling in his eyes, the same as on the rainy night they broke up. He was closing up, shutting down, a plea in his eyes that he wouldn’t express. And for the first time, she realized just how badly she’d hurt him. Maybe as badly as she’d hurt herself. “I’m sorry,” Penny said.
“Don’t be,” he said. “You knocked some sense into me. You taught me that if I wanted to hold on to a woman, I’d have to learn to play the game better than any other guy. If Tessa wants to hold on to Graham, she’ll have to do the same thing, because people leave and there’s nothing anybody can do to stop it.”
She’d done this to him. She’d broken his heart, twisted him up, and turned him bitter. Turned him into this jaded guy who played the game when he couldn’t even play his own music. She was sorry for that. He obviously hadn’t forgiven her. Maybe she didn’t deserve it. But he had to take some responsibility for his own choices now . . . and then. “You could have stopped it, Blake. You could have stopped me from leaving. That night, in the rain, I wanted you to do something, say something, ask me to stay.”
He swallowed before he met her eyes again. “So you were playing with my heart.”
“I thought if we were really supposed to be together forever, that you’d fight harder for me . . .”
“Jesus, Penny.”
That’s what he said in words. The rest of his hurt was expressed in the shape of his body as he slumped back against the wooden door. Even the flower in his blue-tipped boutonniere seemed drooped, smushed, and wilted. “I told you that I loved you. You couldn’t tell how much? You needed me to beg you to stay?”
She shouldn’t have tested him like that; shouldn’t have played those kinds of emotional games with him. She’d blown it. But she’d only been a kid. “I was young and self-centered and immature, so yeah. I guess I did.”
Blake shook his head and splayed his fingers over his heart. “Well, not everything in life is a command performance. You can’t always be the star of the show. And you wonder why I worried you’d make a big scene at somebody else’s wedding?”
“Don’t turn this around on me,” she argued. “I grew up. I still play music, because it’s a part of me—maybe the best part of me—but I’m getting a degree so I’ll have a more secure job to pay the bills. I don’t go for the bad boys anymore. At least, not knowingly. I try to do the right thing and that’s the only reason I want to come clean with the bride. Not because I want to cause a scene, but because I don’t ever want anybody else to get hurt because of something I did. I hurt you. And I’m sorry. I wish I could take it back.” She couldn’t go another five years without saying what she had to say. She couldn’t even go another minute. “You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Blake, and I messed up. I get that. But I was eighteen years old and I’ve been paying for my mistake ever since. I’ll probably never find another guy who will love me like you did. And that’s my own fault. I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”
With those words, the skirt in her hands came free of the globe. It was as if the universe—or at least the world—had finally freed her. She’d said it all. There was nothing left to say. It was up to Blake now.
He didn’t make a sound, which she supposed was answer enough. He stood there, devastatingly handsome in his tuxedo. He was dressed and she was exposed, body and soul.
She wanted him to cross the room, grab her up in his arms and kiss her. She wanted him to tell her that he forgave her. That he was sorry for lying to her. That deep down, he really was still the same guy she’d been in love with all those years ago and that he wanted to give this another try.
But when he didn’t say any of those things, that silence echoed through the universe and seeped cold into her bones.
With a little shiver, Penny stepped into her skirt, fussing with the waistband, smoothing out the wrinkles—anything to keep from having to look him in the eye.
For a moment, she thought he might have started to say something. But any words were drowned out by a pounding on the door.
“Blake! You in there?”
It was Graham.
“The guests start arriving in like five minutes, bro.”
Though the groom sounded panicked, Blake didn’t answer the door. “What are you gonna do, Penny?” he asked, like he still actually expected her to play the ceremony music. It was her job, after all, and she needed the rent money. But it was hard to care about any of that right now. And if he expected her to make this easy on him, he had another thing coming.
She wouldn’t walk away from him with regrets this time. Steeling her spine, she said, “I dunno. What are you gonna do, Blake?”
What Blake did was open the door.
***
It was too much for Blake. All of it, too much.
First, coming face-to-face with the woman who put his heart in a blender. Then having her in his arms again. Realizing that he’d let heartbreak turn him into somebody who wasn’t worthy of her love after all.
She wanted his forgiveness, but he needed hers. And now his best friend was banging on the door, just begging to be punched in the face.
Blake’s emotional amplifier popped and caught fire just like the one out on the lawn. He flung open the door, grabbed the groom by the lapels of his tuxedo, and pulled him inside.
“Whoa, dude, don’t crush the boutonniere,” Graham said, hands up and out, until he caught sight of Penny, who was tucking her blouse into her skirt. He paled. “Uh, hey, Penny . . .”
So he did know her name after all. Lying sack of shit.
Blake growled. “Penny is here to sing for your wedding. She’s a musician.”
Graham blinked. “You mean you’re not here to—”
“Get over yourself, Graham,” Blake said, with great satisfaction. “It’s just an unfortunate coincidence. You owe her an apology.”
To Graham’s credit, he didn’t balk or ask for an explanation. Maybe he was just latching onto the old wingman game and going along with whatever Blake said to smooth things over, but Graham slicked back his hair and faced her. “I’m sorry. Penny. I, uh, should’ve told you I was involved with someone else.”
Penny crossed her arms as if she wasn’t having it.
“I should’ve told you I was engaged,” Graham allowed. “When we met, I was having cold feet and you’re a gorgeous girl—”
“Let’s keep this apology simple,” Blake snapped, agitated at the reminder of any attraction between the two.
“Right,” Graham said. “I’m sorry, Penny. I just hope we can put it in the past and keep it a secret.”
Penny hugged herself, glancing between the two of them as if her spirit was weary and broken. Blake hated to see her looking like that. Hated even more when she shrugged those beautiful shoulders and said, “I guess it’s not my business. I’m not going to tell.”
“Phew!” Graham gave Blake a grateful smile that felt like a stab in the gut. “Thanks. So it’s all good. And we’ve got a wedding to do . . .”
“Not so fast,” Blake said, thumping his friend’s chest.
Graham frowned. “What now?”
Enough of this dog and pony show, Blake thought. If Graham was man enough to be somebody’s husband then he ought to at least be man enough to tell the truth. “Penny isn’t gonna tell Tessa. You are.”
The groom gulped in air and nearly laughed. But Blake wasn’t amused. “I’m serious as a heart attack, bro. You think you’re gonna marry this girl? You’re gonna promise to love and honor her for all the days of your life, when you can’t even tell her the truth?”
“What Tessa doesn’t know can’t hurt her.”
Blake might have had some sympathy for that point of view once. But a few hours with Penny, and his worldview had shifted back into balance. “If you don’t tell Tess
a, you’ll never know if she loves you. Because she won’t even know you. Not really. Just man up and maybe it’ll all work out.” Glancing at Penny, he said, “Maybe that’s how true love works.”
Graham shook his head violently. “No way. It’s not something she’ll get over. She won’t forgive me. Even if she marries me, she’ll make me pay for it the rest of my life. You know how girls are.”
Not just girls, Blake thought. He hadn’t been able to forgive Penny, and since he couldn’t make her pay, he’d turned his anger and resentments inward. He’d been living half a life, convincing himself he was a grown-ass man while acting like a child. She’d held up a mirror for him today and he didn’t like what he saw.
Well, all that changed, as of now. The earnest kid he’d been in high school? That kid wasn’t all bad. And Blake knew exactly what that kid would’ve done. “You’ve gotta tell Tessa,” Blake insisted. “Or I will.”
Graham’s eyes bugged.
Penny’s jaw dropped open.
Blake wasn’t sure whose reaction was more comical, but he wasn’t joking. And Graham must have known it, because he went white with anger. Huffing through pale, sweaty cheeks, he turned on Penny. “Is this your idea?” Then, flicking at Blake’s collar, the groom said, “Is that her lipstick? Nice. What the hell is wrong with you, Blake? Bros before hos, remember?”
Penny gasped, “Hey!”
But Blake shoved Graham against the wall before she could even ball her fists. “Say it again. I dare you.”
Graham shoved him back. “I don’t know what the hell is going on between you two, but this is my wedding, so why don’t you both mind your own goddamned business?”
“You made it my business when you asked me to be the best man. Penny doesn’t know Tessa. She doesn’t owe her crap, but I’m not gonna stand up at the altar with you, or make a toast at the reception tonight, knowing that I helped pull the wool over the bride’s eyes.”
The two men faced each other, chests heaving, and Blake thought it might come to more than just shoving. The groom’s chiseled jaw jutted out and Blake was hoping, just hoping, he’d give him one more excuse to punch it.
But the fight went out of Graham. “I guess I can’t argue with that, Blake. But if that’s how you feel, you shouldn’t be my best man.”
Blake was being asked to choose. To choose between their long friendship and his integrity. It used to be an easy choice, Blake thought. Loyalty and friendship above all. But Penny had reminded him that true friends brought out the best in each other. Not the worst.
If being Graham’s best friend meant being someone he didn’t respect, well, Blake didn’t want to be that guy. It made it easier that Penny was watching—she’d been the compass to show him true north—but he’d like to think that he’d have made the right choice anyway.
“Okay,” Blake said, digging the rings out of his pocket and holding them out for the groom. “I wish you the best.”
Graham snapped the rings up in his palm. “Fine. Now get the hell out. Because we’re not friends anymore. We’re done.”
Blake was sure that if it’d actually come to fisticuffs, it would hurt less. But he’d made his decision and he’d have to live with it. “I’ll go as soon as you tell Tessa.” Blake looked at his watch. “And you don’t have long, unless you’re fixing to wait for that part in the ceremony where they ask if anyone knows why these two folks shouldn’t get married.”
“Fine,” Graham said again. “But after today, I don’t ever want to see your face again.”
Yep. It still hurt.
Blake’s friendship with Graham really had been the only constant in his life these past few years. And in spite of the way he was behaving now, deep down Blake still believed Graham could be a good guy. If he wanted to be.
Apparently, he didn’t. “I just hope she’s worth it,” Graham said, glaring at Penny before he slammed out the door.
A hollowness in Blake’s chest ached painfully.
But when he looked at Penny, his heart swelled to fill up the space.
***
Penny stood by helplessly as the groom slammed out of the room. She’d just watched the end of a friendship, and she felt more than a little guilty for her part in it. “You didn’t have to do that, Blake.”
He stared at the ground. “I know.”
“You okay?” she asked.
Blake nodded, managing a small smile that only made her feel guiltier.
“Maybe it will all work out,” she said, though she didn’t hold out much hope. “I’m sure he didn’t mean what he said. I’m sure he’ll see that you’re too good a friend to throw away.”
“Nah,” Blake said with a shake of his head. “I was a great wingman, but a lousy friend. I never called him on his bullshit. You always did that for me, even when we weren’t together.”
Penny’s hands went to her cheeks. She’d caused enough damage in his life, hadn’t she? Now she’d cost him a friendship, too. “I think I need to go. This time for real. I don’t know what I’m going to tell the wedding planner—I guess the truth . . .”
“I guess when it comes to this wedding, we’re both out of a job . . .”
“I’m really sorry, Blake.”
“I’m not,” he said, taking her hand. “C’mon, lemme walk you out.”
“I’ve gotta get my guitar.”
“Even better,” he said, with a mysterious smile.
Lacing her fingers in his, Penny let him lead her out of the library, past the room with the antlers on the wall, and out onto the patio where tulle waved in the breeze and someone had strewn white rose petals on the long blue aisle runner. The sun hit them both at the same time, causing them to squint, but Blake kept squinting, and smiling, as if he knew a secret.
“How are you so calm?” she asked. “This whole day has been a disaster!”
“I’m about to prove just how wrong you are.”
Blake led her to where her guitar lay abandoned by the blown-up amp. Then he dropped her hand, leaving her fingers lonely and cold. But they warmed right up at the sight of him strapping that guitar over his shoulder and perching on the edge of a nearby stool.
Her eyes widening, she asked, “What are you doing?”
“Winning a bet,” he said, flashing those dimples. “You bet that I couldn’t remember the last time I sang a song, or wrote lyrics, or even picked up a guitar. Well, you’re wrong about that. I remember it perfectly. It was just after we broke up, on your mom’s front porch, waiting for the rain to stop . . .”
Penny’s heart squeezed. “I thought you went home.”
“Not right away. I was gonna sing this song underneath your bedroom window, but I lost my nerve. Lucky for you, I just got my nerve back . . . though I’m a little rusty, so bear with me.”
His fingers tripped over a few chords before he warmed up and sang to her a tune, with heartbreaking sincerity, and a rich baritone.
Find a Penny, I’ll have good luck all day
Lose a Penny, and I’ll lose my way
You say we’re young, and that’s to blame
But don’t leave me now . . . without a Penny to my name
Cuz I ain’t nothin, girl . . . without a Penny to my name
He broke off mid-song, grimacing. “It’s not any good. That’s why I couldn’t sing it to you. That and the fact that it never stopped rain—”
She kissed him. She kissed him desperately, as if she could steal five years’ worth of missing kisses from his lips. And when the guitar between them dug into her ribs, she pushed it aside heedlessly; because this time Penny wouldn’t let anything come between them.
In the end, Blake Quinlan had been exactly the man she’d fallen in love with. Exactly the man she still wanted to be with. And now that they had a second chance, she wasn’t going to waste a moment. Today she’d found karmic balance after a
ll, and with this kiss she was putting nothing but joy back into the universe.
With her hands on his cheeks, she kissed him and kissed him, until they were both gasping for air. After another round of desperate kisses, a growl of approval rumbled up from Blake’s chest. “So, it looks like me and Aunt Bea are history. You got any plans for tonight?”
Penny waggled her eyebrows at him. “How about I make up for lost time and teach you some of those tantric sex tricks you mentioned?”
Blake shot up to his feet. “Your place or mine?”
“Not so fast. First, I want to hear the rest of the song.”
Blake shuddered. “No you don’t. The other verses are even worse.”
Penny grinned. “Well, are we gonna talk all day, Country Boy, or are we gonna play?”
The Bride: Love on the Run
Jeannie Lin
This is dedicated to my dear husband. Despite minor similarities to our wedding in this story, let it be known that I never considered running off with the caterer. She wasn’t my type.
Chapter One
Twenty minutes until ceremony
This wedding is doomed.
Tessa twisted the elegant bouquet, a fairy tale in cream and blue, around in her hands. It was nearly the zero hour, and she was standing here alone in Briarwood Manor, holding on to her flowers for dear life.
A set of double doors led out to the garden. Tessa could see the blurred outlines of her guests through the wavy glass and she started to run a nervous hand through her curls before remembering what a pain it had been to get it pinned into the fancy updo.
This was going to be okay. She paced to the end of the hall and back. Totally okay, even though Mom had just run off to search for her sister, Renata, who for some reason wasn’t answering her phone for the last hour.
Everything seemed to be going perfectly up until this morning. She had spent months with the wedding planner, working out the details. The flowers arrived on time, deep blue irises and white roses, exactly what she wanted. Even her Medusa-like head of brown curls was somewhat behaving with an army of little silver pins stuck into it to keep it in place. Her hair never behaved.
This Wedding is Doomed! Page 17