by Olivia Miles
Kate perked up. Once Elizabeth and William left for their honeymoon tonight, she had every intention of kicking back tomorrow. She certainly wouldn’t mind the company. “Maybe you can stick around a few days—” She stopped when she saw the way his eyes had gone flat.
He shook his head. “Impossible.”
Of course. Silly her.
Her cheeks burned with the rejection, and she hastily turned to look out the window, noticing the tourists that were beginning to fill the sidewalks, getting an early start on the summer weekend. It was late and, like Alec, she needed to get to work. She shouldn’t be sitting here in this car, lingering outside the hotel and wishing their time together didn’t have to end. She would see him tonight, but it wouldn’t be the same. Tonight was about Elizabeth.
“I should get to work,” she said. “Wedding day.”
Her mind raced with all the last-minute details she had to go over.
“Wait.” Kate blinked in panic. How could she have forgotten the main reason she had agreed to spend so much time with this man? “The best man speech. Did you still want my help?”
Alec hesitated and then said, “I started something for it, but I’m not sure it’s any good, honestly. I’m not really the best at expressing my emotions.” His smile was so bashful that Kate refrained from telling him she’d like to meet a man who was.
“I’m happy to take a look.”
“It’s in my room. I’ll run up and grab it. Unless you want to come up for a bit?”
Kate bit her lip, wishing she could park the car and run upstairs with him, but she shook her head firmly. “I have to get to work.”
“Touché,” he said, giving her a rueful grin as he stepped out of the car.
“Guilty as charged.”
Only today she was guiltier of a lot more than putting work before romance.
She’d put her heart before her head, too.
* * *
Kate was still replaying last night as she walked into her office, sipping a coffee she’d bought on the way. She gave a more cheerful hello than usual to the receptionist, feeling the bounce in her step as she turned down the hall. But her pulse skipped a beat at the sight of Meredith standing in her doorway.
“There you are,” Meredith commented, her undertone laced with disappointment.
Kate knew she was late, but only by two minutes, and she wouldn’t have been if she hadn’t gotten stuck behind a woman who insisted on writing a check to Harbor Street Café to pay for her latte and scone…
“Good morning!” With more determination than she felt, she bared a smile at Meredith and walked over to her desk. With any luck, today’s wedding would be so stunning, Meredith could drop the micromanagement act for good. She squinted into the contents of her handbag as she retrieved the files she had taken home with her and the folder containing Alec’s best man speech. The heat of Meredith’s gaze burned a hole in the back of her head.
There was no avoiding it. “Can I help you with something, Meredith?”
“Let’s go down the list and make sure everything is on track for today’s event.” Meredith crossed the room and sat down in a velvet tufted guest chair. She spread a notebook on Kate’s desk and poised her pen, locking Kate’s eyes expectantly.
Kate stifled a sigh and resigned herself for a long interrogation where Meredith was no doubt looking for holes in her story. “No problem.”
Even if it was a very big problem. This was wedding day. Wedding day—and Meredith knew what that meant. She’d barely have enough time to gulp down this much-needed coffee, so how exactly did this conversation fit into her plans?
“All the men have their suits?”
“I’ve arranged to have them delivered.” Quick, to the point. If she kept it up, Meredith could be on her merry way.
“Bridesmaids dresses?”
Though they’d already discussed this, Kate humored her. “I picked them up personally yesterday. Along with the bride’s gown. And the veil,” she added, knowing she would be asked.
Meredith pursed her lips and scratched the items off her notepad. “Caterers are confirmed. Final head count?”
“Yep.” Kate shifted in her chair with agitation. “I’m going to call the photographer this morning to be sure he’s clear on the key moments we want to capture. I’ll also confirm the play list with the band.”
“Good.” Meredith studied her list. “Tell me again who will be handing out the programs?”
“We’re actually leaving them under a seashell on each chair.” As Meredith’s eyes narrowed, Kate quickly explained, “It was Elizabeth’s choice. She didn’t want to assign the task to anyone.”
“Let’s just hope the wind doesn’t pick up, then.” Meredith’s lips thinned but she scratched the item off the list just the same. “The favors are in?”
Kate’s stomach overturned. The favors had arrived days ago, but she hadn’t counted them out, meaning there was no guarantee they were all accounted for.
Averting her boss’s gaze, she managed to say, “Yep!” and made a silent promise to herself that the moment Meredith left her office, she would open that box and confirm the shipment. Her pulse began to speed up as the questioning continued, and she bit back the urge to ask just how long this inquisition would continue and when the past could finally be put in the past, where it belonged. She was finally moving on. Couldn’t everyone else?
“The wedding party has all arrived? No last-minute issues there?”
The only last-minute issue is this trial by fire, Meredith.
Instead, Kate let her mind drift to Alec, and she smiled her first real smile since she’d seen him this morning. “No issues. William’s father arrived yesterday in time for the rehearsal dinner.” She didn’t bother mentioning that he had seemed bored and disinterested throughout the course of the meal. “Only ten more out-of-town guests are yet to arrive, and they’re scheduled to check in by eleven.”
“Everyone knows their role? No glitches at the rehearsal?” When Kate stopped bobbing her head in response, Meredith continued. “The toasts and speeches are all confirmed? No unforeseen disasters there?”
Kate gave a mild smile. “I’m sure Elizabeth’s family will give a lovely toast. And William’s brother has asked me to look over his best man speech.” As she spoke, she retrieved the folder Alec had handed her that morning from the stack on her desk and opened it, noticing in confusion that the papers in front of her didn’t look anything like a speech. In her hands was a stack of financial papers.
He’d handed her the wrong papers. She mentally shrugged it off as an unfortunate inconvenience—she could swing by the hotel after she called the photographer. She brightened at the thought of seeing him again when a handwritten note on the bottom of a spreadsheet caught her eye.
Lambert. Her breath stilled as she felt the blood drain from her face. She glanced closer at the writing and then skimmed the page, air locking tight in her chest. With trembling hands she thumbed through the rest of the pages until her mounting fears grew to a point of panic.
Mason Lambert. Jake’s father.
She scanned the rest of the page, barely taking it in. A business meeting. Today. Something about Saturday…a meeting with Mason and his son. She blinked, trying to understand what she was looking at.
Business. He was in town for business. He had said it so many times. When had she stopped listening?
She ran her gaze over the papers once more, trying to understand their meaning. She didn’t know exactly what he was planning or what she was specifically looking for as she scanned each page, barely taking in a word as she dismissed one section after another until she found it.
There it was. Black and white. Typed out neatly. It couldn’t have been clearer.
A meeting with Mason. And his son. At the same time as the wedding.
Elizabeth had been right about him. He was exactly the man Kate had been warned about, the man she had refused to accept. She hadn’t wanted to see it. She had wanted to
believe he was someone else. Someone better. Someone different from Jake.
But from the looks of it, they were just one and the same.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kate didn’t know how she managed to get through the next fifteen minutes without showing her panic. It wasn’t until Meredith finally gave her a tight smile and briskly exited her office that Kate slumped back against her chair and closed her eyes. Her mind replayed the events of the past week, trying to make sense of it all, but no matter how many times she went over it, there was no denying the cold, harsh truth.
Alec had been lying to her. He’d had an agenda the entire time, one that involved anything but celebrating William and Elizabeth’s wedding.
She’d said all along that she’d be damned if Jake ruined two weddings. From the looks of things, he and Alec were about to do just that.
Her heart ached when she thought of the smile Alec had given her that morning. The way his hand had lingered on hers. The way his lips had skimmed her mouth so tenderly. It seemed impossible to think that he had been planning this all along, behind her back, knowing what it would cost her. What it would do to his brother.
Was it revenge, for William leaving the family company? An eye for an eye? What was this, the Dark Ages? Kate shook her head, trying to make sense of it all.
Heaving a sigh, she leaned over and popped the tape on the box that had arrived earlier in the week. Inside were hundreds of silver tins labeled with vintage-inspired scroll with William and Elizabeth’s wedding date. She twisted the top of one of the lids and managed to smile at the creamy pale pink candle molded inside. So much thought had gone into this wedding. So many little details…and it was all about to come crashing down.
With a sniff, she popped the top back onto the tin and set the candle in the box. She would load them into her car later and personally set them on each place today before heading over to Elizabeth’s house with the dresses.
Elizabeth. Kate’s stomach rolled over at the thought of her friend, who was probably jittery and nervous and overwhelmed with excitement at this very minute. How could she not say something to William?
She shook her head. Shame on her for following her heart instead of heeding the opinion of the person she trusted most in the world. If she had, surely she would have kept her distance from Alec all along.
She had a couple hours before she had to meet the girls. She’d hoped to use this time to go over the seating chart one last time and check on the status of the tent, but those were things she’d just have to trust were in place.
Alec Montgomery was about to ruin William and Elizabeth’s wedding, and that was one not-so-small detail she had somehow managed to overlook.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, Kate stood on the steps of the Beacon Inn, sweeping her gaze from one end of the porch to the other. Several attempts to reach Alec via phone had resulted in nothing but voice mail, and with the wedding only hours away, there was nothing left to do other than try to find him at the best place she knew to reach him.
He’d known. And maybe he was trying to warn her. Hadn’t everyone warned her, after all? And despite her closest friend’s opinions, she hadn’t heeded her advice. She’d trusted her heart instead. Her broken heart.
Deciding she couldn’t waste any more time hovering outside, she walked into the lobby, and not seeing him there, decided to check out the restaurant, where just a few days ago they’d had breakfast together…before he’d run off for a meeting. Kate closed her eyes, silently cursing to herself. Now she was sure that meeting had been with Mason.
Had he known the connection all along? Did he care? She couldn’t be sure, but she intended to find out.
She was just about to go to the front desk and call up to his room when a hand grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn around.
“Jake,” she gasped. She stood completely still, her chest rising and falling from the pounding of her heart, until she finally shook away the shock and jerked her arm out of his grip.
Jake’s familiar smile was gone. His lips were thin and his typically bright green eyes were flat, the way they were the last time they’d spoken, the day he’d told her there wouldn’t be a cake tasting, wouldn’t be a wedding at all. It had been almost a year since she had seen him this close, and she couldn’t help noticing how much he had changed in that time. He was still handsome, objectively speaking, but the spark that had captured her heart had fizzled. In a strange sort of way it was sad, she registered. This person had meant more than anything at one point in time. Now he meant nothing at all.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, breaking the silence, even if she already knew the answer. He was here to meet with Alec and George Montgomery.
“I have a meeting.” His eyes locked hers as if he were looking for something in her expression. An answer. A question. Something.
Charlotte.
The phone calls. Bree’s strange insinuation. Now this shiftiness, this strange suspicion she’d never seen in him before, even when he was lying to her, even when he was cheating.
Something was wrong. His jaw flinched as he studied her face, gauging her reaction. She knew that look—it was the same look he had when the truth of his deceit had finally come to light that terrible day all those months ago, the day the handsome man she had loved so much had turned into a stranger. And it was that man who was standing before her right now. Hard, unapproachable, cold.
What had she ever seen in this person?
“I heard you were back in town,” she said evenly, not bothering to mention that she had noticed him on the street the other night. She half-heartedly wondered if he had seen her kissing Alec and decided it didn’t matter. She didn’t care what Jake thought of her. And she realized, he probably didn’t think of her often. Her happiness, her heartbreak…none of it had mattered.
“Don’t believe everything you hear, Kate.” His mossy-green eyes never left hers. The weight of his stare made Kate shift uncomfortably in her heels.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she replied, narrowing her gaze on him.
“I’m just saying, there are two sides to every story.”
“Like how there were two sides to your cheating on me with my sister?” She shook her head in disgust. What had happened to this person? When had he changed?
Or why hadn’t I noticed, she thought, pursing her lips. Her mind floated to Alec. She sure knew how to pick ’em.
“I have nothing to say about your sister or her allegations,” Jake replied stonily.
Now that had her attention. Kate frowned at her ex, giving him her full attention. “Allegations?”
“Misty Point is still a small town. I don’t need Charlotte making trouble.”
“Any more trouble than you’ve already made? Please, Jake. If you’re trying to pass blame, it’s far too late.”
He hesitated. “I take it you haven’t spoken to your sister.”
Kate frowned. The phone calls. There must have been ten, maybe more. Charlotte had been reaching out, trying to tell her something. Something Jake didn’t want her to know.
What was it?
* * *
Alec stepped off the elevator feeling better than he had since that first night at Kate’s house. His entire future suddenly seemed wide open with opportunity. The world was his. He would never again spend a weekend in his corner office, staring at a computer screen, breathing stale air and wearing yesterday’s shirt. The days of meandering through life like a robot, acting on autopilot, doing anything and everything to reach the end goal were over. He had been in survival mode for so long, he hadn’t known what it felt like to stop and take a look around, to ask himself what he wanted, what mattered. But not anymore. Today was the start of a new life. What he would do with tomorrow, he wasn’t yet sure. But he knew it would be better than the life he had been living. It had to be.
Alec did a quick scan of the hotel restaurant and checked his watch. Mason Lambert would be here any moment, and Alec
was eager to see the man’s reaction when he heard what Alec had come to say. Until this week, he had been dangerously close to following in his father’s footsteps. It was a road that would lead to nothing in the end. A life without family, friends, or love.
A life he didn’t want anymore.
He was his father’s son. And that, for once, would have to be enough.
Alec thrust his hands into his pockets and wandered into the lobby, his pulse quickening at the surprising sight of Kate at the far end of the room. No doubt busy preparing for the wedding. He could see the papers she clutched to her chest. Yep, the endless to-do list.
On a closer look he noticed the tension in her posture, the lack of color in her normally rosy cheeks. Alec turned his attention to the man who was talking to her and decided he didn’t like the aggression in his expression one bit.
“Kate.” His voice cut across the lobby as he approached. It might not be his place to interrupt what was clearly a personal conversation, but Kate was personal to him, and that made her his business.
Kate stopped talking at the sight of him, and her wide eyes shifted from the man to him and back again. “Alec. I was looking for you,” she said, but her voice lacked any warmth that could convince him her words were true. “You handed me the wrong file, it seems.”
As soon as she thrust the manila folder at him, he realized his error. In his rush that morning, he had handed her his notes for the meeting with Mason. The notes he hadn’t needed to refer to again. The notes that proved he was exactly the man everyone thought he was. The man he didn’t want to be.
“Kate, you don’t understand—”
“Oh, I understand.” Her laugh was bitter, and his chest burned at the sound. “I understand all too well.” She swept her hand over the man next to her. “Alec, this is Jake. Jake Lambert,” she added meaningfully.
Alec frowned. Jake. It was the same Jake. Jake Lambert. Mason’s son. Kate’s ex.
Jake kept his eyes trained on Kate. Any doubt that those two didn’t share a history was erased as quickly as the hope of ever making things right with her again. “Remember what I said, Kate. Every story has two sides.”