The Forever Girl Page 69

“Just do it!”

Caitlin tossed her the towel, and Maze dried the inside of the cap and disappeared under the hood again to put it back on. “Okay, start it!” she yelled, and Caitlin cranked the engine. It turned over just as Maze jumped into the passenger seat.

“You’re right,” Cat said. “That was embarrassing.”

Maze had bigger problems. She couldn’t get the door to close, the wedding dress was too big. She started tugging yard after yard of white satin fabric in, swearing the air blue. Caitlin had to lean over her and add her two hands to the cause.

“Jesus,” Maze said breathlessly. “Remind me to never get married.”

“You’re already married.”

“Oh shit,” Maze said. “I keep forgetting. Drive!”

Caitlin hit the gas, the veil still attached to the top of her head, waving out the open window behind them. “I hope Officer Ramirez isn’t on duty.”

Maze winced as they took a turn on two wheels. “Slow down. We’re not Thelma and Louise.”

Caitlin laughed, and it sounded a little hysterical.

“Are you okay?” Maze asked worriedly.

“For the first time in months, I can take a deep breath. Remember when we were listing all the people who love me?”

“Yeah.”

“All those same people love you too, you know.”

“Thanks,” Maze said. “But we’re running away from your wedding, I’m wearing your wedding dress, and your veil just flew out onto the highway behind us. I think we should concentrate on you right now.”

“Yeah.” Cat sucked in a breath. “Is it bad that I know I made the right decision?”

“It’s good that you know. It’s good that you did it now instead of an hour from now.”

“Thanks for being with me,” Caitlin said softly, “for talking me through it.”

Maze shrugged. “Well, I am the master of doing stupid shit that you can never take back.”

Cat took one hand off the wheel and squeezed Maze’s. “We’re all still here, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, but only because you guys won’t go away.”

Cat smiled. “We are a stubborn lot. And hey, there’s one good thing to come out of this week. Us. We’re back together. Forever this time.”

Forever. It had a ring to it that Maze had never wanted before. But she wanted it now, desperately, and the realization formed a huge lump in her throat. “Where are we going?”

“I don’t know.” Cat’s expression crumpled. “Someplace that matters.”

Maze thought about it. “I know just the spot.”

Cat looked at her, searched her gaze, and then nodded in accord. And not thirty minutes later, they were at the graveyard, drinking champagne straight out of the bottle with Michael.

Chapter 25


Walker’s instincts were usually dead-on, so when he woke up with a feeling that the day wasn’t going to go as planned, he took it as gospel. Which meant that several hours later, standing at the back of the wedding aisle with two hundred people seated and waiting for the procession to start, and with no maid of honor or bride in sight, it wasn’t a huge surprise.

He watched, along with all the other wedding guests, as in the front row, Dillon’s mom stood up and brought Dillon his phone.

Dillon listened, said something quietly, then handed the phone back to his mom. He held up a finger to the crowd and came back down the aisle to Walker. “Caitlin’s not coming.” He paused. “Do you think the roses were the final tipping point?”

“No,” Walker said, “I don’t think it was the roses.”

“My mom?”

“Getting warmer.”

Dillon nodded and looked away. “My last fiancé said it was me. That I don’t listen. That I railroad people to get what I want.”

Dillon’s mother came down the aisle. “What’s happening? We’re late starting.” She looked at Walker. “Where is she? And the other one, the one with the bad attitude. Go get them.” Then, before Walker could respond, she stormed off.

Because Caitlin had planned to walk herself down the aisle to be greeted by both parents before turning to Dillon, Jim and Sherry were seated in the front row. Walker made eye contact with them, and both stood up as if to come over. He gestured that he had this, and they sat back down. With a deep breath, he headed to the bride’s chambers. When no one answered his knock, he let himself in. The room looked like a cyclone had hit, but it was empty. The window was open, and, more telling, the flowers in the window planter box were crushed, and there was a piece of torn silk on a nail on the windowsill.

He turned in a slow circle and froze when his gaze landed on the mirror.

I’M SORRY

He actually staggered back a step, instantly transported to a certain morning in Vegas, when he’d found a note with the same message. His chest actually hurt and he rubbed it. Logically he knew this wasn’t about him, but there was nothing logical about the road his brain had just gone down.

He pulled out his phone.

No messages.

He called Maze, but her phone was either dead or off, and that’s when he knew the real reason for the way his gut had turned itself inside out. It wasn’t just Caitlin on the run. He couldn’t explain it, but deep inside, he knew. Maze was on the run too.

Again.

And he knew why. Over the past week, they’d connected on a level deeper than they ever had, and he’d forgotten to hold back, to keep himself from opening up to her. Instead, he’d told himself when and if Maze got cold feet and wanted to run, they’d run together.

He’d been an idiot.

His mission had been simple: get the divorce. But he should’ve known that nothing was ever simple with Maze. Now the mission had gone FUBAR, and he was back at square one, grieving her all over again.

But hell if he’d do it.

He strode out of the room. Jace and Heather both looked at him and he gave a very slight head shake. There’d been a low-level hum of quiet talking among the guests, but at the sight of him, all two hundred went silent. One hundred and ninety-eight of them he couldn’t care less about. Walking straight to Shelly and Jim, he crouched down and took Shelly’s hand. “Cat’s not coming,” he said quietly.

Whatever he’d expected, it hadn’t been for them both to smile. “We know,” Shelly whispered. “She texted.”

Jace came over. “What can I do?”

“Take Heather and Sammie home,” Walker said.

Shelly stood up and grabbed Walker’s hand before he could turn to go talk to Dillon. “The cake.”

“The cake?”

“I swapped it out for the carrot cake Caitlin wanted. I want that cake, Walker.”

“Then I’ll make sure you get it.” He looked at Jim. “You’ve got her?”

“Absolutely, son.” He squeezed Walker’s shoulder. “You got our girl?”

“Absolutely,” Walker said grimly. He turned and came face-to-face with Dillon.

“So . . . I guess we should tell people,” Dillon said, looking like he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

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