Page 53 of The Trouble with Runaway Brides

Where has our bride-to-be disappeared to? Her lovely parents have arrived in town, and on any given day, you’ll find them in downtown Lake Starlight, chatting with old friends. It’s come to my attention from some of the app users that I may have been too harsh in my original post about KG. I received an influx of pictures and comments in support of KG after the article first appeared. And then, I started to receive pictures of her and Lance as they went around town to pick various things for her wedding. Then poof, she’s gone. I was waiting to report on the situation again until I had something more substantial to share, not just people thinking the spark between them never went out. I want hard proof since we’re talking about an engaged woman here. Although, don’t get me started on her fiancé. I have an even bigger influx of info on that guy that says he is not Lake Starlight material. Maybe we were all just seeing things between her and Lance. Time will tell.

In other news…

* * *

I shut off the screen. Perfect, just what I want my fiancé to see. Lance is probably so annoyed by it and somehow thinks it’s my fault. I finish straightening my hair, thankful that Blake and Geoff said they’d come to the high school with me as emotional support. Hopefully they don’t cause a lot of trouble.

Geoff and Blake are talking to my parents as I walk into the kitchen, holding my necklace. I’m wearing a simple black dress that ends above the knee and has a belt secured around my middle.

“You look beautiful,” my mom says while Blake takes my necklace and secures it around my neck.

“Thanks.”

She hugs my middle, not worrying about being in Blake’s way. I’m taller than her, especially in my heels, so she rests her cheek on my chest and stares up at me. “Don’t worry about that app.”

“I’m fine, Mom.” I touch the locket my parents gave me when I graduated high school and my mom gives me the look that tells me she’s questioning whether I’m telling the truth. “I’ve moved on.”

The rest of the room goes silent. No one says a thing or interjects their opinion for once. Geoff especially hasn’t been shy about expressing his opinion. Whatever happened at the coffee shop, Lance won him over, and Geoff has said several times how he wishes someone knew him as well as Lance obviously still knows me.

“You guys, I’m getting married to Will. It’s over between Lance and me.”

My mom takes my hand, patting the top and nodding. “It’s never too late.”

My head rears back. “What?”

“If you decide you don’t want to go through with the wedding.”

“I love him,” I say, but even I hear it in my voice—the wavering when I say the word love. But I do love Will. It’s just been a lot coming back here.

“We know you do.” Geoff looks at my dad, who only gives me a sad smile.

I ignore all of them, going over to grab the plate my mom put together for me for breakfast. Rice, eggs, and longanisa. It’s my favorite and tastes like chorizo mixed with rice and sunny-side egg yolks. I’m never going to fit into my wedding dress if I stay here and keep eating my mom’s cooking. In New York, I’d just have a protein shake or smoothie on the way out the door.

“Do you think—” Blake starts.

I smack my hand on the table. “Listen, I’m not the one who called it off between us. Lance chose the breakup. Do I regret my drunken decision to kiss Easton? Of course, but I can’t take it back. And Lance will never forgive me, so… I’m marrying Will and I’m going to be happy. You might not see it, but he does make me happy.”

Blake wraps his arm around my mom’s shoulders and pulls her into his side. What? Is he comforting her now?

I fork the longanisa and some egg and shovel it into my mouth, ignoring all of them because ever since I got here, it feels as if that tiny seed of doubt inside me has been fertilized and watered and grown bigger. Deep down, I fear I am making the wrong decision. But look at how it turned out for Jenny Twerdles—she ran into the damn ocean during her wedding ceremony because of last-minute jitters and ended up marrying the same man she ran away from. This is where I need to be, waiting for Will to finish up his work so he can join me, and we can get married and start our life together.

They wait for me to finish my breakfast, then the three of us say goodbye to my parents and climb into Geoff’s rental car to drive over to the high school. I sit in the back seat, my knee bouncing, my jaw clenched, trying to prepare for all the memories that will flood me when we pull up in front of the school, much less walk down the halls.

You’ve got this, Kenzie. You can do this.

When we exit the car, I spot Lance’s truck parked in the first row and all I can picture is us back in high school, meeting in front of his truck and him taking my hand before we walked inside the school. But now, years later, I have Geoff on one side of me and Blake on the other as if they’re helping me stay upright at a funeral. Lake Starlight High School is splayed in the same metal lettering on the brick building. The picnic tables are still sprawled out for kids’ lunches when the weather is nice, which is a rarity.

We reach the doors, and I see the image of us reflected back from the windows.

I unhook my arms from both men. “We look ridiculous.” I straighten my purse over my shoulder. “I’ve got this.”

“If you say so.”

Geoff opens the door for us and I step into the hallway and inhale the scent of cologne, sweat, and body odor. I swear high schools should have warnings outside the door to take one last deep breath before stepping inside.

“Kenzie!” Principal Bailey, Easton’s mom, coos from where she’s standing farther up the hall, opening up her arms.

“Hi, Mrs. Bailey.”

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