Page 50 of Kiss the Bride

“Is that so?” Jason leaned closer. “Maybe enough time to actually go on a real date? Like dinner and a movie?”

“Who knows? It could happen. I expect a lot will change.” She paused. “Oddly enough, that thought scared me last week. Now, not so much.” She had Ryan to thank for that. He’d encouraged her, prodded her, and given her the courage to start thinking of her own future. Because of him, she looked forward to this next chapter in her life more than ever.

When Ryan leaned even closer, she hoped he’d kiss her. That might be another change in a long string of them, but this was one she’d been looking forward to. She moistened her lips, her anticipation building. She sipped air. He angled his head closer to hers. But in the split second before Ryan brushed his lips against hers, his cell phone emitted an alarming chirp.

“Sorry. That’s Daniel’s text tone. I gave it to him for emergencies.” He straightened with a grimace. In one swift move, he pulled his phone from his back pocket. His expression drooped as he glanced at the screen. “Brianna’s aunt is in surgery.”

“What? What happened?” When Ryan said he didn’t have any more details, she pressed one hand to her forehead. A headache threatened, and her heart lurched. “We need to get to the bed-and-breakfast. There’s no time to waste.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Surgery. That sounds serious.”

“Yeah.” In the passenger seat of Ryan’s pickup truck, Evelyn worried at a fingernail. “This is bound to shake Brianna’s confidence. Do you think she’ll call off the wedding?”

“I hope not, but you said she had a meltdown at the bridal salon.” Ryan spun the wheel. The tires complained as they turned onto Officiant Circle.

“Yeah, I thought she was past that, but this …” Evelyn’s chest heaved. “Her aunt and cousins are her only family. They were supposed to fly in on Friday. She has to be beside herself.”

“That’s rough,” he admitted. “I’m just as concerned about Daniel. He had cold feet before. This’ll probably freeze them solid.”

“He didn’t say anything more? We don’t know what happened?”

He jerked a thumb toward the cell phone he’d tossed onto the console. “Nothing more than that cryptic text. I pray she’s all right.”

“And that they don’t call off the wedding.”

“Yeah, that. If there ever were two people who deserved to be together, it’d be Brianna and Daniel.” Though, lately, he’d been thinking he and Evelyn might have a chance at their very own Heart’s Landing love for the ages.

His thoughts stuttered. Love? Did he love Evelyn Heart? He’d fallen for her, sure. Who wouldn’t? With her masses of red curls surrounding finely chiseled features, the brilliant eyes that saw through to a man’s soul, her long, lean form—what guy wouldn’t trip over himself to win a second glance from her?

But love? That was something else entirely. Love went deeper than looks. Love involved the heart and soul. True love brought out the best in people. Did he and Evelyn have that special kind of bond? His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He couldn’t say for sure, but he knew one thing—she brought out the best of him. He wanted to be a better man, a more steadfast version of himself for Evelyn’s sake. Whenever she was around, she made him feel stronger, smarter, more capable than he was without her. That might not be love—yet—but it was definitely a step on the right path. He couldn’t wait to see where it led. All that would have to wait, though. For now, he and Evelyn had a bride to console, a groom to calm, and a wedding to save.

Grateful for Heart’s Landing’s sparse evening traffic, he sped past Harbor View and the marina before turning west on Champagne Avenue. Less than five minutes later, he braked to a stop on the graveled parking strip behind the Union Street Bed-and-Breakfast.

“There’s Daniel,” he said, pointing. The young man paced on the back porch.

“I don’t see Brianna anywhere.”

“That’s not a good sign.” His heart sank. Whether things were going well or not, he’d expected to find the young man at his bride’s side, holding her hand, calming her fears. He hurried around the truck to hold the door for Evelyn. Together, they raced up the stairs onto the roomy back porch. “What’s going on?” he asked the groom, who’d stopped his pacing long enough to greet them beneath the ivy-covered awning.

“Brianna’s aunt has appendicitis.”

Ryan rocked from one foot to the other while he waited for the other shoe to drop. Surely that couldn’t be all there was to it. An appendectomy was so straightforward, medical students often performed it as their first surgery.

“They just took her into the operating room a few minutes ago. Brianna’s on the phone with her cousin. It doesn’t sound like any of them will make it to the wedding.”

“Oh, poor Brianna. I’m so sorry!” Evelyn choked back a sob.

Her reaction was too intense. He drew closer. He’d clearly overlooked an important detail. “What am I missing?”

“Brianna’s aunt is supposed to walk her down the aisle. Her cousins are her bridesmaids.”

Ah! There it was, the vital piece of information he needed but didn’t want. His head throbbed as the dominos began to fall, one knocking over the next. Appendicitis, click. Canceled trip, click. No bridesmaids. No matron of honor. No one to give away the bride. Click. Click. Click. What was next? No wedding? “What can we do?” He addressed the question to Daniel but wasn’t at all surprised when Evelyn answered with her usual take-charge attitude.

“Marybeth keeps beer stashed in the fridge. Why don’t you grab some while I run upstairs and check on Brianna? Daniel, you’ll be all right here for a minute?”

When the would-be groom nodded in the affirmative, Ryan held the screen door open for Evelyn before stepping inside himself. The hall branched ahead of them. He squeezed her hand for luck as she headed for the stairs. Seconds later, lights and a mouthwatering aroma drew him into the kitchen. After grabbing beers from the fridge and helping himself to a plate of cookies still warm from the oven, he pulled a handful of bills from his wallet and tossed them into an honesty basket on a small table. Back on the porch, he handed one of the frosty bottles to Daniel. He left two more on the coffee table with the cookies, popped the top off one, and lowered himself onto the tufted cushion of a nearby chair to wait.

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