Page 134 of The Bridges I've Burned

“Um, yeah. She just needed a little push in the right direction.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “Anyway, there are still a lot of things left to do before the wedding tomorrow, and I was wondering if you could lend a hand this afternoon.”

There was a brief pause. “Sure. What do you need?”

“Can you head to the inn and help with setup? Macon was supposed to be there, so I’m worried they might need an extra hand.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’ll head there now.”

“Great. Thank you.” A silence held in the air. “I guess we’ll see each other at the rehearsal?”

“Elena, we still need to talk about?—”

“I know. We will,” I answered, feeling my gut twist in a knot. “Tonight. After the rehearsal dinner, I promise.”

“Okay. Tonight.”

If I had a superhero name, it’d be The Delegator.

Superpower: getting shit done.

I truly believe that if Marin had just handed over her freaking list to me in the first place, it would have saved us both a whole lot of trouble.

We could have spent the day getting facials and drinking mai tais—virgin for her, of course.

After my call to Zander, I’d headed to the Windows dining room for a bit of lunch, and that was when the real magic began. Honestly, it wasn’t even that hard. Once everyone heard about Marin, they were more than glad to help out.

When Macon texted me a while later to let me know everything was fine, I realized just how scared I’d been—like I’d been holding my breath underwater.

She was okay.

After finishing my late lunch, I headed out to do a few last-minute errands that weren’t on Marin’s list, including running to the market and coffee shop. Then, I headed back to the rental and packed up everything I needed for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.

This was the part of the plan Marin didn’t know about, and I hoped Macon was still on board after everything that had happened. I pulled into their driveway and turned off the engine, reaching over to the passenger seat to grab my duffel and garment bag. With everything in hand, I got out and headed to the front door.

I look like I’m moving in.

“Couldn’t stay away, huh?” Macon grinned, pulling the door open and saving me the trouble.

“You know how much I love you, Hot Cop,” I chided.

“She’s in our room, getting ready,” he said before pulling me into a hug. “Thanks for being there with her today.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Besides, that’s my niece in there.” I tilted my head. “You still okay with this? You’ll be right next door,” I reminded him.

“I know.” He nodded, though I could still see a bit of hesitation in his expression.

“We can call it off,” I offered. “Plenty of brides and grooms spend their?—”

He offered his hand, grabbing my duffel off my shoulder. “No, I think she needs this. You both do,” he emphasized.

I snatched the duffel back, making his brow arch. “If you’re gonna be chivalrous, go grab the food from the car,” I told him. He started to head down the driveway. “But don’t steal any!”

“No promises!” he hollered over his shoulder.

I headed on to the master and found my best friend, sitting cross-legged on her bed. Her dark brown hair was freshly washed, and her body was covered in a fluffy pink robe.

“Hey,” I greeted her, walking in and plopping down on the bed next to her.

She had makeup spread around her, and she let out a sigh of relief.

---