Page 64 of You Complicate Me

Grace held up a hand and told everyone to wait for a minute while she pulled Michael aside. Nick couldn’t hear what they were saying, but watching as Grace spoke to her brother at a frantic pace, and seeing Michael’s expression shift through the five stages of grief in under five minutes, he knew the wedding wasn’t happening.

Son of a bitch. Sadie wouldn’t recover from this.

Nick refused to stay out of the conversation any longer. Stalking over to where Grace and Michael were huddled behind a giant spray of roses and lilies, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Where’s my sister?”

Grace swallowed hard. “She left, Nick. She couldn’t go through with the wedding, and she was too embarrassed to face anyone. She left a note for you. It’s in your room. There’s a note for you, too, Michael.”

Nick barely heard her words over the roar of his blood as it rushed through his veins. “She left?” he asked through clenched teeth. “Where did she go?”

“She went to the airport. I don’t really know where she intended to go from there.”

His eyes narrowed. “She doesn’t have a car. How did she get to the airport? And more importantly, how did she get out of that room without anyone seeing her?”

Another visible hard swallow. “There’s a service entrance in the back. She used that. And she asked me to call her a cab.”

“You let her go—helped her leave—without saying a word to anyone? Without knowing if she’s even okay?” he asked, incredulous.

Her gaze shifted from him over to her brother, who was now bent over at the waist, head in hands, looking like he might puke. She rubbed a hand over Michael’s back and sounded miserable as she said, “I did. It’s what she said she wanted. She asked me to help her, begged me, really—”

“And I asked you to fucking stay out of it,” he interrupted, seething. “To leave it alone. To let them sort it all out themselves. And you just couldn’t do it, could you?”

She straightened, her expression darkening. “I didn’t do anything wrong. She asked for my help, and I helped her. That’s all. The decision to leave was hers.”

“Leading the witness, counselor?” He threw her own words back at her with a sneer. “You’re real good at getting people to do what you want, all while making them think it was their decision, aren’t you?”

Grace reared back as if he’d slapped her, but her shocked expression twisted quickly into anger. “Oh, okay. I get it. Here we go. Another stupid disagreement and you’re lashing out at me. Again. Getting pissed off and saying horrible things to me seems to be your go-to, Nick. Well, guess what? This wasn’t my fault. I’ve stomped down every single instinct I had about this wedding since day one because of you, because of a promise I made to you. I knew this was going to go wrong, and I did nothing, for you. She’d already made up her mind about the wedding before I went into that room. That room that you—” she punctuated her sentence with a sharp poke to his chest “—asked me to go into. But you’re conveniently forgetting all that, aren’t you?”

“This isn’t about me,” he spit out through his clenched teeth.

Her fisted hands shot to her hips. “So are you saying I shouldn’t have helped her? Are you saying you wouldn’t have helped her leave if she’d asked you?”

“Of course I would’ve helped her. But you should’ve told me what was going on.”

“This isn’t about you,” she shot back with a sneer of her own.

“Is someone going to tell me what the fuck is going on? Where’s Sadie?” Gage asked from behind them as they faced off.

Before anyone could answer, Michael straightened and clocked Gage in the jaw with a wild right hook. “You son of a bitch,” Michael shouted. “If you had anything to do with her running away, I’ll kill you.”

“Michael!” Sarah gasped.

Ruthie shook her head, disgusted. “That was the worst punch I’ve ever seen. A bitch-slap would’ve been more effective than that. I’m disappointed in you, boy! Apparently all that hockey we used to watch was for nothing.”

From his position on the floor, Gage shifted his jaw from side to side, probably trying to make sure it still worked. “I was in the bar all fucking night. How could I have had anything to do with any of this, Michael?”

“Don’t tell me you’re not happy about this,” Michael argued. “I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“Of course I’m not happy,” Gage grumbled, climbing to his feet. “You’re family, dumbass. I wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt you. But that punch was the only one you’ll get for free. Try that again and I’m hitting back.”

“Betcha ten that Gage can throw a decent right hook,” Ruthie offered to no one in particular.

“I swear to God I thought I packed an extra Kindle charger,” David muttered, patting his pockets down again.

“Oh, God,” Sarah cried, “Did she run away with my dress?”

Grace let out a disgusted growl. “I have the dress, mom. Dad, there’s an extra charger in my room. Please go get it. Ruthie, no one is hitting anyone again. Michael, Gage didn’t say anything to Sadie to make her leave.”

Nick’s eyes narrowed on her again. “That was carefully worded, counselor,” he said. “He didn’t say anything to her, but he had something to do with why she left, didn’t he?”

---