Page 101 of If We Never Met

"It was really good. Everyone has their dress and they're happy."

"Including Hannah?"

"Most of all. She tried on her gown, and she looked absolutely perfect. I thought she might cry. I thought I might cry. But somehow we managed to hold it together."

"It all worked out."

"It did. You were right, Dante. It wasn't about the dress. It was about me. I was letting the gown become the target of all my frustration and indecision about my career choices. Once I really looked at it and I pictured Hannah wearing it, I realized I'd been trying to fix something that wasn't even broken."

"You must be relieved."

"I am. The wedding is on Saturday, with the rehearsal dinner on Friday and the Fourth of July on Wednesday. I didn't want to be worrying about the dress up until the last minute."

"Now you can worry about other things," he teased.

She smiled. "I'm really not such a big worrier, but the past week has been stressful. Not just the wedding, but Mark and my mom, all my business stuff."

"Did your mom talk to Langley? Did she find out why he didn't come to dinner?"

"She said he apologized again, and that they were going to get together tomorrow evening for a long chat. She did not want to bring up the fire or Mandy on the phone, so that conversation will happen when they meet—maybe. I'm not sure she'll ever bring it up."

"She needs to."

Her gaze narrowed at the suddenly tense look on Dante's face. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Yes. When I left the rehab center today, Mark was with a security guard in the parking garage. Someone had scratched his car with a key or some other hard object."

"Are you serious? Was it Mandy?"

"Mark said he thought it was kids. He also told me that the security camera didn't cover his spot. I saw the camera, and he was lying about that. I believe he knows exactly who keyed his car. He said they're adding a new security gate to the garage entrance. But my gut tells me this wasn't a random act of vandalism."

"It had to be Mandy. Why won't he admit that? Why not go to the police if she's harassing him?"

"There has to be a significant reason."

"Like maybe Mark did something to cause that fire," she suggested. "Maybe he is in some way responsible for the death of the nanny."

"He was out of town."

"That's what the reports said. But Mandy is blaming him for the death of her sister. I have to question why. Is she crazy? Or did he have something to do with it?"

"Short of asking him flat out, I have no idea how we'll figure that out."

"Maybe that's what I'll do. I'll lay it all on the line. I'll tell him I'm worried that this woman has shown up at the inn and at my mom's house and if she did key his car, then she could be dangerous."

"Want company when you do that?"

"I wouldn't say no," she told him.

"Then we'll do it together. I think we make a good team."

She tensed at his words. "Speaking of teams, you still need to tell me about what Grayson said. If you want to."

"Of course I want to. As I mentioned on the phone, it went better than I expected. I'm actually ahead of schedule. Grayson wants me to finish out this week of therapy, but then I'm free to go back to Miami and work with the team PT for another few weeks as I make my way back into the pitching rotation."

"That's great, Dante. The best news. Why aren't you jumping up and down on the bed right now?"

"I'd rather jump with you. Next round," he said with a grin. "But seriously, I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself. There's still work to do, and I have no idea how long it will take to find some of my pitches, but I can start looking for them in a few weeks."

---