Page 13 of Indiscretion

“Maybe that part wasn’t so jerky. I’ll give you that one.”

“And insisted you stay at the cabin while I bunked on a hard couch.”

Naomi’s face softened. “Oh no, was the couch uncomfortable?”

“It was fine. But it could’ve been hard.”

She chuckled. “Nope. I was right. Youarea jerk.”

The brigade of golf carts slowed in a clearing. I wasn’t much for weddings, but even I was impressed at what I saw. We were in the middle of a forest, but every tree around the perimeter of a small square of cleared space had been wrapped with twinkling lights. A wedding arch made of branches stood at the front, and white chairs were set up for guests. I’d never let Ben or any of the guys know, but I thought it looked…

“Magical.” Naomi whispered the word just as I thought it.

She looked around, even more wide-eyed than me. In fact, everyone was silent, doing the same thing.

“Well?” Lily said. “What do you all think?” She flaunted the biggest smile, probably because she already knew the answer. This was the coolest place for a wedding ceremony I’d ever seen.

The ladies all swooned.

Lily squeezed Ben’s hand. “This is why we made you come all the way up here to Michigan. We found this spot on our first date during our last semester of law school at U of M. We were hiking and stumbled onto this clearing. It didn’t have the lights or the chairs, of course, but we sat down and didn’t get up for eight hours.” Lily looked at Ben. “When we finally left the park, I knew I’d met my future husband. Four years later, Ben proposed in this very spot, and tomorrow evening we’ll get married here.”

Every woman either had tears in her eyes or was sniffling. Naomi was the former. She used her thumbs to catch droplets. Even I felt a little choked up.

The wedding planner stepped forward and cleared her throat. “We should probably get started with our run-through so we don’t make you late for the wonderful dinner Ben and Lily have planned. Tomorrow night there will be a temporary wooden floor down so it’ll be easier to walk. We had some rain the day before yesterday, and it takes a while for the earth to dry in here, so be careful when you step. The grass is still a bit mushy, and there’s mud under the trees where there isn’t any growth.” Cat walked to the back of the chairs. “If we could please have the bridal party line up here with their partners.”

I hopped out of the golf cart and went to walk around to help Naomi, but before I could get there, Jack, who’d been seated in the front row, already had his hand extended. I wasn’t a big fan of the guy and never understood why Ben was friends with him in law school. But at the moment, I liked him even less.

“I don’t think we’ve met.” He held out a hand. “I’m Jack Renner.”

Naomi smiled politely. “Naomi Heart. Nice to meet you.”

I caught Jack’s eye as he lifted her hand to his mouth for a kiss and flashed him what I hoped he’d understand as a warning not to pull his usual crap. The guy was shady as shit. Nevertheless, he helped Naomi from the golf cart, so I walked ahead. After two or three strides, I realized the ground was so saturated it actually had spring to it. Naomi had pretty thin heels on, so I turned to warn her, but I was a half-second too late.

Her left shoe sank into the grass and stayed there, while the rest of her kept moving forward. She wobbled, her foot came out of the shoe, and her balance went off-kilter. The rest happened in slow motion. Naomi’s knee buckled. She put out her casted hand, trying to find her balance, but there was no stopping the fall. Jack was still walking next to her, but he was too busy checking out the rest of the bridesmaids to notice what was happening until it was too late. I reached for her, but I couldn’t make it in time.

Naomi landed with a high-pitched squeal, right in a giant puddle of mud.

Shit.I shouldered useless Jack out of the way and bent down. “Are you okay?”

“I think so. But where the hell is my shoe?”

Leaning over, I plucked it from the grass. “Here.”

She slipped her shoe back on while everyone stared. Ben and Lily rushed over. “Oh my God. Are you okay?” Lily asked. “What happened?”

Naomi brushed mud from her dress. “My heel got stuck. I’m fine. Just a little mortified.”

I held my hand out to help her up. She went to take it but then froze. Hers was covered in mud. “But you don’t like germs.”

I clasped my hand around her dirty one anyway and pulled Naomi to her feet. “It’s fine. Dirt from the earth bothers me less than the kind from humans.”

Even after she was upright, I didn’t let go. “Is your ankle okay? It looked like you might’ve twisted it.”

“I think so.” She wiggled it around a few times before closing her eyes. “Oh my God. I didn’t tell you, but last night the nurse at the hospital asked me if I wanted her to call the police. Between your black eye and my hand, she thought you were my abusive boyfriend. Imagine if I wound up back there withtwocasts in twenty-four hours? They’d definitely have you arrested.”

“We’ll try to avoid that.” I looked down at her feet and shook my head. “Why the hell are you wearing those shoes anyway? Everyone else is wearing sneakers.”

“I didn’t bring any.”

---