Page 1 of Clumsy in Love

CHAPTER ONE

“Huh.” Holly Bennett buried her hands in the folds of her white satin dress and gripped tight. She took a deep breath. Brides had to deal with crises all the time. This one just happened to be a doozy. One that left her in a real pickle.

“Huh?” Alex, Holly’s maid of honor, said. “There’s a park full of people waiting on you, and that’s all you got?”

“So far, yeah,” Holly said. “Give me a second.”

“Faith, are you sure you heard the message right?” Tess said. Faith had been the one to burst in with the nuptial-busting announcement.

“I may be ditsy, but I know how tohear,” Faith said, rolling her eyes. “Rick’s best man caught me as I was coming in. Told me Rick chickened out and left. Asked me to pass along the message.”

“Is it too soon to talk crap about him?” Tess said. “’Cause that guy was never good enough for you.”

“Holly loved him. That’s what matters,” Juliet said. “You okay, Bennett?”

Holly stood frozen in place, glancing from friend to friend. Five tall—well, four tall and one short—beautiful, wonderful women who’d subconsciously circled around her. Just like the millions of times they’d huddled during basketball games. They wore matching Arctic blue dresses. A large bridal party, but she couldn’t leave any of them out.

“Alex?” Holly whispered. Alex was the most take-charge, get-things-done of the bunch. And her best friend. She’d know what to do.

“On it,” Alex said without hesitation. “I’ll go verify this is real. And if it is, I’ll make the announcement. Do you want me to send everyone home? Or let them eat cake?”

Holly huffed out a laugh. “Everything’s paid for. No sense letting the food go to waste.”

“Okay,” Alex said. “You guys stay with her. We’ll make a plan to set Rick’s house on fire later.” She slapped Holly on the butt and left.

Holly plopped down onto the small sofa, the news finally sinking in. Panic started up her throat.I’m being left at the altar? I’m being left at the altar! What in the actual hell?Rick was one of the most stable people she knew. That was one of the main reasons she wanted to marry him.

Spontaneity washerMO. Doing impulsive things without thinking through the consequences was whatshedid.Hewas supposed to be the rock. The reliable one. The planner. His extemporaneous departure could only mean one thing. The idea of marrying her was so terrifying, so repulsive, that rather than go through with it—or at least call it off properly—he simply panicked and fled. Ouch.

“Hey, girl,” Maddie said, sitting next to her and grabbing her hand. “We got you. We’ll get through this. Just like everything else we’ve ever faced.”

A tear escaped, and Holly swiped at it, irritated. Crying was for sissies, and Holly was no sissy. Maddie was right. The six of them had been through tougher times. They would manage this too. Together.

“You flew home just for this,” Holly said. “I’m so sorry.”

Maddie waved her off. “I needed a break. California can be exhausting, and I haven’t been home in ages. Whether you get hitched or not, I’m glad to see you all.”

“And Faith. Your mom went to all this trouble.” Holly circled a hand around the room. They had sequestered in the backroom of Faith’s mother’s bookstore. Mrs. Sullivan had cleared out piles of books and boxes of inventory and decorated it to be a bridal suite. Page Turners was directly across from the town square park, where Holly was supposed to be getting married in ten minutes.

“Don’t you worry about that,” Faith said. “You know my mom loves this stuff.”

Holly nodded. That was true. Mrs. Sullivan was a sucker for love.

“Hey,” Tess jumped in. “How ’bout we stay in here and have our own party? If I know Alex, she won’t come back empty-handed.”

As if on cue, Alex returned, holding two open bottles of champagne in one hand and a stack of plastic cups in the other. “I can get more later,” she said, taking a swig straight from the bottle before passing it to Tess. The bottle made its way quickly around the circle.

“So, it’s true? Rick’s really gone?” Juliet asked.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Pretty chickenshit move if you ask me. Doesn’t even have the cojones to tell you to your face?”

“He hates confrontation,” Holly said. So did she, but she’d never leave someone hanging like this.

“He’s a wimp,” Tess said. Holly didn’t disagree.

“So I guess we’re not waiting on the crap talk?” Juliet said. “Hollywasjust about to marry the guy.”

“You just hate talking smack about people,” Maddie said. “You’re too nice, Juliet.”

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