Page 67 of Catch and Release Groom

“Fine,” Grace huffed.“I’m dramatic.”She spun a one-eighty, her arms flinging out in a haphazard fashion to emphasize her exit. Only her legs and feet ended up tangled in the billowing fabric of her skirt.

After struggling for a second or two, she swept her leg like she was Cobra-fucking-Kai and sent the long train of the dress behind her.

The situation was so bizarre, so familiar, yet foreign, and sothem. A snort of laughter escaped, and Grace glanced at him, mouth hanging open… And shocked the shit out of him with a giggle of her own.

Then there she was, the girl he met and dated in high school. It melted away some of his bitterness, and he supposed that madehimcloser to the guy she used to know. For so long their names were synonymous. Easton Reeves and Grace Harper, hardly ever see one without the other.

He’d avoided every single memory with Grace for so long he’d practically forgotten they’d had any that were good. At one point he’d loved her, wildly and madly, with the extra hours of free time that were wasted on the young.

Part of him still did, but similarly to how he cared about Lexi. More than acquaintances, and if she needed help, he’d be there. Their conversations, however, would remain fairly safe and surface-level.

Not that they’d connected much that way before, and still, he’d resigned himself to a future in Atlanta that would’ve been so wrong for him.

Exactly how staying here would’ve been wrong for her.

A strange sense of relief flowed through him, a year and a half too late, but nice all the same. “It’s all good, Grace. Consider us closed.”

Gathering her skirt in her fists, she took a cautious step in his direction. “Surely you’ve heard the gossip—people have bets going. Somehow, I managed to blank that fun quirk about small-town life when planning the idyllic little wedding of my dreams.”

“I wish I could forget it,” he muttered, although he was also questioning Grace’s definition oflittle. “Then again, there are hundreds of other places where you could’ve chosen to get hitched.”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that. A few days around the constant speculation, and I’m ready to wave a white flag,” she said, brushing her fingertips over his forearm. “But Uncertainty is still a big part of who I am. It’s my home, too, Easton.”

“You’re right. Kinda hoping it’ll be the last wedding thrown here for a while, though.”

“Anyway,” she said, a pinch dejected for some reason. “Last night the gals and I had Tarot card readings, and the woman told me I wouldn’t be able to open a new chapter if I didn’t close the one before it. Maybe she didn’t mean it so literally, but I had to try.”

Grace skimmed her fingers down to give his hand a quick squeeze. “I am sorry, Easton. I never wanted to hurt you. I just woke up that morning and knew I couldn’t stand across from you and say, ‘I do.’”

His chest twanged, a sharp note that splintered his pride, even after the realization about Grace doing both of them a favor that day. While he was as over her as he’d claimed, the rejection and doubt that’d eaten at him since was another story.

It was also eerily similar to what Imogen had said, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, or a thing that meant nothing. Same when it came to Imogen calling off the wedding a month in advance.

With the barrage of thoughts and emotions gumming up his internal gears, he itched to shift the focus. Luckily, the perfect opportunity presented himself, and he jerked his chin toward the three faces poking around the corner. “I’m assumin’ those are ‘the gals?’”

Grace turned to confirm, and a wide smile spread across her face. “They are.” She gave a small wave. “I used to be so jealous of your friends. You always chose them over me, and now that I’ve also made amazing friends who like me for me, I understand that better. I still maintain that you should’ve picked me at least once in a while. It made me feel unimportant and small.”

If he peeled away the layers of their history and separated egos from dreams and forced himself to look, he could see hurt on both sides. It struck him then that he was smack-dab in the middle of receiving an apology from a woman who never apologized. Grace had grown, and what had he done? Grumbled and let life push him around a while, like a fishing line without an indicator or any bait on its hook.

Since she’d put herself out there, he supposed he could do similar.“I understand how it’d make you feel that way, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry, too.”

Hey, look at that—he’d done some maturing as well, and that pushed him to take it a step further. “For that time I helped Murph move, in particular. I should’ve been at your awards ceremony instead. The truth is, I was looking for an excuse to get out of goin’ to that event.”

Tears brimmed Grace’s eyes, and damn it, he should’ve kept his trap shut. “Thank you for that,” she said, easing the tightness in his lungs. “It means a lot, especially since I wondered if I’d blown that out of proportion. I felt so lost without you in the months following the split I was almost certain I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. As much as we loved each other—”

She squeaked the rest, and her friends surged forward. “In the end,” Grace tried again, “we just wanted such different things.”

“In two completely different places, at that,” he said, and a tear slipped free when she nodded her agreement.

One of the bridesmaids produced a perfectly folded tissue. “Don’t cry, or you’ll wreck your makeup.”

“Right, right.” Grace glanced at the ceiling as the bridesmaid dabbed at the tears. Another went to work with a makeup brush, while the third added a spritz of hairspray. Probably on account of the intricate hairdo, as Grace’s naturally straight hair had been curled and pinned.

Not like Imogen’s dark curls that grew looser and wilder throughout the day.

Like out on the river, when he’d been knee-deep and trying his damnedest to listen to his client’s questions, and Imogen was dancing around the riverbed with Gator. That day, her flyaway strands caught the sunlight and glimmered cinnamon.

Another reason he stood by the red snapper comparison. The corners of his mouth twitched at the fun they’d had during the newlywed game, and now he was doing the opposite of what he’d done with Grace, remembering only good memories with Imogen.

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