Page 98 of Faking I Do
“I want to help?—”
“Trust me, now’s not the time,” Zina said.
I let my friend lead me down the steps and across the lawn, where people folded up chairs, packed up the food that had been salvaged from the kitchen, and removed all evidence that this was supposed to have been the happiest day of my life.
With my heart shattering into a million pieces, I turned my back on what I thought would be my future. There was no one to blame but myself. I’d let everyone down: my friends, my family, my town. But most of all, Bodie. He’d never be able to forgive me.
CHAPTER 49
BODIE
Someone knocked at the door.I rolled over in bed, pulling a pillow over my head. There was no one I wanted to see, no one I wanted to hear from. Not now.
The knock came again, louder this time. I checked my phone for a message from the vet. She’d promised she’d call if anything happened with Shotgun. When I’d left at four this morning, the pup had been nursing her litter of eight. Seven girls and a boy. Poor little bastard didn’t know what he was in for. Girls sucked.
“Bodie, open up. I’m not going away,” Luke threatened.
The last person I expected at my door this morning was Luke Cherish. Okay, the second-to-last person. The very last person I expected to see was Lacey. Not after the way she’d dismissed me last night. I snagged the other pillow and pressed that one down on my head, too. The knocking stopped. Finally.
A minute later the sliding glass door to the patio opened. Luke let himself into the bedroom, standing like a hulk at the end of the bed. “Get up, we need to talk.”
“What the hell, Luke? How did you get in here?”
“You should be more careful,” Luke said with a smile. He held up a brown paper bag and a cup. “Brought you coffee and a breakfast taco from Ortega’s.”
I wasn’t up for chatting, but I’d missed out on dinner last night. My stomach growled. “Fine. You talk, I’ll listen. But only until I finish my taco.”
“Good thing I brought you two.” Luke moved to the kitchen.
I pulled a shirt on and followed. I took a seat on the opposite side of the table and reached for the bag.
Luke leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Lacey told me everything.”
Everything? I wondered if she told him about the night we spent in the hotel. Probably not, or Luke would still be trying to kick my ass. I bit into the warm tortilla.
“I guess I owe you an apology.” Luke looked away. Saying sorry had never come easy for him. “I know you were trying to do the right thing. I’m sorry I doubted your intentions.”
My mouth full of the perfect blend of eggs and chorizo, I just nodded.
“And for what it’s worth, I’ve given it some thought and I think you and Lacey would be,”—he scrubbed a hand over his chin—“Hell, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you might be good together.”
My stomach churned. I dropped the little bit of my taco I hadn’t finished yet. “We were good together. I didn’t mean to let it get out of control. Went into it just trying to help. Well, that and your sister blackmailed me.”
“She did?” Luke grinned.
Nodding, I reached for the last bite of taco.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Leaning forward, Luke dropped his voice a notch. “She feels bad about last night.”
“I’m sure she’ll get over it. She’s probably already over at the house, trying to figure out how to get everything fixed up again.” That’s what Lacey did.
“Nah. She’s home. Won’t come out of her room. I guess some folks told her off last night. They didn’t appreciate being lied to.”
“But she did it for them,” I said. “Everything she did, she did for the town. She put this wedding business above everything . . . her job, her own happiness.”
“I guess it didn’t work out. She’s always been like that, you know that about her. She thinks if she can maintain control of things she won’t get hurt.”
Luke was right. All along I thought Lacey was holding back because she didn’t care. But she was scared. How had I not realized that before?
