Page 30 of An Alaskan Wedding (Alaskan Grooms 1)

“I sure hope it all works out between them,” Grace said

with a rueful shake of her head as she reached out for the cup of apple cider Boone purchased.

“This is the second time you’ve made mention of people not getting their hopes up about love,” Boone remarked. He was staring at her intently.

She shrugged. “I think people ought to tread carefully where love is concerned. That’s all.”

Boone leaned in toward her and asked in a low voice, “Are you guarding your heart, Gracie?”

“If I don’t guard it, who will?” she snapped.

Boone stopped in his tracks. When she looked over at him he was gazing at her with a look of dismay etched on his face.

“What happened to you? Who made you so reluctant to put your heart out there?” His soulful eyes flickered over her face. Boone’s question created an immediate reaction inside her. It was like poking a grizzly bear with a stick. She didn’t want to go to that dark place of hurt she’d lived in for so long. If she did, there was a danger she might never crawl back out.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not going there, are you?”

He leaned in toward her so that his arresting face was mere inches from her own. Her nostrils twitched at the woodsy scent of him. She wanted to swat him away like a pesky gnat. He was getting too close, in more ways than one. He was opening up old, painful wounds.

“Who hurt you, Gracie?” Boone’s voice was low and tender.

“No one,” she mumbled. “Nothing.”

“What happened?” he pressed.

“I grew up. That’s what happened,” she said in a curt tone.

He narrowed his eyes. “So you stopped believing in happily-ever-after?”

She let out an indelicate snort. “Humph. Happily-ever-after is a fairy tale. No prince is going to go door to door looking for me with a glass slipper in his hand.”

He raised his brow. “And you say this because?” The tone of his voice was incredulous.

“I was supposed to get married, if you really want to know. Right before the wedding, he told me he’d fallen in love with someone else.” She hadn’t meant to tell him, hadn’t wanted to confide something so personal. “I didn’t even have time to run from the church with my tail between my legs. So unless you’ve stood up in a church full of people and explained to them that your wedding has been called off by your groom—” Her voice trailed off, swallowed up by raw emotion.

Boone’s eyes began to blink rapidly. His mouth opened and then shut. Finally, he spoke, his voice sounding raspy. “Someone left you at the altar?”

“Yes. My college sweetheart, Trey. Turns out he wasn’t so sweet.”

Boone didn’t laugh. He gazed at her with an expression that threatened to strip away the last of her composure. She didn’t need pity, and she didn’t need sorrow on her behalf!

She blinked away the moisture in her eyes. After all this time she couldn’t believe she was getting emotional about it. She’d put a lid on these feelings two years ago. “It was an hour before I was to walk down the aisle.”

Her stomach clenched as all the memories rolled through her. Even now, some twenty-six months later, she still felt the embarrassment of that moment. Shame still coursed through her at the notion that she hadn’t been good enough. Trey Walker III hadn’t wanted her as his wife. His intention hadn’t been to crush her, of that she’d been certain. But he hadn’t wanted to commit himself to a woman he didn’t love. What he’d felt for her hadn’t been the type of love that would last a lifetime.

It wasn’t his fault he’d fallen in love with someone else. He’d been caught up in a terrible dilemma. The choice had been between obligation to her and following his heart’s desire. He’d chosen to follow his heart, making her a casualty in the process.

As a result, her family had turned their backs on her. And ever since, she’d felt achingly alone.

And now Boone was poking and prodding at a wound that still wasn’t fully healed, even though she’d almost convinced herself that everything was fine.

“So pardon me for doubting whether love can last a lifetime, because mine didn’t even last long enough to make it down the aisle.” Although she’d thrown the words out there in a defiant way, her voice came out shaky and uncertain, mirroring the way she felt on the inside.

Boone’s brown eyes flickered. His expression softened. “But you’re here, so you must still believe in love.”

Guilt speared through her upon hearing Boone’s words. Love had nothing to do with it. For her, coming to Alaska had been all about business. She’d known that by covering this story and writing her series she’d be in line for professional accolades at the Tribune. She’d make a name for herself in journalistic circles. Maybe even get a promotion. But not for anything in this world could she ever admit that to Boone.

“Yes, I’m here,” she said in small voice. “For what it’s worth.”

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