Page 22 of The Runaway Bride of Blitzen Bay (Blitzen Bay)

“That’s not funny.” She takes a deep breath and blows it out forcefully. More rustling.

“Just trying to get you to talk. You okay in there? I can take off the tarp so you can sit up.”

Her hand darts out and grabs mine. “No! I don’t want him to see me.”

Even though she’s almost squeezing the blood supply out of my hand, I can’t help but notice how silky and soft her hand feels. I put my other hand on top of it.

“They’ve gone around the building. No one’s here except for us,” I say as I squeeze her hand gently between mine. She doesn’t say anything, but she squeezes my hand back. I try again. “I can’t imagine you’re too comfortable and you’re probably getting your dress dirty. Let me help you out.”

“I’m not coming out.” She pulls her hand back underneath the tarp. “Please don’t tell him I’m here. I know you’re friends, but just let me stay here for a minute.”

“You can stay there as long as you want. And I’m not Stevie’s friend.”

“You played football with him in high school, right?”

“Yeah, doesn’t mean we’re friends though.”

“He invited you to our wedding.”

I bend down to look under the tarp. I only see a jumble of white material, but I know she has to be in there somewhere. “Do you really want to argue about how strong my relationship is with him? I think the strength of your relationship might be more in question right now.”

The white material starts shifting around. Suddenly, her head pops out. She looks up at me. I stop breathing for a second. She’s beautiful. She has soft blonde hair and light brown eyes. Her skin’s as ivory and delicate as her dress. I have an overwhelming urge to touch it. I look away quickly.

“Your name’s Nash?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s never talked about you.”

“Not surprising. What’s your name? I saw it on the invitation, but I’m forgetting. Something Christmas-y.”

“Noelle.”

“That’s it. You must have been born in December.”

“August 12. My mom insisted I have a Christmas name for some reason.”

“I’m guessing your mom insists on a lot of things. Like maybe you getting married?” I look back down at her. Her eyes are closed. The sun’s reflecting off the glitter on her eyelids.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Will you just get me out of here?”

“Get you out of here?” I sit up straight. “Like leave your wedding?”

“Yes. As far away as possible. Please.” She opens her eyes. They’re sparkling at me. I’m pretty sure she can hypnotize people with them. I look away again.

“Maybe you should talk to Steve?”

“You promised you wouldn’t tell him I’m here.” She puts her hand on my leg. A warm, tingly feeling shoots through my body.

“And I’m not going to.” Her hand’s still on my leg. It’s distracting me. I look over my shoulder to make sure we’re still alone. Mr. Walker’s standing outside on his phone, but he’s too far away to see us. “I’m just saying maybe you should tell him what’s going on in your head right now.”

“I’m not even sure what’s going on in my head right now. I just know I have to get out of here. Will you please take me somewhere?”

I inhale deeply and exhale through my teeth. I know this is a bad decision, but it’s clear my brain’s not in charge of my body right now. “Fine. Where would you like to go?”

“I can’t go anywhere they know about. Will you take me to where you’re staying? I need to find a place to call my cousin. She’ll pick me up.”

“I live up in the mountains. It’s like an hour’s drive from here. Why don’t we get you upfront? I’ll drive you to a private place away from here. You can use my cell to call her.”

She scoots back under the tarp. “I can’t get out. Someone will see me. Just drive and stop somewhere down the road.”

“All right,” I say as I take off Hank’s jacket. “It’s going to get cold back there. At least put this on.”

Her hand pulls the jacket under the tarp. Some of her hair’s still draped over the tailgate. I gently gather it in my hand and place it inside the truck bed. It feels even silkier than her hand. I’m frozen in place. My body doesn’t want to move. I have an overwhelming urge to crawl under the tarp with her. I shake my head to try to wake up my brain.

I take another deep breath and gently close the tailgate. “Hold on. You’re probably in for kind of a bumpy ride.”

I hear her sigh and whisper, “You have no idea.”

* * *

---