Page 12 of The Runaway Bride of Blossom Branch

Four

The atmosphere was strained during the elevator ride from the penthouse apartment down to the underground parking garage. As it turned out, Harry ownedthreecars—the expensive sedan Cate had ridden in on her wedding day, a tricked-out Jeep for off-roading in the north Georgia mountains and a small, all-electric vehicle that was cherry red.

He handed her the keys to the last one. “It’s fully charged. As long as you don’t try to run away and cross state lines, you should be fine.”

“That’s a joke, right?” Sometimes she wasn’t entirely sure.

“It is,” he said solemnly, but his eyes danced with humor. “The only thing you have to remember is to turn off the car when you get where you’re going. Because it’s so quiet.”

“Got it.”

“The apartment keys are on the same ring. And the attendant knows to let you through when you get back.”

“Thanks.”

Harry rotated his head on his neck as if this stilted conversation was a struggle. “I could order dinner in tonight. How do you feel about Thai food?” he asked, studying her face.

“Massaman curry?” she said hopefully.

“Sounds good.”

When she got settled in the driver’s seat, he closed her door. Suddenly, she flashed back to those big, masculine hands gently tucking her wedding dress beneath her as she was escaping the church.

“Thank you, Harry,” she said, looking up at him.

His expression was almost grim. “I don’t want your gratitude, Cate. I just want you to get back on your feet, so Jason won’t destroy his life with guilt.”

“Do you think that’s what he’s doing?”

“Right now, yes. But I’m hoping this phase is temporary. Both of you have to recover from what happened.”

“You make it sound so easy,” she muttered, still resentful of the way he supported Jason.

“Nothing worth having comes easy. At least not in my experience. You’ll get over this, Cate. And so will Jason. You’re both good people. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be hard as hell in the short term.”

She nodded, suddenly desperate to get away. As she started the engine and shifted into Reverse, Harry stepped back. In the rearview mirror, she saw him watch her as she maneuvered. It would be the final straw if she scraped one of the concrete pillars and crumpled the bumper of his car.

By the time she made it out onto the street, her fingers hurt from gripping the steering wheel. Even with her sunglasses on, the world seemed too bright. She knew this city as well as she knew her own name, but for a split second, she was disoriented.

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled, telling herself everything was okay.

For a moment, she flashed back to a time when she was sixteen. She’d suffered a ruptured appendix and had been rushed into surgery. It was scary and traumatic and painful.

After five or six days in the hospital, hooked up to IV antibiotics and feeling weak and vulnerable, she’d finally been released. The world had seemed as it did right now. Too loud, too bustling, too everything.

She deliberately took the long way to her house. To be honest, she had no idea what she was walking into. Were her parents and her sister pissed that she had gone into hiding with Harry?

When she parked in the circular driveway of the home where she had lived for many years, she tried to study it as a stranger would. The sprawling Tudor-style structure with its steeply pitched slate rooflines and gently aging copper guttering was architecturally stunning.

This home had signaled to friends and family and the community at large that Cate’s father had “made it”—whatever that meant. His advertising business was exploding back then. No matter that the three women in his life were grieving the loss of their life in Blossom Branch, Cate’s father, Reggie, was determined to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Cate locked the car and slung her purse over her shoulder. Though she could, of course, have walked right in, it felt weird to do so. Instead, she rang the bell.

Her sister, Becca, answered. When the door swung wide, Becca grimaced. “Oh, it’s you,” she said.

“I’ve missed you, too,” Cate quipped. She immediately regretted her sarcasm. Her relationship with her younger sister had been strained for a long time. At some point over the years, Becca had heard a reference to her mother’saccidentalpregnancy and had immediately adopted the narrative that she was unwanted.

It wasn’t true. Cate’s parents loved Becca dearly. Unfortunately, she had always felt eclipsed by her older sister. When she graduated from high school a month ago, there had been plenty of family parties and celebrations. But she kept insisting that Cate’s wedding hadovershadowedher own big moment.

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