Page 25 of Descent

Thank God.

Georgia is still standing there in her stunning green dress with her auburn hair piled up in a casually elegant up-do. “What’s going on?” she asks.

I shake my head, pushing past the door and then letting it close behind me. “It’s a long story.”

Georgia nods. She knows all about long stories. Absently reaching into her purse for her lip gloss, she asks, “One you want to tell?”

“Nope.”

She accepts my answer without prodding like I knew she would, and I’m so glad. Georgia is my sister and of course she cares about me, but her own life experiences have made her less pushy about butting into my business. Charity would be like a dog with a bone, ruthlessly terrorizing the truth out of me. Georgia won’t make me spill if I don’t want to.

I’m grateful as we begin chatting casually about the wedding. “Did you enjoy the ceremony?” I ask.

“Oh, yes, it was beautiful. You seemed a little… uncomfortable?”

My gaze shoots to her, eyes wide. “You could tell?”

She nods sympathetically.

My shoulders sag with disappointment.

She’s quick to add, “Maybe I could only tell because we’re sisters, you know? Maybe nobody else noticed.”

We’re sisters, but only half-sisters. Georgia and I didn’t grow up living together, so we don’t have that close-knit bond some siblings have. She’s only being nice telling me that. If she noticed, there’s a good chance it was plain for anyone to see.

“Great,” I murmur.

I’m not doing a good enough job at this. I’ve gotta get it together. The last thing I want to do is tarnish Charity’s wedding day. Even if eventually I do end up telling her, Ihaveto keep it together right now.

We make our way back to the ballroom without really talking about anything. She comments on how pretty the centerpieces are, I tell her I helped out designing the place cards, and it’s almost like this is an ordinary wedding reception where my world hasn’t been turned upside down.

I walk Georgia back to her seat and thank her. She knows I’m thanking her for more than I let on, so she offers a supportive smile and gives me a hug before I make my way back to the table where I’ll be sitting beside Charity.

___

I lose sight of Calvin for a while, but I can feel him watching me, so it’s impossible to relax.

I finally find the bastard when dinner is being served. There are a lot of people at Charity’s wedding so it took some time, but now that I’ve found him, I don’t want to let him out of my sight.

My appetite is suffering in the presence of Calvin Cutler, so Charity and her new hubby finish eating before I do. As soon as they hit the dance floor, the rest of the bridal party goes to join them.

I go to take a sip of my water and realize the glass is empty, so I put it back down. Before I can decide whether it’s worth going to grab another one and risk encountering Calvin, Steve pauses by my chair and startles me with a hand on my shoulder.

“You want to dance?” he asks.

I shrug off his touch without thinking how it might look and offer up a fake-as-hell smile as I spear a piece of salad on my fork and hold it up as my excuse. “Still eating. Sorry.”

“Right.” He shoots me a funny look, but walks away to find someone else to dance with.

I feel a little better once I’m sitting here alone. The bridal party sits at a long table in front of all the other tables set up around the room, so my back is to a wall and I can keep an eye on—

Where did he go?

Calvin was in his seat beside the girl in the purple dress just a moment ago, but now the chair is empty.

I tense immediately, knowing he’s out there but unsure where. I try to find him, searching the dance floor and the edges of the room, but I don’t see him anywhere.

I try to finish eating, but I’m hopelessly distracted. He should show up at his table again, but a few minutes pass, and he still hasn’t returned.

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