The Wedding Dance Read online

  He nodded. “We don’t know if he can come yet.”

  Emma held up her crossed fingers. “We can hope!”

  ~ ~ ~

  Jack looked over Missy’s shoulder and laughed at the expression on Emma’s face as she waved her crossed fingers in the air.

  Missy turned to follow his gaze. She laughed with him.

  “What do you suppose they’re up to?” asked Jack.

  “I don’t know, but my guess is that Em’s got something up her sleeve that she doesn’t want me to know about.”

  Jack grinned. Missy didn’t miss a trick. He’d known from the look on his wife’s face as she dragged Dan away that that was exactly what she was up to. He’d no doubt hear about it later.

  Missy jerked her head to where Holly and Pete were sitting with Smoke and Laura. “Those two seem a little more civil with each other at least.”

  Jack nodded. “I’m hoping I had a breakthrough with Pete this morning.”

  “I hope so. Though how the hell you did, I don’t know.”

  Jack smiled. “I just laid it out for him. I think I got through.”

  As they watched, Pete rested his arm along the sofa behind Holly. She turned and smiled at him. He said something and they both laughed.

  “It looks like you might have,” said Missy. “That’s the closest I’ve seen the two of them in months!”

  Jack nodded. “Me, too.” He hoped his partner was finally seeing sense. Jack doubted he’d get any more chances, judging by the way Holly had been lately. She was just about ready to throw in the towel.

  Gabe and Renée appeared, blocking his view. He smiled; he liked the two of them.

  “Are you two having fun?” asked Missy.

  Renée grinned. “Absolutely! But, I may have had one too many!”

  Jack laughed. She did seem a little tipsy. He looked at Gabe; Jack couldn’t imagine him ever getting drunk.

  Gabe smiled back. “She’s drowning my sorrows for me.”

  Jack cocked his head to one side, not understanding what sorrows Gabe might have.

  “I don’t get to be best man to my little brother anymore. Didn’t you hear?”

  Of course, that was it. “You will though,” said Jack. “Just not for another nine months or so.”

  Gabe smiled. “Yeah, that’s a better way to look at it.” His smile grew even wider as a thought struck him. He looked at Renée. “We might even beat him to it now!”

  Renée laughed. “That’s the most excited I’ve seen you about it. You want to be careful! A girl could get to thinking that you care more about outdoing your little brother than you do about marrying a crazy redhead!”

  Jack was always amazed at the way Gabe changed around Renée. When she wasn’t there, he was serious, intense, always working at something. When she was, he was all fun and smiles.

  “There’s nothing I care more about than marrying you.” He grinned at Missy and Jack and then spun Renée away, dancing off with her into the crowd.

  Jack spotted Emma and Dan joining the others up at the table. “I guess they didn’t wait for us,” he said to Missy. “Do you want to go join them?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I can’t wait to get off my feet.”

  ~ ~ ~

  April smiled at Missy as she and Jack came to join the group sitting at the table. This was quite a party! After Kenzie had made her drink those shots of whatever it was, she’d started to relax—maybe a little too much! She’d danced with Kenzie and chatted with Smoke and Laura for a while. She’d even chatted with the beautiful blonde woman who was one of Dan’s friends. She was a lawyer. April felt bad about it now, but she’d asked her for advice. Advice about getting a divorce in the State of California! The woman—Leanne, that was her name—she wasn’t even a divorce lawyer. But somehow April had poured out her whole story to her. Leanne had said she would help her. She seemed like she’d be a force to be reckoned with. As April had told her snippets about her life in Montana and about Guy, Leanne had gotten more and more angry. April chuckled to herself now; Guy wouldn’t stand a chance in a battle with Leanne. Leanne had been so incensed by what she’d heard she was determined to help April—and take Guy down any way she could.

  Maybe it was the shots, but April didn’t even feel scared. Instead she felt as though, for the first time in her life, she was surrounded by good, strong people who wanted to help her. She wanted to help them, too, but she had no idea how she might do that.

  Kenzie plonked herself down beside her. “Are you ready to come dance again yet, sugar?”

  April shook her head. “My feet couldn’t, even if I wanted to. And besides, Chase is here now. You should dance with him.”

  Kenzie laughed. “That’s where I’ve been. I’ve worn him out. Look. He had to go get a drink.”

  April looked toward the bar where Chase was standing with a tall glass of water in his hand—that looked like a good idea! He caught her watching him and raised his glass. She blushed, though she had no idea why. Well, maybe she did, but it was nothing to do with his friend who was standing with him, smiling at her.

  Kenzie poked her in the ribs. “Come over there with me. I need water, and you can’t tell me you don’t.”

  April was about to refuse, but changed her mind. She did want a glass of water and, embarrassed as she was, she would like to meet Eddie properly.

  ~ ~ ~

  Laura watched Kenzie and April get up to go join Chase and Eddie at the bar.

  Smoke slid an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. “What are you doing, lady? You’re not eyeing up other guys are you?”

  She laughed and pushed at him. “Get off, jerk.”

  He scowled at her, but she could see the laughter lurking behind it. “Jealous, possessive jerk, remember?”

  She smiled up at him. He was so gorgeous, and that possessive side of his made her love him all the more. Any other guy wouldn’t have seen her for dust if he behaved the way Smoke did, but with Smoke, she loved it. She didn’t know why, but she did. “Actually, I was thinking we might be witnessing the beginnings of another Summer Lake romance.” She looked back to where April and Kenzie were now chatting with Chase and Eddie. At least Kenzie and Chase were chatting and April and Eddie were smiling at each other.

  Emma leaned in. “I thought that, too!”

  Laura laughed. “Well if you say it, Em, it must be so; you’ve called every single one of us so far.”

  Emma nodded happily. “I have! My score is six to zero now. And I think we might just have our very next couple right there!”

  Laura smiled. Emma was happiest when she was matchmaking.

  “If you’re so good at predicting, Em. Who do you think is getting married next? After this weekend it looks like all bets are off.” It was Lily who spoke. Laura had to assume she wasn’t aware of the cloud hanging over Holly and Pete and was simply referring to Michael and Megan.

  Emma smiled. “That’s too easy. It’s Holly and Pete next.” Laura had to hide a smile of own as Emma grinned at Holly and Pete. Emma made out she was all sweet and innocent, but Laura knew she was making a point to the troubled couple and daring either of them to contradict her.

  Holly smiled back at her. Pete grinned. Neither of them said a word and the awkward moment passed.

  Laura was surprised, as the conversation moved on, to see Pete take out his phone and start texting. He wasn’t doing anything to help himself, was he?

  Holly looked at him and shook her head. Laura caught her eye and gave her an encouraging smile. “Men, huh?”

  Holly rolled her eyes. “Yeah, who needs ’em?”

  Pete looked up and pulled Holly to him, planting a kiss on her lips. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. That was something really important, I just needed to take care of it.”

  Laura watched the struggle on Holly’s face, part of her wanted to stay angry with him, to push him away. Laura was relieved when she smiled and relaxed against him. “What’s more important to you than being here with me right now?
” she asked.

  “Being wherever you are forever, and I was taking care of a little detail which might help me with that.”

  Holly smiled. “Good save, Bigshot.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  When Pete woke up the next morning, he propped himself up on one elbow to look down at Holly. She was so beautiful. She looked peaceful as she slept. Her face was relaxed—something he hadn’t seen for far too long. He couldn’t believe that he’d been so blind—and dumb—about their wedding plans. Jack had really given him a wake-up call yesterday and he was grateful for it. He’d been happy that the guys decided to crash the girls’ party last night. He’d wanted to spend the evening with Holly anyway. At least they’d had the latter part of it together. He felt as though they’d made up some lost ground, too. She’d danced with him, they’d laughed. It was still tense, but they were much closer than they had been. He loved her with all his heart, he wanted to get them back on track. He was prepared to do whatever it took to make her happy. To make her remember that she loved him too.

  She opened her eyes and smiled up at him. “Good morning, Bigshot.”

  He dropped a kiss onto her upturned nose. “Good morning, sweetheart. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Pete.”

  He relaxed a little as she reached her arms up and pulled his head down for a kiss.

  “I really do.”

  When he lifted his head he smiled. “I’m sorry, Holly. I’ve been an idiot.”

  She nodded her head vigorously making him laugh.

  “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. That’s all that really matters. As far as the wedding goes we can do whatever you want. You tell me what you want, and I’ll make it happen.” He hesitated. He didn’t want to say what he was about to say, but he needed to, for a couple of reasons. “If you want, we can call the whole thing off. Revisit it when we’re in a better place.”

  She stared up at him. “You’d be prepared to do that? After all your planning?”

  He nodded. He could see it now. All his planning meant nothing if it didn’t make her happy. “If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll do. The only plan I need to stick to is making you happy. And I can see now that I deviated from that.”

  She laughed, her amber-colored eyes shining. “You did take a pretty major detour.”

  He shook his head at her with a smile. “I know I can’t expect you to cut me any slack here, but I am trying to say I’m sorry. I’m trying to make it right.”

  She looked sad now. “I know, Pete. And I’m happy that you are. I think we’re saving us just in time.”

  His heart hurt to hear that. He knew he’d screwed up, but to hear her say that they’d been at the brink of breaking up really brought it home. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Tell me what you need to make it better.”

  She hugged him. “I’m sorry, too, Pete. I could have handled it better, but it just hurt me so much. It felt like you didn’t care about me, and what I want as much as you care about your plans. I started out so excited, thinking we were in it together, then I just felt left out and ignored while you did what you do.”

  He nodded. He could see that now. “I want to make it right. Tell me what you want to do and we’ll make it happen.”

  His heart hammered in his chest at her next words. “I don’t think we can make it right.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She touched his cheek. “Sorry. I mean the wedding, not us. We’re going to be okay. We can learn and grow from this. But the wedding you had planned. It won’t ever feel good to me now. I know it’s wrong of me, but I’ve grown to resent the hell out of it.”

  “Then we cancel it.”

  She looked at him questioningly. “And you don’t mind?”

  He shook his head. “Not one bit. Consider it done. Do you have any idea of what you would like to do?”

  She shook her head with a smile. “This is where I feel bad. I destroy all your plans and don’t have one of my own to offer. It’s just that,” she hung her head and smiled out at him from under lowered lashes. “I don’t even really like plans. You know that. I wish we could just do something spontaneous. I know we can’t, because we both want our families to be there, and that takes organizing, but that would be my ideal. Do you mind if I take some time to think about it? It’s not fair of me to bitch at you for doing what you think will make me happy when I haven’t told you what I think will make me happy and, honestly, I haven’t figured out what that might be yet.”

  Pete wrapped her in his arms. “You take all the time you need.” He chuckled. “If you decide you want to do something spontaneous then maybe you can tell me what it is and I can plan it in secret.”

  She laughed and slapped his arm. “You can’t plan spontaneity, dumbass!”

  He laughed with her. “I know. I’m teasing you.”

  “It’s been so long, I’d almost forgotten what that feels like.”

  He grinned as he started to tickle her. “Well, you’d better get used to it again, hadn’t you?”

  ~ ~ ~

  When April awoke she groaned at the throbbing in her head. She lay there for a few moments piecing back together why she felt that way. She needed to ask Kenzie what on earth had been in those shots! She was pretty sure that was all she’d had to drink. She’d danced with Kenzie, they’d gone to talk to Chase and Eddie. She’d only had water after that. Oh. Now she remembered. The four of them had gone to the function room. Chase and Eddie had wanted to check out the electrical set up. She squeezed her eyes shut. They’d had drinks, though again she didn’t know what. She sat bolt upright. And Kenzie and Chase had decided they were going to get married! They’d asked her and Eddie to be their witnesses—she remembered now! She’d felt uneasy about it at the time. Kenzie had said that since her sister had called off her own wedding, they should probably just go off, find one of those Vegas chapels and do their thing quietly.

  Surely it had just been the drink talking? They wouldn’t do that? Would they? She scrabbled on the nightstand for her cell phone and texted Kenzie.

  Are you really going to get married today?

  She stared at the phone as she waited for a reply. Nothing came. What was she thinking? They’d still be asleep! She crawled out of bed and headed for the shower. She needed to get to Doctor and Mrs. Morgan’s room to collect Marcus.

  Half an hour later she was surprised that a smiling Dan opened the door to the Morgans’ room. He must be here to collect Scot.

  “Good morning, April!”

  She smiled. He was chirpy. “Hi Dan, you don’t seem any the worse for wear.”

  He grinned. “I don’t drink much. And besides. I’ve just had some very good news.” He looked back inside. “Thanks again, Doc.”

  “The pleasure is all mine. Just let me know what time I need to be ready.”

  “Come on in, April,” called Lizzie.

  Dan stood aside to let her pass. “Let’s get going, champ,” he said to Scot. “We’ve got some secret scheming to do.”

  April smiled as she watched them go. Whatever they were up to, they were happy about it. She loved the way the two of them were together. It made her wonder if she might ever meet someone who would become such a good father figure to Marcus.

  “Hey, mom,” called Marcus. “Do we have to go right away?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Dr. Morgan must be exhausted from looking after the three of you last night.” She smiled at the doctor. “Thank you so much.”

  He smiled back. “It’s been my pleasure. In fact, it’s me that wants Marcus to stay a while, if you don’t mind? I have no interest in a spa day, and I wondered if the boys wanted to keep me company. I want to explore Vegas, but I don’t think I can be trusted by myself.”

  April hesitated. She didn’t want to abuse the Morgans’ kindness, and besides, she didn’t know what she’d do with herself without Marcus.

  “Please, Mom?”

  Lizzie smiled at her. “I’m going to g
et one of those hot stone massages, if you want to come with me? The boys will be much happier with us out of their hair.”

  Why not? She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to a spa. “If you’re sure?”

  “Absolutely!”

  “Thanks, Dr. Morgan.”

  He smiled kindly. “Call me Doc. Everyone else does.”

  “Come on,” said Lizzie. “Let’s go get some breakfast and then we’ll head to the spa.”

  April watched as she kissed her husband and said good-bye to the boys. She gave Marcus a quick hug and told him to be good. It felt strange to leave him, but she knew it was good for him, too. He had Ethan to play with and the…Doc was as good a grandfather figure as any kid could ever hope for.

  As she and Lizzie waited for the elevator, Ben came strolling down the corridor toward them. “Good morning, ladies,” he greeted them with a smile.

  “Hi, Ben.”

  “What are you up to today?” asked Lizzie.

  He smiled. “I’ve got a couple of things I need to take care of.”

  Lizzie wagged her finger at him. “You’re not at work now young man. You’re supposed to be enjoying yourself, slacking off.”

  He laughed. “I am!”

  “Well, okay then. But don’t go getting busy, just relax for once in your life. Did I hear right that your mom and dad are coming tonight?”

  Ben smiled again, but April could tell it wasn’t genuine. “I think so. It’ll depend when they get here.”

  Lizzie laughed. “Or if the wind blows them in another direction first?”

  Ben pursed his lips. “Yep.”

  Lizzie touched his arm. “They’re free spirits, Ben. Don’t be too hard on them. They may not have the work ethic that you do, but they could teach you a thing or two about how to relax and have fun.”

  April felt embarrassed to witness this conversation. She felt as though she was eavesdropping on stuff that was personal, just by being present.

  Ben nodded. “Yeah.” He smiled at April. “You’ll understand when you meet them.”