The Player (37 page)

Blair stood in the nursery of the First Presbyterian Church, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her wedding dress was on a hanger behind her. She’d never been like most girls, Megan and Libby included. She hadn’t thumbed through bridal magazines and picked flowers and wedding colors when she was in high school. Blair wasn’t a romantic kind of woman—at least not the capital “r” type of romantic many women went in for—yet she’d had some ideas of what her wedding would be like.

And this was so not it.

“Why are you doing this?” Megan pleaded for what had to be the millionth time. “Why are you marrying him?”

“I have my reasons.”

Her friends had been so dismayed when she called to tell them the wedding was still on, Libby most of all. In fact, she still hadn’t shown up. It was vaguely reminiscent of Megan’s wedding. Only Blair had been the hold-out then.

And Megan and Josh had been in love.

Blair sucked in a deep breath. “The wedding is in twenty minutes. I need to get dressed.”

“You don’t want to wait for Libby?” Megan asked in dismay.

“She’s not coming. Not that it matters.”

“How can you say that?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Are you going to help me or not?”

The door opened, and Libby walked in, already wearing her red taffeta gown. “You should be in a Hallmark commercial. One for anti-romance.”

“Zip it, Libby,” Blair said, stomping over to her dress and pulling it off the hanger.

Megan grabbed her arm. “Blair! It’s obvious your heart’s not in this. And how could it be after your night with Garrett?”

Blair closed her eyes and fought tears. After the events of the morning, she was certain the relationship was unsalvageable. But she couldn’t let herself think about that now. “I don’t want to talk about Garrett.”

“It wasn’t how it looked, Blair,” Libby said in disgust. “If you would get off your self-righteous high horse, you might be able to see that.”

Blair sucked in a breath and turned to her. “You have to trust me, Libby. Can you
please
just trust me?”

Libby shook her head. “I’m here as your friend, because I love you, but this is without a doubt the single worst mistake of your life.”

“Libby!” Megan shouted.

“You know it’s true, Megs,” Libby shot back. “You’re just too busy trying to pretend everything is okay to point it out.”

“This is Blair’s decision. We have to respect it.”

Blair ripped off her robe and grabbed the waist of her dress and started to step into it.

“Blair,” Megan protested. “Let us help you.”

“I don’t need your help. I can do it by myself.”

She poked her right arm through the sleeve while Megan stood in front of her. “But you don’t have to do it yourself. Asking someone for help isn’t a weakness.”

If only people would stop telling her that. Blair shoved her other arm through the sleeve. “My mother taught me that depending on someone too much is a recipe for self-destruction. I will never make that mistake.” Again. She was dangerously close to losing it. Well, all she had to do was make it through the service.
Then
she could fall to pieces.

A familiar voice called out from behind her, “I hope that isn’t the only lesson I’ve taught you.”

Blair spun around and gasped. An attractive blonde woman stood in the doorway, worry filling her eyes. She looked like an older version of Blair. “Mom.”

Marla Hansen took several steps into the room. “Girls, I think I need a moment with my daughter.”

Megan and Libby shot each other a look and hurried out the door as Blair’s mother moved toward her.

“Oh, Blair. You’re as beautiful as a bride could be, but you look absolutely miserable.”

To Blair’s horror, she started to cry.

“You’re a difficult woman to find,” her mother teased. “No one knew where you were all afternoon.”

“I lost him, Mom.”

“Who?”

“Garrett Lowry. I found him again, and then I lost him.”

“Megan told me.” Her mother pulled her over to a sofa, then wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Do you love Garrett?”

She let out a sob. “Yes.”

“Then why are you marrying Neil?”

She sucked in a breath, trying to get control. “Because Garrett . . . There was a woman in his room this morning. Wearing only her bra and panties. Just like before. But Garrett was fully clothed, and he knew I was coming back to the room, so there was no way he was part of it. It didn’t matter. I wasted no time ripping him apart and blaming him.”

“Blair, that’s the reaction any woman would have had.”

She shook her head, crying harder. “You didn’t see the look in his eyes. I was beyond awful. I ripped his heart out. He begged me to believe him, and I didn’t.”

“So all you need to do is apologize and give him time. You don’t run into the arms of a man you don’t love.”

She shook her head.

“I did the same thing with your father, Blair, and all three of us were miserable. Don’t make the same mistake.”

Blair took a deep breath. “Neil is not a good person. I know that now. Maybe marrying him is what I deserve.”

“No. Blair.”

She stood and moved to the mirror, trying to reach around her back to zip up her dress. Her mother brushed her hand away and finished the job. She rested her chin on Blair’s shoulder, staring at their reflections in the mirror.

“You deserve love, Blair. I know you have a hard time believing it. You think your father’s rejection means you’re unlovable, but it’s not true. Libby and Megan love you unconditionally. Even Garrett Lowry is proof of that.”

Tears filled her eyes again. “I hurt him. I drove him away five years ago, and I just did it again. Maybe I’m not meant to be loved.”

“That’s bullshit if I ever heard it. Everyone deserves to be loved, Blair. Don’t give up on yourself. Not now. Not ever.”

Blair stared at her reflection. She might be wearing a wedding dress, but her red eyes and nose looked better suited to a commercial for seasonal allergy medication. She grabbed her veil and jammed the comb into her head. “I’m going to set things right.”

“By marrying Neil? I already told you—”

Blair stomped over to a table stacked with flowers and grabbed her bouquet. “You better take your seat. I’m ready to do this.”

“What?”

Blair looked into her mother’s eyes. “Trust me, Mom. I know what I’m doing.”

“I want you to be happy, Blair.”

To her irritation, she started to tear up yet again. “This is part of that plan, Mom. You know me—I always have a plan.”

Her mother cupped her cheek and searched her eyes for a long moment. Then she pulled back and said, “When you were a little girl, I always knew when you were up to something from the look in your eyes.” She kissed her cheek. “I trust you.”

Blair nodded, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. “Thank you.”

She walked to the door and flung it open, not surprised to see her two friends huddled outside. “The wedding’s still on. Get your bouquets.”

“But—!” Megan exclaimed.

“Let’s go.” She swept down the hall, her small train flowing behind her, until she reached the lobby of the church.

Melissa stood by the closed doors to the sanctuary. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Blair. “You aren’t supposed to be out here yet. People will see you. I’m supposed to call you, remember?”

“I didn’t want to wait.”

Melissa looked her up and down, worry in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be better once this is over.”

“Blair, don’t—”

Blair put her hand on Melissa’s mouth. “Don’t
you
start.”

Melissa nodded, and Blair removed her hand. “Okay.”

“Let’s get this going immediately.”

“But we have four more minutes.”

Blair stomped her feet anxiously. “If I don’t do it now, I might lose my nerve.”

“Maybe you should listen to that inner voice, Blair,” Libby said from beside her.

“Good to see you two are joining me,” she snipped back.

Melissa looked flustered. “But people are still being seated.”

“Okay, two minutes. Then we go.”

Blair’s mother, who’d trailed her out of the lobby, kissed her cheek. “Be kind to yourself, Blair. Then you’re more likely to be kind to others. And stop lashing out at your friends. They only want to help you.”

Kindness wouldn’t help her now. She needed all her bluntness and all her anger. Her grief would ruin everything. But she nodded. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too.”

As her mother entered the sanctuary, Megan and Libby shot her looks of disappointment as they waited. Every time they started to say something, she cut them off.

Finally, Melissa lined them up and cued the pianist to begin the wedding processional, and Dena came running from the church offices.

“No one told me it was time!” she said, her face puckered in irritation. “I don’t even have my bouquet.”

“You don’t need it,” Blair snapped.

“I’m not going without my flowers!”

Blair thrust her bouquet at Dena’s chest, and the woman scrambled to keep the flowers from falling. “Here. Now get going.” She gave Dena a little push toward the now-open doorway.

The woman stumbled several steps before recovering and then paused for long enough to shoot a glare over her shoulder.

Oh, if you think you hate me now, just wait.

“Blair, what’s going on?” Libby asked, her previous antagonistic attitude gone.

“I asked you to trust me. Can you do that?”

Libby searched her eyes. “Yeah. Why do I have a feeling this will be a wedding we’ll never forget?”

“Because you know me well.” She gave Libby’s arm a small push. “See you after.”

Libby started down the aisle wearing an ear-to-ear grin, leaving Blair alone with Megan and Melissa.

“Blair, I’m sorry,” Megan whispered, tears in her eyes. “I should have trusted you.”

“I’ve made some really stupid mistakes lately. I can see why you wouldn’t.” She smiled, her eyes filling with tears again. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”

“Never.” Megan gave her a kiss on her cheek.

“Megan,” Melissa whispered. “It’s time.”

Megan started down the aisle, and then it was just Blair and Melissa. “Melissa, no matter what happens tonight, I want you to know you still have a job at Sisco, Sisco, and Reece. I talked to Mary in HR, and she said the other attorneys would be lining up to work with you.”

“I’d rather stay with you. At least you believe in your cases. You’re trying to help those women.” She paused. “And you believe in me.”

“There’s more.” Blair grimaced. “I made some calls this afternoon. Ben Stuart lied about the partnership. But I still might not have a job after what I’m about to do.”

“You know I stand behind you no matter what.” The music changed, and Melissa smiled. “It’s time. Are you ready?”

She sucked in a deep breath. “Time to raise some hell.”

Nana Ruby had gone to the church with his aunt and mother. They’d fought over who was stuck taking her, so Nana told them they both got to ride with her in her old pickup truck. With the windows down.

At first Garrett’s friend wasn’t too thrilled by the prospect of drafting a brand-new document, but he changed his tune as soon as he heard the terms, which gave him a good maniacal laugh.

“I owe you, man,” Garrett said, rubbing his hand through his hair. He had just sent the document from his laptop to the printer in the hotel business center, and his heart was working double time. Would this actually work? “Seriously, send me a bill.”

“Nah, just make me the best man in your wedding to this girl and we’ll call it good. I’m happy to be an emissary for true love.”

“Let’s not put the cart before the horse.” Garrett sighed. “One step at a time.”

He hung up and pulled the three-page document off the printer, one page at a time, but the third page caused a paper jam. He tried—and failed—to open the printer. Panicked, he ran into the lobby and skidded to a halt at the front desk. “Can someone help me? The last page of this document is stuck in the printer, and I need it like five minutes ago.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. 4:30. Blair would be walking down the aisle in just half an hour.

The startled hotel employee looked him up and down. “Someone will come around to help you in about ten minutes, sir. We’re short-staffed.”

Garrett leaned over the counter, desperation filling his words. “You don’t understand. My entire
future
depends on that page. I need it to stop a wedding and save the bride-to-be from a terrible mistake.” He knew he sounded like a crazy person. He found he didn’t much care. He
was
a crazy person at this point.

“Oh, isn’t that romantic,” an older woman said behind him. “He’s trying to stop a wedding.”

“How’s that romantic?” a man grumbled. “He’s breaking up a wedding.”

“I bet he loves the girl.” She tapped Garrett on the shoulder. “Do you love the girl, young man?”

“Well, yeah . . .” he mumbled, then turned back to the bewildered desk clerk. “Please. Is there any way you can you send someone sooner?”

The elderly woman approached the desk. “Can you send someone? This boy is trying to win his woman.”