Hope Unbroken (Unveiled Series Book 3) (17 page)

He brandished our favorite lawyer-look. “So, does that mean I can throw in some other surprises, and you won’t be upset?”

I flaunted the look right back. “Maybe.”

He laughed. “Now, there’s the girl I know.”

“What do you mean by surprise, exactly?”

He folded his arms and left my heels dangling from his hand. “That kind of defeats the purpose of it being a surprise, doesn’t it?”

“You’re impossible sometimes, you know that?”

“And you’re still adorable when you’re flustered.”

I strained to keep from mirroring his smile. Right. Caving, I turned and sat on the porch. “I got an email from Melody today.”

“Really?” He joined me on the stoop, set my shoes to the side, and rubbed Jake’s head.

I hugged my knees to my chest and raised my feet off the cold concrete. “She already has several songs picked out for us.”

“I bet.”

“Actually,” I said, “they’re pretty good. She’s a natural at this sort of thing.”

“I don’t doubt it. My whole family lives and breathes music.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It can be.” He stared out in front of us.

A fragment of the mark where the wolf had bitten his arm poked out from behind his cuff. I pushed up his sleeve.

“It’ll probably leave a scar,” he said.

It couldn’t be worse than the one his dad’s words had left. Even if it wasn’t visible.

I tugged his sleeve back down and laced my fingers through his. “You know, I still want to wait for your dad’s blessing on the wedding. It’s important for him to be there . . . voluntarily.” I leaned into his shoulder. “I’m not giving up hope.”

“That’s why I love you.” He kissed my temple. “But honestly, Em, we can’t wait forever.”

“I know.” Exhaling, I searched for a way to hold on and let go at the same time. “After graduation.” I faced him. “Regardless what else happens, let’s set the date for June.” Jaycee’d be itching to plan another ceremony by then. Austin should be able to walk again. And that’d still leave enough time for his dad to come around, wouldn’t it?

“Deal.” Riley held out my shoes. “But how about we tackle one wedding at a time.”

I reluctantly took my heels back and sighed. “Deal.”

chapter twenty-two

Time

My phone rang right as I left my operations management class. Hands full, I swung my backpack around and squatted to the floor. Thank goodness, the wall was there. I caught my balance and massaged my hamstring while fishing for my cell. After five dance rehearsals over the last two weeks, my muscles should’ve been used to stretching.

I clamped my phone to my ear with my shoulder, shoved my midterm review notes in my book bag, and zipped it up. “Hello.”

“Your brother turns gimp, and you decide not to call him anymore?” Austin said with a healthy dose of his usual humor.

I pushed up on my knees. “Sorry. It’s been kinda crazy around here. I’m barely keeping my head on straight.”

“You’re not killing yourself over this grant thing, are you?”

Nothing like a big brother’s overprotective instincts kicking in.

“Just waiting.” And praying. “We’re doing what we can in the meantime.” I backed open the door and squinted at the glare rippling off the sidewalk. Hard to believe we’d made it to March already. “The kids raised close to seven hundred dollars through this service project we did. And we got something like five K from a benefit concert.”

I skidded beside one of the stone benches along the walkway. “Oh my God, Aust. I can’t believe I forgot to tell you. The sales from Dee’s drawings. Ms. Mendierez said they totaled almost two thousand dollars.”

“I’m not surprised. My boy Rob said they’d probably go for a decent price.”

That was for sure.

A breeze coursed up the walkway and found every tiny hole in my sweater. I resituated my backpack and kept trekking across the campus. “Thanks for making that connection, by the way. It was a huge help. You should see the renovations we’re doing to the basketball court. The kids are stoked. Actually, the adults too. Seeing the kind of stuff that’s possible has got this whole dreamer-buzz-thing stirring around that place. I don’t know how to describe it.”

Austin laughed.

Gimp or not, he was definitely getting a good pillow swat the next time I saw him. “I’m serious.”

“I know. It’s just funny how dead on Dad was sometimes?”

“What are you talking about?” I stopped along the bridge and folded my arms over the railing.

“He told me you’d end up running your own organization one day.”

Really?
“I’m only helping out—”

“You’re leading more than you realize,” he said with Dad’s perfect intonation.

The creek ran downstream, lapping over the rocks the same way memories of Dad collected around my heart. “He always saw a world of dreams, didn’t he?”

“He just saw what we couldn’t.”

And loaned his faith to us until we could.

“Matthews, you ready to roll?” someone in the background called.

“One sec,” Austin answered. “Em, let me go. I gotta get some P. T. in if I’m gonna be ready in time for your wedding.”

Even though we’d finally set a date, something still felt unsettled. I didn’t want to get into that right now. “Love ya, Aust.”

“You too. Later.”

Another damp breeze swam off the gorge and spurred me the rest of the way to my apartment. Inside, I hunched against the back of the door as I’d done a thousand times over the last year and a half. Jaycee sat curled up in her usual corner of the couch, surrounded by a bundle of books. It should’ve filed right in with countless other moments, but thinking about Dad had stirred up a reminder of what I was losing too fast.

Time.

Jaycee tapped the end of a gnawed-off pencil on her notepad without peeking up to say hi.

I kicked off my shoes and flopped onto the chair across from the couch. Still, not even a glance my way. “Everything all right?”

She dropped her pencil and glared at me.

Maybe I should’ve accepted the silence instead of interrupting it.

“All right?” She was up and pacing in front of the couch before I had time to haul my feet into the chair and out of her path.

“If you equate all right with keeping my head on by a thread of sanity, then, yeah, I’m super.” She snatched a sheet from a laundry basket of clean clothes on the coffee table. “They should really teach a class here on how to fold a fitted sheet. Practical. Isn’t that what an education is supposed to be?”

I couldn’t help it. Laughing was probably the most inappropriate response, but seeing her this frazzled made it impossible to hold it in.

Her expression contorted from stunned to offended to amused in the short time it took her to hurl the balled-up sheet at my head.

She fell back onto the couch, laughing too. “Sorry. I’m losing my mind. I mean, I love student teaching, and I’m not at all second-guessing wanting to be a teacher. It’s just that the timing couldn’t be worse with all the wedding planning I’m doing right now.” She buried her face in a throw pillow. “I feel like my thoughts are running in a hundred different directions.”

“Welcome to my perpetual state of existence.” I scooted to the edge of the chair. “I’m sure it’s nothing a girls’ night out and Starbucks can’t remedy.”

Above the top of the pillow, Jaycee’s eyes widened like a kid who’d been handed the world’s largest ice cream cone but then shrank when she looked back at the pile of books on the couch. “I’ll have to take a rain check. But you have no idea how badly I could use Starbucks right now.”

“I might have a slight idea,” I said more to myself. I shoved my own tangled thoughts aside, knowing she needed more than just coffee. She needed her best friend. I sat beside her and removed the books and papers from the space between us, never so glad she didn’t have the additional pressure of planning my wedding right now as well. At least that was a plus.

She rested her head on my shoulder.

“I know moving up the date has kicked your stress level into high gear, but if anyone’s organized enough to pull it off, it’s you.”

“Thanks.” She lifted her head and drew the pillow in her lap even tighter. “Everything’s actually coming together pretty smoothly. My mom’s been a huge help. I think it’s been a good distraction for her.”

“See, you have a lot of people ready to help make this day perfect for you. Don’t worry.”

Jaycee towed one leg onto the couch and dragged the eraser side of the pencil in a sporadic pattern along her calf. “There’s more to be nervous about than the ceremony.”

We hadn’t talked much about the honeymoon. I stumbled over a few words that weren’t anywhere close to forming a sentence.

Jaycee cracked up. “You wait. Your turn’s coming.”

June wasn’t that far away. I should’ve felt her same giddy nerves, not apprehension. I stole the pillow from her and bundled it under my arms. “You know, I thought I was ready to elope when I went to Nashville.”

Her lips quirked. Man, sometimes she had Trev’s grin down to a T.

“Aside from the fact you would’ve killed me, I knew it was better to wait. Then he came back, ready to elope too. But stuff with his contract and with A. J. and me . . . I don’t know. I was worried he was rushing it. And after meeting his family, I knew for sure we had to push it back. Give him time to sort things out with his dad first. Not to mention we told Jasmine she could be the flower girl. Then Austin had to go and break his leg and make me promise to wait until he can walk me down the aisle.”

Clasping the top of my hair, I took a breath and looked over at her. “You think that’s all a bad sign? Like maybe someone’s trying to tell us we’re not ready?”

She shook her head. “What am I going to do when I don’t get to see this melodramatic face of yours every day?”

I shrugged. “Get a Skype account?”

We both laughed until the reality of how soon things would be changing settled over us. She and Trev would be a married couple living in Portland by the end of the month. I’d be here alone until we graduated. And who knew what would happen after that?

She looped an arm around my shoulders. “You’re ready. Everything’s gonna work out exactly as it should. Just give it time.”

I smiled at the all-too-familiar phrase. “You sound like my dad.”

“Oh, Em, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about how hard it must be, knowing he won’t be there.”

I blew my bangs away from my eyes. “Honestly, I’ve tried not to dwell on it too much yet. I’ve been more concerned about Riley. I don’t want both of us to be separated from our dads that day. It’s not right. Not when Mr. Preston can still be a part of our lives.”

I swiped a T-shirt from the laundry basket and folded it on my lap. “Something broke this last time we were at their house. I felt it. I just wish I could—”

“Give it time,” Jaycee said again.

I tossed the folded shirt onto the coffee table. “Time isn’t exactly on my list of allies at the moment.”

A knock on the door drew both our heads toward it. Jaycee hopped up first. Riley smiled at her as he stepped in, but it didn’t reach his eyes. My pulse twitched. What now?

He nodded behind him. “Em, you have a sec?”

I flashed Jaycee an I-told-you-so look as I followed him into the stairwell.

“What’s wrong?”

He didn’t have to answer. The suitcase on the floor said enough.

“You’re leaving?”

“Only for a few weeks.” He backed against the railing. “Brett called. Said I don’t have a choice in this one.”

“I thought Brett was supposed to be taking care of things.”

“He was.
Is.
But Nick dragged some high-dollar lawyer into the mess.” He pushed off the railing, faced the ceiling, and heaved in a breath. He looked at me a minute later, confidence back in place. “I just have to record this last song and wrap up the album. That’s all. I’ll be back in time for Jaycee’s wedding.”

I dipped my head to the side and raised an unconvinced brow.

He shuffled toward me. “I promise.”

No telling what kind of leverage Nick and Jess would come up with to keep him there. But maybe that was what Riley needed. I gripped the bottom of his pullover and held on to the only thing I trusted. “If you need to stay longer, stay. I’m not going anywhere.”

He slipped his hand behind my ear, and his smile repeated everything his eyes already told me. “I love you,” he said anyway. He kissed my forehead. “Always.”

No matter what followed, that was all I needed to know.

chapter twenty-three

Awaited

The glow of Jaycee’s smile and the shimmer of her veil outshined the glimpses of the banquet hall I caught from outside the door. She swayed with Trevor, caught up in the thrill and relief of just finishing the perfect wedding ceremony. She was a vision of every fairy tale come to life.

My heart finally began to slow down once the recessional ended. I’d made it down the aisle and back without twisting an ankle. I’d even managed to make it through Trevor’s vows without melting into a complete puddle of tears. Almost. But watching the two of them now just about broke the dam again.

A deep inhale tightened my champagne dress across my chest. I stared at the tiles and rotated my ankles.
Keep it together, Em.

Riley’s absence didn’t help. Daily phone calls had carried us through the last three weeks apart, and I couldn’t have been more relieved he was finishing his album, even if it’d kept him in Nashville longer than planned. But with the live wire of the emotions already surging today, his arms of security would’ve been a Godsend.

At least the delay meant he didn’t have to watch me dance with A. J.

Standing there, waiting for the emcee to introduce us was almost as nerve-wracking as having to perform the routine in front of everyone.

A. J. leaned his arm into mine. “You look stunning, by the way.”

I patted the top of my sculpted updo. “Must be the
Labyrinth
vibe I’ve got going on. I swear, that French hairdresser attacked my head with no less than fifty bobby pins this morning.”

He scrunched his lips to the side and examined the masterpiece. “Hmm, it does have a certain Jareth the Goblin King feel.”

I swatted his hand away. “Just trying to show you up, Mr. Hair Gel.”

His laugh tapered. Head down, he toyed with his cuff link. “You do that without even trying.”

The rumble of conversations from inside the reception hall settled as the emcee took the stage. I latched on to A. J.’s arm and forced down a dry swallow.

He covered my hand with his. If he grinned any wider, his dimples would overrun his cheeks.

“Lose the smirk,” I whispered. “It’s just a dance.”

“Maybe,” he said. “But it’s definitely going to be one to remember.”

The emcee cued our entrance. I dug my fingers around A. J.’s cuff and inhaled.
For Jae.

Music and clapping led us inside. Each couple in the wedding party took our designated positions on the dance floor. Every eye in the room zeroed in on us like dozens of miniature spotlights.

A. J. loosened my grip from his sleeve. “Relax.”

Easy for him to say. “You’re not the one in three-inch heels.”

A string quartet in the corner began the song we’d danced to in rehearsals a dozen times leading up to today. He took my hand and rested his other on my lower back. “Stop thinking. Just feel the music, remember?” He drew me close. “I’ve got you.”

With the same confidence that carried him through every aspect of life, he guided us in perfect rhythm around the floor. Halfway through the song, that confidence spilled over to me. The audience dwindled out of focus as the music swept me into the joy of sharing this moment with my friends.

A. J. must’ve noticed. He brandished a look of hard-earned satisfaction. “Look at you,” he mouthed.

Why did he have to be so gifted at making me smile?

He spun me around and drew me back in close enough to hear him singing softly with the music, taking me back to the night we danced in Portland last December.

My lashes squeezed back tears. I owed him for his friendship more than I fully understood.

The song gradually ended. A. J. bowed at the same time the room lit up in applause. And just like that, the dance was over. The segment of Jaycee’s wedding that I’d been dreading for weeks was finally done.

We followed the rest of the wedding party across the floor and took our seats at the head table.

The sound of silverware clinking against a champagne glass quieted the banquet hall again. A. J. rose from his seat with a microphone. “I’d like to offer a toast to the bride and groom.”

Steady and handsome in a matching tux, he gripped Trevor’s shoulder.

“Every once in a while, we’re fortunate enough to experience the kind of friendship that defies time. Even though I’ve only known Trev for the last couple of years, I count him as brother. He’s taught me what it means to love without regret, fight with courage for my dreams, and learn when to surrender with grace.” His gaze roamed to me.

“Trevor and Jaycee have shown me how every moment spent waiting for the one you’re meant to spend your life with is worth the wait. So, today we honor their love, their friendship, and their commitment to the journey still ahead.” A. J. raised his glass higher in the air. “To Trevor and Jaycee Andrews.”

A collective, “Cheers,” rang across the hall from table to table.

Rehearsing my toast in my head, I stared at the bubbles climbing the edge of my glass until Jaycee’s discreet nudge brought the microphone into view. I pushed my chair back to stand up. “I’d like to toast to my two best friends, whose friendship I’m fairly confident I never would’ve survived college without.”

The audience laughed on cue. If Riley were there, I would’ve found his eyes in the crowd and latched on to the reassurance they always provided. But he was where he needed to be. And right now, so was I—surrounded by Dad’s promise of the good things in store for me. Good friendships included. The kind that had taught me so much about love and grace.

“If you’ve known Jaycee and Trevor for long, you know today doesn’t mark the end of one season or the start of another. It’s a continuation of the commitment they’ve shared all along.”

I angled toward them. “Throughout your marriage, may you always have the humility to admit when you’re wrong, the discernment to know when love requires no words at all, and the joy to keep you laughing through every step along the way.” I clinked my glass with theirs. “To my best friends. I love you both.”

Trevor and Jaycee exchanged the briefest glance before simultaneously jumping from their seats and engulfing me in a two-person hug.

“Need . . . to . . . breathe,” I choked out with a laugh.

But truth be told, I didn’t want to let go. Of them. Or of the moment. As soon as they released me, the night swept them up in a whirlwind of joy. From dinner to dancing to time spent at each table, the happy couple barely sat down for the rest of the reception.

As guests pushed back plates of half-eaten wedding cake and gathered their things to leave, I ran my fingers along the gift table and took in the end of Jaycee’s dream day.

Someone grabbed my hand from behind. “C’mon, you’re going to miss it.”

A. J. towed me toward the front of the building and into an immersion of bubbles floating through the air. A glimpse of Jaycee’s back sparkled through the crowd right before a car door closed her in.

I pushed through the rows of people. “Wait.” I hadn’t gotten to say goodbye.

The tires screeched as Trevor gunned away from the church. I found a break in the crowd to the left and jogged after them in my heels, but it was too late. Stopping in the middle of the street, I braced my hands against my knees.

Brake lights flashed. Jaycee hopped out before the car came to a complete stop, ran over, and whirled her arms around me. “I love you so much. Thanks for everything today.”

I squeezed her back. “Love you too, Jae. Have a great time.”

With a wink of nervous excitement, she twirled around and jogged back up to the car waiting to whisk her away to her long-awaited honeymoon.

The group in front of the church disbanded in various directions to their own cars. Though drained, I wasn’t quite ready to leave yet.

I lifted the hem of my dress and walked along the grassy side of the building toward a deck overlooking a lake surrounded by a thick perimeter of woods.

The back door closed behind a couple reentering the banquet hall at the same time I rounded the corner. Other than the faintest trail of voices from inside, stillness hovered over the deck. I rested my arms on the wooden rail, drank in the sunset’s rich orange glow covering the water, and listened to the evening’s lullaby in the woods.

Leave it to Jaycee to find a church on such a stunning property.

“They made it.”

I turned toward A. J.’s voice.

From the corner of the building, he strolled across the deck. He kept his hands in his pockets, holding open the sides of his unbuttoned tuxedo jacket. Both ends of his undone bowtie lay flat against his white shirt. Poor guy looked almost as exhausted as I felt.

I peered across the lake again. “Yep. After all this time, they finally made it.”

A. J. tapped his elbow against my arm and angled his head in my direction. “I hear weddings are supposed to be happy occasions.”

“They’re my best friends. Of course I’m happy for them.”

As usual, he grinned in response to the reaction he got out of me, but it didn’t last. “And what about you?” he said slowly. “Are you happy?”

I closed my eyes and searched for an honest answer. “Yes and no. It’s just that this is it, you know? This is the beginning of everything changing. We’re all starting new chapters in our lives.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

I shrugged. “Just different, I guess.” I turned from the glassy water. “I don’t know if I’m ready to say goodbye to it all.”

A. J.’s eyes creased. “Some things are harder to let go of than others.”

“Especially when you’re afraid of what you’ll lose,” Riley said from behind us.