Instead?I’m naked in the middle of the woods.I’ve got a ring on my finger, a stranger in my bed, a drunk bear in the bathtub of my honeymoon cabin, a deer eating wedding cake in the living room, raccoons invading the pantry, and a mountain lion waiting to make a meal out of me.
Holding the side of my head like I can somehow prevent hysteria spilling out of my brain, I shoot the white, fluffy clouds and endless, bright, blue sky a beseeching grimace.“What dimension am I in?”None of this is real.It can’t be.
My words echo in the forest sounding even more pathetic than they did inside my head.
All the multiple timelines, quantum physics, mumbo jumbo that’s my dad’s been mumbling about lately makes me wonder.There’s no way this is really what my life is now.It can’t be.I sob out a choked laugh that makes me sound feverish and confused.
Is this what it feels like to totally lose one’s mind?Experience a ‘break in reality’?Is this what happens before someone is committed and placed in a padded cell?Is this my mind’s way of coping with the betrayal I discovered at the church?
I don’t want complicated things.I’m not a complex person.Which means none of this makes sense.
Gasping for breath, I lean against a stately aspen.Staring at the white bark, I whisper to the damn thing as if it’s actually listening.“Did I jump timelines?”
I wait, holding my breath, hoping against hope that it will respond, that it’s a wise old tree with words of wisdom, that it will tell me what to do.
When the wise tree fails to respond, my gaze dips in disappointment to the ground, focuses on a fist sized piece of limestone.Its edges are smooth, worn by time and erosion.
“Did I die?”I ask the rock.Perhaps this is what the afterlife looks like.Being dead might be why nothing makes sense and I can only remember snippets from the past eighteen hours.
The gold band on my left hand glimmers in the bright sunlight, mocking me.Do dead people get married?I swipe at the tears I didn’t realize were falling.
So, I've come to that conclusion that I’ve either gone bonkers or entered the afterlife?Are those my only two options?
A large dragonfly lands on the limestone rock.It’s iridescent wings flutter in the breeze.“My karma’s good.I promise.”
This moment is proof that I’ve totally lost my mind.I’m talking to trees, rocks, and insects.Who does that?I’ll tell you, crazy people, that’s who.It’s clear I’m having a mental breakdown.
Trouble is, I don’t feel like I’ve lost my marbles.But if I’m not crazy, where does that leave me?
With a drunk bear wearing a tutu in the bathtub, a buck in the living room eating wedding cake, raccoons destroying the pantry, a mountain lion on top of the fridge, and a hot naked dude in bed that I might have married last night.
It’s the hot naked guy that gives me the most pause.I have no idea how to handle the situation.
I don’t go around marrying men I just met.Just how much tequila did I have to drink last night?Does it matter?No.Alcohol is never an excuse for hurting another person.Even if I was so drunk that I didn’t know what I was doing, was he?Last I checked, it takes two to get hitched.Just because I can’t remember doesn’t mean he didn’t wantto marry me.
Based on that smoking hot kiss he blessed me with when I woke up, he not only remembers everything, but will most likely be very hurt that I don’t.
If I had my phone, I would call Emily and Hannah.Maybe my two besties could help me fill in the blanks.I know they were with me when I left the church and we all wound up at the Bucking Bronco.But I don’t even know where they are.
Should I retrace my steps?Maybe if I head to the Bucking Bronco, Emily’s parents can tell me where she and Hannah might be.Three heads are better than one.With their help, I’m sure we can reconstruct everything that happened last night.
A tingle races up my spine and I suck in a ragged breath.
He’s here.I don’t know how I know when I haven’t seen him yet, only that I can feel him cautiously approaching behind me.Isn’t it weird?Why can I feel him?
“Madison.”
Every molecule in my body rejoices.His voice winds its way along my spine and curls through my bloodstream.Warmth spreads and expands from my chest, flowing through the rest of me, inducing a sensation of bliss.I’m surprised there isn’t a choir of angels singing.
My head swims at his nearness.Oxygen shudders through my lungs when he rounds the tree and stands before me, equally naked.I drink in the sight of him.
He’s stunning.Literally, the most gorgeous man alive.I want to thread my fingers through his silvery blond hair.My fingers itch to trail over his muscled chest and lower, over his abs.My gaze dips the rest of the way down and a thrilling ache flares to life in my lady bits.I know I’ve had that, if only I could remember what was, most assuredly, the best sex of my life.
“Tell me what upset you, mate.What are you doing out here?”
I finally lift my gaze to his face.The full impact of his presence washes over me.A sense of calm permeates my being.Those eyes, those blue, blue eyes, draw me in.I ache to close the distance.Energy pulses in the air.Or perhaps it’s just us when we are close to each other.I don’t understand the pull this man has over me.
“Did we really get married last night?”I whisper, my voice trembles and I feel perilously close to crying.
