Luke, Brayden, Blake, and I have been sitting in my childhood bedroom since lunchtime. Blake got his dad to agree to let him skip work for the afternoon so he could hang out with me. And he convinced Luke and Brayden to stay another night so we’d have more players for poker.
“I need a fucking break.” I push away the cards. “Get out of here. All of you.”
Blake and Brayden leave, but Luke hangs back.
“How are you planning to get through the next couple of weeks till your wedding?” he asks me in a low tone. “Is Macey suspicious? You need to be careful.”
“I will be.” I don’t tell him how I almost spilled the truth to her at the hospital. “I’m trying.”
At the knock on the door, Luke whips around.
“Knock, knock.” Ginny and Macey are in the doorway. Both of them have big smiles on their faces.
Macey’s wearing her sexy, lilac top paired with my favorite jeans of hers, the ones that hug her hips and show off her gorgeous curves. She’s got a bouquet of wildflowers in her hand.
“What are those for?” I ask.
“For you, silly.”
I smile. “They’re pretty. Thank you.”
“I picked them on our way over.”
Mama walks down the hallway and stops to exclaim over the flowers. She says she’ll take them and find the “best vase in the house” to show them off.
“Oh, and I’m glad you’re both here.” She reaches into her apron pocket and pulls out the airline tickets Mrs. Phillips had dropped off this morning. “These are for you two,” she says as she hands a ticket each to Macey and then Ginny.
“What is this?” Macey’s voice is strained.
“Gigi’s daddy bought a block of tickets for guests for a commercial flight to Orlando on the fourth. The hotel’s been paid for, too.” Mama points to the ticket in Macey’s hand. “Logan and Gigi will have their renewal wedding in Florida on the seventh, but they’ll have the official wedding here on the second. Right at The Cowherd.”
Silence hits the room.
Eventually, Luke breaks the awkwardness by asking if my dad will be joining us in Florida.
Mama heaves a big sigh. “Who knows? He says he can’t take the time off. But I’m still working on him.”
She leaves then with the flowers.
Once the four of us are alone again, Ginny makes a big show of gesturing to Macey’s purse.
“Mace, don’t you want to read to Logan in private?”
“Read me what?” I ask.
“Her diary.” Ginny pats Macey’s arm. “She needs your help, Logan.”
Macey shoots Ginny a death look. “I didn’t exactly say that, Gin.”
“Luke, let’s give them some privacy.” Ginny’s already grabbing him by the arm. He doesn’t move as she tugs at him. “Plus, I need to talk to you about something.”
Instead, he glances at me. I know what he’s thinking. Macey and Ginny want to split us up so they can conduct some sort of interrogation.
I’m not worried about Luke cracking. Heck, he’ll barely tell me anything.
“What do you want to talk about?” he asks Ginny.
“Gin needs some advice about her upcoming wedding,” Macey says.
