“No, it’s not.” Logan kisses my hair. “This marriage isn’t your fault, and neither was your parents’. You have to let them all go. Let them figure it out themselves. You didn’t cause any of this.”
I wish I could disappear into the ground.
“I think…” Logan hesitates. “You just have so much love in your heart, Macey. Don’t waste it.”
Keeping his arm around me, he walks me over to the first empty carriage and helps me up into it. “I’ll meet you in two minutes,” he promises, and I watch him go find Gigi.
He comes back as the driver’s ready to go, jumping up into the carriage and blocking me from the pre-planned exit camera shots. He leans his head forward at the last minute and puts his arms up in the air so that when the photos are developed, all you see are my legs and the back of my hair.
We ride in silence the whole way. Because we got into the first carriage we saw, we’re last in line, and being last means riding extra slowly down Main Street.
Mama texts me as soon as we start moving. “No go here at The Cowherd. We just checked the cell door again.”
Logan looks at me. “Your mother’s at The Cowherd now, isn’t she? Staring at a locked cell?”
I nod. “So be prepared for even more attention at your wedding. You may not be able to fit inside the chapel with all the cameras.”
Logan opens his mouth but then shuts it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him about to speak twice more and then close his mouth again without a sound.
When we reach the square, I wave good-bye to him. His gaze stays steadily on me even as Gigi throws her arms around him and buries her face in his neck.
I look back at him and wave good-bye.
As I’m walking home alone, I start to hear the ending to my book. I actually hear the heroine’s voice in my head. I follow her thoughts until she and the hero are in front of me.
And just like that, I know how to finish my novel.
I know the final chapter, I see every detail and feel every moment between the two of them.
And I know the heroine deserves the redemption she’s wanted so much.
98
Ginny texts in the morning and asks me to come by. I don’t say anything about the coat closet, and neither does she. I just jump in the car and drive to her house.
“I can’t do this.” Tears are coming down her face faster than I’ve ever seen them on anyone.
“Oh, honey.” I put my arms around her. “I’m so sorry…you tried to tell me a million times, and I should have made you put an end to it.”
“It has nothing to do with you at all.” Ginny leads me into her house. “I’ve been dealing with this wedding pressure since the day my mother put Dave and me side by side in our cribs. I just don’t love him anymore. Not like that. He and I stayed up all night talking, and most of this morning. We’re going to get an annulment.”
“Is he okay?”
Ginny laughs as she grabs a tissue. “He’s so relieved, Macey. I actually feel better about him being a father now than I did when he was my fiancé. He told me he will definitely be there for our baby. And for me. I’m telling you, if the two of us had just talked in more detail about how we felt like, I don’t know, one time since I got pregnant, we would never have gone through with it. Dave felt forced into it also. Our mamas thought they were so smart, setting us up when we were babies and planning out our lives like this, but I guess no one can tell your heart what to feel.”
I guess not.
“But you look—refreshed or something.” She tilts her head and looks at me. “What happened? Did you have sex last night?”
I laugh. “No. I can promise you that I did not have sex last night. But I did finish my novel. A different kind of release.”
“That’s amazing, Mace. Oh, my gosh, I’m so proud of you!”
“Thanks,” I say. “Hey, you’re still going to the barbecue for Logan and Gigi tonight, right?”
“I’ll be there. Promise. I can’t believe they’re getting married so soon.”
I can’t either. I can’t believe how much it’s going to hurt when their wedding is finally in the books and Logan’s officially off the market.
