Chapter 10
“For the love of—If your sister walks any slower, I’ll be getting married before you do,” Claudia said.
Rowan peeked through the crack in the door. Adalynn wasn’t even a quarter of the way down the aisle and she’d started a good thirty seconds ago.
“She is taking the step-pause instructions to extremes.”
Rowan stepped away from the doors, out of the line of sight. “Even the minister looks annoyed.”
“Three more steps and it’s your turn,” Claudia warned. “You still have time to run if you want to.”
“What?”
Claudia looked over her shoulder. “Maria said I should ask you.”
“Why would she tell you to do that?”
“No idea.” She squinted at Rowan. “Do you?”
“No!” She pushed her shoulder. “It’s your turn—go.”
“Okay. I’m going.” She stepped to the side and pulled open the door. “Cluck like a duck if you change your mind.”
“Ducks don’t cluck.” Rowan gripped her bouquet and closed her eyes. A sniffle from behind her made her glance over her shoulder.
She smiled at her dad. “Are you crying?”
He rubbed under his eyes. “It’s not every day I walk my baby girl down the aisle.”
“Dad…I’m not exactly a baby anymore.”
“You’ll always be my baby girl. Even when you have babies of your own.”
Rowan kissed him on the cheek and he kissed her forehead in return. Her dad had always been a solid influence in her life. A calm in the storm of her mom and sister. She loved them, but she was more like her father than she was them and she had always been Daddy’s girl. She’d thought about using Heartland’sI Loved Her Firstas her processional song, but Stephanie had talked her out of it. It wouldn’t have been great for pictures if her dad was bawling the whole way down the aisle. She settled for using it for the father/daughter dance instead and planned to have a fist full of tissues ready.
Stephanie stepped over to them. “Okay. It’s time.” She maneuvered them in front of the double doors, then moved behind Rowan to spread out the train of her dress.
The doors opened and the first notes of the traditional wedding march played. The guests stood with a loud rustle of clothing. Rowan took a deep breath and smiled what she hoped was a serene smile. With butterflies in her stomach, she stared straight ahead, her eyes on Michael. Seeing his huge grin, her smile felt more real. This was happening. She was walking to her future.
Closer to the top of the aisle, her eyes darted to Maria, standing at the end of the second row. Her easy smile didn’t give away that she’d suggested Rowan run.
Why had she? She always swore by her “feelings.” Rowan and Claudia might roll their eyes at her, but one of Maria’s feelings was how she’d met Michael in the first place. So why had she told Claudia to ask Rowan if she was sure?
They reached the altar and Michael stepped forward. Her dad kissed her on the cheek and whispered a soft, “Love you,” before he sniffled and stepped aside.
Michael took her hand, winked, and they faced the minister and stepped forward together.
* * *
Luke glaredat the entrance to the church through the windshield of the rental car. He’d figured Rowan’s mom would put a wedding announcement in the paper and, sure enough, he’d found one in theJohnson City Press.
They’d looked good together, Rowan and her fiancé. They’d pick a candid picture for the announcement and he hated that she’d looked so happy in the picture.
He was enough of an asshole to hope she wasn’t as happy as she seemed. He was also enough of an asshole to do what he was about to do.
The clock on the dash told him the ceremony began ten minutes ago. If he waited much longer, it might be too late. He shut off the engine and grabbed his guitar from the back seat. “Let’s do it.”
With a white-knuckle grip on the neck of his guitar, he stalked across the parking lot and into the foyer of the church. A guy in a rental tux stood in front of the double doors talking to a woman with a clipboard. Yeah, he’d been to enough award shows to recognize a rental.
