Grant felt out of place. They all knew each other and had known each other for decades. He felt like an imposter. He wished Kate were there. Where was she?
“We’ve got rehearsal in a little bit,” Eric reminded them.
“We’re still waiting on Kate,” Ginny said. “Brandy told me she’s running late.”
Grant wondered what happened. There wasn’t any traffic when he and his father had come over. Where could she be? He wondered if her absence had anything to do with the man who had attacked her on the trail on Martha’s Vineyard.
He texted her, feeling worried.
Are you okay? Where are you?
Thankfully, she immediately responded.
Fine. Running late.
He tried to put it out of his mind and not let his paranoia run rampant, and followed his cousins to the pavilion for the rehearsal.
Grant had never been in a wedding, and the wedding planner snapped at him when he wasn’t exactly on beat.
“Didn’t you learn how to march in the Marines?” she asked snidely.
“No, because I was too busy, you know, actually fighting,” he snapped.
Carter snickered, and the wedding planner gave him a nasty look.
“We don’t need the commentary. Let’s do it again.”
“Sorry,” Ginny said to him after the rehearsal. “She’s more stressed than I am, I think. All you need to do is stand there and look handsome!”
“It’s fine,” Grant lied. “It’s your big day. I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
Ginny kissed him on the cheek and said, “You’re sweet. You’re going to make some lucky woman very happy.”
Chapter 55
Kate
Kate was stuck in traffic. She should have woken up earlier since she had to make this detour to give yet more money to Alan. He was doing a writing workshop near the Davenport estate, but it wasn’t as close as she’d thought. The roads were winding and bumpy with potholes. To make matters worse, there was a tree down that had cars backed up while it was being cleared. She didn’t even exit her vehicle when she arrived at the writing workshop. She just threw the envelope out of the car at Alan’s feet and turned back onto the main road. During the drive, she felt sick. At least she had been losing weight thanks to not eating due to the stress.
She screeched into the lot of the Davenports’ estate. If she ran, she could make the last of the rehearsal.
“Where were you?” Brandy demanded when she almost crashed into her running up the path. “The rehearsal’s already over.”
“Walter and I returned yesterday. I had stuff to finish up,” Kate lied.
“It’s fine,” Ginny said, giving Kate a hug. “You’ve been in weddings before. You know how it goes. This rehearsal was really just for the boys. You should have seen them wandering around like puppies. They had no idea what was going on!”
Kate smiled, and Ginny grabbed her arm and led her to the outdoor area set up with tables and chairs in a clearing amongst some old-growth trees. Grant and Walter, along with several other people who weren’t in the wedding, were already seated. Basically everyone who wanted to come was invited to the rehearsal dinner.
“My dad said that if they were going to bother to make the trip, he might as well feed them,” Ginny told her, squeezing her around the waist then skipping off to talk to another guest.
Kate was assigned to a table close to the one with the bride’s and groom’s families. Grant and his cousins were seated there along with Walter, and she tried to force herself to seem happy and carefree.
“Kate!” Carter hollered, “The prettiest Kate! Kate of Kate Hall!”
He patted the seat next to him. He and Mark had Grant sandwiched between them.
“Close your eyes, Mark,” Carter said to his brother. “We’re about to fraternize with a member of the opposite sex.”
