“Promise,” Sarah agreed, but Lucy wasn’t convinced.
Seriously, where was a Bible when you needed someone to swear on one? The Gideons apparently hadn’t visited Twin Lakes yet. This was the only hotel she’d ever stayed at that stocked condoms instead of Bibles in the nightstand.
Chapter Eleven
Carbonated bubbles popped along the surface of Lucy’s third Diet Coke. She sat alone at a wooden table in a large barn near the edge of Twin Lakes’ small, town square. Sheesh, she thought Confluence was small. Twin Lakes had a lodge, a bar, a post office, and a gas station that doubled as a general store. And a big ’ol barn.
The barn was primitive, the planks weathered from decades of nature’s abuse. Someone had taken a great deal of time to deck the vast room with twinkling strands of white lights hanging haphazardly from the rafters. A raised stage across the room contained a bluegrass band with fiddles and banjos, along with a man in full drag impersonating Dolly Parton.
It was long past time to two-step, and William still hadn’t arrived. Sure, he had texted he was running late, and she should go on ahead, he would be right behind her. But that was hours ago.
Her phone buzzed with another William text.
Uh-huh. If “nearly there” meant what it did thirty minutes ago, then he’d arrive somewhere around nine a.m. tomorrow morning.
She’d already worked the barn for hidden camera footage and chatted with the other guests to find out how their experiences had gone.
If she wasn’t stuck in a pretend marriage without a ride back to the cabin, she would have called it quits and evacuated. Since Sarah and Max had driven her there and then hit up the dance floor, she was stranded.
Alone.
In a barn.
Like a cliché country song.
Even with the chilly evening breeze through the open windows, it had warmed inside by the time Dolly announced a break. The swarm of people shifted, and an energy she didn’t understand pulled Lucy’s gaze intuitively toward the door. William stood there, his jaw tight, glancing around the room. Her whole body tingled with awareness when he caught her gaze, relaxed his shoulders, and stalked forward.
Lucy studied her drink for a few beats, glancing up just as he reached her. He leaned in to plant a kiss on her forehead. Her body buzzed with inappropriate anticipation clear to her toes. “Luce. I’m so sorry. That took longer than it should have.” His gaze moved over her. “You’re beautiful.”
Of course she looked beautiful,thankyouverymuch. Sarah had done an exceptional job with her. The gift shop at the lodge was lacking, so Sarah insisted they visit the outlet stores in the next town over. The denim button-down shirt she bought was tucked into a gauzy, cream skirt that hit right above her knee. She finished with an oversize brown leather belt and rhinestone cowgirl boots. Sarah tried to convince her she needed a cowboy hat as well, but the woman at the salon had painstakingly curled Lucy’s hair. Lucy loved the curls entirely too much to even consider smashing them with a hat. Even the kickass one Sarah had found.
“Where’d you go?” she asked.
“Had an emergency. My attorney called. We had papers to sign and some Crestone stuff came up she needed to talk to me about. I’m sorry it interfered with everything.” He sat next to her and pulled her against his side.
In that moment, Lucy didn’t particularly care where he’d been because something about the familiar touch drove her slightly crazy.
“It’s remarkably hard to stay pissy at you,” she huffed.
He squeezed her hand. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She tucked a curl behind her ear.
“How’d things go today?” His finger tapped along with the country song.
“Well… I’m glad you asked. I met a lovely family with two kids who had a watch go missing from their room the other day. They were kayaking at the time.”
The watch turned out to be fairly expensive and had been left in their suitcase—a gift from his grandfather.
The speakers blared louder. Will leaned closer. “Any leads?”
“They said they told the front desk, but I couldn’t find a police report or anything.” She had to yell over the music. “Front desk said if it wasn’t in the safe, there’s nothing they can do. I asked around at the spa, too, to see if anyone there had similar stories. Nothing on that front. But I got my massage.” She shrugged. “So not a total loss.”
He grinned her way.
“Oh, and Sarah and Max were asked to give a little incentive to the front desk in order to transfer our suite to them.” She dropped the bomb and twirled a curl with her finger like what she’d said was no big deal.
His mouth dropped. “That’s amazing. Looks like we have a story.” His expression softened. “You’re amazing.”
