Chapter 2 #2
Music fills the air, changing the subject for me, and everyone turns to face the aisle.
Awws and coos ring out as my father, dressed in his full Class A’s, escorts his almost one-hundred-year-old mother down the aisle.
Emotions swell up in me, forming a lump in my throat as I watch her slowly make her way, holding on to her son like he’s Prince Charming.
For someone her age, she’s still so spry, but I can still see why Landon thought it would be better to have Daddy do this.
I make a mental note to give him an extra squeeze when I see him later.
“Maisey!” she coos, sliding into our pew. “No one told me you were coming!”
“Mama, you’re supposed to sit in the front row,” Daddy tells her.
“I’ll sit where I please, Jeremiah.”
I suppress a giggle, loving that she still has all her sass.
“Surprise!” I whisper, as Auggie and Belle Hayes walk by, taking their seats. “It was a last-minute thing.”
“Oh, Dolly is going to be tickled to see you.”
I hope she’s not the only one…
“And just wait until you see those Hayes boys all dressed up. I know that’s not what they mean by if looks could kill, but, be still my heart.”
“Mama!” my father scolds, and there’s no holding in my laughter this time. Fuck, I cannot wait to be an old lady and say whatever I want.
“What? Am I not allowed to appreciate what fine, contributing members of society those young men have become?”
My father rolls his eyes, turning his attention back to the processional, a soft shift in melody making way for Hux’s sister, Willa, and her husband, Nash, looking as gorgeous and graceful as I remember her from high school.
Turning to me, my grandmother gives me a conspiratorial wink, making me right at home.
One by one, the Hayes brothers make their way down the aisle, looking like grown-up versions of the guys I remember. Each one of them different and distinct, but there never being any doubt when you lined up all seven of the Hayes kids that they were siblings.
Same as there wasn’t any doubt that they would take over the Hayes empire, keeping that Fortune 500 company that was founded by their ancestor during the Civil War—the same one that employs most of our small town—going strong.
“That’s Sawyer, Anton’s girlfriend,” my mother whispers, pointing to the pretty brunette on his arm. “They met last summer. She’s also an agriculture expert.”
“And the pretty redhead with Gus,” Grandma adds. “That’s Margeaux. She spells it funny because she’s from Louisiana, but she is sharp, that one. A lawyer.”
“And of course you know Brenna,” Mama throws out there.
“Kinda,” I say. “She was still a kid when I left.”
“She isn’t one anymore. And Milo Hayes took notice,” Grandma comments.
“Mama!” Daddy scolds.
“They are engaged, Jeremiah. It is not a secret.”
“Em and Dolly caught me all up on that whole thing,” I tell her. “Including exactly how Brandt discovered their secret.”
I waggle my eyebrows, letting her know that I’m in on the juicy part of the story. Grandma’s eyes go wide. Oh, apparently that’s tea she doesn’t have.
“You will have to tell me that story later.”
“Oh, look, here’s Em!” Mama says.
I twist, my heart rate speeding up. Not only at the idea of seeing my friend and cousin in her bridesmaid dress, but because we’re quickly running out of Hayes brothers. Three have already walked down the aisle, and one is the groom, leaving two. Only one of which I care about.
Ewan Hayes.
I blink, and there he is. Same as his brothers, he’s an older version of himself—the same ruggedly handsome blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who preferred to be out in nature than confined to a classroom.
Staring at him now though, there is something different about him.
Something off. Ewan has always been mysterious in his own way—preferring to keep to himself and only speaking when he really has something to say—but this goes beyond that. It’s like something is missing.
My heart stops, my breath catching as they pass us, wondering if he saw me.
If his body is going to betray him the same way mine is right now, skin heating up and brain starting to short-circuit because all he can think about is what it will be like to have our arms around each other again.
To be Ewan and Maisey again. To find out what forever feels like.
If he even wants to be Ewan and Maisey again. Things didn’t exactly end all sunshiny between us. No, not end. We didn’t end. We simply followed our independent dreams for a while. That’s all.
But we have a pact. Sealed in ketchup.
Pausing briefly at the top of the aisle, Ewan turns toward us and winks. My insides leap, stunned beyond belief at that move. A wink. A wink.
That is until I see Emily return the gesture, and I realize he was not looking over at me at all. He was winking at her.
Ewan was winking at Emily.
“Aren’t they cute?” Mama whispers.
“Ewan and Em?” I choke out.
“They’ve been…hanging out…” Grandma adds.
Hanging out? Em’s been hanging out with Ewan…holy shit…
“That’s her word for it at least. I don’t know if that’s code for something.”
“Mama!”
My father’s reaction fades into the distance as the room starts to spin. Everything I thought I knew mere seconds ago crashes down around me. This is not how this was supposed to go. At all.
Ewan Hayes might not be single after all.
So much for our ketchup pact.