Chapter 4 #2
There was something there in his gaze that made her stomach shiver.
She took a deep breath and kept moving toward him, and then she saw his head begin to tilt, saw him look away.
He wasn’t looking at her.
He was looking at the ground, his breathing coming quick and sharp.
“Look at me,” she whispered.
She needed him to look at her. He couldn’t be looking down; what would everyone be thinking? Well, they were all standing up looking at her, so they weren’t seeing what she was seeing, but if they did, they would see a groom that didn’t seem all that interested in his bride or –
His shoulders moved, followed by one foot, and then another. The officiant looked startled as Alan walked right past him and then broke into a run.
He was running away.
He was running away from her.
Running flat out over the green lawn that stretched across the hotel property, toward… He was running toward the woods.
Away from her.
It had only been seconds, but it felt like minutes, it felt like an hour, and she was standing there frozen, watching as her groom fled the scene.
And then, slow motion, like a movie, she saw a horse and rider moving at full tilt across the lawn toward Alan.
Walker.
Sitting on the back of the horse, a cowboy hat on his head, looking the very image of the wild west, her dream, her nightmare, all rolled into one.
He cocked his arm up over his head, and it took her a moment to notice that he was swinging a lasso.
And then he let that lasso fly and hooked it around Alan’s foot, bringing him down onto the grass.
Everyone had their phones out.
They were filming.
They thought this was a bit…
A performance. Maybe.
She could see that half the audience was laughing, the other half looking on in horror. Nobody knew quite what they were witnessing.
Her father had begun to walk purposefully toward where Alan was, where Walker was now jumping off his horse and wrapping the rope tightly around Alan’s body, like he was a recalcitrant calf that Walker was having to subdue.
Walker left the rope there, left Alan bound and lying on the grass, and got back on the horse.
Addison was frozen, watching as Walker rode with speed and urgency toward her.
The whole crowd was in an uproar now, half of them out of their seats. Some, the ones on Alan’s side, were running to where he was tied. Some were simply filming as Walker slowed the horse and walked that horse down the aisle toward her.
All she could do was stare at him.
Then he reached down, picked her up off the ground, and swung her over the horse.
He held her firmly, turned the horse around, and began to gallop away from the crowd.
So fast her shoes fell off.
She had no idea where they were going.
Only that at some point, he slowed the horse down and helped her into a sitting position in front of him, so that she wasn’t simply slung over the horse like a sack of potatoes.
His arm was wrapped around her waist, her body pressed against his hard chest.
He was hot. That heat was the only thing grounding her to the moment. To real life.
The only thing making her feel like she might not be dreaming.
She didn’t have her phone. That was such a strange realization, but it made her feel frightened and disconnected. The whole place must be in an uproar, and…
“He left me at the altar.”
“He didn’t even let you get there,” Walker murmured.
She’d never heard him speak quite so gently.
And that, more than anything, made her feel alarmed.
Because even Walker felt sorry for her.
Which meant this was really, really bad.
Everything was going perfectly, and that was supposed to be her sign.
Everything was going perfectly, so why had Alan done that?
They lived together, they spent practically every day together, if he was having doubts why didn’t he say anything?
Why didn’t you say anything?
Because she hadn’t been having doubts. She had just been having nerves. And that was completely different.
It was completely different.
They left the open field and went into a trail that was obscured by trees.
“Where are we going?”
“No one will find you,” he said.
She didn’t question that. Because she suddenly felt the deep, certain need that she had to hide.
All she could think about now was all the cameras on all those phones, filming the most horrific moment of her life. People had captured the look on her face. And she had no idea how she seemed.
She hadn’t been thinking about that. Because why would she? She suddenly felt so violated.
That the entire town, all of them, had seen that moment.
She was running for mayor, and everybody had just watched her get abandoned at her own wedding.
She was Addison Carey, and everybody knew her, and people envied her, and they had all just watched her get abandoned at her wedding.
And she knew there was more than one person that had really enjoyed that.
That was laughing, that was filled with a deep sense of satisfaction that actually, everything hadn’t worked out for her.
That she wasn’t safe. But it wasn’t done.
Maybe she was even her mother’s daughter, and had deserved to be abandoned like that.
She felt like curling in on herself, shrinking and humiliated.
But she was just thankful that right now, the only person there was Walker.
At least Walker already didn’t like her.
At least it hadn’t changed anything or dredged up any feelings he didn’t know were there.
There was something almost comforting about that. About it being him.
Because as much as she hated the idea of people taking a little bit of secret satisfaction in her pain, she hated the idea of pity almost as much.
Walker wouldn’t pity her.
The trail wound through the trees, and into a clearing, where suddenly she saw a beautiful home. Mid-century style with asymmetrical angles and large windows.
She knew, without having to ask, that this was Walker’s house.
It was western, but it was also sleek and modern, and that seemed to be Walker all over, even though she couldn’t say that she knew him, it felt like something she understood.
It was weird that she was contemplating this while barefoot, on the back of a horse, having just experienced the most humiliating moment of her life, but then, what else was there to ponder, really?
Walker got off the horse, and then swept her down into his arms. Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe.
He was so strong, he carried her like she weighed nothing, even in this great, voluminous dress.
She looked down, eyes focused on the hollow of his throat, on the way that he was breathing.
She didn’t dare look up. She didn’t dare look up into his eyes.
She didn’t hold onto him, not anywhere, she had her hands pressed against her chest, like she was a corpse in a coffin, and allowed him to carry her into the house, the cool air pressing over her, chilly on her damp skin.
She was sweating.
It was hot outside, but also, probably the adrenaline rush had flooded her body and made her even warmer.
Sure. It was adrenaline.
Nothing to do with Walker.
He set her down, barefoot, right there in the entryway.
Only then did she look up at him.
“I’m going to go take care of some things. You… You just chill out here. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“I don’t have my phone,” she said.
“I’ll bring you your phone. And… something to change into.”
“All right. Well… thanks.” She looked down and wiggled her toes, which were covered by her ball gown. “I need shoes.”
“Yeah. You just… You just chill. Okay?”
“Yeah.” She looked around, suddenly feeling desolate. “I shouldn’t be here. I should go back and handle all the guests.”
“Nope. I’ve got it. If anybody has any explaining to do, it’s the groom. But otherwise, I’ll take care of everything. You just stay here.”
And then Walker turned around, and closed the door behind him, leaving her alone in his house.
Then Addison’s knees gave out, and she sank to the floor, that beautiful wedding dress billowed out all around her, and she began to weep.