Once Upon A Half-Time 2(76)

I couldn’t.

I had no idea what to say or if I could even produce the words to puff out any sort of unflattering squeak. I swallowed.

A loveless marriage…but one that was built on friendship. If I hadn’t felt that thrill in Nate’s arms, I’d have thought Rick’s offer was the only logical way to approach a relationship.

But I’d felt the truth when Nate moved in me. Our passion wasn’t lust or selfish desire but a shared trust. In those few moments together, I found an eternity of happiness. Nate was everything I wanted, and what sparked between us was the beginning of perfect bond between two imperfect people.

“Thank you, Rick.” I pulled him into a hug. “You have no idea how much you mean to me.”

“I didn’t even get to use my line on you yet.”

“What’s that?”

He winked. “I’m a cardiologist. I’d never break your heart.”

I groaned. “A woman would be crazy to resist you.”

“Are you crazy?”

I bit my lip. “Rick…I…”

A shadow dropped over us, the light blocked from the doorway to the fellowship hall.

Oh no.

I knew exactly who it was. And I knew why he had stormed off.

Rick swore, but I left him outside, racing through the church.

What had he seen? What did he think he overheard? I rushed into the parking lot, staring through the darkness to stop him before he left. I hadn’t run fast enough.

“Nate, wait!”

His car peeled out of the gravel lot. He was gone. I sunk onto the stairs.

How was I going to get him back now?





21





Mandy





“You waxed off my eyebrow!”

Lindsey’s frantic cry launched me out of the stylist’s seat. My sister was missing an eyebrow, and I nearly lost an eye. The stylist shrieked and tossed her scissors down.

Mom flipped shit. She kicked the girl struggling to paint her toenails as she heaved herself from the chair. Trays crashed and magazines scattered. A bottle of acetone spilled down Lindsey’s leg. She didn’t notice her French tips wash away.

She stared in horror into the mirror.

“My baby!” Mom immediately snapped a picture on her phone, much to Lindsey’s dismay. “Don’t worry. We’ll document everything.”

“Oh my god, my face!” Lindsey burst into tears.

The stylists dropped their hairspray and abandoned the bridesmaids to rush to the bride’s aid.

Carmen caught the curling iron before it crashed on the floor. She tugged, but her hair tangled over the barrel. “O—okay. I’ll just…finish this curl myself.”

The iron had already melted to her extensions.

Fantastic.

I shuffled out of the chair, hair partially dried and the only one with makeup on.

Lindsey glared at the woman hiding the hot wax behind her back, but she was unable to look angry. Her eyebrow was thinner, but it wasn’t…

…Well, it wasn’t completely gone.

“Oh, it’s not bad,” I said. “It’s just…narrow.”

Wrong word.

I met the full brunt of my sister’s wedding-day fury, and she didn’t have enough Bloody Marys in her to temper that rage.

“Delicate!” I yelped the word as Lindsey pitched her tiara at me. “It’s delicate!”

The tiara shattered against the mirror. Lindsey dissolved into tears. Carmen’s hair was scorched. I needed to throw up.

So far, so good.

I expected more problems on the wedding day, and not just that my curls didn’t want to pin in place. I had to wear my hair down, despite Lindsey’s wishes for her bridesmaids in up-dos. Even encouraging Mom to take away my inheritance couldn’t get the curls to hang right.

Lindsey’s phone rang. Mom grabbed it first.

“It’s Bryce,” Mom said. “You can’t talk to him before the wedding.”

I shook my head. “No, he just can’t see her before the wedding.”

“If you want to bring bad luck to a ceremony, we’ll do it at yours.” Mom arched her perfectly manicured eyebrow and answered the call. “Though it’ll take more than luck to get you to the altar.”

There it was.

Mom had been too busy to properly criticize me. Things were finally back to normal.

Lindsey tried to tug the phone from Mom. She froze when Mom screeched.

“What do you mean he’s not here?”

Uh-oh.

“You find him. You find him right now.”

Lindsey caught her phone before it ended up in pieces next to her tiara. Mom hmphed, dousing her hair in enough hairspray to hold it firm through the apocalypse.

“You two girls have the worst taste in friends.” Mom pointed the hairspray at me. I ducked away before she threatened me with a spritz. “Where’s Nate?”