When You Are Mine(23)

"Who said yes?" Walsh's blood slowed to a crawl through his veins. His heart punched him from inside.

"Kerris!" Cam hooked his elbow around Walsh's neck. "She's gonna marry  me. The ladies have her over there oohing and aahing over the ring. I  was gonna ask her tonight anyway, so I had the ring in my pocket. Can  you believe that? And she didn't even wait for me to ask. Just said  yes."

Walsh nodded, twisting his mouth into a board-stiff smile. The truth of  Kerris lost to him forever burned a hole in his mind. It wasn't  possible, but he glanced across the room and saw Kerris at the epicenter  of a circle of gushing women, all admiring the diamond on her ring  finger.                       
       
           



       





Chapter Sixteen



Where the hell have you been?" Jo's voice snapped at Walsh through the phone.

"Well, hello to you, too, cuz." Walsh had to laugh. Jo was more growl than bite.

"You've been AWOL for the past six weeks, ever since Cam got engaged.  You missed the engagement party. You've left Brad, that moron, to plan  Cam's bachelor party tonight. Where have you been?"

"Whoa, one question at a time." Walsh's tone noticeably iced over under  her rebuke. "You and Mom decided you wanted to get into the wedding  planning business, not me. Dad's got me running point on my first  acquisition. Your dad has me scoping for a new orphanage in Haiti. I  haven't been sitting around with my thumb up my ass, so back off."

"Touch-y." Jo softened her voice a fraction. "Now I can't stop smiling  at the image of you with your thumb up your ass. I guess you're excused,  but are you on your way?"

"I'll be there, but late. Got drafted into a last-minute meeting. I'll  miss most of the rehearsal dinner, but I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Okay. Sorry I lit into you. My caterer is about as smart as paint, and  she almost ruined everything. Lobster ravioli, not lobster fettuccini.  Geez. There are so many details. It's become such a production."

"Maybe you should've listened to Kerris when she tried to tell you what she wanted."

"What? That little ceremony at the covered bridge?" Jo gave an "oh  please" smack of her lips. "Cam has always wanted to get married here in  our garden. You know that. I want this to be perfect for him."

"I'm sure it will be." Walsh made sure to sound resigned and distracted.  "Look, I need to get back in here for this meeting. I'll see you around  nine o'clock or so."

"Good! You'll make it in time for the bachelor party."

Whoopee, Walsh thought, hanging up the phone with more force than  necessary. Knowing Brad, there'd be floor to ceiling strippers and a  plethora of porn. Not Walsh's speed.

Trisha, Walsh's new assistant, poked her head around the corner into his office.

"Want me to get you on an earlier flight since the Merrist meeting was canceled?"

"No, that's okay." Walsh shifted his eyes from Trisha to the projections  displayed on his laptop. "I could use the extra time to catch up on a  few things."

"You could make that rehearsal dinner, though, if you catch the next  flight out. There's one leaving for Raleigh-Durham in a couple of  hours."

He paused in his typing long enough to flick an annoyed glance her way.

"No, really. Just leave it."

He waved her back to her desk, making sure not to appreciate her  departure too much. She really was a feast for the senses. Long legs in  her short skirts, heart-shaped ass, breasts full and firm, mocha skin,  closely cropped burnished hair. Even aside from his no fraternization  policy, he wasn't interested. He was in a funk, a malaise fast  approaching depression. Approaching about as fast as tomorrow's wedding.

"Damn." He closed his eyes, pressing the bridge of his nose and running a  hand across the back of his neck. "Kerris, why are you doing this?"

The question had ricocheted in his head a million times since his  mother's birthday party. He hadn't even tried to corner Kerris, to get  her alone and ask what the hell she thought was doing. Even after what  had happened in the gazebo, the intimacy they had shared and the tears  they had shed over her past, he'd known they still had a long way to go  before she would admit what was apparent to him. But this?

He rushed into that ballroom determined to lay all his cards on the  table with Cam, even if it destroyed their friendship. He was that  certain Kerris was supposed to be his. The shock of Cam's announcement  was like a blow to his solar plexus, robbing him of air for precious  seconds. And then anger, violent emotion, had flooded in. He  congratulated Cam, didn't speak a word to Kerris, and took the stairs up  to his room two at a time. Jo followed only minutes later to check on  him.

"So this is where you disappeared to," Jo said from the door she'd just  opened without invitation. "You're missing the celebration."                       
       
           



       

"Yeah?" He loaded the monosyllable with enough hostility to put her off,  only Jo hadn't ever acknowledged his Keep Off the Grass signs.

"Yeah, Cam was asking where you were." The challenge in Jo's eyes  reminded Walsh so much of his mother, he almost got up and docilely  followed her back downstairs.

"Not feeling well. I already congratulated Cam. Tell him I'll see him tomorrow."

"But, Walsh-"

"Fuck, Jo! Will you get the hell out? Just go. I can't … I just can't do this right now."

He couldn't bring himself to look up from the threading of the duvet  covering his bed. He knew Jo was standing there, probably shocked and  trying to figure out what was wrong with him. When he finally glanced  up, she looked completely unfazed. He was afraid she already knew what  was wrong and had for some time.

That moment came back to him as he deboarded his flight later that  evening. He glanced at his watch. Nine o'clock. He had missed the  rehearsal dinner, but would still make the bachelor party. At least he  wouldn't have to see Kerris.

The disappointment, hurt, and frustration all rested on a bed of anger.  Anger at Kerris for not facing what he absolutely knew was between them.  Anger at Cam for settling for what Kerris offered instead of the  passionate marriage he deserved. Anger at himself, most of all, for  letting it all happen. For doing what he'd always done-protected Cam  from things that were unpleasant. Jo did it. His mother did it. They all  did it; shielded him from harsh realities to somehow make up for the  crap he'd suffered during his childhood. It had never been good, but  this time it might destroy him and Cam both.

And Kerris.

He dropped his bags in the foyer, overpowered by the almost obnoxious  smell of flowers. He walked into the front room and was nearly assaulted  by white calla lilies. Lilies?

Which flower is your favorite?

The orchid.

He suspected this wedding was his mother and Jo's creation. He had  experienced firsthand their tendency to take over. If it were up to  them, he'd be married with a couple of kids by now. Maybe "producing"  Cam's wedding would assuage them for a little while.

The grim reality of tomorrow's farce pressed in on him. How the hell was he going to make it through tomorrow's ceremony?

Not a rhetorical question, Bennett. You can't make a fool of yourself.  Don't look at her coming down the aisle. Make sure you keep your trap  shut when the preacher asks if anyone has a reason these two shouldn't  be wed.

Um, yeah, it should be me standing beside her, Rev.

The simpler, truer, impossible answer was that she was … his. He knew it  every time he looked at her and she looked back at him. It had taken him  all summer to figure it out, and maybe now she never would.

"Sorry, the front door wasn't closed all the way."

The closest thing Walsh had ever seen to a real life pixie stood in the  doorway. Her sharp little bob was dyed the color of plums, though Asian  heritage imprinted her elfin face. He didn't know her, but she seemed  familiar.

Based on the little he'd heard from Cam and Kerris, he thought this  might be Kerris's roommate and business partner. And they might actually  have met a couple of times when everyone was hanging out by the river,  but he couldn't be sure. One way to find out.

"Meredith?"

"Yeah, and you're Walsh Bennett, right?" Her wide smile pulled her eyes into a greater tilt.

"You're Kerris's friend."

"Yeah, and so are you." She shot him a look spiced with mischief.

Walsh's gaze narrowed at that comment.

"I guess I'm Kerris's friend, too." He kept his tone careful.

"Well, any friend of Cam's is a friend of Kerris's now, I guess." She  smiled before gesturing back toward the door. "I'm a little lost. We're  staying in the guesthouse tonight, but I didn't see how to get to it?  When I saw the front door cracked, I thought somebody could help me."