Not Quite Over You
Page 66
Silver found herself with Wynn for a while. A little later, Natalie and Ronan seemed to be shadowing her. It took her a while to figure out that her friends had a plan—for the duration of the party, someone would always be nearby. She spotted Irene and the man she assumed was Drew’s father talking to the king and queen. She felt a moment of disquiet, then reminded herself whatever his parents had going on with the royal family was the least of her problems. She had to get through the rest of the party without having an emotional meltdown.
She stayed strong through the buffet. She found herself seated between Ronan and Mathias, with their respective fiancées nearby. They kept her laughing with ridiculous stories about growing up in Fool’s Gold. Once she looked up and saw Drew talking with Jasper. For a second their eyes met. She felt a combination of pain and desperate longing, then quickly turned away. She didn’t look up from her plate for at least a minute and by then he’d moved on.
After eating, people went outside. The games were a hit and when the band started playing, dozens of couples got up to dance. Silver was enjoying the music, full, a little buzzed and content with the day. She’d done well, she told herself. Maybe getting over Drew wasn’t going to be as hard as she—
“Silver, we have to talk.”
She didn’t have to turn around to know who was speaking. She recognized the voice. Her sense of being okay went poof, leaving her scared and hurting.
“This isn’t the place or time,” she said, refusing to look at him. She kept her attention on the dancers. King Malik and his wife were quite the couple, moving in time with the music and gazing into each other’s eyes. A love that lasted, she thought with a sigh. That must be nice.
“Silver, please.”
She made the mistake of turning around and looking into his eyes. Just being close to him was enough to make her weak. She nodded once, then braced herself for what was to come. He reached for her hand and led her inside.
They ended up in the groom’s room. The smaller space had only one mirror and no big closet, but there was plenty of seating.
She chose one of the chairs rather than the sofa so he couldn’t be too close, then waited while he settled across from her. He leaned toward her, his elbows on his thighs, his hands linked together.
“There’s a lot going on,” he began. “My parents and everything they wanted. You and me, Autumn. I’ve had a lot to consider.”
“And Julie.”
“What?”
“You left out Julie. Your dinner together in Palm Springs.”
“How did you know about that?”
“Your mother forwarded your text. So how was it?”
She knew she sounded bitchy, but she couldn’t help it. If Drew had some big emotional revelation, he would have started with that. He would have begun by telling her he missed her, missed them. That he loved her. But this conversation wasn’t heading that way.
“She was flying home,” he told her. “I drove her to the airport. Her flight wasn’t for a few hours so we went to dinner.”
“I’m sure it was lovely.” She stood. “Drew, there’s nothing to say.”
He stood. “There is and you need to listen. Silver, everything is different now. We’re not kids. This is real. That week with Autumn showed me what I’ve been missing.”
She couldn’t do this, she thought desperately. Couldn’t hear him say he didn’t want her. Yes, she was a coward and she would feel bad about that later, but for now she had to protect herself.
She ran to the door and jerked it open.
“Silver, wait!”
She saw Wynn in the hallway. Her friend made a beeline for her.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you all over.” Wynn glanced over Silver’s shoulder and saw Drew. “Stay or go?”
“Go,” Silver whispered. “We have to go.”
Wynn led her back to the party. Silver stayed near her friends and tried to find her happy place but it was gone. She slipped out quietly and went home. Once there, she curled up in bed and closed her eyes.
She would be fine, she told herself. Perfectly and completely fine. All she needed was time and a big enough head injury for her to lose her memory. Until then, she was going to have to fake it—even with herself.
* * *
SILVER MUST HAVE fallen asleep because the sound of her phone ringing woke her. She grabbed it and pushed the talk button.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
She recognized Renee’s voice. “I’m home. What’s going on?”
“Oh, something you have to see to believe. Seriously, we have a big problem here. Hurry.”
With that, Renee hung up.
Silver got up and looked at her phone. It was close to midnight. The party would have ended hours ago, so what could be going on?
She grabbed her keys and made her way back to Weddings Out of the Box. The whole place was dark and there weren’t any cars except...
She recognized Drew’s car parked near the long fence line. As she got closer, her headlights swept across a man holding a spray paint can. Sloppy letters covered the fence from one end to the other: Drew Loves Silver. There were dozens of crooked hearts, some with arrows piercing them. There were also some stars and an animal of some kind but she wasn’t sure if it was a horse or a dog or what.
She parked and got out, leaving her headlights on to illuminate the scene.
Drew turned and saw her. “Silver!” He sounded delighted—and drunk. “You’re here. Look what I did. I said it all wrong before. I told Julie I loved you and she said she was the wrong person to hear the message. That I had to tell you. But when I tried, you left and it was wrong.” He paused. “Wrong is a really funny word.”
He pointed to the fence. “I love you and I want the world to know. Isn’t it great?”
“It’s your cousin’s business and you’ve just defaced it. No, it’s not great. You don’t love me, Drew. You don’t know what you want but I’m pretty sure it’s not me.”
“You’re wrong.” He grinned. “Wrong, wrong, wrong.”
A car drove up. Silver groaned when she saw it belonged to the Happily Inc police department.
“Garrick,” she said as a familiar officer got out of his vehicle.
“Silver.” He shook his head. “You’re attracting trouble these days. Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“He do this?”
“He’s holding the paint can, Garrick. I would have thought your training covered this sort of thing.”
“I would have thought you’d want to plead his case.”
She was tired of all of it. Of Drew coming and going, of hearing about Julie, of the backhanded “I love you.” She wanted to believe it, but come on, he told her with spray paint? How was she supposed to believe that?
“Okay, then.” Garrick walked over to Drew. “I guess you’re with me.”
“Is Silver coming, too?”
“Not this time.” Garrick looked at the wall. “Pallas is not going to be happy.”
“Drew’s her cousin,” Silver said. “She might not be happy, but she’ll be understanding.”
Silver waited until Garrick drove away, then returned to her truck. She would head home, send Pallas a text about what had happened, then figure out what to do with the rest her life. She was halfway back to her loft apartment when she passed the Sweet Dreams Inn. Involuntarily, she slowed as she saw what looked an awful lot like Wynn and one of the sexy bodyguards heading into the hotel.
She stayed strong through the buffet. She found herself seated between Ronan and Mathias, with their respective fiancées nearby. They kept her laughing with ridiculous stories about growing up in Fool’s Gold. Once she looked up and saw Drew talking with Jasper. For a second their eyes met. She felt a combination of pain and desperate longing, then quickly turned away. She didn’t look up from her plate for at least a minute and by then he’d moved on.
After eating, people went outside. The games were a hit and when the band started playing, dozens of couples got up to dance. Silver was enjoying the music, full, a little buzzed and content with the day. She’d done well, she told herself. Maybe getting over Drew wasn’t going to be as hard as she—
“Silver, we have to talk.”
She didn’t have to turn around to know who was speaking. She recognized the voice. Her sense of being okay went poof, leaving her scared and hurting.
“This isn’t the place or time,” she said, refusing to look at him. She kept her attention on the dancers. King Malik and his wife were quite the couple, moving in time with the music and gazing into each other’s eyes. A love that lasted, she thought with a sigh. That must be nice.
“Silver, please.”
She made the mistake of turning around and looking into his eyes. Just being close to him was enough to make her weak. She nodded once, then braced herself for what was to come. He reached for her hand and led her inside.
They ended up in the groom’s room. The smaller space had only one mirror and no big closet, but there was plenty of seating.
She chose one of the chairs rather than the sofa so he couldn’t be too close, then waited while he settled across from her. He leaned toward her, his elbows on his thighs, his hands linked together.
“There’s a lot going on,” he began. “My parents and everything they wanted. You and me, Autumn. I’ve had a lot to consider.”
“And Julie.”
“What?”
“You left out Julie. Your dinner together in Palm Springs.”
“How did you know about that?”
“Your mother forwarded your text. So how was it?”
She knew she sounded bitchy, but she couldn’t help it. If Drew had some big emotional revelation, he would have started with that. He would have begun by telling her he missed her, missed them. That he loved her. But this conversation wasn’t heading that way.
“She was flying home,” he told her. “I drove her to the airport. Her flight wasn’t for a few hours so we went to dinner.”
“I’m sure it was lovely.” She stood. “Drew, there’s nothing to say.”
He stood. “There is and you need to listen. Silver, everything is different now. We’re not kids. This is real. That week with Autumn showed me what I’ve been missing.”
She couldn’t do this, she thought desperately. Couldn’t hear him say he didn’t want her. Yes, she was a coward and she would feel bad about that later, but for now she had to protect herself.
She ran to the door and jerked it open.
“Silver, wait!”
She saw Wynn in the hallway. Her friend made a beeline for her.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you all over.” Wynn glanced over Silver’s shoulder and saw Drew. “Stay or go?”
“Go,” Silver whispered. “We have to go.”
Wynn led her back to the party. Silver stayed near her friends and tried to find her happy place but it was gone. She slipped out quietly and went home. Once there, she curled up in bed and closed her eyes.
She would be fine, she told herself. Perfectly and completely fine. All she needed was time and a big enough head injury for her to lose her memory. Until then, she was going to have to fake it—even with herself.
* * *
SILVER MUST HAVE fallen asleep because the sound of her phone ringing woke her. She grabbed it and pushed the talk button.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
She recognized Renee’s voice. “I’m home. What’s going on?”
“Oh, something you have to see to believe. Seriously, we have a big problem here. Hurry.”
With that, Renee hung up.
Silver got up and looked at her phone. It was close to midnight. The party would have ended hours ago, so what could be going on?
She grabbed her keys and made her way back to Weddings Out of the Box. The whole place was dark and there weren’t any cars except...
She recognized Drew’s car parked near the long fence line. As she got closer, her headlights swept across a man holding a spray paint can. Sloppy letters covered the fence from one end to the other: Drew Loves Silver. There were dozens of crooked hearts, some with arrows piercing them. There were also some stars and an animal of some kind but she wasn’t sure if it was a horse or a dog or what.
She parked and got out, leaving her headlights on to illuminate the scene.
Drew turned and saw her. “Silver!” He sounded delighted—and drunk. “You’re here. Look what I did. I said it all wrong before. I told Julie I loved you and she said she was the wrong person to hear the message. That I had to tell you. But when I tried, you left and it was wrong.” He paused. “Wrong is a really funny word.”
He pointed to the fence. “I love you and I want the world to know. Isn’t it great?”
“It’s your cousin’s business and you’ve just defaced it. No, it’s not great. You don’t love me, Drew. You don’t know what you want but I’m pretty sure it’s not me.”
“You’re wrong.” He grinned. “Wrong, wrong, wrong.”
A car drove up. Silver groaned when she saw it belonged to the Happily Inc police department.
“Garrick,” she said as a familiar officer got out of his vehicle.
“Silver.” He shook his head. “You’re attracting trouble these days. Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“He do this?”
“He’s holding the paint can, Garrick. I would have thought your training covered this sort of thing.”
“I would have thought you’d want to plead his case.”
She was tired of all of it. Of Drew coming and going, of hearing about Julie, of the backhanded “I love you.” She wanted to believe it, but come on, he told her with spray paint? How was she supposed to believe that?
“Okay, then.” Garrick walked over to Drew. “I guess you’re with me.”
“Is Silver coming, too?”
“Not this time.” Garrick looked at the wall. “Pallas is not going to be happy.”
“Drew’s her cousin,” Silver said. “She might not be happy, but she’ll be understanding.”
Silver waited until Garrick drove away, then returned to her truck. She would head home, send Pallas a text about what had happened, then figure out what to do with the rest her life. She was halfway back to her loft apartment when she passed the Sweet Dreams Inn. Involuntarily, she slowed as she saw what looked an awful lot like Wynn and one of the sexy bodyguards heading into the hotel.
