Page 16 of Into the Dark
Just then, Rob appears from behind me and clamps her hands on my shoulders. “Babe, so sorry, but can I borrow you for a bit? Bride necessity.” She gives Mum and Dad an apologetic smile.
“A bridesmaid’s work is never done. Never doing this again, that’s for sure,” I sigh. “Okay, well, if I don’t see you before you go, drive safe, and I’ll call you on Monday,” I tell my parents, giving them both a hug and kiss before Rob pulls me out of the ballroom at pace.
“Umm…everything okay?” I ask as she leads me down a corridor toward the back of the castle. I’m sure there’s a ladies closer to the ballroom than this one.
“Yes, it will be,” she mutters, focusing straight ahead.
“Rob, you’re kind of freaking me out a bit now. Are you okay?” I lift my dress and quicken my pace so I’m side by side with her. “Is Dan okay? Your dad?”
“Yeah, yeah, everyone is fine. Just trust me.” She tugs me harder along the carpeted hallway, past numerous paintings, marble statues, and antique-looking weaponry.
At the end of the long, carpeted hallway, we come to tall set of French paneled doors that open onto the raised stone patio we took photos on earlier. The patio looks out over the gorgeous manicured gardens to the rear of the castle, and with the sun just about setting, there’s a breathtaking view of the warm summer sky. A stunning mix of purples, pinks, and oranges spills across the horizon as the sun sinks into the ground, and I understand why she’s brought me out here. More photos. Rob’s obsessed with taking pictures, and today she’s been a little distracted. She wants one of us as the sun sets. God, I love her.
“Wow…that is stunning.” I marvel open-mouthed at the view. “You seriously had the perfect day, babe. The weather, the dress, the castle, the man, the talented bridesmaid who plays Bach…” I wink at her.
“It really was the perfect day, and you played such a massive part of that, Alex, you really did. You know that, right? I knew how you’d be feeling today. I knew how hard it would be for you, and I just…I just had to do something. I hate seeing you like this. I didn’t want you to be sad today. I don’t want you to be sad at all, but especially not today.” She shakes her head and gives me that same look she’s been giving me all day. One I haven’t been able to quite place. Concern. Guilt. Pity.
I move toward her to take her arm, squeezing softly. She looks sad, and I don’t want her to feel sad today. We can mourn my heartbreak another time. “Hey, no being sad on your wedding day. Either of us. And you will do something for me. When I get married…” As the words leave my mouth, I realize how ridiculous they sound. Because the only man I’ve ever wanted to spend my life with is gone. I continue regardless. “When I get married, you’ll be there, and you’ll pay me back.”
She nods and laughs. “Yes, I will. I’ll pay you back, but I won’t play Bach. I’d give a go though. For you’d I’d give it a go.” She reaches down to take hold of my hand, squeezing it tightly. “But anyway, for any of that to happen I had to do this first. Please don’t hate me. If this blows up in my face I want you to know I was only trying to help, okay? I love you, and I want to see you happy. That’s all, okay?”
I’m confused. “What are you talking about? Why would I hate you? I know I whine about taking photos, but today is an exception. Come on though—let’s get it over with so I can have a belated cry and smudge my makeup.”
“Oh, I never brought you out here for a photo, babe, but great idea. We’ll do that after.” She looks over my shoulder at the sunset and smiles, nodding. “This is way more important though. ’Cause you belong together. I know it. I saw it.”
Something small and fluttery unfurls in my belly as the confusion grows and transforms. “What are you talking about?” I ask.
Why is my heart beating so fast?
When I turn around in the direction of Rob’s gaze, my legs almost buckle beneath me, and the breath whips out of my lungs.
Oh my god. It can’t be. He can’t be. He’s here.
“Jake?”
Something explodes inside my body, a quiet but powerful thing that makes my breath disappear. I think the same thing over and over again: He’s here. How is he here?
He doesn’t speak, just stares at me with those warm turquoise eyes, until slowly, very slowly, I feel my body and soul begin to awaken and warm under them. His mouth is covered in a rich brown beard, and so I can’t tell if it’s soft or tense as he stares at me as if he doesn’t quite believe I’m real. He looks exactly like I remembered. No—better. Better because he’s flesh and blood and real.
The heated silence stretches on, and neither of us speak to fill it.
Finally, Rob clears her throat. “Wow, yeah, like I thought. I’ll leave you both to it then.” I hear the rustle of her dress fade behind me, and still I can’t look away from him or say anything.
His gaze burns into me, making me feel warmer than I’ve felt in weeks.
He’s wearing a perfectly tailored dark blue three-piece suit, the top button of his white shirt undone and a black tie hanging beneath his open throat. His hair is longer—highlighting painfully how much time has passed since I last saw him—but he has it slicked back off his face. His neatly groomed beard, even if it does partially hide the mouth, I love so much. It suits him perfectly. It makes him look older, more serious, distinguished even. Still incredibly beautiful, still the most devastating man I’ve ever seen, but he looks almost like a stranger to me. It hurts in a way I can’t describe.
“How are you here?” I ask in a weak whisper.
He considers his response for a moment, his mouth tightening ever so slightly. Then he says, “Robyn invited me.”
Oh, that voice. That rough, deep male voice that used to send shivers through me still does. Of course it does.
“Robyn invited you,” I repeat. My lips feel dry and useless, so I lick my tongue over them.
“But I can go,” he says, taking the smallest of steps toward me. “I can go right now if you want me to. I don’t want to be here if it upsets you. I told her that…”—he rubs a hand over his mouth, his beard—“that if you saw me and you didn’t want me here then I’d be gone.”
Gone. A stab of fear shoots through me. Oh, I’m not ready for him to be gone again, for him to leave me again. I shake my head. “No. I don’t…I mean, I’m not upset. You don’t have to go.” As I say this, I see his shoulders drop with relief.