Page 77 of The Billionaire's Runaway Bride

She would know. She had to carry on after losing her husband, and now, she’s doing it again after Lauren’s departure. They didn’t have long to form a bond, but what relationship they had was strong.

“I am too,” she admits. “The social media stuff sure is making a difference.”

“Lots of reservations?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

She clears her throat. “Have you heard from her?”

“No.”

A light huff comes next. “And you haven’t reached out?”

“No.” I can’t. She made her choice.

“Well, I hope no news is good news,” she says. “You know? I hope she’s okay.”

I hang my head and rub at my chest as the pain blooms all over again. I can’t see how she could be okay if she is suffering the same heartache I carry day in and day out.

“I hope so too.”

Chapter 30

Lauren

I was right. The first butler who locked me into that “guest” room didn’t last. I was to sit at the table for dinner with my parents yesterday. When my father laid into me and harassed me for wasting his time at the vineyard for the first wedding that didn’t happen, my mother noticed the butler’s wince. He hadn’t learned how to mask himself.

Then my mother had her turn at bashing me, complaining that I’d gained too much weight when I ran off. The butler couldn’t catch himself from scowling her way.

So, today, when I hear the door open, I’m not surprised it’s another staff member, an older man who’s worked here forever. He reeks of baby powder, and I swear he was probably a puppy-kicker in another life. I maintain an extra step of a buffer from him as he leads me to the lounge.

Jeremy sits there, puffing on a cigar. He’s taken the couch, and my parents wait on chairs flanking it.

Dammit. I have no other option. That third chair near the ugly side table won’t work. I lower myself to the couch, keeping two feet between me and my future husband.

“It’s about time you show up,” my father grumbles.

I deadpan. You have me under lock and key? What do you expect?

Besides, how the hell could I have come here when I didn’t know a meeting was planned? Or is this supposed to be a “visit”? No one else is here, so I don’t understand why I’d need to fake the glowing bride role.

“Forget about being lazy, Lauren. I don’t know what you got up to in that damn motel in the mountains, but that’s not how things are done around here.”

“And forget about ever going back there,” my mother adds. “You won’t be running this time.”

No, really? I resist rolling my eyes and sit there to take it all. A mental countdown is ticking in my mind, and I wish I could hear the sound of a second hand moving around. Just to know time isn’t standing still like it seems to be.

I will get out of this. I have to. But it needs to go according to plan.

“I’m meeting a few guys on the greens soon,” Jeremy says, bored. “Anything else you want to talk about, James?”

I bottle my anger at the fact that they’re chatting without me. That’s the way it’s always been, though, discussing me without my input.

He grins at my mother. “Thank you for the delicious brunch, Lacie.”

Yeah, right. Like she cooks anything. I fight back a hunger pang. My mother is cutting my portions, claiming I gained “at least twenty pounds” in two weeks. More than that, I miss Marian’s lovingly homecooked meals.

“One more thing,” my father says. “I’ve been reviewing my financial summary.” He glowers at me, and I’m confused why I’m targeted in his anger on that topic. It’s not like I spend his money or touch it at all.

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