Page 40 of Giving Grace

Twenty-five

Grace

I forgot Cari’s veil.

I even know where I left it. Can picture it perfectly, sitting on top of the washer in the laundry room where I set it down to help Molly get her shoes on this morning before we left Boston to make the hour-long drive to Declan and Tess’s house on the Cape.

Shit.

I’m careful not to say it out loud, lest I be harassed for pocket change by my four-year-old daughter for my swearing. Last I saw Molly, she was outside with my mom, running around with Noah, the grandson of Patrick’s friend, Davino Fiorella, who is the ring bearer, but I can’t be too careful these days.

“Is everything okay over there?”

We’re in one of the downstairs guest suits that we’ve commandeered for the occasion and I look up from the bed where I’m carefully laying everything out to find Cari watching me while Henley puts the finishing touches on her make-up.

“Yeah.” I nod my head, taking a step back from the bed like I was caught trying to shoplift. “Everything is fine.”

Everything is not fine.

The ceremony starts in less than two hours—even if I left right now, there’s no way I’d make it back in time. I know Cari, if I tell her I forgot the veil, she’d just shrug and tell me not to worry about it, but I can’t because this is her big day and I want everything to be absolutely perfect for her. After everything she and Patrick have done for me these past months, she deserves it.

They both do.

“Are you almost finished with her?” I aim my question at Henley because I know she’s about to ask me to switch places with Cari, but I don’t have time for it right now because I’m in the throes of a mid-sized crisis. “Want me to go get Tess?”

“Sure.” Henley gives me a quick grin. “If you think you can catch her.”

“I’m on it,” I say, snapping off a quick salute before bolting out the door and down the hallway that feeds into the living room. It’s empty. Thinking maybe she’s hiding outside, I turn back the way I came, when I catch the low rumble of Declan’s voice coming from the kitchen.

Bingo.

Pushing deeper into the living room, I turn left to spot my prey sitting on the kitchen counter, Declan’s hips wedged between her thighs. Her arms wound around his neck. Legs locked around him. Mouths fused together.

“Sorry to interrupt.” I look away, cheeks hot with embarrassment. “Tess, it’s your turn in the chair.”

Reluctantly tearing her mouth away from Declan’s, she lets out a groan. “I told you we should’ve taken this to the truck when we had the chance.”

Laughing, Declan slides his hands under her bottom to lift her off the counter before walking her over to where I’m standing. “Don’t be a baby, Castinetti. It’s a make-up chair,” he tells her, setting her on her feet. “Not an electric chair.”

“I’ll look like a clown,” she gripes, dropping her hands to her sides with a sigh.

“An adorable, angry clown,” he corrects her, laughing even harder when she pushes herself onto the toes of her boots.

“Don’t push me, Gilroy,” she tells him, tapping the tip of her freshly manicured finger to the scar on his chin. “I’m sure I have a wrench around here somewhere.”

Catching her hand in his, he presses the threatening fingertip to his lips, kissing it tenderly. “You’re adorable when you’re violent.” She growls at him but before she can make good on her promise, he turns her toward the hall. “Now go be a girl,” he tells her with a smack on the ass.

Incredibly, she does just that, grumbling and stomping her way down the hallway before disappearing around the corner. As soon as she’s gone, Declan looks at me. “What’s wrong?” he says, frowning down at me. “And don’t tell me nothing because you and your sister both get this look on your face, like you’re waiting for someone to punch you in the gut when you’re upset, so just tell me what’s going on, so I can help.”

Instead of answering him, I just stare up at him, probably because that’s the most he’s said to me since the night he showed up on Patrick and Cari’s doorstep to dump Ryan, practically at me feet.

“Grace?” His frown deepens into a scowl and I can tell he thinks it’s something major. That the groom has been kidnapped by terrorists or worse, that maybe we’ve run out of beer.

“I forgot Cari’s veil. In Boston. I had it but then I set it down and I—” I stop talking because I’m not really talking. I’m rambling and on the verge of making a fool of myself. Taking a deep breath, I give him a fake smile. “Anyway, everyone is already here, and the ceremony starts in less than two hours, which means there isn’t time to drive back to get it, so unless you have some sort of teleportation device in your pocket, I’m afraid—”

Declan reaches into his pocket and pulls something out and for one insane moment, I think he might actually have one, but it’s just his cell phone. Instead of making Cari’s veil appear out of thin air with it, he dials a number.

“Hey—” The corner of his mouth kicks up a bit, the Gilroy dimple making a brief appearance. “Nah, man—you’re fine. It’s a beach wedding. You on the road yet?” He listens for a moment before continuing. “Grace forgot Cari’s veil at their place, and she needs you to swing by and pick it up on your way out of town.” He listens again, nodding his head. “Okay.” Dropping the phone away from his ear he holds it out to me. “It’s Ryan—he wants to talk to you.”

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