Page 47 of The Runaway Bride's Vow

Liza smiled. “It’s okay. I know you have a lot on your mind with the wedding so soon. I was telling you that I don’t have your size in any of the dresses that you selected. And I won’t have time to order them. As you know it can take anywhere from four to six months to order a dress.”

“Oh.” She did know that, but with the disappointment over her family’s absence from the wedding, she hadn’t thought much about the dress. “What do you have in my size?”

Liza searched through her inventory and came up with three dresses. One was a form-fitting dress. One was a sea of ruffles. And the last was a ballgown style.

None of them were what she wanted. She automatically rejected the mermaid-style dress. That left the ruffles or the ballgown. She tried both of them on.

The ballgown had lace sleeves. The ruffled one had spaghetti straps. She went back and forth, comparing each of their features. In the end, she settled for the ruffled dress. It wasn’t as fluffy as the ballgown.

Logan picked her up from the boutique. “How did it go?”

“Good.” She forced a smile. “I found a dress.”

She thought about telling him about her hesitation to rush the wedding. After all, most people didn’t get married that quickly after their engagement. He’d understand, wouldn’t he?

She glanced over at him, considering how she should word this. Should she mention her family? She hesitated to do that. He hadn’t even met her family yet, and she didn’t want him to have ill-feelings toward them from the start.

She considered mentioning the dress, but would he understand? After all, it was a beautiful gown. It just wasn’t one that she would have picked out for herself. Maybe she was just being too picky. It was only one day and then they’d have the rest of their lives together.

“That’s great!” He smiled. “Everything is falling into place. I found a suit to wear. You just have to let me know what color tie you want me to wear.”

She nodded. “I’ll do that.”

“I figured you would want to pick out a special color. And I don’t know anything about that stuff.”

She told herself not to let the dress get her down. After all, the day was all about the two of them making a promise of forever. It didn’t matter what they wore—even if it were jeans and T-shirts.

It was all going to work out. She refused to ruin his excitement. Other brides could only hope to have their groom this excited about their wedding. She was very blessed to have him in her life. And she did love him with all of her heart.

Chapter Fifteen

It was time to say, “I do.”

Brooke’s heart raced…but not in a good way. More in a panicked, am-I-doing-the-right-thing way.

She stood in her apartment and looked at the utter emptiness of it all. She’d sold most of her furniture via the internet—all except one chair and her bed. She’d even sold her dishes. Everything was to be sold or donated because none of it would be needed to move into Logan’s house. He had everything they would need, and her things would be redundant. The thought weighed heavy on her.

There were just a few smaller boxes of personal items and clothes. Logan had offered to pick them up for her, but she’d told him she’d take care of them. There was plenty of room in her car for the items she was taking with her to her new life.

She knew this should be the happiest day of her life. She should be smiling and anxious to go to the chapel and get married.

Yet she felt like a bundle of nerves. Talk about a case of cold feet. This wasn’t the first time she’d experienced icy extremities. But the last time, she’d known deep in her heart that Josh wasn’t the man for her. She’d tried to convince herself that if she just tried harder that things would work out for them, but she knew now that they wouldn’t have turned out well. Josh dumping her at the altar had actually been a favor of sorts.

This time around, she was certain Logan was the man she loved. There was no doubt there. But the thought of walking down the aisle had her hesitating. Maybe it was the speed with which everything was arranged. There was also the fact that her family wasn’t there.

Still, her new life was here in California with Logan and Kaylie. And it was about to officially begin in less than two hours. At that time, she would walk down the aisle to Logan, who would be waiting for her. But she just couldn’t help but feel as though she’d skipped over something, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She mentally went through the list: shoes, dress, underwear, makeup, tiara. Yep, she had it all.

“The last box is in your car.” Selena’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Now we need to get going. We don’t want you to be late for your own wedding. This is so exciting. You and Logan make such a cute couple.”

Brooke forced a smile to her face. Inside, her stomach took a nauseous lurch. She’d been telling herself it was just nerves, but now that her apartment was empty, she knew she was feeling something more.

“You are excited, aren’t you?” Selena’s gaze searched hers.

Brooke nodded, not trusting her voice.

Selena paused and studied her. “Hey, I know that giving up your apartment is hard. But just think, soon you’ll be in your very own house.”

A lightbulb went off in her mind. Logan’s house wouldn’t be her house. She’d had no part in picking it out. Logan and his ex-wife had picked it out. The paint colors, the furniture, not even the dishes had her input.

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