Page 90 of Marry Me

He took a moment. “Brent and his bride, Allison. They’re apparently wanting a rush job, sparing no expense. He’s lead on the project and entirely stressed out about it.”

“Oh,” she finally managed and nodded. “So they’re going ahead with the wedding after all.” Her brain was racing a hundred miles a minute. Adrenaline shot through her system, and panic struck smack in the middle of her chest.

“You hadn’t heard.”

She forced a burst of energy, anything to save face in the midst of a devastating, humiliating moment. “No, but good for them. Right? I’m glad they managed to patch things up. And so soon. Wow.” She grinnedand moved the mouse around aimlessly on her computer screen, which was exactly how she felt. Directionless.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? You would have every right to be surprised, upset.”

She and Cade were fantastic colleagues who’d even socialized on occasion, but he was not someone she planned to come undone in front of. “Honestly, I’m fine. That ship had sailed for me. We had a good run, but Ally is where she should be.”

He hesitated. “Okay, but I’m here if you want to talk. About anything.”

“Noted. Thank you for telling me. It’s big news.”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding uncomfortably. He turned, opened the door, and nearly smacked headfirst into Kelsey, who was beelining straight for her office. Did that mean she knew, too?

“Pardon me,” Kelsey said, dancing around Cade to get herself into Megan’s office and Cade out. She shut the door behind her, leaving the two of them alone. Kelsey stared at her with those soft brown eyes, and that told her all she needed to know. Kelsey had always been her soft place to fall, and that look in her eyes was all it took. Megan couldn’t speak. The lump in her throat was too overwhelming, and the tears were milliseconds behind.

“Come here,” Kelsey said, opening her arms and moving to Megan, who didn’t hesitate to stand and move straight into them. She couldn’t hide what she was feeling from Kelsey even if she wanted to. Not something as crushing as this. “I got you,” Kelsey said, smoothing her hair from behind, as she heard the first sounds from the back of her throat. Thank God these walls weren’t thin. But this was not the best location for her life’s very first breakdown. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Megan managed, but her voice sounded like a strangled whisper, and she was noticeably shaking.

“It will be.”

She looked around her office, feeling wildly trapped. “I don’t think I can do this. Be here. Not today. Not around weddings.” Fresh tears.Oh no.

“Say no more. We’ll cover your day. That’s why you have a team.”

The tears streamed down her face as she nodded. Helpless, like someone had punched her in the stomach and knocked the air straightfrom her body. It felt like there would never be air again, and so much of this was her fault for not fighting, declaring her love, offering Allison everything she had. Then anger took its turn. “I never should have let myself fall in love with her. I should have seen this coming a million miles away.”

“I disagree. You can’t police who you fall for.”

“It wouldn’t have worked anyway,” Megan said helplessly, returning to her chair like a dejected child. “All arrows pointed to her, and they were neon.”

Kelsey scooted the chair across from her desk a little closer and took a seat. “I think there’s something to that, don’t you?”

“That it was meant to be for me to have my heart stomped on, run over, and pulverized.”

Kelsey winced. “I see your sadness hasn’t stripped you of imagery.”

“A meat grinder comes to mind. A jackhammer.” She shook her head, feeling nauseous. “How in the world did I get here?”

“By doing the very human thing of falling in love.” Kelsey folded her arms and sat back. “I, for one, don’t think you leave it here.”

Megan squinted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’s not married yet.”

“No.” Megan held up one finger. “I’m not begging her to abandon the life she chose and come back to me.”

“Don’t you mean the life you chose for her?”

“Semantics,” Megan said. She stared at the open notebook on her desk with mundane notes about other people’s happily ever after. Her face crumpled all over again, and she closed it right along with the hope she’d been carrying since deciding to reach out to Allison. All gone now. She was so stupid for thinking she could right the course.

“If the Megan I know is still in there,” Kelsey said, standing, “she won’t let this wedding happen without having herself heard first. The wordsI’m sorryandI screwed upgo a long way, you know.”

“It’s too late,” Megan said, resolute. “I’ll send a gift.”

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