Page 26 of Ricochet

Adelia wrapped her arms around him. She didn’t know him, not really, but this was one of the most real moments she’d ever had in her life. His hands wrapped around her forearmacross his strong chest and held on until she loosened her grip and sat back.

“You know what I learned a long time ago about acceptance?” She patted his hand on the bench.

“No.”

“It fucking sucks.”

He burst out laughing, crossed his arms over his chest, and doubled over, still quietly chuckling. The reaction was too much, which proved that he was in a deep, dark hole. When he sat up, smiling,he thanked her.

“Now, really,” she continued. “You have to accept what’s reality. Let go of what you can’t control and believe the future has better in store for you.”

He leaned back in the pew as he thought over what she’d said, breathing deeply. He gave her an easy smile. “How’d you get so smart?”

“That beauty?”

Colin nodded.

“I picked it up from a fortune cookie. May’ve ad-libbed a little.The exact phrasing is escaping me.”

He laughed, and it bellowed through the church, bouncing off the walls and setting her laughter free. Finally, they stopped, and again, he said thanks.

“Really, you can stop thanking me.”

He shrugged. “I appreciate it.”

“It’s rare to find someone who appreciates my fast-food wisdom.”

“Hello?” someone called from the back of the church. Adelia turned andrecognized the woman who would play the piano.

“Coming! One second.” She held up a finger. “Duty calls.”

“I noticed you had a special-looking dress.”

“Bridesmaid duty.” She saluted him. “And I’ll check on you later and at the reception, at least until I have a glass of wine. Then I might fall asleep. Apologies ahead of time.”

“I’m okay. I don’t want to think about it this weekend. The bestthing I can do would be to…”

The piano lady walked by, ignoring them, and Adelia guessed that she knew what she was doing and would check on her in a few minutes. “Sleep? No one would blame you.”

“Follow the fortune cookie wisdom. Think of the future.”

For a moment, Adelia wondered what that looked like for a man like Colin. It was positively inappropriate to check out a person in church. Wasn’tit? Good thing she’d done her looking before. Not that it mattered, but Colin was heaven on the eyes and a treat for the imagination.

His light-brown hair lightened in the summer, and his blue eyes were bright and bold.Magnetic.He filled out his suit jacket in a way that was hard to ignore, but she did her best. She looked toward the altar and promised to save her dirty thoughts about his perfectbackside for a place that didn’t literally have holy words surrounding her.

“Have an enjoyable time tonight.” She pulled herself up, only slightly wobbling in her heels. She waved her fingers goodbye as she filed out.

“Adelia?”

She’d never heard him say her name before. She paused at the mouth of the aisle. “Hm?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “In all my years—prep schools, military school,war college—no one’s ever given me advice that worked like that.”

She put her hands on the wood caps of the pews on either side of her and leaned on her toes. “That wasn’t how it worked—just a description of why.”

The corners of his lips curled as she pulled herself back. “You put my head in a good space. That’s a hell of a thing to do after the day I’ve had.”

“Glad I could help.” She wavedagain and turning, felt Colin’s gaze as she walked away.

He didn’t unnerve her. Adelia warmed on the inside, not with lust, but because he made her grin.

“One more,” she whispered to herself. Another person who didn’t make her feel lonely. These were the people she collected: the ones who should earn her time.

The woman at the piano played warm-up music and paused as Adelia came up. “I foundwhat I needed.” The beautiful notes continued. “If you want to go back to your boyfriend...”

“Oh, he’s not. Only…” She turned toward Colin, unsure what to call the guy. His serene face had calmed, and the misery from earlier was gone, making her heart swell more than she knew it could. “A friend.”

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