Page 7 of Receiving His Mercy
He’d also noticed that she still hadn’t told him what area she was staying in.
“Well, I better get to work,” Caren said into the awkward silence.
“You’re not here to work!” Lacey told her. “You’re here as my friend.”
“I’m still going to take some photos.” Caren winked at her. “I just can’t help myself. Especially with such a beautiful bride.”
Caren darted away through the crowd. Not that it was hard to follow her path. The woman stood out in a sea of muted beige, black, and blue.
Did orange and pink even go together?
Anyway, it was none of his business what she wore. Or that she was moving to a large city that she barely knew anymore.
At least he’d solved the question of why she was here. Obviously, she was the wedding photographer.
She better not fuck up the photos of his cousin’s big day.
“Stop scowling at Caren,” Lacey said, elbowing him in the ribs. “She’s going to think you don’t like her.”
“I don’t like her.”
“Travis!” Lacey scowled up at him. “Be nice.”
“Like she was when we were younger?” he retorted.
“She was just a kid. People change. And you don’t know everything that someone is going through.” There was a strange look on her face.
What did she mean by that? What had Caren gone through? She’d lived a charmed life, hadn’t she? She lived in a nice house, and had always wore expensive clothes.
“She left without a word,” he grumbled. “You were heartbroken for months.”
Lacey leaned the side of her face against his bicep. “Always looking out for me, aren’t you?”
“Of course. That’s what big cousins do.”
“I prefer to think of you as my big brother.” A look of sadness filled her face and he knew she was thinking about Brax.
But, fuck him.
He knew it was wrong to think that way about his cousin. He’d only been fifteen when he’d died. Still a kid. Travis shouldn’t hold him fully responsible for his actions. But he’d been reckless and stupid and his actions had ended his life.
And they’d hugely affected Lacey’s. She’d lived in the shadow of his death until she’d left home and gotten away from her toxic father.
“Yeah, I like the idea of that,” he told her, trying to hold back his emotion.
“So does that mean you’ll say yes?” she asked.
“Yes to what?” he asked suspiciously.
“To walking me down the aisle.”
“You want me to give you away?” he asked, shocked.
“Yeah. What do you say?”
He swallowed heavily, surprised as an even bigger swell of emotion hit him. “Yeah, honey. I’d be happy to walk you down the aisle. Not giving you away, though, because you’ll always be mine.”
“Of course I will be.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and he sent Gray a warning look.
