Page 10 of A Runaway Bride For Christmas
She nods quickly, and her face is etched with relief.
I wonder how she got into this situation, and who the guy is she’s supposed to marry. Jealousy consumes me, and I turn away quickly before she can see.
It’s not my concern. I’ll make us a pot of coffee, we’ll play Jenga, and in a few hours when everything’s calmed down, I’ll take her back down the mountain and deliver her to her family and her jilted fiancé. She can go back to her five star world, and I’ll go back to my reclusive one.
That’s it. Then I’ll put Allie Porter out of my mind for good.
5
ALLIE
While Hans brews the coffee, he hands me his phone.
My hands tremble as I push the numbers to call Dad.
“Who’s this?” he answers gruffly on the first ring.
“Dad, it’s me.”
There’s silence for a long heartbeat, and I hear the sound of a door closing. “Allie? Your mother is going nuts over here looking for you.”
His voice is low, and I let out a long sigh of relief. He’s giving me a chance to explain myself before telling Mom I’m on the line.
“I’m so sorry. I couldn’t go through with it, Dad.”
He’s quiet for a long time. “Dad?” I finally say, “are you angry with me?”
He lets out a long sign. “Not angry, sweetheart. You should have told me.”
“I couldn’t,” I say. “Not with Mom around.”
He grunts into the phone. I haven’t told Dad the truth, the reasons for marrying Ryan that made me think I could go through with it. But he knows what my mother is like. He was married to her.
“Is she very angry?”
“Well, she broke one of the vases in the cabin and yelled at the wedding planner.”
I cringe as he tells me. My mother has a temper on her, and I don’t want to be on the receiving end of it right now.
“Where are you, Allie Cat?”
I glance around Hans’s bedroom where I’m taking the call for some privacy. It’s a plain room with navy blue duvet on the bed, a bachelor’s cabin.
“I’m safe, Dad. I’m with a friend.”
“Are you indoors? They think this storm is going to be a bad one.”
“Yes. I’ve got a fire going and a hot drink. I’m fine. But Dad, I don’t want to come back yet. I can’t face Mom when she’s like that.”
He sighs down the phone. “If you’ve got shelter, then I suggest you stay for an hour or so. Your mother isn’t being reasonable right now.”
“How about Ryan?”
“Last I saw, he was drinking at the bar. Poor boy looked relived to tell you the truth. It’s his parents who are as angry as your mother.”
It makes me feel a little better to know Ryan isn’t taking it badly. Maybe he was forced into this as much as I was.
“Okay. I’m going to stay here for a few hours. Then I’ll come back and face the music.”
