Linda Turner - The Best Man

The limo pulled up before the homestead then, and any time she had to compose herself was gone. Guests started swarming toward the car, and she was left with no choice but to paste on a smile and step out to greet them when the driver opened the door for her. Immediately enveloped in hugs and sympathy, she was passed from one person to the next, then the next, and carried along with the crowd to the back patio, where tables had been set up for the reception. There, even more people were waiting for their chance to talk to her.

Overwhelmed, she felt tears sting her eyes, and in spite of her best resolve not to cry, she couldn’t help herself. Horrified that she was going to fall apart right there in front of everyone, she looked around for an escape route, but she was cut off by the crowd at every turn. Then, just when she thought she was going to thoroughly embarrass herself, a drumroll sounded from the band that was set up at the opposite end of the patio.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention, please,” the lead singer called out loudly. “The guest of honor has arrived and the band would like to salute her with a song. Merry, this one’s for you.”

Giving her a thumb’s up signal, he turned to the band. With a nod of his head, he and his musicians swept into a rousing rendition of “I Will Survive.”

With one song, the band did what no one else had—they made her laugh. And for the first time in what felt like hours, Merry was her old self, confident and fun loving, the life of the party. One cowboy after another asked her to dance, and she said yes to them all, hoping she could lose herself in the music. And for a while, she did. She two-stepped and waltzed and jitterbugged with the best of them and refused to let herself think. But it couldn’t last, not when she was hurting so badly. There was only one man she wanted to dance with, one man she wanted to hold her, and he wasn’t there. Try though she might, she couldn’t stop missing him.

And she hated herself for it. He’d dumped her, publicly humiliated her, then ran away like an irresponsible jerk. He wasn’t worth another tear, let alone a second thought. She knew that, but still, she couldn’t get him out of her head. In desperation, she smiled more, laughed harder, and to anyone who didn’t know her well, she appeared to actually be having fun. She had, in fact, never been more miserable in her life.

And her family knew it. Standing on the sidelines watching her on the dance floor, they could only watch in pained silence and sympathize. “Somebody needs to do something,” Angel said huskily. “Look at her out there, honey. She’s got to be hurting.”

“Maybe she just needs to get it out of her system,” Joe replied, his brown eyes dark with concern as he watched every move Merry made. “At least she’s not bawling her eyes out.”

“That’ll come later,” his mother predicted softly. “When everyone’s gone home and the letdown hits her. Then she’ll cry herself to sleep.”

His jaw rock-hard and his eyes narrowed on the cowboy that was holding Merry just a little too close, Zeke growled. “That jackass better watch where he’s putting his hands or he’s going to find himself picking himself up off the ground.”

“Maybe it’s time I cut in and gave that clown his walking papers,” Nick said tersely. “Excuse me.”

The song was just ending as Nick reached Merry and her partner, and with a single hard glare, he sent the other man packing. Merry never even noticed. Giving him a smile that had been known to knock lesser men out of their boots, she walked right into his arms. “There you are, Nick. I haven’t seen you in ages. Let’s dance.”

She melted in his arms as the band swung into the next number, and it wasn’t until then that Nick realized she was well on her way to being snockered. Over the years, they’d danced together more times than either of them could remember, and not once all those times had she ever draped herself around him like a limp dishrag. Nick didn’t even think he’d seen her dance that way with Thomas. She wasn’t into public displays and just didn’t do that kind of thing. Or at least, she hadn’t before tonight. But then again, she’d never been jilted before, either.

And like it or not, she felt too damn good against him. With no conscious effort on his part, he tightened his arms around her, cradling her close against him before he suddenly realized what he was doing. Biting off a curse, he quickly dropped his hands to her waist and put some breathing space between them.

“Somebody’s had a little too much to drink, and it isn’t me,” he said, frowning down at her when she murmured a protest. “You’re going to regret that tomorrow.”

Her smile faded, leaving her looking lost and lonely. “I’m going to regret a lot of things tomorrow. What’s one more?”

She had a point, but still, it broke Nick’s heart to see her this way. Damn Thomas! he thought furiously. Whatever doubts he’d had about getting married, he could have found a hell of a better way to break things off. He must have known weeks ago that he wasn’t going to be able to go through with the ceremony, so why hadn’t he told Merry then? Why had he waited and jilted her in front of the whole damn town?

“You don’t have anything to regret, Mer,” he said quietly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Lifting stark eyes to his, she made no attempt to hide her pain. “I’m not so sure about that,” she whispered. “It wasn’t just anyone that Thomas didn’t want to marry. It was me. So I have to ask myself…what did I do to drive him away?”

“Nothing! My God, you can’t believe you’re responsible for this!”

But she did—he could see it in her eyes, in the tears that welled there and started to spill over her lashes. Up until then, she’d been a tower of strength, facing her friends and family with a grace that he couldn’t help but admire. But even she had her breaking point, and he had a feeling she’d just reached it. She started to cry, and there didn’t seem to be anything she could do to stop it.

Alarmed, Nick knew the last thing she wanted to do was break down with the whole world watching. “C’mon,” he murmured, hustling her off the dance floor before anyone noticed there was anything wrong. “I’m getting you out of here.”

The crowd closed around them the second they stepped off the floor, and for a second, Nick didn’t think he was going to be able to make his way through. But something in his face must have told people to back off because they parted like the Red Sea. Within seconds, he was leading Merry away from the patio and around the side of the house to where the cars were parked out front.

He intended to take her home to her house so she could be alone and cry in private, but she had other ideas. The minute he helped her into the passenger seat of his car, then came around to join her behind the wheel, she sniffed, “I don’t want to go home.”

In spite of the tears still streaming down her beautiful face, she had that stubborn set to her jaw, the same one he’d seen for the first time when they were both six years old. Over the years, he’d learned all too well that there was no budging her once she stuck out her chin. Still, he had to try.

“C’mon, Merry, don’t be that way,” he pleaded as he carefully made his way through the parked cars. “It’s been a hell of a day and you’ve had too much to drink. You need to go home and get out of that dress and get some rest.”

“This was supposed to be my wedding night,” she whispered brokenly, wrapping her arms around herself as if she was suddenly chilled. “Don’t make me go home. I don’t think I could bear it.”