Will smiles. “Dance with me?”
I look around. “Uh, I don’t think this is really a dancing sort of night. Everyone is just eating and talking.”
“Come on, practice slow dancing with me,” he says with a playful hitch of his chin. A who-cares-about-anyone-else look. It’s what I love about him.
I nod and Will takes my palm in his and wraps his other around my waist as he pulls me in tight. Together, here in the middle of the tent, Will and I slow dance. His hand splays possessively across my back and then tucks our joined hands up between our chests. I close my eyes and memorize the way he smells and the feel of his suit jacket against my cheek. We sway in rhythm under the twinkling lights, and I can hear the sound of his breathing. His thumb glides delicately across the back of my hand in the most tender affection I’ve ever experienced. Suddenly, I want to beg him to stay. Stay! Stay! Stay! Never leave. Forget D.C., we could be so good together. I love you.
Off to the side, I see Amelia and Noah start to walk toward the clearing in the field where the ceremony is going to take place, and the wedding planner waves us all to follow. It’s time to start the rehearsal.
Will bends down and kisses my cheek, and again I anticipate the saddest goodbye of my life. “Hey, do me a favor and wear those banana PJs tonight?”
“Why?” I ask.
He grins and looks every bit like the roguish fiend he is when he says, “Because I’ve dreamed of peeling them off you more times than you can imagine. I want to make it a reality tonight.”
I laugh while simultaneously tingling with anticipation. “Peel them off. I see what you did there. Does this mean you’re coming over later?”
“Leave your window open.”
So this isn’t goodbye yet? I get one more night with Will Griffin.
“You know you can use the front door now, right?”
“What fun would that be?” He lets go of me and gestures with his head for me to follow the rest of the wedding party to the field. “I’ll see you tonight, Annabell.”
“I guess you will, William.”
I peek back over my shoulder while I walk away and find Will holding his phone in my direction. I think he just took my picture.
* * *
—
Will made good on his promise and climbed through my window an hour ago. Now, he holds me against him in my bed—my banana pajamas happily discarded to the floor. It’s late, but my sisters still aren’t home, and I assume they are staying at either Noah and Amelia’s place or maybe even at James’s house to give me and Will some privacy. I’m grateful. There’s been so much change and so many revelations during the last few days that I feel like I’ve run a marathon. Or an iron man. Or run against Harriet for town councilwoman.
Tonight, Will and I never do get around to saying goodbye or what we’ll do after he’s gone or if there’s even anything to be done, because every time I try to bring it up, he changes the subject. Instead, we make love and snuggle and Will kisses my forehead more times than I can count. And that’s that. The next morning when I wake up and the sun is just peeking over the horizon, Will is already gone. And the latest pirate romance I was reading that was sitting on my bedside table is gone too.
Did he take it as a memento of me?
While making coffee, I tell myself not to worry. I’ll see him at the wedding. There’s no way he’d miss it. And there’s no way he would actually leave without saying goodbye.
Right?
But then I think about last night and how he held me like he was afraid I was slipping away. How he kissed me, even after we’d made love, until my mouth was swollen. How in the light of his absence this morning, I realize that last night felt a lot like goodbye.
And that’s when I realize that he’s not going to be at the wedding. He’s not even going to say goodbye—and he intended for it to be that way from the beginning.
How dare he.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Annie
The ceremony is set to start in about ten minutes. I’ve never loved a dress more than the ones Amelia provided for us bridesmaids. It’s a mint-colored midi with a plunging V-shaped bodice and several layers of soft mesh overlay at the skirts, adding just a touch of princess whimsy. We’ve all been in James’s house for the last two hours getting ready—Noah and his groomsmen on one side and Amelia and us bridesmaids on the other. But we’ve been kept separated so we don’t accidentally get a peek at one another before the wedding.
I managed to slip out of the room we’ve been using as the bridal suite without Emily noticing, though, which feels like a real accomplishment. She’s been barking orders and making sure everyone is toeing the line all morning. Oh, Amelia has a wedding planner, but even that woman seems to be a little afraid of Emily and has stepped back more than once to let Emily run the show. No one is fiercer than an elementary school teacher when it’s time to get people in order and hold them to a schedule.