Mr. Wrong (29 page)

Sara
glared at her brothers. The feelings of love she’d had toward them were now replaced with anger. "What? You really don't want to pay for a wedding?"

“No.”
James pounded his fist on the table. “Sara, don't take this to the next level."

"Maybe it's at the next level
," she shot back.

James sucked in a breath. "
We are all just concerned."

Sara
struggled for control of her anger. She didn't want to be mad at them. She shoved a cookie into her mouth. “I’m happy,” she said through the cookie.

Marc roared back
, "I can tell. I mean, you look happy right. And it's not like you’ve been walking around here like a zombie for the last two weeks."

She pounded her fist. "Have not!"

James put his hand back out. "Stop it."

Sara swallowed. "Jonathon and I have been doing things."

Marc laughed. “Yeah. And you seem so happy playing video games and going to the gym to watch him play basketball.”

Sara hated that he struck a chord. She simmered and shoved another cookie into her mouth.
He had a point and it really, really, really annoyed her.

Tim leaned forward.
“Sara, what happened with Beau?”

That was not the question she wanted to be asked.
She shoved in another cookie and drenched it with a sip of milk. “Nothing.”

Marc
gave her a look of disgust. “Yeah right. You sounded so happy on the phone Thanksgiving Day. Then you called us that next Monday and told us you were engaged to Jonathon. What happened?”

Sara stared at the milk.
“He got back together with his old girlfriend.”

James
sighed. “Aha."

Tim drummed his fingers on the table.
“Do we need to go kick his butt?”

The heaviness inside her chest lightened. "No." She sighed and took a breath. "
I thought I was falling in love with him. I really did.” She took another cookie. “And then I saw him out with this beautiful woman. I mean . . . she was okay. Well, it was his dead wife's sister.” Sara slouched miserably at the table. “And, he has a past with her.”

“
Okay." Marc nudged her.

Sara
fidgeted with the cookie. “And then he told me they were back together.” Sara took a long drink of milk.

James
clicked his tongue. "Hmm. I'm not liking this."

Tim's face looked puzzled.
“And, when did you get engaged to Jonathon?”

Sara
met his gaze. “That same night.”

Marc
whistled a low whistle.

Sara
hated telling them. She hated how it made it all sound. “But I waited for Jonathon for two years. I waited and now we’re getting married. And even if you don’t agree with my decision, I would ask that you support me in this.” Looking at each one of them, she tried to show that she was not backing down from this.

At that moment,
Jonathon strolled into the kitchen and abruptly paused. "Is this a private thing?"

James cleared his throat and picked up the package of cookies. "Have a cookie."

Jonathon searched her face. "Is everything okay?"

Sara stood and went to rinse her glass.
"Yep."

Jonathon took a cookie. "Hey,
I’ve just started another game, I could add players?”

Her brothers didn't respond for a few seconds. Then,
Tim stood. “Yeah. I’ll play a game.”

James
stood. "You're going to have to teach me."

Marc
looked at Sara pensively.

The others moved out of the kitchen.

Finally, he stood. “I'm comin!"

It’s on.
”

After watching them all take turns playing a car racing game,
Sara finally went upstairs with a smile on her face. She went for her father’s room.

Sara
smelled the familiar scent of her father. She sat on his bed. Her heart ached for him. Was he happy that she was marrying Jonathon? The thought of her father and her mother watching over her made her feel happy. But was it the right decision to marry Jonathon? Would they approve?

She flopped back onto the bed and stared at the crocheted saying on the wall.
“When you can’t stand . . . kneel.”

She sat up and slowly kneeled by the bed. "Dear Father
. . ."

Chapter 42

Sara leaned back against the plush sitting couch in Genova’s bedroom.

Genova
turned in a circle, and she did a little curtsy for Sara.

"You look so amazing!"

Genova did a shy smile. "Is it silly that I feel so pretty?”

“
No."

She wore a messy
bun at the back of her head and soft ringlets flowed around her veil. She looked like a pixy.

“You have to say that
; you’re my maid of honor.” Genova waved a hand at her and looked in the mirror. “I’m so glad my aunt is coming to do my hair. These curls drive me crazy.” She reached to fluff them with her hand.

Sara
sipped on her water. “That’s funny. I’ve always wanted curls. I have to spend an hour with my curling iron if I want to attempt to have my curls stay in for more than five minutes.”

Genova
pulled away from the mirror. “Isn’t that how it is, you always want what you can’t have?”

Sara
moved beside her friend, and they both looked into the mirror. “I’m so happy for you, Gen.” And she was. Genova and Kevin were great together. And this is what she wanted—she was crazy about Kevin. Sara could picture them next semester hand in hand at the basketball games or walking around campus with their backpacks on.

“Thanks.”
Genova took her veil off. “But six hours. Six hours until it’s all done.”

S
ara pulled Genova into her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Genova
blinked back tears. “Oh, this is so stupid.”

“Gen?”
This display of emotion did not fit.

Genova
hid her face in Sara's shoulder. “Just nerves, right?” Her hands shook a little. “Tell me it's just nerves. And that I'm making the right decision."

"You're making the right decision."

Her head snapped up, and she took a step back. “I don’t know if I can do this, Sara. I mean, people act like getting married is so easy—but . . . people get divorced all the time. What if we don’t like each other? I mean, we’ve known each other for about a year—but that’s nothing in the long term.”

Sara
’s heart went out to her friend. “Gen, you’re okay. Kevin loves you so much. And you love him.”

“But what if we fall out of love?
What if I can’t stand the smell of his tennis shoes, and he hates the fact it takes me forty-five minutes to get ready every morning? People have divorced for a lot less—”

“Gen
—”

“What if
—.” She broke off and went into a full cry.

Sara
enfolded her in her arms. "Shh." She rubbed circles in her back. “Everything will be fine, Genova. It will. I know it. I've seen how much you guys love each other. It's . . . it's . . . kind of disgusting to tell you the truth."

Genova
laughed. "What?"

"Yeah, I mean, you should see yourselves, all 'oh,
honey, can I help you.' And 'oh, you're so funny, Kevin."

Genova
laughed, again. “Thanks.”

Sara
sighed. “That’s what maid of honors are here for."

Genova
moved to her bed and sat. “I have to tell you something, and I don't think you're going to like it.”

The pit of her stomach tightened.
“Okay.”

“I saw Beau at the institute before I left town.”

"Okay."

Genova
winced. “You still love him, don’t you?”

Sara
put her hands on her hips. “Genova, what did Beau say?”

Her eyes were guilty
. “I’m not supposed to tell you this.”

With that introduction there was no way
Sara would allow Genova not to tell her. She leveled her with a stare. “What?”

Genova
put her hand to her mouth. She bit her thumbnail. “I told him not to tell me anything he didn’t want you to know.”

“
Genova.”

“It was all a lie.”

Everything froze inside of her. “What?”

“Well, that night in the park
ing lot, the thing with Marsal . . . he lied to you. He never got back together with Marsal.”

Sara
flinched. “Who?”

“Valerie’s sister
, the Italian girl. He only said they were together so you would choose Jonathon."

Sara
stumbled and put her hand on the dresser for support. “Come again?”

Genova
frowned. “He wants you to be with someone that hasn’t messed up. Someone that doesn’t have a past.”

Anger surged through her.
“Really?”

“
Sara, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you. I didn’t want to. It’s just . . . well, you should know. You should know everything before you go making decisions about who you’re going to marry. Shouldn’t you?”

Sara took in a breath and tried to clear her mind.

Genova stood. “What are you going to do?”

Sara
touched the ring on her finger. "Gen, I should have told you the truth, too."

Chapter 43

“I ended it with Jonathon.”

Genova
gasped in horror. “Oh my gosh.”

Sara
pressed the palm of her hand to her eyes. She couldn’t believe this. Beau had lied to her?

Genova
moved in front of her. “Have you talked to Beau?”

“No.”
She slid the ring off her finger and stuck in inside her purse. "Guess I don’t need to keep up the pretenses.”

Genova
whirled on her. “Seriously, when were you going to tell me?"

Sara
threw her hands into the air. “I didn’t want to ruin your big day. I thought I’d save the news until after you got home from swimming with the dolphins at Mazatlan.” “You’re killing me by not telling me what happened with Jonathon.”

Sara didn’t know how to explain it all to
Genova. “Well, I finally asked the Lord if it was right to marry Jonathon.”

Genova
didn’t move, waiting for the rest of the story. “And he said no . . .”

“No, he didn’t say no.”
Sara shook out her hands. “I think my life would have been all right if I would have married him.”

Genova
hung her head dramatically. “Okay.”

“But
I realized we didn’t have that zing, ya know. I wasn’t excited to see how the rest of my life would work out with him. I wasn’t wondering what extraordinary thing would happen the next minute, hour, day. And . . .” She whispered it. “I couldn’t do it.”

Genova
’s face lit up. “Kevin and I have that. We have that zing.”

Sara smiled.
“Yes you do.”

Genova
hugged her. “I love you.”

Sara hugged her back.
A sense of urgency came over her. “Is Beau coming for the luncheon?”

“
Sara?”

Previously, she'd planned on ignoring Beau at the wedding, but now she knew she had to talk to him.

“When?”

"He's not coming."

Her heart sank. "Why?"

She gestured to the large gift basket on her vanity. “That was delivered from him yesterday. He has to catch a flight this afternoon."

Sara
inspected the gift basket.

Genova
stomped her foot. "Tell me what you're thinking."

Sara fingered the wrap around the basket.
“Do you know what time he leaves?”

Genova
rolled her eyes. “I think it’s soon.”

Sara whipped out her phone. "I
gotta go.”

“Why don’t you just call him?”
Genova followed after her.

Sara picked up her purse and gave Gen a hug. “I’ll be back for the wedding.”

Sara scrolled through departures on her phone. She had to do this. She had to see him.

Genova
pushed her out of the room. “Then go! And get back soon!”

**