As Pastor Lutz went over how things were going to work, I kept glancing at Griffin out of the corner of my eye. He caught me once and smiled like the last few months hadn’t happened.
I quickly darted my eyes away.
“Okay, let’s run through this one more time from the beginning,” Pastor Lutz said. “But before we do that, we’re going to practice walking out. Troy and Christina, lead the way, and, Troy, you’ll come back in here once you reach the foyer.”
When Griffin and I met up again, I hesitantly put my arm through the crook of his. Somehow, I’d been in such shock on my walk up to the altar that I had missed how good he looked and how incredible he smelled. His scent brought up more memories than I had been prepared for, and I realized for the millionth time how much I’d missed him.
“How have you been?” he asked me.
I chuckled in disbelief. So, that was how it was between us now. Unbelievable.
“Fine,” I said.
“Madeline, I’ve known you a long time. You are the opposite of fine when you say it like that.”
We reached the front and turned around to go back into the church. I ignored Griffin and prayed we’d go back inside soon.
“I wanted to say thank you for helping me out after my dad’s death.”
I started tapping my foot, and I refused to look at him. I didn’t want to hear thank you like I was some acquaintance. I wanted to hear that he’d missed me.
I wanted to hear that he was in love with me too.
Oh God. Why are we just standing here?
“Madeline, please talk to me.”
I was beginning to think he wasn’t going to give this up.
I turned to him and whispered sharply, “Not now, Griffin. We are in the middle of a wedding rehearsal. A rehearsal that I didn’t even know you were going to be at, okay? Now’s not the time to talk. You’re just going to have to wait.”
I spun away from him before he could answer, and Pastor Lutz picked that very moment to have us enter the church again.
Thank God.
GRIFFIN
It took me a minute to locate Christina after the rehearsal was over, but I finally found her in a corner, having a heated conversation with her sister and some blonde woman.
I was about to turn around and leave until their chat was over, but Christina’s eyes lit up when she saw me.
“Griffin?” She rushed over to me. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Have you seen Madeline? She said she had to use the restroom after the pastor was finished with us, and now, I can’t find her. I hope she didn’t drown in there.”
Christina didn’t laugh at my joke, and the light she had in her eyes dimmed. “She left, Griffin.”
“What? But I thought she would be at the rehearsal dinner.”
“She planned to be, but she said she had to go take care of something and left.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “But I think we know that was a lie. You didn’t tell her that you were going to be here today, did you?”
I frowned. “I thought you would have told to her. I wanted to talk to her in person. I did not want to do it through text.”
“And look how that turned out for you.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“I’m not happy with you.” She sighed and dropped her arms. “You basically ghosted her after your father died, and we all understand. You were grieving. But while you were holed up in your apartment, Madeline’s life continued. And now that you’re better, you waltz in here and expect everything to go back to the way things were. You didn’t want to tell her in a text that you were going to be in the wedding again? Fine. You know where she lives. You know where she works. And you know her phone number.” She shook her head. “I told Troy to tell you that I wasn’t going to be the one to break the news to her, but I should have known you hadn’t said anything when she didn’t bring it up to me. I’d been so consumed with the wedding, so I assumed she was okay with seeing you again.” She leaned closer to me. “By the way, it’s one thing to ghost your supposed best friend, but it’s another to ghost the woman you’re sleeping with.”
“You know we slept together?”
“Yeah. After she kept crying every time I mentioned your name, I finally dug that little tidbit out of her.” Christina shook her head. “I’m disappointed in you, Griffin.”
“I…I thought—” I ran my hand through my hair. “Dammit. I don’t know. I thought I would walk in here, and she would be so happy to see me, and we’d…”
“Live happily ever after?” Christina laughed.
She stopped when she saw the wince on my face.
“Wow. And I thought women were hopeless romantics.”
“I guess Madeline made me watch one too many romantic comedies.”
Christina patted my chest. “You’re not in a movie, buddy, and just seeing your face is not going to fix everything. You owe Madeline a real apology.” She looked at me sympathetically and walked away.
Shit, shit, shit. I had planned to apologize. If only I hadn’t been late, I could have pulled Madeline aside and talked to her.
Now, she was probably even madder at me.
I sure as hell needed to figure out what I was going to do about that.
Thirty-Eight
Madeline
I sipped my drink as I picked at my appetizer. Not only had I lost my best friend and the man I loved, but I’d also lost my favorite bar to hang out in. I missed going to My Favorite Place. Not only to see Griffin’s face, but I had made friends with his bartenders and some of the regulars too.
Casey and I had texted back and forth a few times, but it wasn’t the same as seeing her several times a week.
So far, I hadn’t found a good replacement for My Favorite Place, and I always felt lonely, coming to a bar by myself. I’d never felt that way, going to Griffin’s bar. Tonight, I should have probably gone home instead, but that would have made me feel even lonelier since I was missing the rehearsal dinner.
“Madeline? Is that you?”
I turned my attention in the direction I’d heard my name. “Oh, hi, Harris.”
I hadn’t seen my ex-boyfriend since Griffin had basically kicked him out of my house.
I looked around. “Who are you here with?”
He came over and leaned against the bar. “Some coworkers.”
“Oh yeah, it’s Friday.”
“You had the day off, I take it?”
“Christina and Troy are getting married tomorrow, and this afternoon was the rehearsal. You remember them, right?” I joked.
Harris looked sheepish. “Yes, I remember them. And I’m sorry I never gave them a chance.”
I leaned way back and then forward and squinted my eyes. “Are you really Harris?”
He chuckled. “Yes. Now that we’re not together anymore, I can see where I went wrong.”
“How grown-up of you.”
“I’m trying.”
I didn’t know what I was thinking, but I held my hand out to the seat next to me. “Would you like to sit? Or are your coworkers waiting?”