Hollin balked at the words but shook my dad’s hand. “Yes, sir. I acted on instinct.”
“Mine disappeared,” I said. Tears came to my eyes again, and my dad wrapped me in a hug. “Peyton’s dress.”
I was being irrational. It was just a stupid dress. But in the midst of the inferno, when I should have backed off, all that I could feel was panic. This was Peyton’s day. This was something I could do. I hadn’t known how bad the fire was. I’d thought I’d had time. Thank God that Hollin had seen reason when mine had flown from my head.
“Shh, mija. All that matters is that you are well. We can all live without a dress but not without you.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m going to check on the other employees who got out. Stay with Hollin.” He smiled at my boyfriend and hugged me again. “Te amo.”
“Y yo a ti, Papa.”
He released me and walked around to the employees scattered around the outside of the burning building.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out.
Hollin looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I was an idiot.”
“Hey,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “You didn’t know how bad it was. You’re not an idiot.”
“Thank you for getting me out.”
“I’m here to take care of you,” he said, pressing a firm kiss to my lips.
I nodded and snuggled up against him.
We waited for the next hour as the firefighters did all they could to put out the flames within. My mom and Peter showed up sometime in the middle of that, hugging me and watching the damage.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” Peter said with a shake of his head.
“Peter,” Mom hissed.
“He’s right,” I said. “It’s terrible.”
“We’re glad you and your dad are all right.”
“Me too.”
And then Peyton rushed in. It was the person I most and least wanted to see. Even though I’d told Hollin that I’d been stupid, I still felt unbelievably guilty about what had happened. And what I was about to have to tell Peyton.
She sprinted across the open field toward where we’d congregated. Even at a full run, she looked like the graceful ballerina she was.
She crashed into me, hugging me hard. “Pipes, you’re okay.”
“Hi, seester.”
“I can’t believe this happened. Do you have any idea what started it?”
I shook my head. “Electrical fire? But it’s just a guess. They’ll figure it out.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. Nothing we can do to fix it.”
“Your dress, Peyton. It was still inside.”
She blinked. “Oh.” Then, she deflated. “Well, I guess I’ll find another one.”
“In less than two weeks?” I asked skeptically. “And where are we going to have the wedding? It was supposed to be in the barn.”
“That’s what you’re worried about?” Peyton asked. She was wide-eyed, and her crazy curls were up in a slightly relaxed ballet bun. But she still looked frazzled. Just as frazzled as the rest of us. “You were inside a burning building, Piper. I care about you and Dad and Hollin.”
Hollin smiled at her. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”
“I know. I know,” I said, tears coming on strong again.
“We’ll figure it out,” Peyton said. She pulled me into another hug. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Honestly, mija, the wedding is going to be wonderful, no matter where it’s held,” Mom said. “No matter what our beautiful ballerina is wearing. It will be perfect because it is the joining of two people, who were made for each other, in front of their families. It is not about the place or the dress. Just the family and love.”
I nodded, swiping at my tears. “You’re right. But what are we going to do?”
“You can have it at Wright Vineyard,” Hollin piped up automatically.
My entire family looked at him with dropped jaws.
“Really?” Peter asked.
“Are you sure?” Peyton asked.
“Oh, but that’s so sweet,” my mom said, melting at his words.
“We can’t…I don’t know if we could afford it,” I blurted out.
Hollin gave me the dreamiest smile and took my hand. “I wouldn’t expect you to pay for it.”
“Oh, Hollin, that’s…wow,” Peyton said. She stifled her own sob. Tears came to her big brown eyes. And then she hugged my boyfriend. “I don’t know how Piper got this lucky.”
He laughed and tapped Peyton’s back. “We don’t have any events that weekend. You’re already working with Nora. It shouldn’t be too hard to move everything across town.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Of course.”
“I’ll get on the phone with Nora,” Peyton said, going into planning mode. “See what she thinks and if she needs me to do anything.”
Peyton took out her phone and walked away from the group. My mom and brother went to talk to my dad. Chase Sinclair had arrived at some point, and he was in deep conversation with him. Right, a lawyer—probably a good idea. I was too shell-shocked to have even gotten to that point of processing.
I turned back to Hollin. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Hey, it’s not a problem. I know that you wanted it here. I get how much it means to you, but if I can help, I will.”
I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “How did I get this lucky?”
He snorted. “I’m the lucky one. Who else would get a girlfriend stubborn enough to walk through a burning building for a wedding dress?”
I covered my face and laughed. “Oh my God, I’ll never live it down. What was I thinking?”
“You love your sister. You were concerned about her wedding.”
“Yeah. True.”
He passed me the water bottle that the paramedics had given us when they arrived with the firefighters. “Drink some more water. Your voice is all scratchy.”
I took the water from him and downed half of it. We sat in the grass until all was said and done. The longer the adrenaline wore off, the worse I felt. Not that I was sick or anything, but I felt like I’d been hit by a bus.
“Come on,” Hollin said, offering me a hand. “Let’s get you home.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. The last thing I wanted was to go home and have to talk about this more with Blaire and Jennifer. I’d texted my friends to tell them what had happened. But I didn’t feel ready to discuss it. “Can we…go to your place instead?”
He raised an eyebrow. “If you want. I thought you’d want your own bed.”
“I just…want to be alone.”
“I’ll be there,” he reminded me.
“Alone together.”
He nodded, as if understanding. He’d carried me out of a burning building. I wouldn’t have to say a word to him about it. So, I followed him to our cars. My hands were shaky, but I shook off Hollin’s concern about me driving myself. I parked out on the driveway before dropping onto the ground below and walking in through the front door.