“I didn’t want to wait.”
Melissa looked her up and down, worry in her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be better once this is over.”
“Blair, don’t—”
Blair put her hand on Melissa’s mouth. “Don’t you start.”
Melissa nodded, and Blair removed her hand. “Okay.”
“Let’s get this going immediately.”
“But we have four more minutes.”
Blair stomped her feet anxiously. “If I don’t do it now, I might lose my nerve.”
“Maybe you should listen to that inner voice, Blair,” Libby said from beside her.
“Good to see you two are joining me,” she snipped back.
Melissa looked flustered. “But people are still being seated.”
“Okay, two minutes. Then we go.”
Blair’s mother, who’d trailed her out of the lobby, kissed her cheek. “Be kind to yourself, Blair. Then you’re more likely to be kind to others. And stop lashing out at your friends. They only want to help you.”
Kindness wouldn’t help her now. She needed all her bluntness and all her anger. Her grief would ruin everything. But she nodded. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too.”
As her mother entered the sanctuary, Megan and Libby shot her looks of disappointment as they waited. Every time they started to say something, she cut them off.
Finally, Melissa lined them up and cued the pianist to begin the wedding processional, and Dena came running from the church offices.
“No one told me it was time!” she said, her face puckered in irritation. “I don’t even have my bouquet.”
“You don’t need it,” Blair snapped.
“I’m not going without my flowers!”
Blair thrust her bouquet at Dena’s chest, and the woman scrambled to keep the flowers from falling. “Here. Now get going.” She gave Dena a little push toward the now-open doorway.
The woman stumbled several steps before recovering and then paused for long enough to shoot a glare over her shoulder.
Oh, if you think you hate me now, just wait.
“Blair, what’s going on?” Libby asked, her previous antagonistic attitude gone.
“I asked you to trust me. Can you do that?”
Libby searched her eyes. “Yeah. Why do I have a feeling this will be a wedding we’ll never forget?”
“Because you know me well.” She gave Libby’s arm a small push. “See you after.”
Libby started down the aisle wearing an ear-to-ear grin, leaving Blair alone with Megan and Melissa.
“Blair, I’m sorry,” Megan whispered, tears in her eyes. “I should have trusted you.”
“I’ve made some really stupid mistakes lately. I can see why you wouldn’t.” She smiled, her eyes filling with tears again. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”
“Never.” Megan gave her a kiss on her cheek.
“Megan,” Melissa whispered. “It’s time.”
Megan started down the aisle, and then it was just Blair and Melissa. “Melissa, no matter what happens tonight, I want you to know you still have a job at Sisco, Sisco, and Reece. I talked to Mary in HR, and she said the other attorneys would be lining up to work with you.”
“I’d rather stay with you. At least you believe in your cases. You’re trying to help those women.” She paused. “And you believe in me.”
“There’s more.” Blair grimaced. “I made some calls this afternoon. Ben Stuart lied about the partnership. But I still might not have a job after what I’m about to do.”
“You know I stand behind you no matter what.” The music changed, and Melissa smiled. “It’s time. Are you ready?”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Time to raise some hell.”
Chapter Thirty
Nana Ruby had gone to the church with his aunt and mother. They’d fought over who was stuck taking her, so Nana told them they both got to ride with her in her old pickup truck. With the windows down.
At first Garrett’s friend wasn’t too thrilled by the prospect of drafting a brand-new document, but he changed his tune as soon as he heard the terms, which gave him a good maniacal laugh.
“I owe you, man,” Garrett said, rubbing his hand through his hair. He had just sent the document from his laptop to the printer in the hotel business center, and his heart was working double time. Would this actually work? “Seriously, send me a bill.”
“Nah, just make me the best man in your wedding to this girl and we’ll call it good. I’m happy to be an emissary for true love.”
“Let’s not put the cart before the horse.” Garrett sighed. “One step at a time.”
He hung up and pulled the three-page document off the printer, one page at a time, but the third page caused a paper jam. He tried—and failed—to open the printer. Panicked, he ran into the lobby and skidded to a halt at the front desk. “Can someone help me? The last page of this document is stuck in the printer, and I need it like five minutes ago.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. 4:30. Blair would be walking down the aisle in just half an hour.
The startled hotel employee looked him up and down. “Someone will come around to help you in about ten minutes, sir. We’re short-staffed.”
Garrett leaned over the counter, desperation filling his words. “You don’t understand. My entire future depends on that page. I need it to stop a wedding and save the bride-to-be from a terrible mistake.” He knew he sounded like a crazy person. He found he didn’t much care. He was a crazy person at this point.
“Oh, isn’t that romantic,” an older woman said behind him. “He’s trying to stop a wedding.”
“How’s that romantic?” a man grumbled. “He’s breaking up a wedding.”
“I bet he loves the girl.” She tapped Garrett on the shoulder. “Do you love the girl, young man?”
“Well, yeah . . .” he mumbled, then turned back to the bewildered desk clerk. “Please. Is there any way you can you send someone sooner?”
The elderly woman approached the desk. “Can you send someone? This boy is trying to win his woman.”
“With a paper?” the desk clerk asked, incredulous.
“Please,” Garrett begged. “Just trust me.”
The clerk shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t know anything about the printers, and the guy who does just left the building. But he should be back in less than ten minutes.”
“The wedding’s in twenty-five minutes.”
The older woman walked away from the desk, heading toward the busy lobby. “Excuse me,” she asked in a voice as loud as an umpire’s, “does anyone here know how to fix a printer? This young man is trying to stop a wedding and win his girl, but he needs a particular paper to do so, and the printer is jammed.”
The entire lobby, which had been buzzing with activity moments before, came to a halt. The guests and employees began to murmur as they all stared at him.
“Isn’t that sweet,” a woman gushed.
“Do you love her?” another woman asked.