She left them alone. Aaron’s head was spinning. “Did you crash the gala with Mitch wearing your bridesmaid dress and make up with my sister?”
“Trust me, I don’t really understand what is happening, either.”
They both chuckled softly. Lauren was being Lauren. Good Lauren, thankfully. Unless your name was Mitch Bennett.
“You have to try to explain,” he pleaded. He had gone from brokenhearted to hopeful in one hour.
“Your sister apologized. She said she wants us to be happy even if she’s going through a hard time. Then she asked me if I loved you.”
Aaron was caught off balance by the L word. He wasn’t sure he should ask the next question, but given the evidence he was holding in his hand, he felt confident that if she hadn’t answered the way he hoped, he might be able to change her mind.
“What did you say?”
Bonnie fidgeted with the clutch in her hands. Her teeth worried her bottom lip. Those green eyes lifted to his, and she didn’t have to say a word. He knew.
“I said yes.”
“I love you,” they said at the same time.
“How did you know what I was going to say?”
He didn’t know how to explain it with words, so he took her hand and placed it on his chest. “Do you feel that?” She nodded. His heart was beating like a jackhammer. “That’s how I knew. I could feel it.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. There was no doubt she felt his love. He felt hers from the hair on top of his head to his toes.
“I owe you an apology,” she said.
He placed a finger on her lips. “No apologies. We have been stuck in the middle of someone else’s drama for too long. I am certain that once we break free of that, we’re never going to need to say we’re sorry again.”
“I never want to hurt you. I hope you know that I went off the deep end because it killed me to see you so sad. I wish I knew who did that to your house. I agree with you that it wasn’t Lauren or Mary.”
“It wasn’t them. I thought maybe my dad had paid someone, but it wasn’t my dad, either. And it wasn’t some random guy. I know exactly who it was.”
“You do? How do you—” Before she could finish her sentence, Aaron handed her the envelope.
“My dad saved the day by being his overprotective self.”
Bonnie’s brows pinched together as she slid the photos out of the envelope. “You have got to be kidding me.” She flipped through page after page. “I am so stupid. I believed he was actually worried about you, worried about me. I thought he showed up that morning genuinely willing to help his friend. He’s...ugh!”
“My dad said I can do what I want with these pictures. He said I could turn them over to the police or I can use them how I see fit.”
“What does that mean?”
“If he’s convicted, he’s going to pay a fine, he’s going to owe me money, but there’s no real consequence other than a financial one, which won’t bother him at all.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Or I could show him the pictures and let him know I know what he did and offer him a deal.”
Bonnie, sweet Bonnie, had no idea what that meant. He loved that she had a hard time even thinking in a conniving way. “What kind of deal?”
“I could run him out of town. He leaves. We never have to see him again. I feel like that would be good for Lauren, it would be good for me and I hope you think it would be good for you.” He wouldn’t do it if she didn’t agree. She knew what it felt like to have people try to push her out.
“It would be good for me,” she agreed.
“Then that’s what we’ll do. Goodbye, Mitch.”
“Goodbye, Mitch.” She kissed him again. He could feel her smiling under his lips. He could kiss a smiling Bonnie all day long.
“Before he leaves, though, I need to do one thing,” she said, taking him by the hand and leading him back out to the party.
She took a champagne glass off one of the passing trays and strode right up to Mitch, who was leaning against the bar and doing what he did best. His face lit up when he saw her coming his way. Aaron could relate to that feeling. Seeing Bonnie brightened a day. She had a light inside her that warmed his soul.
Once Bonnie was close enough, she lifted her glass and dumped the champagne on Mitch’s head. He leaped back and shouted something about her being crazy. Nobody called Aaron’s girlfriend names. He rescued her even though it didn’t seem like she needed it.
“You are not a nice person! Not nice!”
Aaron laughed as he pulled her away. “I love your use of very powerful insults.”
“There were other things I wanted to say, but I didn’t want people to think I was that kind of a woman.”
“Good idea.” They happened to walk right by Hilde and her parents. He quickly introduced them all. “Hilde, would it be okay if I took my friend home? Do you think you could get a ride home with your parents?”
“Mmm-hmm,” she answered.
Nine words total between them. There was no way she was going to miss him.
“Let’s get you home. You need to change out of that dress. And maybe we should burn it.”
“Hey, this is the dress I was wearing the first time you came to my rescue. It was also the dress I was wearing when your sister apologized to me for the first time. This is a dress I never want to forget.”
Aaron took her by the hand. “You, in that
