“Glad to hear it.”
“Walker?” Renata called, appearing in the bunkhouse door. “Get over here. Outside.”
“Now what?” he grumbled to Elizabeth, but he got up and followed the director outside where Avery, Gabe, Hope and Anders were hanging out with Brody and Jess not far off.
“Brody, this concerns you, too. I’ve got something to show you.” She held up an envelope. “Your marriage to Avery is formally annulled. Congratulations, you two. You are free.”
“Really?” Avery snatched the documents from Renata’s hands, read them and looked up, eyes shining as she met Walker’s gaze. “It’s true—” She faltered, clearly remembering too late she was supposed to still be miserable. She flung the papers at Brody. “Doesn’t matter, does it, though?” she said and walked away.
Walker’s heart ached for her, appreciating her acting skills but knowing how much it cost her not to be able to celebrate her happiness openly. He promised himself then and there he’d find a way to toast the future with her later.
“That’s right,” Elizabeth said firmly, taking his arm. “Doesn’t matter now that you’re with the person you were always meant to marry.”
Gabe rolled his eyes but went to follow Avery. Renata studied them, but she was distracted when Brody, reading the paperwork for himself, whooped.
“I’m a free man. And I’m a star on a national television show. What could beat that?”
“You could find the woman you were always meant to marry, too,” Jess called from behind a camera.
For a moment, Brody hesitated, clearly taken aback, but then he rallied. “That’s true. That’s very true. That could happen. Come on, darling, let’s see if Kai’s got something we can celebrate with.”
Elizabeth leaned in close and brushed her mouth near Walker’s ear. “Leave it to me. I’ll get you some time alone with Avery.”
Walker nodded, but he didn’t hold out much hope.
“I’ve got to hand it to Elizabeth. She’s a mastermind getting us this ride alone together,” Avery told Walker the following morning. She was back in James Russell’s carriage, snuggled happily against Walker’s side, enjoying the May sunshine and the fresh smell of the morning, not a camera crew in sight.
“Let us off here,” Walker called up to James.
The older man looked down from his seat, where he was directing the horses. “Here?”
“What are you doing?” Avery asked him. She looked around. They weren’t anywhere near Two Willows, and there was nothing but pastures here.
“That’s right. Pick us up again at eleven thirty?”
James raised his eyebrows, and Avery wondered if he’d object, but the man nodded a moment later. “I’ll take the horses for a good, long drive and pick you up again on my way home from Two Willows.”
“You don’t mind finishing our errand for us? We’re just picking up some more gowns from Alice Reed.”
“Don’t mind at all,” James said happily. “It’s a beautiful day for a walk in the countryside. Don’t blame you a bit for wanting to get out and stretch your legs.”
“Exactly,” Walker said.
“I can’t believe we might actually get away with this,” Avery whispered as Walker helped her down from the carriage, shouldering a day pack he’d brought along. There were no cameramen with them. Not only had Elizabeth ordered them on this errand to pick up her wedding gown, but also she’d created a scene with Gabe at the same time James had arrived to pick them up. They’d been able to sneak off without anyone noticing.
“We’ll get away with it,” Walker assured her. “I told you we could count on James—and Elizabeth.”
Walker shouldered the pack he’d prepared for the situation. “Walk on,” James said to his horses when they were free of the carriage. He tipped his hat to them as the carriage rolled away.
“What now?” Avery asked.
“Just an innocent, little walk.”
She grinned. Her intentions for this precious time alone with him were hardly innocent, but they needed to clear the air before they could do anything else.
Walker crooked his arm, and she took it as they set off across a meadow. She had no idea where they were going, but Walker had grown up in these parts, and she trusted him.
Maybe now she could finally get a few things off her chest she’d been wanting to say for a while.
“I need to explain something,” she said.
Walker waited patiently, guiding her over the rough ground.
“It’s about Brody. Why I married him and why I never told you about him before he showed up.” She took a moment to gather her thoughts. “The thing is, I was supposed to be married to someone else that year.”
She could feel his surprise in the way his grip tightened a fraction on her arm. She could almost feel him willing himself to be calm as his fingers relaxed again, but there was a wariness about him now.
“You have to understand I always wanted to get married. My parents—well, I hope you’ll meet them soon. They have the best relationship of anyone I’ve ever met. Thirty years in, they’re still madly in love. I used to open the refrigerator in the morning and find little love notes they left each other attached to the margarine. They stuck those notes everywhere. On the bathroom mirrors, the dashboards of each other’s cars. They went on date nights every week, held hands wherever they went. They don’t just love each other; they like each other tremendously. I want that, too.”
She matched his pace and tried to think how to explain it all. She’d been in such a fervor of romance back then. Probably understandable in a teen but embarrassing now none the less. Her stomach twisted with the memory of it.
“Prom was supposed to be the best night of my life. I’d made sure everything was perfect. I looked amazing.” She laughed, but it came out flat. “Honestly, it’s true—my dress was the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever owned in my life.”
It was a deceptively simple gown that
