He gave a lopsided grin and a shrug. “Kyle around?”
“Getting drinks. I need a few, as I’m sure you can imagine.” Brooke motioned toward the table that was set up with wine and cider, and Doug wasted no time in dashing away in that direction.
Gabby groaned to herself as Brooke’s eyes widened on hers, all talk of the demanding bride clearly forgotten.
“Beautiful night,” Gabby commented, looking up at the clear sky. No threat of rain was in the forecast; she knew that Candy had a backup plan regardless.
“I’m not interested in the weather,” Brooke said, linking her arm. “So, Doug, huh?”
“Oh, you know our arrangement, to be each other’s wingman.”
“So you said.” Brooke nodded. “But you’re hardly alone here.”
“I am, in the sense that all of you are paired up. Well, except for Jenna,” Gabby said, though they both knew that Jenna wasn’t bothered too much by this. But then, Jenna was still in her twenties, and she’d dated in high school, gone to the prom, too.
Whereas Gabby had only planned it.
“Besides,” Gabby added. “Candy invited my blind date tonight.” She didn’t add that she’d only just learned this.
Brooke looked more than a little amused. “Oh, this should be interesting.”
“Maybe for you.” Gabby huffed out a sigh. “I’ve already told her that I don’t want something forced on me. I want it to happen naturally. When I meet the right man, I’ll just now.”
Brooke peered at her. “Will you, though?”
Gabby pressed her lips together as they neared the barn because the truth of the matter was that she didn’t know how to answer that question.
“Oh! Gabby!”
Gabby closed her eyes, briefly, at the sound of Candy’s trill. Brooke was quick to release her arm and scurry away to her husband, leaving Gabby alone as Candy hurried to her as best she could in her pink stilettos, her blue eyes round and excited, and her lips the exact shade of the dress.
For a moment, Gabby wondered if Candy was going to ask for changes to her bouquet, which she clutched in both hands, right at her heaving bosom, but instead, she saddled up to Gabby’s side and whispered directly into her ear. “Have you seen your date for the evening yet?”
Gabby again wondered if Candy had already seen Doug, assumed something that wasn’t exactly true. Not really. But now Candy was staring at the table, where people had started to sit, motioning with her eyes in a less than subtle fashion that Gabby might want to take a look.
Oh, for crying out loud.
Still, Gabby supposed that she had brought this on herself. She’d lamented her woes of being single to every female family member and friend and now they were stepping in, trying to help, and Candy…well, Candy certainly loved to help.
“I’ll go over in a minute,” Gabby said weakly.
Candy was nodding now, biting her lip and staring at Gabby expectantly. “You do that, hon.”
Gabby felt her shoulders slump as she walked over to the table, figuring she may as well get this part of the evening over with—if only so Candy could focus on herself for the event, which she should do, considering that it was her special night.
She inched to her place setting, neatly positioned between Doug and the stranger whose back was still to her, and pulled out the chair. It caught on the grass, nearly toppling over, but a quick hand righted it.
“Thanks,” Gabby said, shifting her eyes over to the owner of said hand, her heart quickening at the sight.
A handsome face. A smile that went all the way up to his hazel eyes.
“This your seat?” the man asked.
Gabby swallowed, unsure of what to say. It was her seat. And this man was handsome. And a doctor, she now recalled. But something felt off, different, and unfamiliar.
“I’m Bill, but most people still call me Billy. You must be Gabby,” the man’s voice was smooth, and he gave her a knowing look. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Now Gabby had to laugh. Candy was prone to chronic exaggeration. “Well, don’t believe everything you hear.”
The man—Bill, or Billy—laughed, a hearty, gravelly laugh that pulled a smile from Gabby’s mouth.
“Well, then, maybe you can set the record straight.” He winked and pulled the chair out for her.
She hesitated, something pulling her attention to the left. She glanced over, expecting to see Candy, cheering with her bouquet, but instead she locked eyes with Doug.
And he didn’t look happy.
“Will you excuse me for a moment?” Gabby didn’t wait for an answer before she stood and hurried along the grass to wind her way around the table toward Doug, but it was too late. He was already setting his drink down on an overturned barrel that was used as a tabletop, already moving in the direction of the parking lot.
She hurried in her heels, aware that her sister was staring at her, her cousins were watching, and Candy was no doubt just dying to run after her to see what was going on.
She waited until they had reached the parking lot to call out to him, even though she was sure that he was aware she was behind him. “Doug! Wait! Will you wait!”
Finally, he stopped. Pushed his hands into his pockets. Stayed with his back to her.
Her heart sank as she slowed her step, not even sure what she would say when he finally turned around. If he would even turn around.
He did. And the look in his eyes wasn’t hurt or anger. It was nothing. His entire expression was flat, unreadable. And in that flicker of a second, she wanted nothing more than to see the mirth in his eyes when he looked at her. The way his entire
