days, but among the worst of them was the woman calling her name.
“I’m sorry. I was wool gathering.” Sarah forced a smile, ignoring the sharp glint of concern burnishing her best friend’s brown eyes.
Damn Mitch. Damn him.
She’d tried to keep Langley out of this mess. Had done everything she could to keep the woman beside her at bay. They’d been best friends since college, supported each other through the years, had even pledged to be the maid of honor at each other’s weddings—and Sarah fully intended to cash in that pledge—but not with this travesty of a wedding. Not with Mitch.
And then Mitch had gone and called Langley. Told her Sarah hadn’t wanted to bother her since she lived so far away but that he knew his bride-to-be regretted her BFF’s absence from the wedding party. He’d known Langley would insist on flying out. He’d known Sarah couldn’t say no—couldn’t say stay away—at least not without hurting Langley’s feelings.
Why had he done it? Why bother? He didn’t care whether Langley was in the wedding party. Jeez, what wedding party? Except for Langley, no one was standing up with them. Only a handful of people had even been invited to the event, and all those guests were Mitch’s SEAL buddies, like Lucas Trammel. And Sarah knew full well that Lucas had been invited for the sole purpose of making sure news of the nuptials got back to Brett…which it had.
I’m not here to get you back. That ship sailed a long time ago.
Oh God, she’d lost him…lost him…lost the only thing that had kept her sane through the past two years. She shuddered, the sour churn in her belly climbing her throat.
“Sarah, for God’s sake, what’s going on?” The words burst from Langley, as though she couldn’t hold them in any longer, and the concern burning in her eyes had jumped straight into anxiety and fear.
At a loss for words, Sarah simply stared back.
She couldn’t answer that question. Doing so would drag Langley into something that would cling to her like dog shit for the rest of her life, that might even put her reputation in jeopardy. Sure, Langley had diplomatic connections and political affiliations, but that was part of the problem. Treason was messy business, and if word ever got out that Langley had known…that she’d held her tongue about a treasonous act that had resulted in the deaths of five Green Beret soldiers—well, she and her family would be swallowed up in the resulting scandal.
“Something is really wrong here.” Langley’s voice was tight and strained, a far cry from the faintly posh accent that was her norm.
They used to laugh that growing up in a dozen different countries and knowing half a dozen languages had gifted Langley with an accent all her own. But that accent was missing now.
“You tense every time Mitch comes near you. You haven’t invited a single guest. You didn’t even invite me.” Langley leaned in and fingered the rough sleeve of the wedding gown. “This isn’t your mother’s wedding gown, and you’ve had your heart set on wearing that since I’ve known you.” Langley paused to frown. “Sean isn’t here, and you haven’t mentioned him since I arrived. What’s going on? Don’t tell me nothing. I know you. Everything about this wedding is wrong.”
The urgency of the question surprised Sarah and told her exactly how worried her friend was. Langley was extremely intuitive. Quiet and reserved, she tended to hang back and watch. She assessed situations before entering them. Sarah had known she wouldn’t be able to hide the situation from Langley’s perceptive eyes.
Which was why she’d tried so hard to keep her on the other side of the country.
The only saving grace to Langley’s arrival had been the unlikeliness of her pinning Sarah down and demanding answers. As a diplomat’s daughter, Langley had been raised to be circumspect, to avoid making scenes or asking embarrassing questions. And for the past four days she’d stuck to that protocol. Instead of forcing a conversation, she’d offered constant subtle hints, encouraging Sarah to open up to her…suggestions that Sarah had been forced to ignore.
Thank God Langley had been in the kitchen when Brett knocked on the door. If she’d overheard that conversation, she would have exploded with horrified questions.
“I’m your friend, you can tell me anything,” Langley stressed quietly.
Sarah felt her face twist, the panic and pain surging up so fast she couldn’t beat it back in time to don the mask again. She couldn’t force