The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,105

who now stood several feet behind Megan, had a panicked look on his face. Things were spiraling out of control pretty quickly, and Josh could easily guess who would bear the brunt of it later.

Finally reaching Megan, Kevin grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, his face red. “Mom, we’ve all sat back and let you ramrod this family for long enough. Enough.”

“Ramrod this family?” she shrieked.

Kevin flung his arm toward Josh. “Megan’s not marrying this guy.”

“Of course she’s marrying him!” Nicole shouted, her face twisted with a mixture of surprise and anger. She wobbled as her heel sunk deeper, pitching her to the side.

Josh took a moment to survey the rest of the scene: Gram, who’d been seated in a folding chair at the side of the group, was watching it all, her eyes glittering with excitement. Megan’s cousins stood toward the back of the lawn, looking all at once uncomfortable and enthralled. Blair seemed like she was about to rush over and drag Megan away, but Libby was blocking her path. The minister stood behind, wisely keeping his mouth shut.

Shaking Josh out of his stupor, Noah leaned into his ear and whispered, “You have to put a stop to this. Now.”

“I know.” But did he? Part of him wanted to let it play out, to let Megan make her choice without any intervention.

“Well, Megan?” her mother demanded, hands on her hips as she tottered back and forth like a baby giraffe. “Are you going to tell your brother to go back to the groom’s line so we can finish this rehearsal and go to dinner?” She shook her head, looking like she was about to implode. “If Josh will even let Kevin stand up with him.” She pointed her French-tip-manicured finger at him. “Your behavior is deplorable.”

Megan looked from her mother to her brother, then finally rested her gaze on Josh, tears streaming down her face as her chin quivered.

His heart twisted with a pain that sucked in his breath. He couldn’t do this to her. He couldn’t hurt her. Not her.

“Megan,” he said, taking a step forward; his voice cracked, but he didn’t care. “You are singularly the best thing that has ever come into my life.”

She dropped Kevin’s hand and studied Josh as a fresh trail of tears tumbled down her cheeks. Kevin’s fists balled at his sides, but Josh didn’t let that stop him. He continued to take slow steps toward Megan, moving around Knickers. “You fell into my life and turned it upside down. You’ve made me question everyone and everything, but when I sort through it all, the only thing that makes sense is you.”

He stopped in front of her, her eyes looking up at him in confusion and sorrow.

He cupped her cheeks, his thumbs wiping her tears. “Don’t cry, Meggie. We’ll do whatever you want. You just say the word. If you want to end this right now, we can. I won’t fight you. But if you want to keep going . . .” He pushed past the lump in his throat, ignoring the fact they had an audience. “Can I tell you how I feel before you make your decision?”

She nodded, fresh tears breaking free, the sight hurting his heart even more.

“I can’t imagine walking away from this mess without you. I don’t know how this happened. I only know it did. You know how I said I left it all up to fate?”

She nodded, sucking in her lower lip to stop her chin from quivering.

He smiled at her and picked up her hand, cradling it between his own. “We’re supposed to be together. I know it. I don’t want to go back to Seattle without you. Don’t give up on us, okay? Don’t give up on me.”

She watched him, indecision wavering in her eyes.

He pressed his forehead to hers, lowering his voice to a whisper. “It’s up to you, Meggie. Either I walk away, or we keep going. I just want you to be happy. What will make you happy?”

A soft smile lifted her mouth. “You make me happy, Josh. I’ve never been happier than I am with you.”

Relief flooded through him, and he released the breath he’d been holding. “So what do you want to do about it? Do you want me to take you away from this mess?”

She looked around at her family, then at the crowd of botanical gardens visitors who now lined the sidewalk by their practice lawn. They were watching with open mouths, as