The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,199

head. “But I have another game.”

“But everyone wants cake, Mom.” Then she pulled Blair’s arm and tugged her toward the back door. “We’ll go get it. Libby too.”

“Megan!” Knickers called after her. “You can’t make the bride get her own cake!”

“She wants first pick!” Libby said as she hurried after them into the house. “And she has a really hard time making up her mind, so this might take a while. We’ll be out when she’s done.”

“But there’s only one flavor,” Megan’s mother called after them.

Megan shoved Blair through the door, and when Libby entered, Megan shut the door and locked it.

Blair began to pace and sucked in deep breaths of air, feeling dangerously close to losing it.

“Blair,” Megan said, “talk to us.”

She shook her head. “There’s nothing to talk about.” She just had to whip herself into shape, go back out there, and finish this party. Then she could go home and sleep.

“How about starting with why you’re so upset,” Libby suggested.

“I’m perfectly fine!” she practically shouted.

“Okay . . .” Megan said, lifting her hands in surrender.

“Please,” Blair begged. “Just give me a minute to catch my breath.”

She continued to pace while sucking in deep breaths. What should s

s he do? She had finally composed herself after getting caught in the kitchen, but then Garrett had written that damn answer . . . Part of her desperately wanted to talk to him, but based on the way she seemed to lose all sense of reason when she was near him, she suspected there wouldn’t be much talking. She couldn’t risk it.

The fact was that she had to stay as far from Garrett Lowry as possible. She only had to make it through the week. Then he’d be gone, and everything would go back to normal.

But her heart wanted more. Then the faces of her clients filled her head—women who had crawled into her office, shards of their former selves, all because they had given too much of themselves away in the name of love.

Blair had lived through the pain of a broken heart once, and once was enough.

No, she’d thought long and hard about marrying Neil. It made perfect sense, so there was no point in reconsidering now.

Finally, Megan sighed. “Blair, talk to us.”

“About what?”

Megan opened her mouth, but Libby interrupted before she could say anything. “Girl talk. When was the last time we had a good chat?”

“Are you insane?” Blair nearly shouted. “There are a dozen women out there who never cared much for me in high school. They would just love to find every little flaw I have and shove it in my face. Then there’s Neil’s family, who wouldn’t know fun if it bit them in the ass. We can’t leave those wild hyenas with your mother so we can chat.”

Megan grinned. “I left a family dinner before my wedding to run off with Josh. You can afford to give your friends a few minutes. Besides, Gram can entertain them until we go back out there.”

“Blair, you’re overwhelmed, and it’s okay. It’s your party, so you can cry if you want to,” Libby teased.

“I don’t cry!” Blair pointed a finger in her face. “And I don’t need any help! I can do it myself!”

“Of course you can, Blair,” Megan said softly. “No one is questioning that. But you’ve got a lot on your plate right now with all the fuss about the ring, not to mention your job hinging on the wedding.” She gave Blair a sad look. “And Garrett.” When Blair opened her mouth to ask her how she knew about her job, Megan gave her a weak smile. “Libby told me. You should have called me.”

Blair shook her head, irritated by the tears burning behind her eyes. “I can handle it.” But there was no force behind the words.

“We know you can,” Libby said quietly.

“What do you want me to say?” she asked defensively.

There was a knock at the back door. “Megan?” Knickers called through the door. “Is everything okay in there? I thought I heard shouting.”

“We’re all excited over this cake!” Libby said.

“Oh . . . okay. Are you coming out soon?”

“Yes,” Blair said, heading for the door.

“Not yet!” Megan yelled, blocking the door. “We’re still working on the cake.”

“Well, okay . . .”

They heard her clomp off and Libby hopped onto a barstool. “The sooner we get our answer, the sooner we’ll let you out of here. Why don’t you start with what’s going on between you and Garrett?”

Blair’s preservation instinct sprang