When Stars Collide (Second Chance Romance #2) - Sara Furlong-Burr Page 0,134

flight back to New York in the morning. He shook his head, stating that he needed to get back to deal with a few issues that had crept up at the office.

We both knew there were no issues back at the office.

After zipping up his suitcase, he made a cursory glance around the room and left with a final look at me, accompanied by a cordial, but pained smile. It took all I had in me not to chase after him when the door latched shut after he walked out of our room. But I knew doing so would just fan the flames of our pain. The truth was that Phineas was right. Virginia was my home. Peter was my home.

“Earth to Mena.” Elle snapped me out of my trance, waving her hand in front of my face.

“Huh? Oh … down. Your hair looks great down.”

“That was a half hour and ten questions ago. Are you okay?”

The last thing I wanted to do was upset Elle with my relationship drama on her wedding day. She was frazzled enough as it was. Just watching her flit around the dressing room stressed to the max in the barn we were being holed-up in was enough for me to decide that I was either going to elope or never get married at all.

“I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Look at me.” I stood up and twirled around, my dress fanning out around me. “I’m a fucking ray of sunshine.”

“Hey, bride,” Violet called to Elle, having returned from her latest scouring of the grounds to ensure everything was going as planned. “You’re getting married in an hour. Shouldn’t you be getting dressed?”

“You’re absolutely right, Violet. Thank you for reminding me I should get dressed, because I would never have come to that conclusion myself,” Elle called back. She lowered her voice near my ear as she delivered her follow-up statement. “Damn, she’s annoying today.”

I snickered. “Today? Where have you been?” My eyes traveled down to her mid-section, where a small bump was just barely visible to anyone who looked carefully. “Never mind. I know exactly where you’ve been.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “It’s a good thing we chose May instead of June. Because had I waited another month, I wouldn’t have been able to hide this.” She patted her belly, smiling. She’d begun to take to the idea of becoming a mom. I couldn’t tell whether it was due to the wedding or the pregnancy, but she really was glowing. Of course, that glow could also be from the atmosphere inside of our cramped room which rivaled a sauna.

“At the risk of sounding like Violet, you really should be getting dressed.”

“I know, I know. I’ve just been putting it off because the moment I put that dress on everything will be so … final.”

“Are you having second thoughts? Because if you want to run, we could totally jump in Kirsten’s car and Thelma and Louise our way out of here.”

“Thelma and Louise, huh? You do remember what happens at the end of that movie, right?”

“They all lived happily ever after?” I shrugged. “Isn’t that why that movie’s so popular?”

“Yeah, we’ll go with that.” Elle picked up her garment bag and threw it over her shoulder. “It’s show time.”

“Do you need help with that thing? There’s like a bajillion buttons on the back.”

“There’s fifty buttons, and probably, yes.” She motioned for Kirsten and me to follow her just as a knock appeared on the door.

“I’ll grab it. I suppose I should do something to earn this maid of honor title you’ve bestowed upon me, other than sit here, look pretty, and give embarrassing speeches at your reception, that is.”

“Wait, what?” Elle asked. I could almost hear the bile rising from her stomach.

“Nothing.” I ushered Elle and Kirsten behind a dressing screen and scurried over to the door. My guess was that it was Suzanne, the ball of joy officiant, paying us a visit to check on our progress and confirming that the wedding would be proceeding on schedule. Mentally, I had myself so psyched up that it was Suzanne that my surprise was amplified when I opened the door to reveal Peter standing on the other side.

He sucked in a sharp gasp of air as his eyes raked down the length of my body. Equally as impressed by his transformation, I, too, was rendered speechless, taking him in standing before me in his tuxedo, his disheveled hair tamed down. In front of me was someone who was the