Needing Happily Ever After - Elena Aitken Page 0,47

back from his walk.

His relationship with his dad might be hard, but that didn’t mean he had to be a total asshole about it. He shook his head in acceptance before continuing down the trail.

It had been his mother who’d been the one to venture outside with him. She’d shown him the beauty of the mountains and the trails that crisscrossed them. Together, they’d hiked up to the glaciers and along the river. She’d taken him on long drives on the back roads so they could explore. And explore they did. They’d found countless treasures hidden in the mountains, from an icy-cold, tiny, but impossibly deep lake surrounded by cliffs that they could jump off into the frigid water below, to the spectacular waterfalls that only happened in the spring with the runoff from the mountains as the snow melted down into the valley. Damon had loved those days with his mom. And then when he got older, he’d shown his friends all the places they’d found. Mostly.

He remembered the last time he’d wanted to take Katie to a particularly beautiful spot. They never got there because she’d insisted on bringing Jeremy along, so at the last minute Damon had pretended that he’d forgotten where he really wanted to go. But the truth was that he couldn’t imagine sharing the special hot springs with anyone except Katie. And definitely not the boy she was dating. Or worse, could be in love with.

The thought of Katie being in love with Jeremy stopped him short. Had they been in love in high school? He hadn’t thought so. Not really, but then again, they’d dated recently. Very recently, if Jeremy’s outburst on Main Street had been an indication of anything. Katie had said it was nothing, just a casual thing. But still.

Was that really all there was between them? And did he have any right to even ask about it?

Damon shook his head and took a deep breath. He was getting himself worked up for nothing. He really needed to keep things in perspective. He found a boulder and perched himself on top before digging his cell phone out of his pocket and pressing the numbers for his buddy, Nick.

“Hey,” Nick answered. “Are you back in town yet? Or still roughing it in the woods?”

Nick’s generally dismissive attitude about Damon’s hometown was always a bit of a burr in his side, but for the most part, Damon tried to ignore it. He’d met Nick at college and he’d been part of the team he’d worked with on the microchip, which meant that Nick was just as wealthy as he was, a fact that had been both a good and a bad thing in their relationship. It was hard to find real friends when you had a lot of money, but on the other hand, sometimes that money could change people. In Nick’s case, it had turned him into a bit of a playboy-party animal, a role Damon had joined him in for a little bit, which was why it was extra-hard for him to understand why Damon would choose to move back to his hometown.

“I wouldn’t call it roughing it.” Damon looked around at his surroundings. No, definitely not roughing it. “I’m actually calling because I have news.”

“News? Like you’re coming back to the city next week? Because there’s a party at—”

“No.” He cut him off. “Nothing like that. I’m actually calling because I got married.” Damon waited, sure that there would be a reaction.

Sure enough, Nick started to laugh. “Married? You? Like, now?”

“Like two days ago.”

“You’re not kidding.”

“I’m not.”

“Well, shit.”

“Shit indeed.” Damon smiled. “And I want you to meet her.”

“Your wife?”

Wife. The word sounded so good. Damon nodded. “I do.” He wanted everyone to know Katie was his wife.

There was a silence on the other end for a few minutes, and then Nick said, “Okay then. When should I come?”

Faith looked around the barn, full of happy wedding guests, celebrating and dancing and generally having an amazing time. It was Saturday night and the room full of people had no idea that the woman who’d just pulled off the wedding they were enjoying so much barely even knew what she was doing, and only a few weeks ago would have panicked at the very thought of being in charge of such a thing.

A feeling a little like pride flowed through her as she stood in the door of the kitchen and watched. Hell, if she had time, she might even laugh at