Sienna nods in agreement. This is where she wanted to get married because a lot of Luke’s family is from Alberta and because our maternal side of the family lives here. Our grandmother, aunts and cousins will all be driving in from Vancouver in a couple of days. The event spaces here are booked out a year in advance and Sienna only managed to get it on the day there was a cancellation.
“My manager is on her way,” Hannah explains. “Why don’t we see the grand ballroom, anyway? I can show you the other rooms also.”
“I don’t want to see the grand ballroom and fall in love with it, only to have to move to another room,” Sienna says.
Hannah smiles softly. “I understand. Let me assure you, the only thing grand about the grand ballroom is the size. All our ballrooms have similar views and you’re going to get the same experience. Or you can wait in the restaurant.”
“We’ll wait in the restaurant,” I say.
Hannah leads us to the restaurant that’s empty at this time of the day. Apparently, they’re only open for the dinner service starting at five. The bartender is already there setting up for the night as we walk in.
“Would you like something to drink?” Hannah asks.
“Water is fine,” Dad says.
“Are you sure? It’s on the house. We’re really so sorry for the confusion.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure we can get it sorted in no time,” Sienna says.
I’m not so sure about that. How do you make a mistake like that when you’re booking events every day? The good thing is they haven’t charged us more than the deposit on the smaller ballrooms. I can’t help thinking that if this is fucked up then everything else is going to be fucked up, too. That’s just howmy brain works. If one thing goes wrong, then everything goes wrong.
I take the glass of water the bartender sets on the counter, and something catches my eye in the mirror behind him. I turn and look at the wall behind me. There’s a framed hockey jersey hanging on the wall. Three of them, actually. Number fourteen Hayes.
My blood turns to ice.
“Your owner is a big hockey fan?” Dad asks. “Or maybe a fan of the New York Renegades?”
Hannah follows Dad’s gaze and laughs lightly. “Oh, those are his jerseys. Mr. Hayes Senior put them up years ago because he wanted to celebrate his grandson, but now he’s the owner.
“No way! Connor Hayes is the owner of Cedar Creek Ranch?” Dad asks, excitedly.
“He is!” Hannah says, just as excited. “Oh, there they are now.”
Hannah looks out the terrace windows and I see a man and woman walking across the snow-covered garden towards the restaurant. The man is wearing dark wash jeans, boots, a plaid jacket, and a black cowboy hat. Each step is confident and self-assured.
As if he can sense me looking, he looks away from the woman next to him and directly at me. Something tugs at the pit of my stomach, my heart slamming against the wall of my chest.
No, no, no. Fuck, no.
When he enters the restaurant, it’s like all the air gets sucked out of the room and I suddenly can’t breathe. Reaching up, he removes his hat, revealing his dark brown hair which has a smattering of grey now, just like his light beard.
His brown-ish green eyes rake over me and it’s like my body comes alive. Like I’m coming in from the cold into a warm housethat’s been waiting for me. He comes to a stop in front of me, eyes soft, one corner of his mouth tilting up into a smile.
“Scarlett,” he breathes.
The sound of his voice causes my body to erupt in goosebumps.
I don’t know how I’m supposed to react right now or what he expects from me. My body cycles through emotions and the ones that stand out the most are hurt and anger.
So I do the only thing that will make me feel better.
I lift my hand and throw my water in Connor Hayes’s face.
FOUR
CONNOR
“I love her,” my best friend says quietly, next to me. The gleeful delight in her voice is unmistakable.
