Page 1 of Sundown Somewhere

1

HUX

He’s not here.

I don’t know that I have ever wanted to punch Jeff Holcomb as much as I do in this moment. And that’s saying something. Because he’s pulled a lot of shit over the years.

But this…this takes the cake.

He’s the fucking groom, for crying out loud.

And he’s not here.

I flex my hands, mostly to stop myself from putting a hole in the drywall of Hickory Hills Baptist’s vestibule—one that I would inevitably have to patch up. That’s not the only thing stopping me though. The fact that I’m the man of honor and need to be on my best behavior for the bride’s sake is what is really keeping me collected.

This is her day. It’s about making her dreams come true. And that means finding this fucker and getting his ass down that aisle so they can live happily ever after. Or some shit like that.

Sucking in a deep breath, I count to ten, trying to tamp down the fury raging inside me. Not that it helps. Fuck, at this point I could count to one million and I don’t think it would do a damn thing. Still, I have to try.

That is, until I look over at my oldest brother, Gus. To the average person, the solemn look on his face probably doesn’t look any different from the one that is plastered there at any given moment on any other day. But as his brother, I know. It’s different.

More than that, the concern woven in the green eyes of his girlfriend, Margeaux, who is half a step behind him, finishes the story.

The fucker really isn’t here.

Gus stops just shy of where I’m standing, not bothering to hide his assessment of me in my tux, as if he hasn’t done this every time he’s seen me today. Including three times before I left the house this morning. In any other situation it would be more than enough to annoy me. Today though, it barely registers.

“Sorry…but he’s not…” Gus trails off, shaking his head, not wanting to say what I already know. Margeaux slides up next to him, slipping her arm around him and squeezing.

The awkward twinge of what all this means hangs in the air, all three of us unwilling to acknowledge it out loud. Because this can’t mean that. It simply can’t.

“No,” I bark. “Where’s Ryan? Or Jeremy? One of them has to have heard from him.”

There’s no way the best man or the groom’s brother don’t know where he is. For that matter, I know I saw Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb walk in. Certainly they know where their son is. Right? A mother aways knows. There’s no way in hell that my mother, Miss Belle, wouldn’t be up my ass and around the corner on my wedding day making sure that everything was perfect.

Gus shakes his head again. “Both of them tried calling him. No answer.”

“Not fucking possible.”

I turn on my heel, starting to pace. We have a church full of people, all expecting my childhood best friend, Dolly McLain, to walk down that aisle at any moment, looking like the princess she is, and marry the love of her life.

Except we don’t have a groom.

To make matters worse—Dolly has no fucking clue.

Nope. Because as the man of honor, it’s my job to make sure that her day is a dream come true. And that dream includes not knowing that the groom is missing.

Which is why she’s sequestered upstairs in the bridal room with her bridesmaids, none the wiser to this dilemma. One that I’m going to solve before she gets wind of it.

I hope.

“He’s not at the dealership, and no one there has heard from him,” Milo, my second oldest brother says, jogging up to us, slipping his phone into his pocket. My pulse kicks up, although I’m not sure if it’s out of more anger that we still don’t know where he is, or gratitude that Milo thought to call Jeff’s employer. “Sales manager was a little surprised I was calling, making a joke about isn’t today his wedding day, and then realized that wasn’t exactly funny.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” I exaggerate. Even though this is the exact opposite of funny. “Where the fuck is he?”

“Errr, I hate to be the one who goes there, but…” Margeaux interjects, looking between all of us. Her red hair reflects the sunlight from the stained glass window in the church door as she moves, stealing my attention for a brief second. She may be the newest member of the extended Hayes bunch, but she fits in so seamlessly, it’s tough to remember that she hasn’t always been around. “Could something have happened?”

Something? What kind of something?