Page 5 of Runaway Bride’s Husband

For a beat, I considered seeking another place to gather my thoughts, but if I went back out there, I’d risk being pulled back to my table. Nope. I’m staying put.

Thankfully, no one seemed bothered by my presence. They were too busy doing their actual jobs. Servers hurried past with plates balanced on their arms and those behind the counters flicked whatever was in their pans without a single care about the random girl in the corner.

I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, feeling a sense of calm envelop me against the hustle of the chefs and other workers. For the first time all day, it felt like oxygen was actually filling my lungs and I dragged in a deep breath, nearly crying with relief for how good it felt.

Unfortunately, awareness prickled through me the very next moment and I opened my eyes, praying to all that was holy Cathy hadn’t already found me.

Nope. It was the guy I’d seen earlier.

Ryan.

The name popped into my head out of nowhere as he walked across the kitchen, typing something into his phone.

Ryan Thayer. That’s who he is.

I hadn’t seen him for a very long time, but honestly, he hadn’t changed much. He was still stupidly handsome and his family’s downfall definitely hadn’t shaken loose the chip he’d always had on his shoulder.

“Ryan?” It was out of my mouth before I could think better of it and I pushed away from the wall, smiling—for real, also for the first time all day—as I approached him. “Is it really you?”

When he looked over at me, my heart gave a fluttery kind of leap. “Hi, Maggie. I’m surprised you remember me.”

Up close, he was extraordinarily put together, like it just happened for him without any effort at all. He also still carried himself with the same confidence he’d always had, even as a gangly kid.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I mean, it’s nice to see you, but I wasn’t expecting you.”

He smiled and shrugged. “My mother. Apparently, she’s planning your wedding and I’ve been roped into it against my will.”

Same, I almost said. Almost.

I managed to bite back the word at the very last second and cleared my throat, suddenly a little nervous under his intensely blue gaze. “So, how have you been?”

He nodded and was about to say something, but his phone buzzed in his hand, and his eyes dropped to look at the screen. After quickly scanning a message, he glanced back up at me. “Bride magazine and the Knot are taken care of, but I’ll make sure you’re not pulled aside for interviews too often during the actual wedding.”

I blinked rapidly. “You’re serious?”

“Unfortunately.”

I blinked in surprise and looked him over again. “So you’re my wedding planner now?”

He grimaced, those handsome features contorting like he’d tasted something sour, but before he could respond, my mother’s voice drifted across the kitchen. “Maggie!”

I turned to see both my mom and his standing in the doorway. Nora Thayer might’ve fallen from grace a long time ago, but she sure hadn’t lost the pinched, disapproving half-smile I swore their social circle had taken a class in during pregnancy.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” my mom said, crossing the kitchen and taking a firm grip of my arm. “You simply cannot disappear from your own bridal shower.”

“I was powdering my nose.”

“For twenty minutes? In the kitchen?”

“Has it really been that long?” I glanced at Ryan for help, but he just shrugged, obviously not interested in defending me.

Until his own mother started scolding him in turn. “You were supposed to stay with the guests.”

“I’m working.”

“You can work later.”

“Not on checking the appetizers,” he said.