AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I checked out the website for her boutique, Katie Rose Bridal, as soon as I got home last night.
It opens at ten a.m., and I plan to be at the door at nine fifty-five.
“Where’s your mind today, Gage?” Gus lowers himself to the bench.
I shift my stance, dropping my hands to my hips. “On a shower.”
He laughs, taking in the running shorts I’m wearing and the sweat pouring down my forehead.
“Lois ran a half marathon once. Did I ever tell you that?”
Twice, but I’ll listen again if he’s in the mood.
“She placed second.” He waves two fingers in the air; both are curled from the wear of arthritis on his joints. “I was waiting at the finish line with a dozen red roses.”
Then he dropped to one knee and slid a diamond on her finger.
He doesn’t finish the story. A helicopter overhead catches his attention.
“I’m taking off.” I reach forward to pat his shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“God willing you will.” He laughs. “Make today count, Gage.”
I plan on it.
***
Sticking to the plan will only take you so far. For me, that’s the showroom floor at Katie Rose Bridal.
“Is she here?” I ask the question for a second time. “Has Katie come to work yet?”
“As I told you already, Kate is unavailable at the moment,” Natalie says to me.
I thought she’d grant me some insight into when I can talk to Katie since we spent a large part of our afternoon together yesterday.
She helped Annalise into a gown and for the next hour I sat on a bench listening to the maid-of-honor and the bridesmaids tell her that the dress was made for her.
Natalie tossed me a sympathetic look after the first thirty minutes. Today, I’m getting nothing from her but a brick wall being thrown in my way.
“I’m an old friend of Katie’s.” I shove a hand into the pocket of my jeans to slide out my phone. “I’ve got a great photo of her when she was in college.”
Her eyes drop to my phone as I scroll through the album that holds more pictures of Katie than I can count.
Natalie’s hand lands on mine to stop me. “She called this morning and said she’d be late. I have no idea if or when she’ll show up, Gage.”
I exhale. “I’ll drop back in this afternoon.”
“Good idea.” She looks past me when the door to the boutique opens. “That’s my first appointment of the day.”
I glance over my shoulder at a petite blonde woman holding a bridal magazine.
If owning a store like this was Katie’s dream, she kept it hidden from me.
The woman I fell in love with aspired to take over her dad’s company. She wanted to see her name on the door of the CEO’s office at Wesley Pharmaceuticals in Los Angeles.
I look back at Natalie. “How long has Katie owned this place?”
“I’m not sure.” She shrugs a shoulder. “She hired me a little over a year ago. If you’ll excuse me, I really do need to get to my bride-to-be.”
