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I’m outside the bar. Can you meet me here?
She waited for a minute. Then two. He was probably too busy talking with somebody to notice his phone buzzing. And she was beginning to look strange, loitering outside the bar. With him not replying she had no choice but to go in.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the saloon door open and stepped inside. The room was packed with men. Family, friends, firefighters from Lucas’s job. A few of them laughingly told her she was in the wrong room as she pushed through them, scouting the space for Breck’s face.
“Caitie?” Lucas said when she reached the far corner. “Are you looking for me? Everything okay?”
Her father was with him, along with Griff and Jack, plus his retired Captain from the service. They all turned to her, smiling and greeting her. Her mouth turned dry at the thought of them all listening.
“I… uh…” She took a mouthful of air. “I’m looking for Breck. I have a quick question for him about tomorrow. Is he here?”
“Breck?” Lucas frowned. “No, he headed up to bed half an hour ago. Said he had a headache.”
“He’s in his room?” It was getting hard to breathe. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah. He just can’t take his drink,” Griff said, lifting his own glass. “When I saw him in the bathroom earlier I swear he’d been puking.”
Breck wasn’t much of a drinker. Caitie knew that. A beer or two as the sun went down was his occasional limit. “I should check on him,” she said. “Make sure he’s okay. He needs to be well for tomorrow.”
“You don’t need to do everything,” Griff said, putting his arm around her shoulder. “Tell you what, I’ll go check on him. You go back to Ember and the girls.” He hugged her against him in a brotherly way. “You don’t need to clear up after our mess, little sis.”
She was starting to panic. There was no way she was going to reveal her relationship with Breck now. Not when everybody was merry and it was her brother’s wedding day tomorrow. But she needed to find a way to see him.
“If he’s ill I have all the details of the local doctor,” she said quickly. “I’ll only be a minute. Stay here and enjoy yourself.” She lifted her lips into a smile. “And keep an eye on Lucas. I need him sober in the morning.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Griff released her shoulder and gave her a mock salute. “But give me a shout if you need me, okay?”
She nodded quickly. “Sure.”
It took another few minutes to push her way back through the crowd. Everybody she passed wanted to tell her how well things were going, how pretty the hotel looked, how much they we
re looking forward to the next day. With each conversation she felt her pulse raise. When she managed to exit into the lobby, she took a mouthful of air.
Breck was on the third floor. She’d assigned his room herself. Next to the elevator so he could sneak out and down to the floor below without anybody noticing. She pressed the button and waited for the elevator to arrive, almost running inside when the doors finally opened.
The third floor was quiet. Lucas and his groomsmen took up half the rooms, along with his friends from the service. Ember and her bridal party were on the second, along with her friends, leaving the first floor for both of their families. Caitie had taken great care assigning each room, noting the families who had young children and wouldn’t want to be disturbed by rowdiness. She’d learned from experience all these little things counted.
She tapped at Breck’s door with the tips of her fingers, not wanting to make too much noise. When there was no answer, she leaned forward, trying to look through the peephole. “Breck? It’s me. Are you okay?”
It was at least thirty seconds before he opened the door. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears as she waited silently, worrying about him. Then he was there, his face as grey as Griff had described, his brows pulled close together, making three vertical lines in the skin between them.
“Breck?”
He blinked as though he was trying to work out who she was. He didn’t look like himself at all. Not the happy, easy-going Breck she knew so well. There was a wildness to his eyes that made her want to step back.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Griff said you weren’t feeling well.”
“I’m fine.” He pressed his lips together.
“Can I come in?” She glanced at the hallway behind her to make sure nobody was there. “I only want to talk for a minute.”
When she stepped inside there was something strange about his room. It took a moment for her to realize what it was. “Haven’t you unpacked?” she asked him, seeing his bag by the door, his suit still in its plastic case.
He shook his head but said nothing.
“Breck?”
“I need to go.”
