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“Where’d you go?” Nate asked.
“Jill summoned me to the bridal room,” he said. “I’m on my way now. I might need someone to come get me, because I’m not sure how to get to the stable house.”
“Slate nearly called in the National Guard,” Nate said. “He’s a bit on-edge.”
“Sorry,” Luke said. “I’m on my way.” He made it back to the hallway he’d been in before and continued the way everyone else had been walking. A man came out of one of the doorways before Luke had to decide which one to go down, and relief filled him.
“Thanks,” he said to him, and down another hall, he entered a room with one whole wall of windows. They looked out across the field, the rows facing the altar and arch, clearly visible down the middle of the aisle.
“You snuck off to kiss Hannah, didn’t you?” Slate asked, not joking at all.
“I did not,” Luke said, quite defensively.
“Where’d you go then?” he asked as Nate and Ted gathered around. Dallas edged closer too, questions in his eyes too.
“I told Nate: I had to go to the bride’s room. Jill wanted to see me.”
“Jill?” Slate asked, his voice full of disbelief. “Why in theworldwouldmyfiancée want to seeyou?”
The emphasis on every other word annoyed Luke to the point of frowning and scoffing. “Calm down,” he said. He didn’t want to tell them about the wig. He and Hannah had discussed it, and yes, he had some money in the bank. Enough for a wig, at least. Enough for a little more too, because he’d won a lot of fights before his life had taken a drastic turn.
“Look who’s telling someone to calm down.” Nate glanced at Ted, both of them smiling. That only irritated Luke further.
“Leave him alone,” Dallas said. “Luke had lessons to learn, just like the rest of us. We don’t go back to who we were over and over, do we?”
Emotion welled up in Luke’s throat. He met Dallas’s eyes and hoped he could communicate his thanks for sticking up for him with just a look.
“You’re right,” Ted said. “I’m sorry, Luke.”
Nate remained stoic for a few moments while everyone looked at him or Luke. Or back and forth between them both. Luke would bend under the wrath of Nathaniel Mulbury. Even under just a hard look like this.
He closed his eyes and looked away, and Nate said, “I know you learned a lot in prison, Luke. No one’s denying that. I just wonder if you learned enough.”
“What does that even mean?” Luke asked. “I’m not back on steroids. I’m not fighting. I left Las Vegas, even though it was very hard to do.” He felt his chest unraveling, one breath at a time, and they came quickly now.
“You’re still fighting,” Nate said quietly. “You’re fighting yourself, and you’re fighting the verdict. Still.”
“It was involuntary,” Luke bit out.
Slate stepped to his side and faced Nate too. “Are you saying he’s not repentant? Because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong?”
“I didn’t say that,” Nate said. “But I think it’s interesting thatyoudid.”
“I did my time,” Luke said. “I don’t have to stand here and justify anything to anyone. Not even you, Nathaniel.” He backed up a step and looked at Slate. “Jill wanted to see me because Hannah and I bought her mother a wig to wear today. Her mother has been upset and worried about coming to the wedding and having a whole bunch of pictures taken of her without hair.”
He took a deep breath as someone opened the door and said, “The ladies will be here in five minutes. We’ll open the glass doors then, and you guys can get lined up.”
No one even acknowledged the woman who’d spoken.
“It wasn’t anything bad. She found out, and she wanted to say thank you. Hannah pulled me down the hall and into the bride’s room, where everyone stared at me like a freak.” He glared at Slate, though he wasn’t really angry with him. Luke didn’t care. The anger was an old friend he actually liked. He switched his gaze to Ted, then Dallas, and last Nate. “Just like they are now. I’ve had quite enough of it, and I certainly didn’t expect to have to take it from the men who should assume the best about me instead of the worst.”
So he wouldn’t form his fingers into fists, Luke reached up and adjusted the collar on his shirt and jacket. “Excuse me.” He turned and left the room, though both Slate and Dallas said, “Luke,” and then something else.
Something like, “Don’t go,” or “Stay here.”
Luke couldn’t stay at the moment. He just needed to find air that wasn’t filled with accusations. He’d had no idea Nate thought he hadn’t accepted his verdict. It had beenyearssince the verdict. Years.
How did he prove he’d accepted it? “Why do you even have to?” As far as he knew, no one else had to prove to their friends that they’d done something terrible, felt bad about it, and accepted their punishment.
