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“I love you, Everleigh.”
He kissed me under the willow tree, and that’s the moment the last of the Ice Queen melted.
I was going to be Everleigh Lockwood.
EPILOGUE
Four monthslater
I rushed through the revolving door of the Four Seasons Hotel. Gunnar was waiting for me in the lobby. “Everyone is waiting.”
I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm, and the two of us headed into the ballroom. “You look beautiful,” he whispered, as we passed the gilded sign for the King rehearsal dinner.
“And you look like a prince.”
“I hate this thing.” He tugged at the bow tie. “What took so long?” he asked.
I smoothed my hand over the black silk dress that draped over my belly. “The alterations took longer than expected.” It was the third time I’d had to get my bridesmaid dress altered, but that wasn’t the real reason I was late. However, the rehearsal dinner was not the time or place to tell Gunnar about the disturbing discovery I’d made.
After greeting my father and Marisa, I slipped into the chair as gracefully as I could, plastering a fake smile on my face. After the five-course dinner, my father made a speech about his soon-to-be wife. Marisa kept looking to the door, and a small part of me felt sorry for her. The chair next to her, reserved for her daughter, sat empty.
“Everleigh, would you like to say some words?” My father held up his champagne flute and looked at me expectantly.
“I’m good.” I crossed my arms.
“Oh. Alright then.”
Marisa stood and I tuned her out as she droned on about becoming part of the family. Since taking over the Sam Strand charity, I’d had access to parts of my father’s finances that I’d never seen before. And there were some secrets in there – deep, dark secrets that I wished I’d never discovered.
As dessert was being served, I excused myself and headed for the bathroom. Gunnar caught up to me and pulled me into an alcove. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
I looked into Gunnar’s eyes and wasn’t going to lie. Even if I’d wanted to, Gunnar knew me so well that he’d be able to pick it up in a second. “No. I’m not alright.”
He cupped my cheek with his hand and his eyes searched mine. “What is it?”
Holding onto his wrist, I tried to figure out how to tell him the news. “This isn’t the time or place. I have something to tell you, but I can’t tell you at my dad’s rehearsal dinner.”
Gunnar rubbed my cheek with his thumb. “There’s something I should tell you too, but I don’t think that this is the place to do it either.”
I looked from my shoes to his eyes. “Come.” I dragged him to a more secluded area of the hotel. “What is it?”
“It’s probably nothing.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Okay.” I was thankful for the distraction. I didn’t know how Gunnar was going to take my news, but knew that it wouldn’t be as bad as Colton. “What is it?”
“I thought I saw Marisa at the racket club.”
“She’s a member there.” Gunnar had built up his news, and now I felt a twinge of disappointment.
“Yeah. But she looked a little…cozy with her instructor.”
I froze. Was Gunnar telling me on the eve of my father’s wedding that his bride-to-be was having an affair with her tennis instructor? “How cozy?”
“It just looked suspicious.” Gunnar rubbed his chin.
My mind was racing, but we couldn’t stop the wedding based on suspicion. “We’re going to need proof, but the wedding is tomorrow.” I cursed myself. I’d had a gut feeling about Marisa, but had brushed it off this entire time. I hoped that I was wrong, but deep down, I knew I wasn’t. I could’ve stopped the whole debacle from going ahead if I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my own drama.
“Everleigh,” Gunnar squeezed my hands, “your father is a smart man. He knows what he’s doing.”
