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“The whole town?” I asked. “How many people are there, exactly?”
Greyson shrugged. “Everybody who was interested in a little gossip.”
“That means everybody,” Molly added. She was still clinging to my legs. The little girl had the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes I think I’d ever seen. She was currently aiming them at me–full blast.
“Okay, okay,” I said. “I’ll go. But if people are hoping for some kind of happy resolution, they’re going to be disappointed.”
“Great,” Greyson said. “Put this on.”
I took the jacket and slid it on, zipping it up to cover as much of my pajamas as I could.
I let Greyson drive my car while I waited in the passenger seat with my arms folded. Molly was practically vibrating with excitement in the back seat.
When we pulled up the dirt road to the farm where Lizzie’s wedding had taken place, I felt my stomach drop. The road leading up to the house was lined with cars. Greyson hadn’t been exaggerating. Somehow, Dean had managed to suck the whole town into coming. What the hell was he planning?
We got out in front of the house and walked through the grass toward the barn. It was lit up with string lights and decorated like another wedding was taking place. I wondered if they’d been booked out for someone else’s wedding, but thought I would’ve heard the rumors if that was the case.
“Look!” Molly said. “Flower petals!” She laughed as she picked up a handful from the grass and tossed them over her head.
I saw she was right. We were walking along a pathway of flower petals, just like there had been for Lizzie’s wedding.
When I came around the corner and saw inside the barn, it was packed to the brim with people from town. They were all stuffed into little chairs and some were standing around the edges. The other side of the barn was open to reveal a little arch of flowers, where Dean was waiting in a crisp black suit. He had a microphone in his hand.
“Nope,” I said. I started to turn and run, but Greyson caught me by the arm. “At least hear him out. Come on. Take it from a guy who screwed up once and had to do a little groveling.”
I still gave escape a very long thought, but I turned and took a deep breath.
Dean saw me and took a deep breath of his own. For once in his life, the man actually looked nervous.
Everybody quieted to a hush, and I felt myself walking a little ways up the aisle between the chairs. If Dean Slater tried to propose to me, he was officially out of his mind.
“Music, please,” Dean said into the mic. He pointed somewhere in the crowd and after a few seconds, soft, sappy music started to play. “I was told this would work better if I had a soundtrack.”
I folded my arms. I decided getting any closer was dangerous, so I waited right where I was in the center of the aisle. I was painfully conscious of all the eyes on me. Without looking around, I guessed it had to be nearly the entire town packed into the little barn. Maybe not people from Stone Village, but the true Fairhopers were all here. I was almost certain of it.
Then a little voice at my side made me jump. “Go to him!” It was Molly. She was whispering and shoving my butt with both hands.
I stumbled forward, more and more conscious of the fact that I was in pajamas and a coat while Dean was in a full suit.
I made it to the doorway on the other side of the barn, just a few steps from Dean. At least the crowd was at my back, then. I could pretend it was just Dean and me if I tried hard enough. There were the dangling lights over his head and behind him, lighting him in a golden halo that caught the stray hairs on his head and the stubble on his jaw.
Dean came closer and lowered his mouth to my ear, holding the microphone at his side. “This is what happens when you block me. I can’t just call to say sorry.”
I gave him a look, which earned a wry smile from him. Just like that, it felt like we were back to three months ago when the chemistry always felt like it was zipping between us in a constant stream of electric jolts.
He raised the microphone to his mouth and started to speak, half to me and half to the people behind me. “Three months ago, I misled all of you.”
He misled them? We both had. Was that his plan? Did he think he could take all the blame and somehow make my life easier here?
“I let you think I was dating Pearl. I think I owe all of you an explanation. See, almost a year ago, Pear and I both had our hearts broken. We knew friends and family would try to make it better by setting us up, so we tried to beat them to the punch. We’d pretend we had a long distance relationship as long as it took to get everyone off our backs. And I thought I might just be done dating altogether. She said she was, too. So it seemed perfect.”
