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“Cate.” His tone said he wouldn’t tolerate evasion.
Her bottom lip trembled. Here it was again. The seesawing emotions. The whiplash fromI’m really okaytoHow do I ever get past this?Just when she dared to enjoy a quiet afternoon car trip, karma decided Cate needed reminding of her true situation.
“It’s nothing, really,” she muttered.
Harry smiled, though his gaze stayed on the road. “Then tell me nothing.”
“I saw an Instagram account,” she said. “It’s called #AtlantaFails.”
“And?”
“They posted pictures from my wedding. You can see the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Jason and I are half-hidden in the back corner of the picture. The comments are brutal.”
Harry suddenly turned the wheel and zipped off the road into a rest stop. He parked, left the engine running and half turned in his seat. “Let me see.”
“It’s not important,” she said. She could feel the miserable blush that spread from her collarbone to her hairline. Harry hadbeenat her wedding. This was no surprise. But revisiting her humiliation with him was somehow worse.
He held out his hand, his expression brooking no opposition. “Pull up the post and give me your phone.”
She could have said no. Instead, she obeyed, her motions jerky as she handed over her cell.
Harry eyed the photo and slowly scrolled down the page. A dark flush appeared on his cheekbones. His big hand looked as if it could crush her phone into tiny, sharp pieces.
He shot her a look. “Fuck the haters,” he said in a low, furious voice.
“Harry!” The profanity took her by surprise.
“I’m sorry, Catie-girl. You know it as well as I do. Social media gives people a license to be cruel without repercussions. Can you let this one go?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. But the worst part is, someoneJason and I invited to our wedding eitherdid thisorlet it happen. That makes me feel violated,” she said quietly.
“Probably somebody’s plus-one,” he said, his face grim.
“Could be. You want to know the worst, heartbreaking part? About this whole situation?”
“Aside from you severing your relationship with Jason?”
She winced. “Yeah. Aside from that.” His wry comment stung. “The worst part is I didn’t even want to have a big wedding. Ever since I was a little girl, I always assumed I would get married in the small country church in Blossom Branch where Grammy and Grandpa had their ceremony. That church doesn’t even have stained glass windows. Just clear panes where you can look outside and see blue skies and peach orchards.”
“So why didn’t you?”
She sighed. “Jason’s parents and mine ruled that out. Once we put all theirmust inviteson the list, it was already too big. Then Jason and I added our friends. And all the fringe relatives who had to be included. Plus, various business contacts. It went on and on.”
Harry tossed her phone in the back seat. “Did it ever occur toyouto put a stop to the wedding insanity? Be honest, Cate.”
She thought back over the last year and a half. Lots of what she and Jason had done was fun. The planning. Visiting venues. Tasting cakes and other food. Choosing color schemes.
But if she was honest, there had been a few moments of panic.
“Yes,” she said, staring out the windshield at a harried dad trying to stuff a toddler into his car seat. “After Christmas this past year, Jason and I had a fight. Over something stupid, I can’t even remember. I suddenly realized we were both really stressed out.”
“So what happened?”
“I suggested a long weekend getaway. We went to Key West. It was cold and bleak in Atlanta. The trip south was great. But...”
“But what?”
“Jason seemed distracted the whole time.”
