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“And I would help you. After all, we have enough food for the funeral.” Elsie looked around the chapel at the rows of empty pews. “Speaking of which, where is my brother?”
“He and Kye are picking up the tuxes.” Olivia glanced at her watch. “He should be here by now.”
The church had a large meeting room behind the chapel, which would be used for refreshments and dancing tomorrow after the wedding. People had been at work decorating it all day with silk trees, a trellis, candles, twinkle lights, and yards of chiffon. The flowers were coming later.
The pastor, a balding man with glasses that rested low on his nose, turned to Olivia. “Are we ready to start? Where is the groom?”
“I’m here,” Carson called from the back of the chapel.
Elsie turned at the sound of his voice. Kye was striding up the aisle next to him: tall and tan and looking better in a pair of Levis than a man ought to. His eyes met Elsie’s, and his gaze ran over her, from the heels of her sophisticated boots to the tips of her newly highlighted hair.
She felt transparent, as though he could tell she’d dressed up for him. She turned away with an inward sigh. She couldn’t win. Yesterday she’d felt dowdy and pathetic. Now she felt dressed up and pathetic.
The pastor went over the instructions, letting them all know their part in the ceremony. The best man and maid of honor would walk in first. In this case, Kye and Elsie. She shouldn’t have been the maid of honor, really. She’d only been given the position because Olivia didn’t have any sisters and didn’t want to choose one of her friends above the others.
After Kye and Elsie walked down the aisle, the rest of the wedding party would follow. Last of all, the father of the bride was supposed to walk his daughter down the aisle. The pastor paused and turned to Olivia. “Will your father be giving you away?”
Olivia glanced at the door as though still waiting for his appearance. “I don’t think so. I think my uncle will do it.” Her face fell a little as she spoke, as though she didn’t like admitting this. Her mother reached over and squeezed her hand.
“Your uncle then,” the pastor said and went on describing the rest of the ceremony.
When he was done, everyone lined up behind the chapel doors to do the run-through.
The organ started up, and Kye held out his arm to Elsie. “Shall we?”
Without comment, she took his arm, looked straight ahead, and stepped down the aisle to the slow rhythm of the music. She supposed this meant she could mark off another thing on her prayer list—walking down the aisle with Kye. So close and yet so far away.
Concentrate, she told herself.Don’t think about how near he is. Don’t notice how strong his arm is or how good he smells.He did smell good. Sort of woodsy and spicy, like worn leather. Like something you could run your fingers through.
She really was pathetic. He’d already made it perfectly clear he wasn’t interested in her. “There is no us,” he’d said. She needed to repeat it like a mantra so she’d remember it.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kye glance at her. She was not going to smile at him or do anything he could interpret as flirting.
Carson, standing at the front of the chapel, shook his head. “Stop looking so stern, Els. You’re walking to the altar, not being sacrificed on it.”
She sent her brother a forced, glaring smile. He wasn’t making this any easier.
Carson rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that will look great on the wedding video. Hey Kye, your assignment is to make sure Elsie loosens up by tomorrow. Use some of your cowboy charm on her.”
Did her brother really just say that? Did he tell the guy he knew she’d had a childhood crush on to use his charm and loosen her up?
She felt Kye stiffen, felt his arm muscles shift underneath her fingertips. A glance at his face let her know he wasn’t amused by the suggestion. Again, she wondered how much Carson knew about the night at the Mathematics Decathlon. Who had Kye told about her kiss?
She and Kye reached the altar and parted to walk to their separate sides of the room.
She watched the others come in. Everyone else was smiling and happy. Her brother Jace waltzed the entire way with his bridesmaid. Lucas put on a pair of sunglasses and acted like a celebrity on the red carpet. “No pictures,” he called out. “The paparazzi aren’t allowed inside.”
When you came right down to it, brothers were overrated. Elsie decided right then not to invite hers to her wedding. Especially not Carson.
After the rehearsal ended, Elsie’s parents announced that everyone was invited to a restaurant in town for dinner, their treat. Everyone accepted except for Kye. He said he had some things he needed to do. Right. He was probably worried Elsie was going to corner him and demand to see some cowboy charm.
Or maybe he was going to meet Lisa. That was probably it. His absence most likely had nothing to do with Carson’s instructions. The thought should’ve made Elsie feel better but didn’t. Elsie couldn’t help wondering what Lisa had that she didn’t. What did a girl have to do to attract Kye McBride?
* * *
Elsie had meantto get a good night’s sleep. In theory, everything was supposed to be ready, so the only thing the family had to do the day of the wedding was pick up the food from the caterer and make sure the florist was setting up.
But Elsie’s mother thought that the centerpieces the decorator had provided—simple candle arrangements among flowers—needed sprucing up, and so after the rehearsal dinner, Elsie volunteered to do the sprucing. This involved a stop at the craft shop for glow lights, silver star ornaments, garlands, and baby’s breath flowers.
