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But she wasn’t sure what they were at the moment. She had wanted a fresh start away from anyone she knew, and she absolutely couldn’t risk running into the man currently walking beside her.
They crossed the T-junction and walked along the side of the dirt road, the farmhouse getting closer and closer now.
“Do we have a minute?” Charlie asked, his hand clasping around hers again. Before she could answer, he towed her toward the east tent, where dinner would be served.
Everyone else streamed into the west tent, where the wedding ceremony would take place, and Cherry glanced toward them, wondering if she should call out for help. She didn’t see anyone she knew, and she knew in that moment that she’d been out of town for a long time.
“Charlie,” she protested.
“I just want to talk for another second,” he said.
Cherry suspected he wanted something else, but she wasn’t sure what. She wasn’t afraid of him, but he was far bigger and stronger than she was. She did yoga three times a week and had taken a self-defense class a few years ago after the college where she worked mandated it for the employees who worked on campus.
“Charlie,” she said again as he flipped back the closed flap of the tent and entered it. Round tables had been set up and clothed with beautiful cream-colored linens, deep purple napkins, and gorgeous vases of flowers that rose like pillars from the center of each one. Cherry realized she would like to get married one day, though she was too old to have children now. She’d come to terms with that, but that didn’t mean she had to spend the rest of her life with only felines and friends.
She managed to get her hand away from Charlie, and she glared at him. “What?”
“I don’t think you’re dating anyone.” He glowered at her, and Cherry folded her arms.
“I don’t care what you think,” she said. “This was a mistake. You should go get your dog and get on home.”
“No way,” Charlie said, shaking his head. “Dinner smells delicious.”
Cherry rolled her eyes, and in that moment where she wasn’t watching Charlie, he lunged at her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned toward her, his mouth seeking hers.
“Stop it,” she said just before he kissed her. She struggled against his strength, knowing her advantage existed in her legs. She brought her knee up, and that got the man to back away a single step.
“Cherry,” he barked at her.
“I’ll bite you if you kiss me again,” she said, wiping her mouth. “And you’re lucky I didn’t have enough room to kick you properly.” She glared at him, and Charlie’s eyes—which she’d once found so dreamy—stared back at her.
“You wouldn’t have asked me to this wedding if you didn’t want to get back together.”
“You’re delusional,” she said.
And perhaps he was, because he came at her again. This time, Cherry braced herself for a blow that didn’t come, as someone had stepped into the tent and grabbed onto Charlie’s upper arm.
“I think the lady said no,” a man said. Cherry blinked at him at the same time Charlie did.
Jed Forrester, a cowboy who lived on the farm to the west of Sweet Water Falls Farm, flicked his dark navy blue eyes in Cherry’s direction and then re-focused on Charlie. “I’m gonna let go of you now, and you should probably get.”
“I’m not gonna get,” Charlie spat. “She invited me to the wedding.”
“I just uninvited you,” Cherry said, reaching up to smooth down her hair. She felt shattered in pieces, and she hated that. She always made sure she had everything sitting in precisely the right place before she left her house and entered the public arena.
Her heart beat like a drum in her chest, and her adrenaline kept spiking and sending it into a frenzy again. She met Jed’s eyes, and her pulse dang near exploded from her body. She wasn’t sure what that meant, if anything, but she was grateful she didn’t have to deal with Charlie alone.
“I have to go,” she said, speaking to Jed now. Her memories flooded her mind, because he was the same age as Lee, and they’d been friends stemming all the way back to junior high. “My family is having a little meeting right before the wedding.”
“Go,” Jed said. “I’ll save you a seat in the other tent, okay? I’m with my brother Chris and his wife. We’ve got an extra seat.”
Cherry swallowed and nodded. She threw one last glare in Charlie’s direction, and put one hand on Jed’s shoulder as she started to pass him.
“Thank you,” she murmured. Electricity flowed from his body and into hers, and she pulled her hand away and stepped out of the tent in the same motion.
Outside, she could breathe easier, and she quickly crossed the road to the farmhouse, arriving on the porch as the rumble of Lee’s truck met her ears.
At least she wasn’t the last one to arrive, and since Lee was the golden child, Cherry wouldn’t be in trouble either. She glanced across the lane and caught Jed walking from one tent to the other, no sign of Charlie anywhere.
