A Chance This Christmas(44)
He wanted to text her and tell her to meet him outside the church but he’d broken his phone on the mountain this morning, and texting in church—especially in his best man role—wouldn’t look good.
So when the preacher wound up the ceremony, announcing the newly married couple to the congregation, Gavin found his chance to turn around, gaze searching through the pews on the bride’s side of the building, looking for Rachel.
He found her quickly enough during the recessional, like his heart and mind had an auto-detect feature to seek her out in a crowd. She was the only one he was drawn to. The only one he wanted.
However, when their eyes met, her gaze flitted away fast. She looked down in her lap. Whispered something to her mother. And then she darted out of the pew to head for the exit.
His heart sank. He needed to stand in a receiving line next. But no matter. He’d given a hell of a lot to be at this wedding for Luke. Right now, Rachel Chambers came first.
“Cover for me,” he whispered to the guy next to him, an usher who’d graduated the same year as Luke.
The dude nodded.
So Gavin peeled off toward a side exit, bypassing a closet and a meeting room space. Ahead, a red sign glowed: “Exit.”
Gavin shoved it open and headed out into the snow, determined to win the woman he loved.
Chapter Twelve
Tugging the hood of her cape up over her head, Rachel rushed away from the church before anyone noticed her leaving. She’d told her mother her allergies must have returned, a perfect excuse for her red-rimmed eyes through Kiersten and Luke’s wedding.
Snow fell in tiny flakes, the kind of precipitation that usually led off a major storm. Big, fat flakes were decorative gifts from the sky. The tiny ones meant business, even if right now they looked like tiny bits of glitter falling all around her as she headed toward the Hearthside Inn where the reception would be. She’d parked there anyhow, so even if she skipped the remaining festivities, she would need to meet her mom there to drive her home.
A man’s voice from behind her stopped her in her tracks.
“You’re going to ruin your shoes,” he observed from a few feet away.
Gavin.
Her heart did a few hopeful acrobatics before sinking again. He had even told Luke that he’d needed to think about trouble they were having.
She resented falling asleep the night before, thinking things were wonderful between them, only to find out Gavin had been restless with unease all night long.
Glancing over her shoulder briefly, she turned forward again and kept walking. He was far too appealing to contemplate for long. She’d end up confessing more tender feelings for him that she could not afford to have. “I didn’t like these heels anyhow.” She walked faster. “Too tall. Too fussy.”
She could hear him pick up his pace, his steps crunching in the snow. He was beside her in an instant—all too tempting.
“It’s slippery.” He offered his arm. “Hold on to me.”
It sounded simple enough. But if she touched him now, she might not be able to let go. “It will be faster if I don’t.” She hugged her lined cape tighter around herself, tipping her head down into the wind that was picking up. “Shouldn’t you be in the receiving line?”
“I went to extraordinary lengths to make it to the wedding at all. I figured I checked the best man box well enough.” He touched her elbow lightly, steadying her as she stepped off the curb to cross a side street.
She glanced down at his arm, seeing the white splint peeking out from his suit sleeve. Something must have happened on the mountain.
“You’re hurt.” A pang of concern for him overrode everything else. Not just for his injury, but for the career that meant so much to him. “Are you all right? Can you still race?”
“It’s a mild sprain. The splint is just a precaution, and it won’t keep me from racing.” He moved closer to her. “Right now, my biggest concern is talking to you.”
Relieved he was okay, she was able to focus on his words. Remember how much his actions this morning still stung.
“That’s funny.” She stopped in the middle of the street to face him, holding back tears by sheer force of will. “Because you actually had unlimited opportunities to do just that last night and this morning, but you chose not to.”
“I know.” He raked his fingers through his hair. He looked incredibly handsome in his gray tuxedo. The formal bow tie was a deep crimson. A rose boutonniere shivered in the chilly wind. “But I couldn’t think my way around what I should say until I had a chance to clear my head.”
A car behind her honked. She wouldn’t have even thought to move if Gavin hadn’t taken her arm then, and drawn her safely to the other side of the street where the Hearthside Inn sat on a hill overlooking Lake Placid. Even here, outside Yuletide, the streets were full of holiday décor now that Christmas was just a week away. A band of carolers dressed in bright green and red sang “O Tannenbaum,” their steps matched in a kind of sprightly march.
“Because I pose some kind of trouble for you?” She remembered how it had felt to have Luke read the text aloud in the bridal parlor. “Some inconvenience? Despite my supposed reconciliation with the groom, he and his parents accused me of wrecking the wedding before you arrived. Apparently, it was my fault you were late.”