Hurried might not be the right word. It was difficult to hurry wearing five pounds of satin and lace plus high heels that pinched her feet to the point that she was ready to lop off a baby toe just to ease the pain.
She refused to take off the shoes because the physical discomfort distracted her from the ache in her chest. Tears threatened each time she thought of the repercussions of running away from her wedding five minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin.
The clock in the tower overlooking the town square a few blocks away began to chime, echoing the rhythmic lurch in her stomach. The wedding was starting.
Without her.
She gathered bunches of fabric in her hands and draped the dress’s train over one arm. Grammy had insisted on a dress with a train, mainly so Maggie’s younger sister would have a reason to hold it, putting Morgan on display for the good people of Stonecreek.
“It worked for Pippa,” Grammy had commented drily. “Morgan’s backside is just as worthy of going viral if you ask me.”
Although no one needed to ask Grammy’s opinion because she was happy to offer it unsolicited.
A car drove past, honked once. It wasn’t every day that a bride took a stroll in her wedding gown. Sweat trickled between Maggie’s shoulder blades, despite the June breeze fluttering the blooms on the oak trees that canopied the street. Not a cloud marred the robin’s-egg-blue sky, a stroke of good luck for the marriage, according to Maggie’s grandmother.
So much for positive omens.
Maggie kept her gaze forward, sending out a silent prayer the honking driver was no one she knew. Then again, most everyone Maggie knew was waiting in the church. Close to three hundred people crammed into the pews to witness the two most powerful families in Stonecreek finally united by marriage.
Or not.
She picked up the pace, wincing as her heel caught on a crack in the pavement and her ankle rolled. She’d just righted herself when a hulking SUV pulled up next to her.
“I’m fine,” she called, holding up a hand and keeping her eyes trained forward as she lifted her dress higher off the ground.
“You’re going the wrong way, Maggie May,” a voice said, the tone a deep timbre that sent shivers along her bare arms.
The fabric dropped from her hands as that voice ricocheted through her. The tip of one heel tangled in her wedding dress, and she tripped and fell hard to the pavement. She managed to get herself to all fours, tears pricking the backs of her eyes, as much from embarrassment as the sting to her palms and knees.
She focused on drawing in a few deep breaths, but the air escaped her lungs when a pair of scuffed cowboy boots moved into her line of sight.
“Need a hand?”
“I’m fine,” she repeated, giving a little shake of her head. A thousand rattlesnakes could have her surrounded and she still wouldn’t accept help from Griffin Stone.
Faking composure, Maggie started to stand, then yelped when her right ankle screamed in protest.
“You’re hurt.” Griffin wrapped his hands around her arms and lifted her to her feet like she weighed nothing.
Glancing up through her lashes, she saw that a decade away from Stonecreek had honed him into every inch an alpha male, rugged and broad-shouldered. His dark blond hair was longer, curling at the ends as it skimmed the collar of the crisp white dress shirt he wore under a suit jacket. She knew he was well over six feet—even in her heels he towered over her. A few years older than she was, he’d been the cutest boy in high school—and the wildest by far—but now his looks were downright lethal.
“I twisted my ankle,” she confirmed, shrugging out of his grasp and trying not to put weight on her right leg. “Stupid shoes. I still don’t need your help.” She glared at him. “What are you doing here anyway? Trevor said you weren’t coming back for the wedding, and you never RSVP’d.”
He inclined his head and she felt more than saw his smile, a slight softening around the corners of his stormy green eyes. “Last-minute change of plans.”
“You’re late,” she muttered, sweat beading on her forehead as the pain in her ankle began to radiate up her leg. She needed to get away from Griffin and take off the stupid heels her bridesmaids had convinced her to buy.
“Apparently, I’m not the only one.” He took a step forward, then reached around her to open the passenger-side door on his vintage Land Cruiser. “You don’t have to like me, Maggie, but get in the car before you pass out from the pain of whatever you did to your ankle.”
She bit down on her lip to keep the tears at bay. Of all the people to see her in this state, why did it have to be Griffin? He’d been the star of every one of her foolish teenage fantasies. She hadn’t even cared that bad-boy Griffin Stone barely acknowledged her existence, even though she and Trevor had been friends since she’d thrown up on him their first day of kindergarten.
Griffin was three years older and a world apart from Maggie. He’d made it clear in the sneering, searing way he had that he thought her nothing more than a silly, spoiled princess. Now she was a pathetic mess.
It grated on her nerves to have Griffin bear witness to the most humiliating moment of her life. Chances were good he’d eventually congratulate his younger brother for escaping a lifetime shackled to the darling of the Spencer family. That thought was equally irritating since her only sin had been trusting the wrong man.
She gingerly put her right foot on the ground, hoping the pain might have miraculously disappeared. Instead, a sharp stab of pain caused her to whimper, and she turned without a word and hobbled the few steps to the Land Cruiser.
To his credit, Griffin didn’t say anything or try to help her. It was like he could sense that her composure was as thin as an eggshell and might splinter into a thousand pieces if he got too close. She hated feeling fragile, hated being hurt, hated Trevor and his litany of excuses.
Griffin shut the door when she finally managed to get herself up into the SUV and gather the dusty fabric of her wedding gown’s train into the vehicle.
He’d left the Land Cruiser running, and Maggie was profoundly grateful for the cool air blowing from the vents. The strap of the heel cut into her flesh, but she didn’t pull off the shoe. There was a decent chance she’d scream or throw up if she did, and neither was going to happen in front of Griffin.
“I’m guessing we aren’t headed back to the church,” he said as he pulled away from the curb.
“I bought Grammy’s house a few years ago. She lived—”
“I know where your grandmother lived.” Griffin’s knuckles turned white gripping the steering wheel. “I grew up here.”
She had the odd sense she’d hurt his feelings, although that would be far-fetched on a good day. Griffin had always made his derision for Stonecreek crystal clear, and he’d left them all behind the first chance he got. Still, she couldn’t help being a champion for the town. It was in her blood. “The neighborhood has a lot of young families now. It’s nice.”
Griffin’s response was a noncommittal grunt, and Maggie let out a sigh. She shouldn’t be trying for small talk, not under the best of circumstances, and let alone when she was running away from her wedding to his younger brother.
Trevor had promised he’d stall as long as possible, so Maggie figured she had about thirty minutes until her family descended on the two-story Cape Cod–style house she’d purchased from her grandmother three years ago.
Grammy wasn’t going to take the news well, no matter how justified Maggie was in walking away.
Another complication, because Maggie couldn’t tell her grandmother the truth. She’d promised Trevor—
“What