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“Sure.” She slowed her steps so Merritt could fall in beside her.
“This might seem like a strange question, but when you met Gus last summer, did you like him?”
“Yeah, he’s a nice guy.”
“No, I mean, did you have feelings for him?”
Rhonda pressed her lips together and seemed to think for a moment. “When I met Gus, it was the day my divorce was finalized. Genny and I went out to celebrate, and he was there with some friends. We talked and flirted, and we danced to one song. Then he left. That was the extent of it.”
“Oh.”
“Look, I know what this is about. I saw the look on your face when we got back from riding this morning.” She paused and looked over at Merritt. “This is harder than I thought it was going to be. Divorce, I mean. My husband was a despicable man, so I’m happy to be rid of him. But honestly, I’m lonely. Soon it will be a year, and I haven’t been on more than a couple dates, and both of them were losers.”
“I’m really sorry, Rhonda.”
“I’m the one who should be apologizing to you, Merritt. Gus is great. He’s fun and sweet, and he paid attention to me. It was wrong to ask him to ride with me like that. I knew it when I asked, but I just miss men, you know. I miss being held.” Tears were in her eyes now.
“Rhonda, don’t cry. Your tears will freeze.” Merritt gave her a little smile.
Rhonda laughed and swiped at her tears with the back of her glove. “I hope you can forgive me. I wasn’t trying to steal your husband or anything.”
“I was just going to ask you to stop flirting with him,” she replied.
They laughed together, and Merritt’s heart went out to her. She felt bad for disliking Rhonda without knowing all she’d been going through.
“I’m really happy for my sister and Sebastian,” Rhonda said as she looked ahead at Genevieve, “but it’s not easy to be around all that love. And seeing you and Gus together … well, it’s hard not to be jealous.”
Merritt was surprised to hear her say that.
“When I see the way you two look at each other, I can’t help but want someone to look at me that way too.”
They continued on their snowy trek, and Merritt was glad they had cleared the air. But she couldn’t stop wondering what it was that Rhonda saw that made her want what Merritt and Gus had.
That evening, Genevieve’s grandparents arrived for the wedding rehearsal, as did the pastor, wedding coordinator, and musicians.
Merritt had never been involved in a wedding before, so she had never attended a rehearsal. There was a lot more to it than just walking down the aisle. The wedding planner went over the order of the ceremony, the timing for walking in and out, where they would stand. Once that was done, they ran through the entire ceremony—the music, seating the parents and grandparents, walking the aisle for the processional, the position of the bridal party on the stage, the vows. Sebastian and Genevieve didn’t complain at all when they were asked to practice the first kiss as man and wife. In fact, they kept it going past everyone’s applause, and Gus and Rhonda had to break them up, which gave everyone a good laugh.
Gus seemed more relaxed since his afternoon nap, and he kept smiling at Merritt from his place on the stage, which made her stomach flutter. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of him. He was so handsome. More handsome than any man she’d ever known. And she loved being around him, spending time with him, being close to him.
Yesterday’s kiss flashed through her mind, and she shook it off as her cheeks flushed. She really needed to focus on the rehearsal and remember why they were there.
But seeing Sebastian and Genevieve on stage made her long for a real wedding someday, one that proclaimed true love, not just a pretend version. Her mind wandered, and she pictured herself in a long gown, walking toward her groom, somewhere on the bluffs overlooking Malibu.
And when she pictured the groom at the end of the aisle, she saw Gus.
Her heart stuttered in her chest. She had only thought of Gus because of their current situation. That had to be the reason. Right? Maybe all Rhonda’s earlier talk about the way they looked at each other was just messing with her head.
As the bridal party practiced the recessional, Gus’s eyes locked with hers as he linked arms with Rhonda and followed Sebastian and Genevieve off of the stage. She managed a little smile at Gus, which slipped from her face the minute he had passed her by.
This was Gus. Her fake husband. Emphasis on fake. There was no denying the attraction between them, but this suddenly felt like more. So much more.
Her mind formed a question she already knew the answer to. Had her feelings for him changed?
She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but she realized she’d been fighting this and lying to herself about her true feelings for a while.
Oh, this was very inconvenient. What was she going to do now? She couldn’t let on that she was falling for him or things would get awkward very quickly. How would they make it through the rest of their year together with her feelings in the mix?
Because based on how he’d been acting, she was fairly certain he didn’t return her feelings. And there was a very good probability she would walk away at the end of the year with a seriously broken heart.