Page 4 of Accidental Groom

The missing groom.

Him.

The air leaves my lungs as I push myself upright.

“Where’s George?” I rasp.

The door creaks.

It’s not gentle, not like someone politely stepping in with a clipboard to announce something about the floral arrangements.It opens like someone’s unaware just how heavy these old cathedral doors are, but they’reconcerned.

I twist, nearly ripping a pin out of my hair.

The air leaves the room as Harald Highcourt steps in.

He's tall and built enough to command a room with his stance alone, broad shoulders beneath his night-black, perfectly tailored suit.

His hair is now disheveled like he hasn’t stopped touching it all morning. And his green eyes scan the room fast, sharp as broken glass, until they land on me.

Within half a second, the room explodes into panic.

“What do you mean Goerge isn't coming?” my father snaps, stepping forward like he’s about to body someone. My mother follows him. Sarah actually looks up. “He has to be coming, the guests are waiting?—”

“Do you think I wouldn’t have dragged him here myself if I could?” Harry snaps back, the raw edge in his voice cutting through the room. “He’s gone. Vanished into thin air. His passport’s missing and his car’s at JFK.”

Mom’s eyes go wide as saucers before cutting to me. “What did youdo?” she seethes.

I don’t bother to give her a response. Of course she’d think this was my fault.

“He can’t have justvanished?—”

“I’ve had people looking for him all morning,” Harry says, cutting my father off. “One of my drivers saw him get into his car at five this morning with a duffel bag. We just found his car about twenty minutes ago. He’s gone.”

I blink.

My ears ring.

Gone.

For a second, everything in me stills, like the eye of the hurricane is hitting — quiet, calm, clear skies.

Then I feel it.

Relief.

Sharp and overwhelming.

It floods me like alcohol on an empty stomach.

I don’t have to do it.

I don’t have to go through with this.

He’ssavingme.

“We can delay,” Harry offers. “I’ve already called my attorney. He’s happy to handle the change in paperwork for the deal.”

“What, so you can give more time for your son to run somewhere no one can follow?” Mom barks, a hint of incredulous laughter underneath.