Page 53 of The Wedding Run (The Wedding Letter #1)
Libby
I t rains before we reach my apartment, and Charlie, Bailey, and I get soaked. We dry off Bailey, then I change into sweatpants and lend Charlie some dry clothes that don't quite fit her, as the arms and legs are too short.
With my sisters on the sofa and Bailey at Charlie’s feet, I regale them amidst tears about Luke crashing the wedding and the groom slugging Derek. They cheer and snort with laughter at Derek’s expense.
“And you said nothing?” Elle finally asks.
“I was in shock.”
“But you could have said you love him too,” she argues.
“Don’t make her start crying again,” Charlie warns, eyeing me like Mount Vesuvius ready to erupt.
I start trembling, my lower lip quivering. “You don’t know how… what he… He bared his soul. In front of hundreds of people. And I stood there. He’ll think I’m like his ex-fiancée who dumped him after his sister died.”
Elle’s eyes go wide. “That’s awful.”
I sink onto the floor. “So, it’s over.”
Lightning flashes outside the sliding glass door.
“What are you talking about?” Elle asks sharply.
I shrug my shoulders. I have no answers, only more tears.
“Better luck next time,” Charlie mutters.
“No!” Elle jumps to her feet, sidestepping Bailey, who begins wagging his tail. “Get up. Now!”
“Didn’t you hear what she said?” Charlie asks.
She tugs at my arm, helping me to my feet. “Call him!”
“By him, you mean Luke?” Charlie asks.
“Yes!” Elle claps her hands.
“That doesn’t seem very..." But I pause, unsure of the right word for a situation like this.
“Romantic?” Elle supplies. “He crashed a wedding to stop you from marrying the wrong guy. If that isn’t romantic, I don’t know what is! It’s a Mr. Darcy moment.”
Charlie props a fist on her hip. “How do you figure that?”
“Look what Darcy risked for Lizzie! Money, his reputation in finding her sister… whatever her name was.”
“Lydia,” I say.
Elle snaps her fingers. “Right. Lydia.”
I start pacing. “I don’t know. I don’t know!”
Charlie cuts to the chase. “Do you love him?”
That stops me in my tracks.
Charlie answers her own question, "It’s too soon,” but then asks, “Isn’t it?”
“I haven’t known him long,” I agree. “I was just about to marry Derek. A week ago! This is all crazy!”
“If it’s the right one,” Elle says, “then it’s not too soon.”
“Is that from a movie?” Charlie asks.
“Maybe. I don’t know.” Elle raises her chin defiantly. “Libby doesn’t have to marry him tomorrow or even next week. She can take her time. Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t think of excuses or reasons why you shouldn’t or if you should. Don’t think about a list of positives or negatives.”
“Yeah,” Charlie agrees, “no more lists.”
“What does your gut tell you, Libby?” Elle asks. “This second. Right now. Do you love him?”
A smile tugs at my lips, and I can’t help myself. It feels like rays of sunshine pouring through me. “Yes. Yes, I do. I really do love him!”
The realization stuns me and makes me want to leap around the room or jump on the sofa, Tom Cruise style. “Can you believe it?”
Bailey begins barking and bouncing around me.
“Dad showed me what I was looking for. I thought it was Momma’s letter…
or searching for some elusive answer in the teabag.
But it was Dad showing how much he loved Momma and us.
That’s what I want: someone who will give his all, no matter the circumstances.
Deep down, I knew Derek could never hurt me because I didn’t love him completely, and he could never love me the way I needed or sacrificially.
He would never give his all to our marriage. He just wasn’t the one.”
Charlie’s face pinches with confusion. “But Luke is?”
“Yes! He took care of me in the wake of my disastrous wedding, jeopardizing his own business and his friendship with Derek. He busted up a wedding today, all to spare me the heartache of marrying someone he knew I didn’t love. Who does that?”
“Someone who loves you,” Elle says, a starry look in her eye. It must reflect my own dazed expression. “ How do I love thee …” She quotes Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s most famous poem.
Together, we complete the line, “ Let me count the ways .”
Charlie looks at us as though we’ve lost our minds. “You want to make a list now?”
I realize it would be the easiest list ever, counting all the amazing things about Luke Ryan Maine. "I could!"
Elle offers me her phone. “Well, then… Call him!”
Bailey barks and jumps around, sensing all the excitement in the room.
Charlie grabs Bailey’s collar. “There might be a better way.”