He grabbed his suitcase from behind the door, reached onto the bed for a t-shirt, and pulled it over his head. “Let’s pack,” he said.
“Now?” I glanced at my watch. “We can’t be late for the ceremony.” We could pack later. There was no way I was going to be late to the church and risk having to grab a pew when everyone else was seated and turned to watch me.
“No, let’s go today. Now. I have Henry’s details. I can call him. Email him.”
My heart started to thunder, excitement and relief mixing in my stomach. Although the thought wasn’t vomit-inducing like it had been at the beginning of the week, watching Matt and Karen get married wasn’t exactly first on my list of things to do today. “Wouldn’t it be better for you to speak to him face-to-face?”
“I think I need to let him stew.” He pulled his clothes from the wardrobe and threw them in the case. “Unless you want to be there for some reason? Closure or something?”
“It’s the last place I want to be.”
“So, come on then, get those sexy shoes off and packed.” He grabbed his phone off the bedside table, and I sat like a stone on the mattress. “I’m going to call for the plane, but if you want to stay, we’ll stay.”
Did I care if there was a two-person gap at the reception? People would probably say I couldn’t face it and they wouldn’t be wrong. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for Beck and the design job. If Beck was offering me a get out of jail free card, why shouldn’t I grab it? “Are you sure? You’re so close with Henry?”
“I think we both need to escape right now.”
“If you’re sure, then—”
“Stella, it’s almost as if you’re waiting for me to change my mind. You never know—walking away might be the push that Henry needs.” He held the phone up. “Say the word.”
I didn’t want to stay here. I didn’t want to watch Matt marry Karen. I wanted to be in the air, and on the way back to London. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back to the flat Matt and I had shared or the job I’d taken to pay the mortgage, but I knew being here was worse. “Let’s go.”
I jumped up, adrenaline licking at my skin, and began to strip out of my wedding-appropriate outfit as I scanned the room for my jeans. “Are we really doing this? It feels wrong somehow.”
Beck picked up the phone. “Joe, I’m going to need the plane today. We’re going to be leaving the hotel in about ten minutes, so we should be at the airfield in half an hour.” Beck hung up and turned to me. “Yes, we’re doing this. Finally, you’re going to do what’s best for you, rather than what’s best for Matt, your friends, and even me.” He grinned at me and then pulled me toward him, placing a kiss on the top of my head. “It’s about time.”
Thirty-One
Stella
Out of the back window of the car, I watched the hotel disappear and fade away into the gray, Scottish skies. I had to be sure we had gone. “It’s like I’m leaving my past behind,” I said. “Literally. Figuratively. It’s all back there.”
“Are you okay with that?” Beck asked.
I turned back to face forward in the passenger seat next to Beck. “It’s a relief. To get it done. And to not have to go to the ceremony. I doubt I’ll ever see Matt and Karen again.”
“But you’ll see Florence and Gordy?”
“Sure. Florence has been amazing through all this.”
Beck stayed silent.
“She’s been a great friend,” I added. “I don’t know what I would have done without her.”
He shrugged.
It was weird because I knew Beck well enough to know he wasn’t just disinterested in what I was saying. He was disagreeing with me but trying to hold himself back from saying so.
“You don’t like Florence?”
He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel. “I don’t like the fact that she’s still friends with Karen after what she did to you.”
I reached for his arm. It was sweet that he seemed invested, but he’d gotten it wrong about Florence. “Florence isn’t friends with Karen.”
“She’s at her wedding. And honestly, I don’t know Gordy very well, but he seems like a nice bloke. I don’t understand why he didn’t put his foot down and refuse to come.”
I had to push down a giggle. “Put his foot down? I’d like to see him try and tell Florence what to do. But for your information, Florence promised to come to Scotland if I came. She didn’t want me to go through it alone. She wouldn’t have come if I hadn’t needed her here.”