When my eyes lifted to the bride and her groom, I wanted to sink into the floor. Her eyes were glassy with tears, and the tip of her nose was red. She had reason to cry and even to be angry with me. Having me show up with Max had ruined her wedding reception. She was probably going to make me leave, and I was all too ready to go.
Yet when I expected her to drag me toward the door, she jerked me against her with surprising strength and wrapped her arms around me in a hug so tight, it knocked the air from my lungs.
Shocked, I stood there, my arms at my sides, not sure what to do next.
The hug lasted all of twenty seconds before she released me, and then she was smiling at me as tears spilled down her cheeks. Her mouth moved so fast I couldn’t make out a single word. Unable to follow her, I glanced at the tall, kind of scary guy behind her.
Recognition hit me, and I realized he worked at the Ink Shoppe. I’d only seen glimpses of him in the weeks before I’d met Max, but it was hard not to recognize a guy who looked like him.
Which meant…
I threw my arms around the bride, tears spilling down my cheeks just as rapidly as they were hers. My hug didn’t last nearly as long as hers had, but when I pulled back, I was quick to sign what was in my heart.
My appreciation and gratitude for what she’d been able to do for me when she hadn’t had to do anything but call the cops on me for squatting in her place of work at night.
When she just stood there, frowning at me because she was unable to keep up with what I was saying, I swallowed the lump in my throat and spoke the words. “Thank you. Fo
r…for the…blanket.”
Her green eyes widened even more, understanding lighting her entire face, and then we were hugging again.
“It was you?” I read her lips when she pulled her head back. “You…?”
Shame hit me again, but I nodded. “I’m sorry if…I got you into…trouble.”
“You didn’t,” she said with a shake of her head. “I have been so worried about you. But you’ve been with Max?”
“For a little while.”
“Oh.” Turning her head, she looked up at the guy behind her. He gave her a grim smile, and she seemed to relax a little. The connection I could sense between them reminded me of how it was between Max and me.
I glanced around, hoping to see him, but when he didn’t magically appear, my heart sank all over again.
“I should go,” I spoke again. The vibrations in my throat from speaking so much were weird, and I hoped she could understand me. When her head snapped around to look at me again, I saw something like determination swimming in her eyes. “I’m sorry…for ruining today for you.”
“No, no. You didn’t. I swear. This has been a great wedding present. Finding you.” She clutched at both of my hands, holding them tightly in her grip. “Mom has been looking everywhere for you, Delaney.”
Maybe I was reading her lips wrong, because no way was her mom looking for me. If her mother was the woman Raven had to hold back earlier as I suspected, then I was sure of it. Why would she even care about me, the homeless girl who had been bothering everyone in town?
Unless…
Did she work for Uncle Tony and Aunt June?
It seemed impossible, but my uncle was a bad man. It was reasonable to believe he had contacts everywhere.
I jerked out of the bride’s hold—River, I remembered Max saying his cousin’s name was—and started backing away from her.
“What’s wrong?” River demanded, her face scrunching up and reminding me a little of Nova. “Don’t be afraid. I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
Her mouth stopped moving, and she glanced at something over my shoulder. Before I could turn to see what the new danger was, strong arms wrapped around me from behind. My eyes clenched closed as relief hit me so hard, I could actually taste it.
Max.
He hadn’t left me.
I didn’t know where he’d gone, but he hadn’t abandoned me.
My knees felt weak as I turned in his arms and buried my face in his chest, inhaling his comforting scent and letting the safety of his hold calm my racing heart. His hands rubbed up and down my back, erasing the hurt I’d felt when I first thought he’d left me there to deal with his family all on my own.