Deceiving Lies (Forgiving Lies 2)

“Hi, sweet girl!” Marcy said when she opened the door. “Oh, let me help you with all that. Gosh, we could have made a few trips out to the car, you didn’t have to bring it all in at once.”

I transferred some of the bags and food into her arms, and kicked the door shut behind me as I followed her inside.

“It’s so good to see you getting out more, and I’m glad you wanted to come over early! You know I love our girl time.”

My chin was holding some of the boxes down, so I had to wait until I reached the counter to answer her. But as soon as I relieved my arms of everything with a large exhale, I turned to hug Marcy and took a deep breath. “I know, it’s like I was still keeping myself locked up by not leaving the house.” I began taking things out of the bags and setting them on the counter, or putting them away in the fridge and freezer. “Hey, Marcy, I was wanting to talk to you about something.”

She stopped what she was doing and eyed me curiously for a moment. “Is it something we should be sitting down for . . . or maybe not setting up for the party tonight?”

I laughed awkwardly and tossed the package of paper plates I was holding down on the counter. “Neither . . . I think. I’m not sure.” Rolling my eyes, I leaned on the counter on my forearms and just started talking. “Kash and I were supposed to have gotten married a week ago tomorrow. Neither of us said a word about it when the day came and went, because at the time, well we were working through a lot at the time. And I think for both of us, it was hard thinking that it was another thing that had changed in our lives, or wasn’t going the way we had planned, because of what happened.”

“He told us you overheard the conversation the night you came back. I hope you don’t think he doesn’t want to marry you, Rachel. He was confused and hurt, but he—”

“No, I don’t think he doesn’t want to marry me. I mean, I did . . . but, I don’t anymore.” I pressed the tips of my fingers into my temple and shook my head. “He and I already went through that, I understand all that now. But what I’m getting at today . . . is that I was kind of hoping you would help me. I think he’s waiting for me. Waiting for me to be ready, waiting for me to bring it up, just waiting for me to let him know I’m ready to move forward with our lives again.”

Marcy’s lips kept tilting up like she was trying to contain her smile, but she wasn’t saying anything yet.

“Will you help me think of a fun way to tell him I’m ready?”

“Yes! Yes, yes, of course I will!”

“Okay!” I straightened up and drummed my hands on the granite countertop. “I want some ideas from you, but I was wondering . . . while I was gone, did you ever go pick up my wedding dress, and do you have it here?”

Marcy’s face lit up with a massive smile before she turned and took off, leaving the kitchen.

I’ll take that as a yes to both.

We spent the next few hours thinking up ideas and taking pictures, running back to the store to use the one-hour print, and then back to my house to set them up. Kash wouldn’t be going back there between then and the party anyway, so he wouldn’t see it until we got home that night.

By the time we got back to Richard and Marcy’s, we were running around, trying to set up for the party and getting all the food ready. I had so much adrenaline running through me that the setup seemed to fly by, and by the time Kash’s extended family began showing up, I was already wanting it to be over. I was anxious to get Kash back to our place and see his reaction.

After an hour and a half of the party and Kash’s fun-loving family—which had been graciously avoiding asking questions about my time away—my desire to get back home and my need to see Kash’s reaction . . . all faded away.

Kash walked into the living room, and after searching for me, he walked over to me with purpose, and the most scorching gaze I’ve ever seen from him as his eyes raked slowly over my body. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he pulled me close and pressed his lips firmly to mine for long seconds before giving me another quick kiss and leaning back.

“Well, hi,” I said breathily. For a second I wondered if he had gone back to the house and had already seen everything. But I still felt light-headed from what should have been a simple kiss, so I focused on breathing normally and the feel of his heart racing beneath my palm.

He toyed with his lip ring as he studied me. “I have something for you, sweetheart.”

“Do you now?”

“I do. You wanna come outside with me for a minute?”

I eyed him and asked softly, “Do you really have something for me outside, or is this your attempt to save me from your thousands of cousins?”

A loud, awkward laugh left him, and he kissed my forehead as he grabbed my hand. “Uh . . . you just need to see this.”

Vague. I let him lead me outside and smiled when I saw Mason standing out on the front lawn. “Wow, you’re giving me Mason? I’m pretty sure this is the best gift ever.”

Kash stopped walking and growled, and Mason burst out laughing. Elbowing Kash’s side, I urged him to keep walking, and rolled my eyes when he wouldn’t. “Oh, you know I’m joking. Show me whatever it is you brought me out here for.”

“Mase?” Kash prompted softly.

Mason pulled out his phone and made a call. As he did, Kash turned me toward him and brought me in for a lingering kiss.

“If you need anything, we’ll be right inside, okay?”

I pulled back and looked back and forth between him and Mason. Both wore matching looks of understanding mixed with fear. “Wait, what? Why are you leaving?”