“Careful with those pins,” Kenneth said, and the man doing his tux alterations apologized. “It’s fine. I’m an old man, though. Stick me too hard and I might deflate.”

Hugh couldn’t believe his dad. He came into town for their fittings, and since he’d showed up that morning, he had been all light-hearted and joking. Hugh swore he dreamt all of this and would wake up to find his real dad cursing about having to take time out of his day to deal with something as ridiculous as alterations for their tuxes.

“Hugh? Did you swallow your tongue? Relax, son, you’re getting married in a few months.”

“Married, yeah, I’m happy about that. I’m slightly confused by what’s happening here.” Ruining the moment wasn’t his intention, and he waited for Kenneth to jump back to being the arrogant asshole he normally was, but he only grinned wider. “Are you on happy pills?”

“No,” he said through his laughter. “No, my only son is getting married and I’m happy. Can’t a father be happy for his son?”

“That’d be a first,” he grunted.

Kenneth held up his hand to the man pinning their suits. “Would you give us a moment, please?” The man said he would be back in fifteen minutes and left them alone in the back of the shop, facing a set of double mirrors. Standing beside his father, Hugh saw the resemblance on the outside, but what was on the inside would never match. “I know we haven’t always made your life easy.”

Hugh shrugged. “What parent does, I guess.”

“No, we were harder on you—are harder—and for that…for that, I fear I may owe you an apology.”

“An apology?” he repeated slowly.

“Yes. The past few months, watching you happy with Blair back in your life, I realized the reason you two fell apart was probably us,” Kenneth admitted as he walked to the drink cart in the room and poured two whiskeys. “I saw that girl as wild and still do, but she makes you happy. Happy is something your mother and I haven’t been in a very long time. Our family tends to be cursed with over ambitious ideals.”

Hugh accepted the whiskey. “That’s an understatement.”

“My point is, your mother and sister are very into making our family stand out, be one of the best. I love them both dearly, but I also don’t want to push my son away.” He held out his hand. “Can you forgive an old man his faults?”

Hugh didn’t even hesitate to shake his dad’s hand. “I don’t want to lose you either, but this wedding, all these plans…they’re driving Blair and me crazy.”

“Be thankful you weren’t around for our wedding,” he teased. “That was a nightmare.”

“After the wedding’s over, what do you think will happen?”

Kenneth sipped his whiskey and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He patted his stomach, which grew larger every year, and tried to suck it in as Hugh smirked. “Ah, old man fat,” he grumbled. “After the wedding, I hope you two will have a happy marriage.”

“Without Mom’s interference?”

“That I can’t say. She has a mind of her own. You must learn to pick and choose your battles.”

“But it’s my life, our lives. I’m not going to put what we want on hold for her political career. I’m not going to turn into Devin, who puts her husband and children second to what Mom wants.”

Hugh shot the rest of the whiskey back, the burn sharpening his focus. His backup plan sounded better every passing hour. He sensed he was finally finding common ground with his dad and understanding this man more, but he would side with his wife every time. Hugh wanted a life of his own with Blair. No public eye crap, no image bullshit. Only the two of them.

While he was fitted for his tux, Blair would be at his parents’ house seeing how her dress fit. If only he could be a fly on the wall to see. He bet she looked magnificent in whatever she had chosen for their wedding day. Their secret wedding day.

And now maybe our eloping day.

“Your mother did ask me to pass on one more tidbit of news,” Kenneth said as he poured a second whiskey. “She feels it’s too late to change your best man.”

“And she wants me to keep Justin in the wedding.” Hugh grunted. “Unbelievable.”

“May I ask why you two had a sudden falling out?”

“Let’s just say he’s not so happy about me marrying Blair for whatever reason, and I don’t want a person like that involved in my wedding.”

Kenneth tapped his fingers on his glass. “That’s understandable, but as I said before, pick your battles. Will Justin being at your wedding ruin the entire day for either of you?”

An image of Justin trying to kiss Blair flashed through his mind, and he had to set the glass down before he smashed it into the nearest wall. “I would like to say yes, but if it will be this much of an issue to kick him out of the wedding, then fine. He can stay.” Hugh would watch him closely all day long if he had to.

It doesn’t matter, remember? You’re going to see how Blair’s day goes, and if she’s any more stressed out, you’re taking her away and eloping.

The bags under her eyes were gone, but she still wasn’t sleeping well. Her appetite appeared to be coming back, and Hugh’s mind continued to consider the idea that there was more than nerves at play. His lips twitched with excitement to think she might be pregnant, but if he was wrong, asking her could very well push her over the edge.

“Are we ready to get back to work, gentlemen?” the tailor asked as he returned to the room.

“Yes, pin away,” Kenneth said dramatically, and Hugh turned his thoughts to the task at hand. He could worry about his possibly pregnant fiancée that evening when he bought her favorite takeout to soften her up for such a conversation. And when he finally made his decision if they were going to run or not.

* * *

Blair wanted it to be only her and her mom, but Bridget had paid for the dress. They stepped into the foyer, and her soon to be mother-in-law led the way upstairs to a guest room where the dress hung in a black garment bag. She’d gained weight since trying it on and alterations would have to be made to accommodate her belly. She wasn’t showing yet, but it wouldn’t be long before the baby bump made an appearance.

“Shall I pour some champagne to celebrate?” Bridget asked as they women filed into the room.

“None for me, thanks,” Blair announced. “I’m watching calories, you know.”

Jean’s stare was curious. “I will, however, take a very large glass. It’s going to be hard to keep the waterworks at bay,” she announced loudly, winking at her daughter.

Blair fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Did her mom know? No, she would have said something. Once they all had a glass in hand except her, Bridget reached for the zipper on the garment bag.

“Are you ready to see your dress for the wedding?” she asked, playing with Blair.

Blair was itching to smack that smirk right off her face and didn’t say a word in case she cursed at Bridget instead of answering politely as was expected. Bridget sighed and tugged the zipper down, backing away from the gown. That morning before Hugh left to meet his dad for their tux fitting, she had convinced herself they would make it until the wedding. Whatever came their way, no matter how hard it was when everyone realized she was pregnant, they would find a way to deal with Hugh’s family.

Then the dress came into full view and Blair’s heart sank to the floor.

“What…what the fuck is that?” she snapped.

“Blair!” Bridget’s hand flew to her chest. “Language, young lady.”

“Don’t you dare…don’t you dare young lady me! What the fuck is that?” she repeated louder and stomped to her dress. “This is not my dress! What did you do?”

Jean was by her side, trying to calm her down, but she shrugged away from her. There would be no coming back from this, not this moment that was supposed to be perfect.

Bridget straightened her perfect suit jacket and patted her perfect hair as if afraid Blair’s outburst would ruin her look. “My dear, you couldn’t possibly expect me to let you keep the blue wedding dress. We’re republicans, for starters, and blue is highly inappropriate. I had to make a decision, one that is best for all involved.”

Blair choked as she tried to find the words, pulling out the dress—her beautiful dream blue dress—to see the blue gone and replaced by shades of ivory and cream. Bridget had stomped out any chance Blair had of standing out on her wedding day, showing the world what she was like. Who she was on the inside. But it wasn’t only the dress she had ruined, it was Blair. She would spend as much effort as she could spare on changing who Blair was. The wedding dress was proof of that. Red filled her vision, and for the first time in her life, she wanted to destroy something.

Lost in her anger and all this woman and her fucking daughter had done to her, Blair tore the dress from the garment bag. She picked up the first layer of lace and, grinning madly, tore it. The fabric ripping was as loud as a gunshot in the silence. Bridget dropped her champagne glass and it shattered on the floor.

“You horrible child,” she screeched as Blair ripped a second layer and a third. “Stop it. Stop this instant.”

“Fuck off,” she snapped and ripped another layer. She destroyed the dress, ripping and tearing as if the thing had tried to kill her and she had to leave it in pieces or it would keep coming after her. “You and your daughter are ruining my life! You’re ruining your son’s life! Do you think we don’t know what you’ve been doing?”

She tossed the ruined dress in Bridget’s face and ran from the room towards Bridget’s study where the rest of the wedding plans and decorations were held. The women hurried to keep up, all of them calling out to her, but Blair couldn’t hear past the blood rushing in her ears.

She swung the door open so hard it dented the wall behind it. Blair laughed with mirth, and her eyes zeroed in on the vases and lanterns Bridget bought to use as centerpieces. As the mothers skidded to a stop in the doorway, Blair lifted a vase in each hand and smashed them to the floor. Bridget gasped as Jean stared on in shock.

“You have changed everything we wanted,” Blair seethed, smashing more vases. She picked up a lantern next and chucked it at the wall. “You took away my flowers. You changed our cake. You added four hundred people to the guest list!”

“We are a legacy,” Bridget argued fiercely. “There are expectations.”

“Fuck your expectations! My Fraser name is bigger than yours, and you don’t see my mother trying to take over the wedding for her gain! You don’t even care about me or Hugh. You only care about yourself!”

She picked up the last two vases and swung them around so they shattered against the wooden bookshelves behind her.

“Well, you can have whatever you want now, because I’m finished,” she panted. “Done. I will not be part of this shit show.”

“You’re calling the wedding off?” Devin asked, and Jean looked curiously at the happiness in her tone.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Blair whispered, defeated.

She wanted to be with Hugh, but no one else appeared to want them to be who they were or accepted their love for each other. She was tired of fighting with them constantly. Tired of having her dreams shredded before her eyes. If she got out now, maybe she could salvage them for her and Hugh. Blair crunched over the broken glass to the front door.

“You will clean up this mess,” Bridget stormed.

Blair flipped her off and left. She’d driven herself over and floored it to Jesse’s apartment. When she pounded her fist on the door, her friend answered with Mark, who had his arms wrapped around her waist.

“Blair? Oh, my God, mama, what happened? Mark, grab the tissues.”

He gave Blair a sympathetic look as Jesse led her to a chair in the kitchen. Heavily, she sat down and leaned on Jesse’s shoulders as tears streamed down her cheeks. Hormones made everything worse.

“Talk to me. What’s going on? Is it Hugh?”

“No,” she mumbled, taking the tissue Mark offered. “Thanks.”

“Then what?”

“His family. She ruined everything. My dress, Jesse, my gorgeous blue and ivory dress. She ruined it, changed everything behind our backs! And his sister is trying to drive us apart using his old friends and I can’t…I can’t do this anymore. Not with the baby.” The tears stopped for a split second as the weight of her saying those words out loud hit home. “Shit.”

“Baby?” Jesse asked, confused. “Blair, what baby?”

She blew her nose loudly and tried to smile. “Surprise. You’re going to be an auntie.”

“You’re pregnant? Oh, that’s wonderful!” Jesse said, hugging her. “Wait, does Hugh know?” Blair cringed. “Blair Fraser! Why haven’t you told him yet?”

“I was waiting for a good time, but he’s been stressed as much as I have and this will ruin everything.” The tears started up again and she wiped furiously at her eyes. “We’re going to have a baby before we’re married. I’m almost three months, so there’s no fibbing it either. His name will be tarnished. His family will disown me and eventually, he’ll resent me for fucking up his life.”

“Says who?” Mark quipped. “Blair, what do you think he cares about more? His damn name or the love of his life and your unborn child together?”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Yes, it is. He loves you,” Mark said sternly. “Anyone who sees you two together can feel it. Whatever you want to do, he’ll go along with it. You, of all people, should know that.” He held her hand in comfort as Jesse kept an arm around her shoulders.

“Thanks, both of you. I think it’s time to implement the backup plan. I’ll get out of town, and when the time’s right, you can tell Hugh where to meet me. This shit with his mom will be over with.”

“Do you want me to call Hugh and tell him where you are for now? We can make up some excuse for you being here,” Jesse offered.

“Yeah, because his mom will cover up my blowup at the house. Anything to keep her precious wedding plans intact.”

Blair dug in her pack for her phone, but when she pulled it out, text messages and voicemails waited for her. The first few were from Bridget, demanding she return to the house and clean up her mess. Another was from Jean, wanting to make sure she was all right and to please call her back. But the last one was the kicker. Devin’s voice dripped with so much hate, Blair flinched hearing it through the phone.

“You listen to me, Blair Fraser. You are to leave my brother alone. I don’t care what Mother says anymore. You are finished. You are out of Hugh’s life for good. If you try to come back, I will share the photos I have of you and Justin together. I will share with everyone how you care nothing for your future husband’s career. I will bring the Fraser name down and drag it through the mud. Stay away from him. This is your last warning. Remember, it’s not only you I can hurt, but mommy dearest, too.”

The click was a shot straight to her heart. Jesse pried the phone out of her hand. “Blair, she can’t do anything. Not really.”

“But she can. My mom…her family has enough clout, they could ruin my mom and everything my father built,” she whispered. “She could trash my photography career forever. What did I just do?”

“Calm down. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess we will,” she agreed and asked if she could lay down in the guest room.

They left her alone, and the second the door was closed, Blair made her plans. She loved Hugh, but she could not be responsible for tearing him away from his family. She’d lost her dad too soon. His parents were still alive, and as much as they drove him insane, they were still his parents. One day, she would come back to him and introduce him to their son or daughter. But that would cause another scandal for Hugh and whomever Bridget and Devin found to replace Blair. Her head ached and she wanted to bang it against the wall. Why was it all so confusing? Love was not supposed to be this hard and this hated. Love was meant to be cherished.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the room, “I’m so sorry, Hugh, but I can’t. I can’t do this.”

She waited until night fell, ignoring Jesse’s knocking and asking if she needed anything. When she and Mark were in their bedroom with the door closed, Blair crept out to snatch her phone off the table. There were several missed calls from Hugh and texts begging her to call him, but speaking with him would only make this harder. The backup plan was meant for Hugh to follow her, but Blair’s fears of his family digging their claws right back in made her doubt he would. She shook her head at how quickly their lives had fallen apart again.

She spent the rest of the night finding a train headed north to Maine where she would take another one from a smaller line into Canada. It was as good a place as any to start her adventure. She would swing by her house in the morning, pack a bag, tell her mom she was staying with Hugh, and disappear.