16
MCKENNA
My phone rang, and Julia popped up on the screen. “Hey, girl. Are you coming over for the rehearsal dinner?”
I laughed at her. “Of course! I’m in the wedding party, aren’t I?”
Her voice came from far away. “I guess so.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “All right. Spill it, girl. What’s bothering you?”
“Have you seen Ellis Johnson recently?”
My blood ran cold. “I haven’t seen him since Vegas. Why?”
“Brayden hasn’t seen him, either. No one knows what’s up with him. We aren’t even sure if he’s still coming.”
I thought fast. “Why wouldn’t he come? Why would he go to all the trouble of helping us with the wedding plans and coming to Vegas for the bachelor party, only to disappear?”
“That’s what I thought, but that’s what happened. No one knows where he is or if he’s still in the wedding party.”
“Well, has Brayden called him to find out what’s up?”
“No, but...”
“Don’t you think you ought to at least ask him? He’s just a phone call away.”
“I guess so.”
“He’s a busy guy. And his family… has a lot going on.” I didn’t want to mention Celeste. “I’m sure it’s just a miscommunication. Call him up and make sure he’s coming to the rehearsal.”
Julia’s voice brightened. “You’re right. I’ll call him.”
“Why don’t you have Brayden call him?”
“Actually....” She hesitated. “I was hoping you would offer to call him.”
“Me! Why would I call him?”
“You spent the most time with him after the engagement party. You know him the best.”
I smacked my lips. “I don’t know him better than Brayden. If anybody’s going to call him, it should be that fiancé of yours.”
Julia laughed. “You’re right again. Sorry to bother you.”
“No, bother at all. I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation for all this.”
“Right. Thanks.”
I hung up, but I couldn’t shake the questions hanging in the air. I hadn’t seen Ellis since Vegas. He never called. He never made any lame excuses to spend time with me or ambush me behind the mulberry tree. Maybe he changed his mind about us and everything.
Even if he got busy with work, what could be more important than this baby? So, what if we still had seven months before the baby came around came around? I still needed him. Didn’t he understand that? Didn’t he know I would start to worry if he went AWOL?
I could call him up, too. He wasn’t more than a phone call away from me, either, but he might as well be on another planet as far as I was concerned. What could he be doing? What could he be thinking?
A couple of seconds later, the phone rang. It was Julia again. “Hey, girl. You were right. Brayden called him. He’s super busy with work, but he’s coming to the rehearsal dinner, so we’ll see him there.”
“What did I tell you?”
Julia laughed. “You’re always right, Mckenna. Hey, could you do me a favor?”
“Sure. Name it.”
“I need you to come with me to the final fitting for my dress. I’ve got no one to go with me, and I need someone to...”
“What—no one?”
“Nope. You’re the only one around. My sister Teresa is out of town, Helena had to take Ricky to the doctor, and all the other bridesmaids are too busy with their own stuff. Will you come? I really need you.”
“You know I’ll come. When do you want to go?”
“This afternoon, three o’clock.”
“Sure. No problem.”
“After we leave the fitting, I need you to come with me to the florist. I have to make the final arrangements for the decorations for the hall, and I have to give them the last grand for the flowers.”
“Okay. Since we’ll be out together anyway, I might as well.”
“Thank you so much. You don’t know what this means to me. You know I was never any good at doing this type of thing alone. I need someone holding my hand.”
I sighed. “Don’t we all.”
“Yeah. I’ll pick you up at two-thirty.”
I waited until I hung up again to let my heart sink into my shoes. So, Ellis really was busy with work. That only made me feel worse. So, there I was at the bottom of his to-do list. That was just great, and me getting more and more pregnant all the time.
I could understand if he got run over by a bus and was laid up in intensive care for the last six weeks. I wouldn’t even have minded if he got some dread disease and got put into quarantine, as long as only the extreme circumstances kept him away from groveling at my feet.
Okay, so it wasn’t as bad as all that, but how about a little phone call? Even a text would do. What could be so important that he would leave me hanging like this? Was Celeste in that much trouble again.
I went through all the same agony of uncertainty and insecurity I went through she had issues the first time. What could cause him to avoid me like this? What could cast such an insurmountable rift between us? Was this the relationship I had to look forward to for the rest of this child’s life?
I fretted and worried myself into a state of high tension until Julia pulled up at my door. I shoved every thought about Ellis out of my mind and ran down the steps. I hopped into her car, and away we went.
Nothing was more important than making Julia feel special on her wedding day. I had nine months to be pregnant and twenty more years after that to be a mother. Julia had one day. I could put off whatever distress this caused me to focus on her.
She drove to the dress shop and parked in the parking lot. When I threw the door open, her hand fell on my arm. “Wait a second, Mckenna.”
My eyes popped. “What’s up?”
There, right in front of my eyes, she burst into tears. She covered her face with both hands and blubbered. “I don’t know if I can go through with this. Do you really think Brayden’s the right guy for me? I shouldn’t even be talking to you about this. You’re his sister, for Christ sake. I don’t know what to do. I can’t stop thinking I’m making a terrible mistake.”
I stared at her with my mouth open. “Are you serious?”
She nodded so fast the tears flew of her cheeks. “I mean, I love Brayden and all. He’s the most perfect guy I can imagine, but marriage is supposed to be forever, right? What if I make a mistake? Or what if Brayden makes a mistake? What if I’m certain and he’s not? I’m a human and he’s not! Does that matter? What if the wedding is a disaster and I’m humiliated in front of everyone?”
I swallowed hard. I had to pull this situation together if it was the last thing I did. “Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy, girlfriend. Let’s just take a few deep breaths and think this thing through before we jump to any hasty conclusions.”
Her eyes snapped to my face, and I understood everything. The bridesmaids, the maid of honor, even the groom and the groomsmen all had their busy lives pulling them away from her. She was left alone with all her doubts and fears and worst-case scenarios. All she needed was a little reassurance, a little support.
I swiveled around in the car seat and took hold of her shoulders. “Now listen to me, Julia. I want you to think real hard about this. Are you certain Brayden’s the man for you? Forget all that other stuff about the wedding turning into a disaster and you being humiliated in front of everyone. Just put aside the possibility that he might decide you’re not the right woman for him. Just think about you. Are you sure, in your own mind, that he’s the right guy?”
“Well, yeah, but what about...?”
I cut her off. “Don’t even start with ‘but what about.' You’re sure. That’s all you need to worry about. You let Brayden take care of Brayden, and the rest of the wedding will be just fine.”
She sniffed. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. Now come on. We’ve got a fitting to get to.”
She dragged her wrist over her face. “Mckenna?”
“What, babe?”
“Do you really think there’s one right person in the world for everyone?”
I stared out the front windshield at nothing. My answer to that changed so many time over the last few months, I wasn’t sure what to say. Did I really think Ellis Johnson was the right man for me?
I only had to think about one thing to answer that question: Vegas. Our time in Vegas proved it. He was the right guy for me. I’d bet everything I had on it.
“Yes, that’s why us bears mate for life. I know you’re not one of us, but that doesn’t matter. Humans and shifters get together all the time. And once you’re Claimed, that’s it. You’re together, and that’s a beautiful thing.”