“I’m on call.” He frowned. “How about I call you? I might be able to switch some stuff around, but I need to check with my admin. She’ll kill me if I mess with the calendar without her permission.”
Olivia understood. Calendars were sacred. “Here’s my number.” She told it to him as he entered it into his contact list.
“Cool.” He slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Until next time.” He took her hand and kissed the top.
She almost sighed out loud. Corny, but the perfect gesture. And he waited as she got in her car and pulled out of the lot before getting into his vehicle.
On the drive home, butterflies danced in her stomach. Kingston Bedford. Who knew? She certainly didn’t, and she doubted Anita had ever put the two of them together either, or she would have brought it up to Olivia before now.
But she wasn’t going to tell Anita anything until her and Kingston’s first official date. And maybe not even after that, since the wedding preparations were taking up a lot of Anita’s time, thanks to Karen. Anita and Kingston’s mother could test the patience of a saint, even though she meant well.
No, best to keep things to herself until the right moment. She grinned. Aunt Bea would be so tickled that Olivia had taken her advice.
Next time, she might even try the coffee.
Chapter 1
Eight months later
Kingston yanked at the collar of his white dress shirt while the other groomsmen talked to Tanner, the nervous groom. As the bride’s brother, he knew he should have some words of wisdom to impart to the man who would be his brother-in-law in less than an hour, but he had zip. How could he think about marriage advice when (a) he was still single, and (b) all he could think about was how mad Olivia must be at him?
Sweat broke out on his brow, and he stepped outside of the preschool Sunday school room at Amazing Grace. The women were using the larger third- and fourth-grade classroom to get ready, as was fitting. What was Olivia doing right now? Probably organizing everything and everyone. Maybe if she’d overseen his calendar, they would have gone on their official date.
If he could physically kick himself, he would. After he’d asked her out for coffee—and subsequently found his equilibrium after their incredibly impulsive and incredibly incredible make-out session—the natural next step had been to ask her out on an actual date. He’d hesitated for only a second, mostly because he knew the next few weeks would be chaotically busy for him, but he had asked her anyway. In that moment, he’d wanted to see her again more than anything. And he had fully intended to call her and set up a time to take her to a steakhouse in Hot Springs that had a filet so tender you could cut it with the side of a spoon.
But he didn’t call her, and they never went out. Instead, he did what he always did. Worked. And by the time two weeks flew by, he realized he’d forgotten his promise.
At that point he should have called her the moment he remembered. But it had been 10:04 p.m., and he knew she liked to keep a strict bedtime schedule. And in the morning when he’d gotten a call from his nurse about one of his patients who had been admitted at Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Olivia was far from his mind and his appointment calendar.
By the time he had a break in his work, almost a month had gone by, and yet he’d still considered calling her to explain himself. But he kept putting it off, and by June it was too late to apologize.
Before he knew it, Anita’s rehearsal dinner was upon him, and he’d fully intended to go and face the music with Olivia somehow. But he’d been called to the hospital at the last minute, earning a well-deserved haranguing session from his mother, who afterward had instructed him on what to do the day of the wedding. His father was a cardiologist, and his family usually wasn’t completely bent out of shape, having gotten used to short-notice cancellations over the years. But missing the rehearsal dinner? That had strained their goodwill.
“Mark my words, Kingston,” Mother had said in a stern, harsh voice he hadn’t heard her use on him since he’d gotten a B in art in sixth grade—his one and only B. “If you don’t show up tomorrow, you’re going to break Anita’s heart. You’ll break all our hearts.”
He kept to himself the fact that he’d been to three weddings already this summer. But those were for his clinic partners’ kids, who had all seemed to get engaged and plan their nuptials at the same time. He only made an appearance at those and left as soon as he could, his obligation finished. But he didn’t dare mention that to his mother. She’d have an epic conniption.
So here he was, ready for his sister’s big day and still unprepared to see Olivia again.
“It’s time.” Hayden clapped him on the shoulder. “The bridesmaids are already in front of the sanctuary. Except for Harper. She’s running late.”
Whew. That took a little pressure off since he wouldn’t be the only one in Olivia’s bad graces.
When he got to the foyer in front of the sanctuary, he tried to make eye contact with Olivia. She wouldn’t acknowledge him. Pressure back on.
Harper finally showed up and took her spot by his side. The two of them were paired up, and with her sky-high heels, she was only a few inches shorter than he was. After twenty minutes of being ignored by Olivia, then listening to her and Harper bicker for the last five while they waited for the cue to walk down the aisle, he turned to them. “Ladies, can this wait?”
“Sorry,” Olivia murmured, staring down at her pale-green low-heeled shoes. Then she looked straight ahead and straight through him.
He clenched his jaw and faced forward as the couples in front of him started to move. First Hayden and Riley, then Ryan and Paisley. Then it was his and Harper’s turn. As he took his place next to his brother-in-law, Ryan, he forced himself not to watch Olivia as she moved down the aisle with Lonzo. This was Anita’s day, and he had to set his personal issues—and failings, in this case—aside.
Less than forty minutes later, they were congratulating Mr. and Mrs. Tanner Castillo.
His stress eased a bit seeing his sister so happy. He’d long suspected she had a crush on Tanner, and that had ended up being the case. As for Tanner, he was a great guy. Anyone could see how much he loved Anita.
The bridal couple and attendants formed a reception line in the foyer and received congratulations from the guests. That all went smoothly until Erma McAllister and her crew, including Olivia’s aunt Bea, stopped in front of him and Harper.
“My stars, look at the two of you,” Erma said. She leaned over to Bea, along with Peg and Myrtle, the other two ladies with her. “They look straight out of a fashion magazine, don’t they?”
“They sure do,” Bea said before leaning forward and whispering, “Maybe you two will be the next ones to get married.”
He heard Harper laugh, but he didn’t find the comment amusing, especially coming from Bea and stated right in front of Olivia. He frowned and glanced at Olivia to gauge her reaction. There was none, as if she hadn’t heard what Bea had said. What a relief. Erma and her friends were dead wrong about him and Harper. He’d known her for a few years and liked her well enough. She was stunning, and Erma was right—she did look like she’d stepped out of Vogue. But she wasn’t his type, and he’d never gotten the indication that he was hers.