Beyond Promise by Karice Bolton Read Free Book Online

the parking lot.
    “Time for dinner. Ayden’s here.”
    Gabby’s brows furrowed. “Have you guys
started hitting up the early-bird specials or something?”
    “No. Thank you very much. We’re headed to a
happy hour by our house.”
    “Huh?”
    “It’s all-you-can-eat wings, and their
potato skins are like $2.99.” I stood up gathering my coat and
purse. The reds and oranges of the vanishing sun highlighted the
skyline. It would be dark in less than an hour, and by then,
hopefully we’d be snuggled into a booth snacking on appetizers.
    “Well, good. I’m glad to see you’re eating
healthy for your—”
    “For my what?” I asked, unable to hide my
grin.
    We all knew. But I really didn’t want to
relinquish my telling of it until the day before our wedding. I’d
already packed the little announcements and shipped them to Bermuda
with everything else.
    “Nothing.” Gabby flashed a knowing smile and
gave me a hug. “Absolutely nothing. Enjoy your chicken wings and
potato skins.”
    “I will, and you know, I very well might try
to eat my way out of having to wear that green dress.”
    Ayden was walking through the park, and he
gave a quick wave when he spotted us roaming toward him.
    “Lily said you’re off to hit the early-bird
specials.”
    A smirk fell across Ayden’s lips, and he
shook his head, giving me a big hug. I melted in his embrace and
felt him lift me off the ground slightly, my feet dangling a few
inches above the grass. I wondered how much longer he’d be able to
do that.
    Ayden placed me back down and slid his hand
into mine. “It’s happy hour.”
    “Sure. Tell yourselves that. I think you’re
just one step away from blue poodles and pink Lincoln Town
cars.”
    “You’re making it easier and easier to
change your bridesmaid dresses,” I teased, as we all walked to the
parking lot. “You wait and see.”
    “I dare you,” Gabby sneered. She stood next
to her car and smiled.
    Gabby looked so at ease and happy. I loved
seeing how well she’d settled into her life with Jason and Katie.
It made me long for that same sense of contentment.
    Ignoring Gabby’s last jab, I climbed into
our car and Ayden shut the door. I heard him tease Gabby a little
more, and then he waited until she got into her car before he
climbed into ours.
    “Did you have a nice time?” Ayden asked,
turning on the ignition.
    “It was great. I didn’t know how much I
needed to get away from the office.”
    Ayden pressed his lips together and nodded.
He pulled the car onto the main street that would eventually lead
us to the chicken wings. I hadn’t realized how hungry I’d gotten
until the thought of food getting closer popped into my mind.
    “You’ve been working like you’re on speed
since the weekend,” Ayden said. He put his hand on my knee, and I
immediately covered it with mine, holding it tightly. It was like I
wanted to capture every little touch and glance from Ayden and that
worried me. It made me feel like my subconscious knew something
more than I did about the upcoming event.
    “I think it’s all the nervousness. I can’t
sit still, and once I’m at the office, I dive in so I don’t have to
think about the fight.”
    “I never meant to do this to you,” Ayden
said softly. “I wish my brother hadn’t brought it up.”
    “Wrong answer, buddy. If I found out after
the fact, there would’ve been hell to pay.” I eyed him and wondered
if he meant it. If he had that would send us backward in this whole
conversation from the weekend, not forward. “I thought we
established the whole not keeping things from one another
pact at Mason’s.”
    He nodded. “We definitely did. I don’t know.
I guess I hoped things would turn out differently. I wanted to tell
you on my own terms.”
    The anguish in his voice worried me. I
didn’t want him to be focused on us or fret over anything that
would distract him from the main goal in front of us, which was to
win the fight and get us to our