How about we fuck until we break this bed?
She waited for a response, but when he didn’t reply in a few minutes, she quickly finished dressing and slid her phone back into her purse.
He still hadn’t responded two hours later when they left Boulder and headed back up the canyon toward Scarlet. She tried to tell herself that he was probably just busy with Austin doing guy things. They’d talked about climbing today. Still, she couldn’t shake the fear that she’d gone too far by admitting she missed him.
Oh, she hated this part of romance—all the uncertainty, having feelings she was afraid to express in case he wasn’t feeling the same way. It was a stupid dance, and it wasted her time, energy, and sanity. Then again, this wasn’t really a romance, was it? She didn’t know what it was.
“Oh, look!” Lexi pointed as they pulled into the inn’s driveway. “The tent is up.”
A forty-foot-long white party tent stood on the west side of the inn. Staff from the rental company were busy setting up chairs in a wide spiral around the little stand of aspens to the south. The bench that usually sat there had been moved to make room for the wedding party at the center.
Vic and the others followed Lexi to the party tent, where staff were draping cloth banners in lavender and sage from the ceiling of shirred white fabric. “This is beautiful.”
Lexi gave them a tour. “There will be antique green bottles on all the tables with bouquets. That table at the end is where we’ll all sit, Austin and I in the center. There will be bouquets on that table, too. The dance floor will be on the other end. I think that’s the cake table there. Or maybe that’s the guestbook table.”
Lexi introduced herself to the person in charge and answered a few questions, giving Vic time to run up to her room, freshen up, and change into her new dress.
And still nothing from Eric.
She willed herself to put him out of her mind. Today wasn’t about her and Eric. It was about Lexi marrying the man she loved.
When Vic went back outside, she found Lexi talking with Rose, who’d dressed in a white broomstick skirt, white tank top, and a white lacy shawl.
“I appreciate your suggestions, but I think we’ll just do it the way we planned.”
Vic walked over to offer Lexi moral support.
“If you’d like, we could do a purification ceremony tonight—smudge the grounds, the tent, and the wedding party.”
Lexi shook her head. “I think we’ll just go with the ceremony the way it’s written on the sheet I gave you. But thanks so much, Rose. I know you care.”
“I’m just trying to bring a sense of sacredness to your joining.”
Vic had an idea. “What if you smudged the space right now—before the rehearsal? That way it will all be purified before they step into it as a couple.”
Lexi gaped at her.
“That’s a good idea, Victoria.” Rose glanced at her watch. “There’s not much time before we’re supposed to start.”
“Austin texted to say the guys are going to be late, so there’s no rush,” Lexi said. “They went climbing in Eldo and hit bad traffic.”
That explained why Eric hadn’t texted Vic back. He’d probably been dangling in the air when her message had come.
“I’ve got to run home, but I can be back in about five minutes.” Rose took off at a fast walk, shawl flapping in the air behind her like butterfly wings.
As soon as she was out of sight, Lexi sagged against Vic. “That ought to keep her busy for a while. I think you just saved my sanity.”
They joined Britta and Winona, who sat on the back porch sipping lemonade with Cheyenne, Austin’s sister, and his parents, Michael and Roxanne.
Kendra walked outside with another pitcher of lemonade and a stack of plastic cups. “The bride’s girls are here. I hope the groom didn’t get cold feet.”
“There’s no chance of that,” Roxanne said. “My boy is head-over-heels.”
A few minutes later, the sound of tires on gravel turned everyone’s heads toward the driveway. Austin pulled up, and he, Jesse, and Chaska stepped out of the vehicle, all of them looking dirty and sweaty. They moved in on the lemonade like predators, taking cups as fast as Kendra could fill them.
Vic’s stomach sank.
Eric wasn’t with them.