Morgan stilled, then met my gaze. She smiled. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes! You know me, Morgan.”
“I didn’t know the real you.”
Closing my eyes, I whispered, “I’m so sorry.”
She took my hands in hers, causing me to open my eyes and face her.
“Tell him today, or I tell him.”
I nodded. “I am. I swear I am.
“Kaelynn, I’ll always be your friend, but he’s my brother and I love him with every ounce of my being. No matter what happens, though, I’m here for you.”
Throwing myself into her arms, I started to cry.
“It has to work,” I sobbed. “I pray he will forgive me.”
Morgan held me closer and whispered, “He will because he loves you.”
“The wedding was so beautiful,” I said as Nash placed his hand on my lower back and guided us into the reception room.
“It was indeed. There were a few times I had to hold back my own tears.”
“I saw that.”
Nash looked down at me and winked. My insides heated at once, and I had to force myself not to ask him to take me home and make love to me.
As we walked around the reception I smiled at a few people who said hello to us. Some Nash stopped and introduced me to, some he simply nodded and replied hello back.
I needed to sneak off with Nash at some point and come clean with everything. He deserved to know the whole truth and why I had kept it from him. After coming clean with Morgan, it felt as if a small sense of guilt lifted, but not all. My fear that the truth would push Nash away was stupid. I would apologize to him for behaving like a child and not trusting him. Morgan had been upset with me, but the way she told me she would be by my side made me realize what a complete fool I had been. The fear of people only liking me for my money was something I needed to learn to let go of, it had dictated my social interactions for longer than I could remember. By telling Morgan the truth, it was the first step. I was ready to be with Nash in the most intimate of ways, and I couldn’t do that knowing I held a secret between us.
The woman standing before me that I had been talking to was Beth, Terri’s aunt. Once Nash had introduced us and he saw Aunt Beth was going to talk my ear off, he excused himself.
“Kaelynn, what a beautiful name. My daughter is expecting her first child in a few months, I’ll have to have her add that name to her list.”
Taking a sip of my wine, I replied, “It was my great-grandmother’s name on my mother’s side. I was named after her.”
“How sweet to keep that name alive,” Beth stated.
I nodded and glanced over to where Nash stood. Blake had walked up to him and had handed him a small envelope. Nash had seemed agitated by whatever it was Blake had given him. He tucked it into his jacket pocket, then looked to be saying something heated to Blake. Raising his hands in self-defense, Blake pointed to the area of Nash’s jacket where he had slipped the envelope, then turned and walked to the bar. I frowned as I wondered what in the world that was all about.
“Don’t you agree, darling?”
Beth’s voice caused me to jump. I had been spying so intently on Nash, I hadn’t been paying attention to my conversation with Aunt Beth.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“Terri’s dress. Don’t you agree it was beautiful?”
Smiling, I replied, “Yes, it was very stunning. She looked like a princess.”
Beth beamed. “I own the bridal shop where she bought it.”
“Really?” I replied as I took another sip of wine.
“Will you be in the need for a wedding dress in the near future?”