Free Lies of the Heart by Laurie LeClair

again. This time he caught and held her stare for a moment, and then winked. A fluttering sensation rippled through her middle.
    “He’s the best mechanic on the whole East Coast, and don’t you forget it,” Mrs. Deveraux snapped out.
    “Hah!” Granny snorted. “He’s a grease monkey!”
    His grandmother’s loud gasp bounced off the church’s walls. “How dare you! Why, his first wife could run circles around your lap dog granddaughter.”
    “Why you—”
    But Tessa tuned her granny out as shock raced through her veins, turning her cold. Chance had been married! She’d never known, never suspected. He was a stranger to her. Twisting to look at him fully, she encountered his grim expression.
    “You’ve been married before?” The high squeak that passed as her voice ripped through the church.
    He stiffened. His features seemed as if they’d been chiseled out of granite. Only the muscle jumping along his jaw moved. His eyes turned a dangerous steel gray, making her swallow hard. “Don’t worry, the divorce is perfectly legal. The papers were signed, sealed, and delivered years ago. She made damn sure of it.” Ice dripped from his words. But she knew it masked deep, bone-scarring pain.
    Feeling cold all of a sudden, she turned away from him, pulling her hand free. She looked blindly over the minister’s shoulder. From what Chance hadn’t said she gathered he hadn’t wanted the marriage to end. Was he still in love with his first wife? Her heart clutched in her chest. Blinking back the gathering moisture, Tessa blew out a long, slow breath. Six short months, that’s all he’d signed up for. And that’s all she could ever expect from him. She knew that now, had always known it deep down inside. But she had hoped…
    This time he was the one to grab her hand, wrapping his larger one around her icy fingers and squeezing hard. That small measure of comfort plucked her heartstrings. If only they weren’t who they were.
    “They should lock him up and throw away the key,” Granny muttered too loudly. “The things he did to this town, to me!”
    Chance sighed, and then leaned near Tessa and whispered in her ear, “It’s going to get ugly, fast, sunshine. What do you say we speed this guy up?”
    His warm breath fanned along her skin, sending goose bumps tripping right after. She shivered, and then nodded. Facing the minister, she said, “Ah…perhaps we can skip this part and move on to the more important parts—”
    “Before it’s too late,” Chance added.
    Relief washed over Reverend Duffy’s full features. “Oh, bless you,” he gushed, hurriedly flipping through pages of the booklet he held in his chubby, trembling hands. “Ah…the rings.” He slapped his pockets, feeling for them, and then fished both out of his inside pocket.
    Tessa turned to Bree, handing her overflowing bouquet of creamy-white roses to her. Before facing forward again, she exchanged meaningful looks with both her friends, and then rolled her eyes heavenward. Smiles replaced the worried looks for a second.
    Twisting back, she caught the glittery sparkle from the band Chance held. “With this ring I thee wed,” he repeated the minister’s words, and then slipped the ring on her finger.
    She sucked in a breath. Tears smarted the backs of her eyes as she stared down at the slim gold ring consisting of two delicately entwined bands. Wonder rushed through her; it wasn’t a plain, simple piece of jewelry as she expected a six-month union warranted. Jerking her gaze to his, she frowned. Gone was the dark, foreboding look. She welcomed the change. “But…”
    There in the smoky-gray penetrating stare she thought she read something so sweet, so dear that she hesitated to believe it could be true.
    “Connected. Forever.” His voice was even huskier than usual. And she knew that what she thought she’d seen was indeed true. No matter what, or where they ended up, there would always be this deep, everlasting connection between