Free Falling for Love by Marie Force Page A

confusion. He’d thought he had it all figured out, but it was becoming rather clear to him that he had absolutely nothing figured out.

Chapter 8
    Watching her cousin and her new husband open their wedding gifts was pure torture for Laura. They were blissfully happy, and Joe was madly in love with his gorgeous new wife. Laura wondered if Janey had any idea how lucky she was to have such a devoted husband.
    As the last gift was opened and exclaimed over, Laura had to get out of there. Fortunately, there were enough people in the room that she was able to slip out the sliding door to the deck without being detected. Once outside, she drew in deep breaths of cool air. While the rain had let up for the moment, the wind continued to whip and howl eerily in the big meadow that stood between the house and the shoreline in the distance.
     She’d gotten through Janey’s wedding, done her duties as a bridesmaid and somehow managed to keep it together when she was falling apart on the inside. But seeing the newlyweds together just now… That’d been too much.
    Laura was so happy for Janey, who deserved every bit of happiness with Joe. After Janey had spent thirteen years with the wrong man, Joe had swept her off her feet and finally let her see how much he’d loved her from afar for so long. And then he’d rearranged his entire life so he could go to Ohio with her when she realized her lifelong dream of getting into veterinary school. Her sweet cousin had landed herself one of the good guys, and Laura couldn’t be happier for her.
    If only she could say the same for herself.
    “Aren’t you cold out here?”
    Startled by a deep voice, Laura spun around to find Owen Lawry removing his jacket and handing it to her. She was so numb she hadn’t even realized she was cold. Wrapping the jacket around her, she was engulfed in his warm, masculine scent. The thoughtful gesture brought a lump to her throat that Laura cleared away, determined to keep a tight lid on her despair in the midst of such happiness. “Thank you.”
    “No problem.” Like he had earlier, he lowered himself to her height to meet her gaze. The light from inside the house cast a faint glow over the deck, making it possible for her to make out his features in the dimness. “Everything okay?”
    “Never better.”
    “Somehow I don’t believe you.”
    Unprepared for his insight, Laura bundled deeper into the coat.
    “I heard you’re a newlywed yourself.”
    She winced at his casually inquisitive tone.
    “I guess your husband couldn’t make it for the wedding.”
    What the hell? They’d all find out eventually. “It was more that he couldn’t make it for the marriage.”
    There was just enough light for her to see the shock register on his face. “You wanna run that by me one more time?”
    “We were married in May,” she said, her heart aching as she recalled the happiest day of her life. “A big, beautiful wedding in Providence. In June, two of my bridesmaids came to me looking like they hadn’t slept for days. One of them had seen his picture on an online dating service and had queried his profile anonymously thinking he’d tell her he’s married now. Except that’s not what he did.”
    “Oh, man.”
    “Exactly. He made a date with her, and she went to the restaurant just to see if he’d actually show. There he was, my husband, waiting to meet her. She made sure he never saw her.” Laura couldn’t believe she was sharing her nightmare with a perfect stranger when she hadn’t even worked up the nerve to tell her aunt, uncle or cousins yet. No doubt it was easier telling him than it would be to tell them. “When they came to my house, I could tell something was terribly wrong, but I never thought…I never suspected…”
    “Why would you?”
    Shrugging, she rested a hand on the rail that framed the deck as the wind whipped at her shoulder-length hair. “Afterward, with hindsight, there were signs. I guess I chose to ignore them because I