Free The Wedding Must Go On by Robyn Grady Page A

I’ve told you about my brother and his IT firm in California. He suggested I go stay with him a while. Learn something different. Make new friends.’ Marla reached over and caught Roxy’s arm. ‘Not that I don’t value the ones I have here.’ She tried to smile. ‘You understand, don’t you, Rox?’
    Feeling giddy, Roxy had to sit back. She knew, despite the distance, Marla was close to her brother, but this decision had left her reeling.
    ‘How long will you be gone?’
    ‘A year. Two.’ Marla shrugged. ‘I’m not sure.’
    On one hand Roxy was pleased Marla had decided to take a firm grip on life’s reins and move forward. Neither of them was the type to wallow in self-pity and, given that Marla earned a living as a freelance business consultant, she didn’t have any concrete employment ties. On the other, Roxy would miss her friend like crazy. They did so much together, had shared so much.
    And there was Greg, a man who had pledged his innocence … just as Roxy’s father always had.
    But was it possible that Nate was right? What if Greg
had
been a victim of circumstance and he and Marla could get over this major bump in their road? That would never happen with ten thousand miles and two years or more separating them.
    Until a moment ago, she’d been better than okay with letting matters take their own course. But with Marla deciding to leave—and so soon—suddenly the way ahead didn’t seem quite so clear.
    Roxy set down the last tile in her word—an
H
—and summoned the courage to ask. ‘What if you woke up tomorrow morning and found out it had all been a horrible mistake. That Greg hadn’t done anything wrong and you could still go ahead with the wedding?’
    Her eyes glistening, Marla sighed. ‘If that were to happen, if I could somehow truly find that faith again and get those pictures out of my mind … well, I’d be the happiest, most relieved woman in the world.’
    Then, with a wan smile, she set down three letters after Roxy’s. The word spelled HOPE.
    ‘You
have
to come to the anniversary party. Mum and Dad will be crushed if you don’t.’
    Nate turned away from his sister—the second eldest of the Sparks siblings—to resume a seat at his apartment’s dining room table; he’d been sorting out reports before Ivy’s unexpected visit. He didn’t mind being interrupted. He simply felt uncomfortable about the reason.
    ‘I never said I
wouldn’t
go.’ He dragged over a pile of papers. ‘It’s just I probably won’t stay long.’
    ‘If you have a hot date lined up, bring her.’
    ‘I don’t have a hot date.’
    ‘Then maybe you should find one.’
    He sent her a look. ‘Don’t start on me about finding a nice girl and settling down. I get enough of that from our father.’
    ‘I’m not talking about
till death us do part
.’ Ivy’s blue-grey eyes filled with needless sympathy. ‘I’d simply like to see you get out from under your grindstone and let your hair down a bit. We all would. You’ve been so focused on getting this business of yours off the ground, you barely take time to eat.’
    ‘I eat.
And
I have a personal life.’
    She arched an eyebrow and looked over the papers. ‘So, what’s this you’re busy with?’
    ‘I’m sorting out performance charts for reps as a function of purchasing patterns and meeting bi-annual budgets.’
    Ivy emptied her lungs. ‘The perfect way to spend aSunday.’ She crossed her arms over the waist of her pink cotton dress and pegged out a leg. ‘When was the last time you went out to dinner? And I’m talking attractive female, not wheeling and dealing with some boring businessman type.’
    ‘Businessmen aren’t boring,’ he eyed his colour-coded charts and mumbled, ‘.necessarily.’
    ‘So when?’
    ‘As a matter of fact, I took a lady out night before last.’
    Ivy’s gaze sharpened. ‘Have you seen her before?’
    ‘Affirmative.’
    ‘Plan to see her again?’
    He thought for a moment and admitted, ‘I’d