Free Meg's Best Man: A Montana Weekend Novella by Cynthia Bruner

found a way to meet up with me again after all.”
    Meg glanced at Gage, who was standing behind her. His face was blank in the dim light.
    “Well then! Shall we get you settled?” Joshua said, and he nudged them all forward, arms full of suitcases. Meg backed up and away from the wedding party. She stared at the faded wood of the porch, blue in the evening light.
    “There’s no electricity?” she heard Brie say over lower conversation. She saw a dim light through the window and knew someone was lighting the lanterns. Well, I’m off the hook, she thought. But her head felt like it was on fire. She was thinking all sorts of things, and none of them had to do with her cousin’s wedding.
    Leah came back out on the deck, arms outstretched. “I feel awful,” she said, and her tone of voice proved it.
    “Well, don’t. I got to do all the fun stuff—decorate, hang out with you, and eat French toast. Leah, the fact is, I love you, and I’m really glad you’re going to be a Parks. I’ll be standing up for you whether I’m up front or in the back.”
    Leah gave her a big hug and didn’t let go for a while. When she pulled back Meg spotted the sparkle of tears in Leah’s eyes. “Thanks for making me feel so welcome, Meg.”
    Meg felt her own eyes well up, and she brushed her tears with her sleeve. “Oh, cut it out. I’m supposed to be saving all my sobbing for tomorrow.”
    “Leah? Which is my room?” Brie was calling. Meg backed away and Leah headed for the door. As she opened it, Gage was coming out. “Bunk beds?” said Brie’s laughing voice from inside. Meg smiled, waved at both Gage and Leah, and headed for the bonfire.
    But Gage ran after her. She could hear his loud steps on the deck. He touched her shoulder and she turned around, but all she could think was that she really didn’t want to find out what all the tension between him and Brie was about. “I just wanted to say thanks for the dance,” he said.
    “You’re welcome.”
    She was looking for a polite way out, but he seemed determined to say something else. Her Uncle Jeffrey’s voice saved her. “There you are, Gage! I am so sorry it’s taken me this long, I was caught up with finalizing a detail or two on the ceremony, and then the dinner, and then…” He looked at Meg and back at Gage again. “Do you have time to talk now, or am I interrupting something?”
    “Not at all,” Meg said. She gave her pastor uncle a kiss on the cheek, waved cheerfully at Gage again, and took off across the little meadow.
    There was something reassuring about the smell of wood smoke. It reminded her of the end of long days of work or play, the moment when the only thing left to do is go to sleep. It felt warm and bright and lovely, but after about three minutes, she was done. Leah was fine, Joshua was fine, and soon everyone would be heading toward their tents or to Catherine and Jacob’s house to sleep. It was time for her to get some rest. She had cobwebs to clear.
    As she started down the dark road, she glanced back up toward the cabin. No one was following her. The day was over, and her own personal valet had moved on to another job. Part of her mind, the tricky part in the back, was imagining hearing footsteps coming up behind her and a hand on her elbow. It would be like Gage to insist on walking her down to the camper, wouldn’t it?
    She slipped on some loose gravel on the steep drive. It was the only sound except for the murmur of laughter above her.
    He had something more important to do, now. She tried to stop listening for footsteps that weren’t coming. It was a waste of time and made her head hurt. Not only did he have a new maid of honor to look after, but it was clear that they knew each other. There was no mistaking the familiarity in Brie’s expression or the tension in his when she arrived. It was as if he had been caught doing something wrong.
    All he had been doing was talking to Meg. Maybe even flirting, if she could remember what