Page 77 of Too Fast To Fall
With tears in their eyes, but resolute, they loaded up a Hannah Montana backpack with all the essentials—stuffed animals,snacks, and Gabby’s blanket. They started down the block and Piper had felt the need to tell Gabby one thing: I will alwayslove and take care of you. That was why she was there. It was also the reason she came back. Thenandnow. Even when it was hard.
Piper glanced at Kyle, then averted her eyes. They’d had one short interaction at the rehearsal dinner, with Bridget by hisside. He said something about her looking well. Piper said something along the lines of congratulations and asked when thebaby was due. Then he asked where her Formula One driver boyfriend was. Piper deflected like she had before, saying he wastoo busy to be there. It felt a little like saying she had a boyfriend who lived in Canada or went to another school. In short,it was awkward as fuck, but everyone was polite, and Piper knew with absolute certainty she was over everything that had happenedwith Kyle. It also left her with a bit of an epiphany—it wasn’t her future she’d been mourning after the broken engagement.It was that he’d shaken her faith in who she was. She’d grown up around love and always felt secure. She’d lived her entireexistence in her comfort zone. And then the boundaries of that were torn away, leaving her the most vulnerable she’d everbeen.
As it turned out, he might’ve done her a favor. If her foundation hadn’t been shaken, she might not have had any reason totake Emilio up on his offer. It would’ve been easier to stick to the status quo. Out of sheer need to changesomething, she found the courage to get on a plane with a handsome stranger and his dog, and for a few weeks, she’d figured out thatthe world really was a beautiful place, full of love.
As for her heart, it was so full of love at that moment, it was heavy. But maybe that was because she knew a lot of what shecarried around was meant for one person—Emilio, and he wasn’t there. The thought of him walking around, having no clue howshe really felt, ate at her. But she also wanted to deliver the news in person. A phone call or a text? Too impersonal. Withthe hurdle of the wedding behind her in a few hours, she had to take action. Get on a plane and fly to Canada for the GrandPrix. Or perhaps go straight to London. To tell him how she felt. To express everything she’d left bottled up inside her,all because she’d been afraid.
The ceremony was over in a scant twenty minutes. Thank God for Gabby’s unsentimental nature.
“Thank you for being here,” Gabby mouthed, then took her bouquet and marched down the aisle, arm-in-arm with her groom.
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Piper said to no one. It still felt good to say that—she knew it to be true.
Now the biggest hurdle was the reception, where she would deliver her maid-of-honor speech. She’d practiced it so many timesshe nearly had it memorized. Still, she kept her printed copy, tucked into her bra. She couldn’t afford to mess up. Piperfiled inside the restaurant with her parents and Meghan, then found her seat at the head table and grabbed a glass of champagneto toast Gabby and Luke as they walked in through the door. They truly did look happy.
Piper downed one glass of champagne, then another, which she realized might be a mistake, but she wanted to take the edgeoff before she gave her speech. As they started to bring dinner to everyone’s table, Piper decided to take her chance andrun into the bathroom while everyone was focused on food.
Meghan had the same idea. “I can’t stop peeing. It’s all I do.”
“I’ve heard it’s worse when the baby gets big and sits on your bladder.”
“I’ve heard that, too.”
They met at the sink to wash their hands, and when Piper bent over to put her hands in the water, her speech tumbled out ofher dress and fluttered right into the basin. In an instant, it was soaked. “Oh, shit. My speech.” Piper stared as the inkblurred and the paper became translucent. “Fuck. What am I going to do?” Piper turned off the water and lifted it out of thesink, but it was too far gone. She tossed it in the trash.
“Did you practice? Can you remember it?”
“I did. I think so? I think I can?” She shook her head as she remembered what she’d said to Emilio every time he doubted himself.Everything you need is already inside you.“Never mind. It’s fine. I can do this.”
Rattled, but undeterred, Piper walked into the banquet room with Meghan, then took her seat to eat, running over her speechin her head. As soon as the plates were cleared, Piper was on deck. She picked up a butter knife and clinked it against theside of her water glass. The DJ made his way over to her with a microphone. Piper stood, surveyed the room and smiled. “Letme tell you everything I love about my sister, Gabby.”
Gus was being so hyper in the car. Like really, really hyper. He was thumping his tail against the seat, turning in circlesand he kept trying to lick Emilio’s face. “Gus, sit. I’m trying to drive.” Emilio was happy to finally have the return ofhis dog’s previous demeanor, but this was a little ridiculous. Luckily, Emilio’s final turn was ahead. He pulled into theparking lot and found a spot, then climbed out and grabbed his jacket and Gus’s leash from the backseat.
Gus hopped right out, but when Emilio went to attach his leash to his collar, his dog—his sweet, beloved dog—made a run forit. Like a bolt of fluffy lightning, he was gone. Straight across the parking lot. “Gus! Stop!” Emilio tore off after him.This dog.“Gus! You’re going to ruin everything!”
“It’s been wonderful to watch Gabby and Luke fall in love, especially since I wasn’t sure my sister was capable of it. I don’tknow if any of you have noticed she’s kind of a hard-ass.” Piper paused for laughter. She was killing it. “But something aboutLuke made her heart soften ever so slightly. And that’s the thing about love. You have to be open to it, or it might not showup in your life.”
She was about to express her next thought when one of her uncles yelled, “Who let a dog in here?”
A dog?Piper glanced at Gabby, who did not seem amused. “Sounds like the party is really getting started now.” When Piper turnedher attention to where her uncle was sitting, she saw a dog heading in her direction. She knew that face. That nose. Thatrelentless tail. But how in the hell had Gus figured out how to swim across an ocean?
Emilio came to a stop at the entrance to the reception, breathing hard. Straight ahead, on the far side of the room, stoodPiper, holding a microphone, while Gus was on his hind two legs trying to make out with her. Emilio did not want a scene atPiper’s sister’s wedding, but he also didn’t want Gus to ruin Piper’s dress, so he marched across the room. “Sorry to interrupt,everyone,” he said. “This is Gus and Gus loves Piper very much.”
Thankfully, everyone laughed.
As soon as he was within a few feet of her, Emilio’s heart pounded so fiercely he thought he might be having a heart attack.Even in a race, it wasn’t this intense, but that was what Piper did to him. He clipped Gus’s leash on his collar. Gus tookthe hint and stopped assaulting Piper.
“Emilio?” She placed her hand over the microphone. “What are you doing here?”
He might have wondered if she was mad, except she had a huge grin on her face. “I’m sorry. I tried to get here an hour ago.I’ll tell you everything later. Finish your speech.” He tugged Gus back and they found an inconspicuous spot off to the side.
Piper cleared her throat. “Well, that was exciting. For everyone who thought my Formula One driver boyfriend was a figmentof my imagination, I would like to present the evidence, Emilio Baquero. He makes quite an entrance, doesn’t he?” Everyonelaughed while Emilio felt his heart swell to twice its size. Finally, she’d called him her boyfriend.
Piper needed to finish this speech, pronto. She only hoped she wasn’t going to burst into tears as she delivered these lastfew thoughts. But she decided that talking about love with Emilio in the same room was only going to be practice for whatshe planned to say as soon as this speech was over.
“Luke, I need you to know you’re not just marrying a beautiful woman, you’re getting a partner with a beautiful soul. Shehas the capacity to love so fiercely, with a heart that knows no bounds, and I hope you take advantage of that every day,by always letting her in and keeping her close.”
Emilio stood and listened, thinking Piper was describing herself. She was the one who loved fiercely and had a heart thatknew no bounds. He only hoped when she was done, she had left some of the love in her heart for him.
