As she topped the hill, Caroline observed all one-hundred-and-fifty guests seated in their chairs awaiting her arrival. Her heart and nerves sank into her gut.
"Well, here goes nothing."
"No, here's to standing up for yourself and protecting your family," Kristy said sternly.
Caroline breathed deeply, calming the urge to faint. "Right."
Kristy grinned big. "You can do this, honey. I know you can, and I'll be with you every step of the way. I promise. Your dad and Cade will be there, too." They walked together up the aisle.
By guests' expressions, she was stunning. But Trevor looked confused by her untraditional entrance.
When she approached him, he smiled, but she didn't. Kristy took one step back to give Caroline room to face him.
Noticing Kristy's smug grin, Trevor's smile faded. "Baby, what's wrong?"
Shaking from head to toe, more like quaking, Caroline whispered, "I need to talk to you. Can we take five minutes and step away from everyone?"
Bewilderment flitted across Trevor's face. "What's going on? We can't go anywhere." He looked around at the guests. "All these people came to see us get married, so let's just go on with it. We can talk afterwards," he whispered.
She stood her ground not taking her focus off him. "No, Trevor. I need to speak with you now. It's important."
Trevor's eyes hardened, obviously embarrassed. "Sweetheart, whatever it is, it can wait until after the wedding. Do not embarrass me."
Caroline glanced around their audience, all the eyes watching and now whispering, and her heart dropped. Trevor's side held all the major industry professionals in Chicago, as well as some of his dad's friends. He would not take this well at all, and she wished he would just swallow his pride and step away like she asked. But, of course he didn't.
Angry now about Trevor's concern for his embarrassment with the situation rather than what she had to say, Caroline fumed. "Okay, fine. You leave me no choice. I'm sorry, but I can't marry you today. I'm not ready yet. I need more time to mentally prepare and think things through."
She flinched under the fury flashing in his eyes.
"Things have just gone way too fast," she continued "and, as I was getting ready, I realized I couldn't do this yet. Not today, anyway."
Trevor shot a fierce look at Kristy, and then plastered on a fake smile as he spoke loudly enough for the first few rows of guests to hear. "Oh, Caroline, don't be silly. You're just nervous. You don't know what you're saying. Now, stop talking, turn around, and let the nice man marry us."
He faced her and whispered through clenched teeth, "Why are you doing this to me?"
A glimpse of the Trevor she loved broke through the cracks of his hardened façade. Pain and tenderness briefly shimmered in his eyes. . .very briefly. "Sweetheart, I didn't want to—"
"Oh, save it. You knew you were gonna do this from the very beginning, didn't you? That's the only reason you agreed to move the wedding up, so you could publicly humiliate me. Am I right?"
So angry, she couldn't control her sarcasm. "Oh, sure, Trevor. That's exactly what I did. I waited until the perfect moment, got all dressed up, and made my parents drive all day across four states just to make sure I ruined your precious little image. That's what I was secretly plotting all this time. Get real." She softened her voice so only he could hear her. "I was honestly gonna go through with this until I saw myself in the mirror. I'm just not ready to get married yet. I'm sorry. I need more time."
Trevor glanced around at the guests again, and his fake smile returned. "Darling Caroline, you just have cold feet. Don't worry about anything, sweetheart. Let me do the worrying for us. Now, just follow along so we can let everyone get back to their lives."
Caroline tired quickly of being treated like an imbecile. "No."
Trevor turned and scowled. "No? I don't understand why you're doing this, but I'm sure it's just nerves. I love you and you love me, and today is the day we're—" Trevor froze mid-sentence as he glowered over her shoulder. She turned to see Cade standing at the top of the hill. She snapped her head back, Trevor's nasty glare fixed upon her. "Oh, I can see everything much more clearly now. It's all starting to make sense."
"Trevor, he has nothing to do with my decision."
"Right. I may have been born at night, sweetheart, but it wasn't last night. You filthy liar! I was right when I came down there, wasn't I? You might've had me fooled then, but not now. How long have you been sleeping with him?" His face a reflection of his complete repulsion.
"Trevor, please. Lower your voice. I haven't—"
"Why, Caroline? Don't you think everyone here deserves to know why you're backing out on the wedding? Go ahead. Tell them. Tell them it's because you've been sleeping with another man!"
Shocked gasps filled the gusty winds. Caroline wanted to die.
"That's the pot calling the kettle black coming from the Chicago man-whore," Kristy exclaimed.
"Shut the hell up, Kristy. You have no business in this."
Wrongly humiliated by a man who claimed to love her. Her temper flared. "I haven't slept with anyone, but not because you didn't try! I've remained pure up to this very minute. Can you say the same? Or can you not remember?"
Trevor sneered. "I'm not the one who whored around while wearing someone else's ring on my finger!"
Caroline reacted by slapping him across the face as hard as she could. The crowd of witnesses fell silent, waiting for his reaction. They didn't have to wait long as the stinging pain in her hand was quickly replaced by a blinding smack to her cheekbone. Caroline gasped, along with every member of the audience, literally seeing flashing stars as she flew back into Kristy's arms. Kristy comforted her before screaming at Trevor.
"You sorry son of a bitch! Don't you ever touch her again."
Caroline quickly recovered, squirmed out of Kristy's arms, and turned to the audience, knowing what would happen next. As she expected, Cade was furiously sprinting at warp speed up the aisle flying in like Iron Man to demolish Trevor, and Eddie scurried up from her right, but Caroline stepped between them and Trevor with her hands out.
"No, not yet. I'm okay," she lied. The tears of pain fell down her swollen cheeks and she felt like the left half of her face was the size of a hot air balloon. Lips numb, and eye rapidly swelling shut, she turned to Trevor who, strangely enough, looked distraught and sorry for what he'd just done.
Cade placed his trembling hand on her shoulder and she worried he would kill Trevor if he ever touched her again. Cade wasn't going anywhere, and she knew he would explode at any moment if it weren't for his incredible control. She chose not to push that and allowed him the contact as she stepped closer to Trevor.
Caroline dabbed her cheek and sighed, realizing what a mistake this whole affair was. "Trev, I tried to tell you we needed five minutes alone. You are the one who chose to make this a public spectacle. I can see I've made the right decision today. You are not the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I'm sorry, Trevor."
She turned to walk away, but Kenneth Callahan blocked her path. Flanked by Eddie and Cade, she found the courage from within to lock eyes with him—emeralds clashing with sapphires. "Excuse me, Mr. Callahan. This has nothing to do with you, so please move out of my way."
"I'm afraid I can't do that. You have chosen to humiliate my family, so you will not be going anywhere but on your honeymoon with my son." Cade stepped between Kenneth and Caroline, joined by Eddie. They formed a screen blocking him from Caroline, and Cade spoke calmly.
"It's time for you to leave, Mr. Callahan."
Caroline heard him protest, and thanked Kristy for catching her as she turned to search for Trevor. She found him standing in the same place staring at her in disgust. Kenneth Callahan's threatening tone blasted over her ringing ears, weakening her knees. "I tried to tell my son you were a filthy whore, just like all the women in your family, but he wouldn't listen to me." Caroline turned toward him, but couldn't make eye contact, though she heard the sneer in his v
oice. "All he could say is how forgiving you were. Forgiving. HA! If you were my daughter, I'd—"
Eddie spoke. "You'd what? Tell me, Callahan. I'm curious. What exactly would you do?"
Cade crossed his arms emphasizing the bulge of his biceps.
"Mighty brave with your guard dog here, aren't you, Fontenot?"
Caroline retreated to speak to Trevor again, but this time she found him by the lake staring at the water. Genuinely saddened. Against Kristy's protests, she walked to him while her dad and Cade handled Mr. Callahan. He turned his back to her. Another more subtle slap in the face. "Trevor. I need to know something. Did you know about our family's past?"
He whirled around in shock. "Is that what this is about? Something that happened over a century ago?"
"Well, partly, yes. Did you know about your father's plans?"
"Caroline, I am not my father."
"Just answer the question."
"Yes, he told me about the plantation, your inheritance, and all that. But I promise I knew nothing about this until after I had already fallen in love with you and proposed."
"You see, Trevor, that's not the problem. You should have told me. The minute you found out, you should have come to me and told me everything. That's what true love is. It's about honesty, trust, and respect. Unfortunately, I now have lost all three of those qualities in my feelings for you. That's why I can't marry you." She lightly brushed her fingers across her swollen face and winced. She still couldn't believe he hit her.
"Just so you know, my intention today was only to postpone the wedding for a later date. I had no desire to cancel the wedding. I just needed the truth from you and your father. Now, after all this, I could never be your wife." She handed his ring back and walked away trying to ignore the pool of tears in his eyes and his wounded expression.
Caroline rejoined Kristy, Cade and Eddie just as Eddie announced his knowledge of the hit man Kenneth hired. All the wedding guests were speechless and listened intently as the drama unfolded.
Kenneth simply smiled. "You think you're clever and have it all figured out, don't you? If your family hadn't cheated George Callahan out of his share of their business, then we would own fifty percent of your fortune."
"If George had been hung for raping and murdering Jackson Fontenot's wife, Rachel, as he should have been, you wouldn't be standing here today," Caroline declared. "Your family lineage would have ended with him, thereby making the world a safer place."
"You think I'm the bad guy in all this." He laughed the same evil Callahan laugh from her dreams. "If I were you, Mr. Fontenot, I would watch my back. You have enemies all around you. Perhaps when you did your research, you missed something." Kenneth stared at Eddie's confused face and laughed sinisterly again. "Let's go, son." He turned to walk away, but Trevor didn't follow him. When he stopped to see why, Trevor stared at him angrily. "Trevor, I said come on. Let's get out of here."
"No, Dad. I'm done. You and your revenge plot have caused me to lose the one thing I treasured about my life. Seriously, Dad? The Mafia? A hit man? I will never go anywhere with you again."
"Don't be ridiculous. I didn't cause you to lose anything. You did that all on your own by allowing that little tramp to go to Louisiana by herself. If you were a real man, you could have controlled your woman like a true Callahan. You have too much of your mother in you."
"You disrespectful son of a bitch! The part of Mom that is in me is the part with a beating heart. You are a ruthless coward who can't handle rejection. You step on the people who try to help you. Respect must be earned. It's not your right or my duty. I'm finished letting you bark orders at me. Finished. And if anything happens to Eddie or Caroline I'll be with the proper authorities turning you in before you can say Godfather."
Kenneth curled his lip and spun on his heel, uttering profanity laced disparages about his son.
Trevor stepped closer and reached for Caroline's hand. She flinched away and Cade bowed up about to take over, but Trevor sadly retracted his hand, motioning to Cade with both hands that he meant no harm. Caroline's heart swelled and she grabbed Trevor's hands, confident he wouldn't hurt her again. She was angry he'd hit her, but she could see the shame within him and understood it was an irrational reaction. One she didn't care to repeat, though. He'd do well with a fraction of the control Cade had.
Trevor's sheepish grin reflected a moment of insecurity as he gazed deeply into her eyes with genuine heartache. "I'm terribly sorry things turned out this way. I think we could have had a good life together."
"I'm sorry, too. But I disagree. You hit me, Trevor. That's inexcusable. And frankly, as long as your dad is around, I don't believe we would have ever been happy together." She squeezed his hands. "This is for the best."
A single tear rolled down his cheek as he slowly leaned in to kiss the bruise he'd caused on her face. She winced with the pain. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "I'm sorry for hitting you. I really am." His lips brushed the place his forehead had been for one last sweet kiss. "I do love you, and I probably always will. Goodbye, Caroline."
Her heart broke a little as he walked away.
Forty