Garrett Bravo's Runaway Bride

He asked glumly, “Do you have a head injury?”

She repositioned the makeshift ice pack on her injured eye. “And you need to this know why?”

He shrugged. “I was going to offer you a beer. But if you’ve got a concussion, maybe not.”

That earned him another dazzling smile. “A beer would be so perfect.”

Apparently, she was never going to answer the head injury question. But she seemed reasonably clearheaded, so he flipped open the cooler and passed her a beer.

Tucking the ice pack into the cup holder on her chair, she popped the top and giggled like a happy kid when it foamed. He watched her throat move as she swallowed, after which she settled back in her chair and stared up at the star-thick Colorado sky.

She really did seem okay. And at the moment, he couldn’t think of any more ways she might let him help her. He settled back, too.

Somewhere in the trees, a night bird twittered.

Cami made a soft, contented little sound. “Got to hand it to you, Garrett. This is the life.”

He completely agreed. “Yeah. Munch and I have been up here for almost two weeks now, only driving down the mountain twice for food and supplies. The first few days were tough. I kept worrying about work. But eventually, I got over that and started enjoying the quiet and the big trees. Overall it’s been great.”

“So you don’t live up here?”

“No. I’m on vacation. I’ve got three more days. Wednesday, I have to head home.”

“To?” She stared up at the sky, the beer can dangling from one hand as she idly scratched Munch’s back with the other.

“I live down in Justice Creek.”

Cami said dreamily, “I’ve been to Justice Creek a couple of times. Such a pretty little town.”

“I grew up there. My sister and I run a construction company.”

“What’s your sister’s name?”

“Nell. She’s a pistol.” He rolled his head Cami’s way again and found her watching him. Otherworldly, the gleaming blue of that good eye. “You would like her.”

Cami’s dirty angel’s face looked wistful. “A pistol, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. Nell never did a damn thing she didn’t want to do. She’s unpredictable, but you can count on her, too. I always know she has my back.”

“She sounds amazing.” Cami turned her face to the stars again. “I wish I could be like that.” Garrett was about to tell her she was more than unpredictable enough, when she glanced down at her torn dress and said in a small voice, “I’m thinking you’ve already guessed that I ran out on my wedding.” She slanted him a glance. At his nod, she faced the sky again and continued. “Biggest wedding of the season. Everyone who’s anyone in Denver was there. I was going to go through with it up to the very last moment—which means, I didn’t plan my escape.” She wrinkled her nose at the stars. “That’s me. No planning. I never think ahead. When I can’t take it anymore, I just freak and run. Today, that happened during the wedding march. My bridesmaids were already on their way down the aisle. The wedding planner signaled me out of the bride’s room...” Her voice trailed off.

He prompted, “And then?”

“And then I just grabbed my purse off the vanity table and sprinted out the back door. The door opened on the parking lot and I’d made my dad drive me in my car for the ride to the church.” A low, sad chuckle escaped her. “Okay. I confess, I may have done a little planning, after all. Because I had a spare set of keys in my purse. I jumped in my BMW and took off with no plan after that whatsoever and nowhere in particular to go.” She paused for another sip of beer.

When she settled back again, she continued. “Eventually I got out on the highway. I took an off-ramp. I saw the sign to Moosejaw Mountain. I took that turn. It’s one twisty road getting up here, Garrett, but my 750i handled like a dream. I would still have that car if some idiot in a green pickup hadn’t come barreling down as I was going up. Ran me right over the side of the road and into a very steep ravine.”

“My God.” Had she been knocked out, then? He probably shouldn’t have given her that beer.

She raised the beer in question toward the distant moon and took another swallow. “I admit, it was scary while it was happening.”

“Were you knocked unconscious?”

“No. But the airbags deployed and somehow, I got smacked in the eye. When the car finally stopped rolling, I couldn’t get the door open. And that, along with everything else—how messed up my life had gotten, the way I’d run out on my wedding that never should have been happening in the first place—well, it all just made me tired. So I took a nap.”

“A nap,” he echoed disbelievingly. “In a wrecked car at the bottom of a ravine?”

“That’s right.” She was defiant. “I closed my eyes and went to sleep—and you should see the way you’re looking at me. Same way my parents do. Like you wonder how much brain damage I’ve sustained. And you don’t even know about the coma.”

He gulped. “There’s a coma?”

She waved a dismissing hand. “That was six years ago. Yeah, there are scars. But I’m fully recovered—well, I mean, as much as anyone can recover from an experience like that. Anyhoo, back to the ravine. Whoever was driving that green pickup didn’t bother to stop or call for help, so when I finally decided I really had to make the effort to get out of the car and get back up to the road, I was on my own.”

“That driver should be arrested. Did you get a plate number?”

She gave him a look of great patience. “Sorry, Garrett. I was kind of busy trying to keep from rolling off the side of the road. And then I did roll off the road. And then I just gave up for a while and took a nap. When I decided to get moving again, it took me a long time to get the car door open. And scrambling up out of there? That’s where most of these scratches and bruises came from. It was not the most fun I ever had, believe me. But I finally got back up to the road. I stood there and thought, down or up? I’d already been down, so I started climbing. I just kept walking until I got here.”

“We should be calling the police on that guy in the pickup. Leaving the scene of an accident is a crime.”

“Too bad your phone doesn’t work.” She didn’t sound the least regretful.

He tried one more time to get through to her. “If you’d just get in the Jeep, we could—”

“Uh-uh. I really am okay, Garrett. And I like it here. I’m free at last and I’m not going anywhere until I’m ready to go. No one runs my life but me. Not ever again.” She offered another toast with her beer can. “From this day forward, I decide where I go and when I’m leaving. Okay, I didn’t handle my escape very well. Yes, I ran away like I always do. I left Charles at the altar and I’m sorry about that.”

“Charles is your fiancé?”

“Was my fiancé. Charles and I grew up together. His parents and my parents are good friends. He and I are both vice presidents at my family’s company, WellWay Naturals.”

Garrett had heard of WellWay. Their products were in all the big grocery stores. “The vitamin company?”

She nodded. “Vitamins, supplements and skin care products. Charles has been after me for years to marry him. I kept telling him no. Eventually, though, he wore me down. I messed up, I know it. I handled the whole thing really badly, but at least I didn’t marry him, and someday he’ll thank me.” She blew out a weary breath. “And yes, I ran away again. But this time, I own it. This time, I’m laying claim to my future. I’m going forward now, not back.”

“Forward to...?”

“When I figure that out, you’ll be the first to know.” She drank, plunked the empty can on the cooler between them and granted him another gorgeous smile. “So then.” She grabbed the ice again and reapplied it to her eye. “You know my story. What brings you to this beautiful neck of the woods, Garrett?”

Is she actually out of her mind? he wondered. Could be. But for some reason, he liked her. He went ahead and told her the embarrassing truth. “I’m kind of hiding out.”

“I can relate. Who are you hiding from?”

“My mother.”

“What did she do to you?”

“It’s what she’s trying to do. The past few years, she’s been obsessed with seeing me and my sisters and brothers happily married. Nell and I are the only ones still single. Even my mother knows better than to try to tell Nellie what to do. So lately Ma’s been pestering me.”

“Pestering you, how?”