“But Mitch got caught up in this disaster. I literally ran away from the altar.”
“Come on. It’s Mitch. How broken up can he be? I’m sure he’ll be far more upset if the Razorbacks don’t make the Cotton Bowl.”
She shook her head. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but what I did was wrong.”
“Okay, it was wrong. You screwed up, but you’re owning it. If you’re worried about Mitch, why don’t you give him a call to apologize?”
“I don’t have my phone.”
“I’d give you mine, but it’s dead. And in my hurry to pack, I forgot my charger.”
She shook her head, remembering that he was supposed to be thousands of miles away. “Why aren’t you in Seattle? You told Josh you weren’t coming.”
He gave her a sad smile. “Just like you, I realized I’d screwed up. I raced to make my flight . . . only to discover it was delayed. That’s why I was late.”
She tilted her head. “What about Donna?”
“What about her?”
“I thought you had a thing with her.”
He shrugged again. “I canceled it.”
“If you were planning to come to the wedding, where’s your tux? You told me you were going to pick it up in Seattle because you changed your flight.”
“It’s in a garment bag in the trunk of the rental car. You didn’t expect me to wear it on the plane, did you?”
She lifted her eyebrows. “You do realize you’re talking to a woman who’s wearing a wedding dress in the Golden Cowboy Café?”
He laughed and she couldn’t help but laugh with him. Still, while she could live with the embarrassment, she couldn’t live with the guilt of hurting Mitch. Her laughter faded and she grew serious. “I still need to talk to him.”
Noah was quiet for a moment. “Do you know his number? Or is it just stored on your phone?”
“I know it.”
He slid out of the booth and walked over to the nearby table. The family of five sat watching them with great interest as Noah approached him. “I have a huge favor to ask.”
The wife stared up at him wide-eyed and the husband murmured, “Okay.”
“Libby here,” he pointed his thumb toward her. “She needs to make a phone call. And she got so freaking excited”—he stopped and looked down at the three kids at the table—“oh, damn. I just said freaking in front of your kids. Oh shit. I just said damn.”
Libby started to chuckle and the wife waved her hand, her gaze shifting back and forth between Noah and Libby. “They’ve heard worse. Go on.”
“Well, she got so excited at the idea of eating at the Golden Cowboy Café that she literally ran off and left her phone in Kansas City. Could she borrow yours? If you let her go outside and make a call, I’ll stay here as her deposit.”
“You can borrow mine if you’ll sit with us as a deposit,” shouted a woman who was sitting at a nearby table with three female friends. The other women giggled.
“Sure, on one condition,” the wife said, speaking up to get his attention.
“Okay . . .”
“I want a picture with the bride.”
Noah glanced back at Libby, his eyebrows raised in an exaggerated gesture.
She hesitated, her stomach protesting the call she was about to make. “Sure.”
Noah studied her for a moment before turning back to the family. “Tell you what, let’s let the bride make her call first, then she’ll be available for a photo after.”
The wife handed him her phone, which Noah brought over to Libby. After helping her to her feet, he stooped to whisper in her ear. “If you don’t feel up to taking the photo after you talk to Mitch, I’ll get you out of it.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
A strange look crossed his face. “Haven’t you heard? Not following through and making up excuses are all that I’m good for. Now go make your call.” When she started to protest his declaration, he gave a slight push to the small of her back. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
Libby walked out of the restaurant, drawing another round of curious stares from the diners. But she ignored them and stepped out the door, immediately shivering in the November cold in her sleeveless wedding dress. Sucking in a deep breath, she typed in Mitch’s number and waited, feeling like she was going to throw up. He answered on the third ring. “Hello?” She could tell he was confused by the unfamiliar number.
“Mitch, it’s me.”
“Libby?” He sounded worried. And relieved.
“Yeah.”
“Where are you? Are you okay? When no one heard from you, we all worried you got kidnapped after you hopped into that stranger’s car.”
She shook her head, feeling like the world’s biggest bitch. “How can you be so nice to me after I ran out on you like that?”
“Libby. I still care about you. You running out doesn’t change that.”
“I’m sorry.” She choked on the words.
“Was it the Razorback call? Or the play from the Cotton Bowl?”
“Oh, Mitch . . .”
“It’s okay, Libs. Really.” There was a pause on the line, and then he added, “I was having doubts this week, but I didn’t want to be that asshole who broke up with his fiancée before the wedding.”