A Longtime (and at one point Illegal) Crush by Janette Rallison Page B

“After all, we have enough food for the funeral.” She looked around the chapel at the rows of empty pews. “Speaking of which, where is my brother?”
    “He and Kye are picking up some decorations.” Olivia glanced at her watch. “He should be here by now.”
    The church had a large meeting room behind the chapel , which would be used for refreshments and dancing tomorrow after the wedding. Elsie’s dad had been hauling things over all day: silk trees, a trellis, twinkle lights, yards of chiffon, anything Elsie’s mom thought would add to the occasion.
    The pastor, a balding man with glasses that rested low on his nose, turned to Olivia. “Are we ready to start? Where is the groom?”
    “I’m here,” Carson called from the back of the chapel.
    Elsie turned at the sound of his voice. Kye was striding up the aisle next to him: tall and tan and looking better in a pair of Levis than a man ought to. His eyes met Elsie’s, and then his gaze ran over her, from the heels of her sophisticated boots to the tips of her newly-highlighted hair.
    She felt transparent then, as though he could tell she had dressed up for him. She turned away from him with an inward sigh. She couldn’t win. Yesterday she’d felt dowdy and pathetic. Now she felt dressed up and pathetic.
    The pastor went over the instructions, letting them all know their part in the ceremony. The best man and maid of honor would walk in first. In this case, Kye and Elsie. She shouldn’t have been the maid of honor, really. She’d only been given the position because Olivia didn’t have any sisters and didn’t want to choose one of her friends above the others.
    After Kye and Elsie walked down the aisle, the rest of the wedding party would follow. Last of all, the father of the bride was supposed to walk his daughter down the aisle. The pastor paused and turned to Olivia. “Will your dad be giving you away?”
    Olivia glanced at the door as though still waiting for his appearance. “I don’t think so. I think my uncle will do it.” Her face fell a little as she spoke, as though she didn’t like admitting this. Her mother reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.
    “Your uncle then ,” the pastor said and went on describing the rest of the ceremony.
    When he was done, everyone lined up behind the chapel doors to do the run-through.
    The organ started up , and Kye held out his arm to Elsie. “Shall we?”
    Without comment, s he took his arm, looked straight ahead, and stepped down the aisle to the slow rhythm of the music. She supposed this meant she could mark off another thing on her prayer list—walking down the aisle with Kye. So close and yet so far away.
    Concentrate , she told herself. Don’t think about how near he is. Don’t notice how strong his arm is or how good he smells. He did smell good. Sort of woodsy and spicy, like worn leather. Like something you could run your fingers through.
    She really was pathetic. He’d already made it perfectly clear he wasn’t interested in her. “There is no us,” he’d said. She needed to repeat it like a mantra so she’d remember it.
    Out of the corner of her eye , she saw Kye glancing at her. She was not going to smile at him or do anything he could interpret as flirting.
    Carson, standing at the front of the chapel, shook his head. “Stop looking so stern, Els. You’re walking to the altar, not being sacrificed on it.”
    She sent her brother a forced, glaring smile. He wasn’t making this any easier.
    Carson rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that will look great on the wedding video. Hey Kye, your assignment is to make sure Elsie loosens up by tomorrow. Use some of your cowboy charm on her.”
    Did her brother really just say that? Did he tell the guy he knew she’d had a childhood crush on to use his charm on her and loosen her up?
    She felt Kye stiffen, felt his arm muscles shift underneath her fingertips. A glance at his face let her know he wasn’t amused by the suggestion. Again, she