Veiled

Part 1

Chapter 1

Paul sat at the edge of the cliff, staring out into the open.  In the past months, this had been his favorite place to go.  It was the only place he felt something.  Was it odd that his fear of heights was the only thing that got his heart beating?  He knew it was his own fault.  He was an asshole to women to keep them from getting close to him, and once he found out what he was doing, it was too late to turn back.

He inched closer to the edge.  The wind blew at his face, making him lean back on his hands and sigh in contentment.  How long ago was it that he first visited here?  Closing his eyes, he let the smell of leaves ease him, he let the cool air calm him.  The first time he was here was with Abby.  He smiled when he thought about her.  They dated, but it hadn’t worked out.  They both knew it wouldn’t.

She had major commitment issues, just as he did, and neither was willing to commit to the other.  They were best friends now, something that Paul thanked God for every day.  With the way their relationship ended, and how big of an ass he was when he found out she was dating someone else, he never thought she would forgive him.  He guessed it was the first day he actually stood on the edge of the cliff that made her anger towards him go away.

She had run from the only man that made her want to stay, and Paul had been the one to make her realize what a big fool she was being.  It didn’t matter to him that it was someone else who got the girl.  He wanted Abby happy, and he could honestly say that seeing his friend happy made him happy.  So, there were two things that could make him feel something, the edge of the cliff and Abby’s happiness.  Did that make him pathetic? 

“I knew you would be here.”

He opened his eyes in time to see Abby drop down onto the ground next to him.  Her brown curls were sticking in every direction, as if she had been running her hands through it.  Knowing her, that was exactly what she had been doing.  Lying on his back, he patted the ground next to him.  Without hesitation, she laid beside him, her head resting lightly on his chest.

“Wedding jitters,” he guessed, a slight smile in his voice.

She let out a loud sigh.  “You know me, Paul.  A couple months ago, I almost ran away from the best thing in my life, but that doesn’t mean that the panic is completely gone.  Just yesterday, I woke up and saw his boxers on the shower rod.  Who does that?  They weren’t even clean.”

He chuckled, and she slapped him on the chest.  Grunting, he shook his head at her, even if she could not see him.  “Men do that, Abby.  Lance is just as new to this as you are.  You love each other so much that is sickening to be even in the same room as the two of you.  People aren’t perfect though.  He’s going to leave the toilet seat up; you’re going to have all those bottles in the shower that annoy him to no end because he can never find his one bottle of shampoo.”

“Did he tell you that?” she grumbled.  “Once, he went to work once smelling like lavender.  You think he would let me forget it.”

He let out a loud laugh as he pushed off the ground a little, forcing her to lean up to look at him.  “The man has sacrificed a lot to be with you, and you’ve done the same for him.  You two are meant to be together, Abby.  One day,” he admitted with a half-smile, “I hope that I have at least a portion of what the two of you have together.”

A sad look flew into her eyes, but quickly disappeared as she turned away from him.  Staring out in the open, she let a small smile cross her face.  “You know, you took my spot.  I used to come here all the time to think, and now, every time I come here, you’re here too.”

“It’s nice, huh?” he asked.  “Having someone else on the edge of the cliff with you?”

“It is,” she whispered as she turned to smile at him.  “You want to know what is better, though?”

“What?”

She gestured behind her, alerting him to the sound of tires crunching gravel.  “Finding the person who pulls you away from the edge when you get too close.”

The sound of a car door closing made him look back.  With a smile on his face, Lance jogged towards him.  “Trying to steal my fiancé again, Paul?”

Paul smiled at their standing joke. They both knew that Paul didn’t want Abby.  He had thought he did at one moment in time, but seeing her with Lance quickly dispelled any and all of those thoughts.  “Always; I would worry, Lance. She’s getting closer to leaving you every day.”

Lance let out a laugh as Abby jumped to her feet.  He watched as the two of them immediately closed the distance between them.  The longer he was around them, the more he began to realize, that it was a subconscious act on their part.  They didn’t realize that the two of them had to touch one another when they were in the same room.  They didn’t realize that even looking at them made Paul long for what they had.

“I came here for a reason this time,” Abby said, smiling towards Lance with complete love on her face.

A matching smile of adoration turned the corners of Lance’s mouth.  “I know, but I wanted to ask.  Seeing as it pertains to me, I think I should be the one to ask.”  Abby poked her lower lip out in a pout that made Lance laugh and shake his head.  “Not happening.”

“Fine,” she huffed, as she turned to look at Paul. “You ask him.”

Lance looked at him also, and for once, Paul saw an almost nervous expression on the man’s face.  The side with no scar on it was turned more in Paul’s direction, something he knew Lance did when he was uncomfortable. Paul marveled at the change in the man; this was what Lance must have looked like when Abby first met him.  It was odd, being on the receiving end of Lance’s vulnerability.

“Just spit it out, man,” Paul said as he glanced up at the two of them.  “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.”

“I want you to be my best man at the wedding,” Lance said, a shrug punctuating his words.

Paul nodded.  “I know.  You talked about it to me before.  I would be honored to be your best man.”

“There’s more,” Abby said. 

The expression on her face, the slight wince, let him know that he wasn’t going to like her next words.  It didn’t stop him from opening his mouth and saying, “Tell me.”

“Cece,” Lance started.

“She’ll be the maid of honor,” Abby continued.

Paul let out a sigh.  “Which means I’m going to have to spend a lot of time with her,” he finished.  “I don’t know.”

Lance shifted on his feet.  “You don’t have to do it.  I know how Cece can be.” Abby smacked him in the stomach, causing him to grunt.  “What?  It’s true.  She may be your friend, she may have been the reason why the two of us are together, but she’s still a hand full.”

“A hand full that Paul can handle.”

“What are you doing, Abby?” Paul asked, while jumping to his feet in a slight panic.

She smiled at him, a large smile that sent his nerves on end.  “Helping you find the one that will pull you from the edge.”

***Thanks to halozeve for the book cover!***