"This shouldn't take long. Please?"
Katie thought about how much Jackson had come to mean to her and how, when compared with the tall, leggy beauty, she was perfectly average. Before falling for him, she would have instantly gone to the bad place. While she was flirting with heading in that direction, there was a part of her that felt strong.
"You should talk to her," she told him.
"Why? I know the rehearsal won't be fun."
"I'll survive, and you won't be that long."
At least she hoped he wouldn't be. Besides, if he was the kind of guy to sleep with her and then want to get back together with an ex, better she know that now. When there was still a chance of getting out with her heart intact. Or at the very least only slightly shattered.
"I'll be right back," he promised, then walked toward Ariel.
Katie didn't want to see the two beautiful people together, so she hurried into the rehearsal room.
She would be fine, she told herself as she raised her chin and strode forward purposefully. Then promptly fell over a handbag, stumbled, twisted, felt an ugly pop and crumpled to the floor.
Katie really wanted to stay where she was. If she could lie on the floor and have everyone pretend they couldn't see her, she would be perfectly happy. Instead, they all gathered around, hovering, asking questions and offering advice.
Alex reached her first and helped her into a chair. "Where does it hurt?" he asked, rubbing his hands up and down her legs.
She pushed him away. "I'm fine. It's nothing."
Her mother reached her next. "Are you all right?"
"I think I pulled something. I'm sure I'll be okay in a second."
Her mother squeezed her hand. "If you're going to try and get out of the wedding, you'll have to do better than this," she whispered.
Katie managed a smile through the growing pain in her knee. "The window was too far."
Her father knelt in front of her and cupped her knee. "It's swelling, kid. I'm guessing a sprain. Let's go have a look."
He helped her hobble to the room next door. She pulled off her sandals and white jeans, then winced when she saw her knee. It was nearly double in size.
"That's attractive," she murmured.
Her dad, a family doctor, probed and squeezed. "You're the sports nut in the family. Want to guess?"
She'd seen enough knee strains to recite from memory. "Ice, elevation, rest, ibuprofen and wrap it when I'm standing."
"That's my girl. If it's not better in the next couple of days, we'll do an X-ray, but my guess is you'll be fine." He stood. "Trying to get out of walking down the aisle?"
"If only." She poked at her knee, then winced. "Talk about graceful."
He supported her as she stood, then helped her back into her clothes. "We love you anyway."
"I appreciate the lack of conditions on your affection," she said and hugged him.
He held her for a second. "This wedding is a disaster. You hear about Tully and Bruce?"
"It beats thinking about you and mom having sex."
"Don't go there."
"Believe me, I'm trying not to."
Her father straightened, then looked at her. "I know Alex hurt you when he dumped you for Courtney, but I was relieved. He was never the right one for you. I hope you know that."
"I do."
"Good."
The door opened and Jackson burst in. "I was gone fifteen minutes. What the hell happened?" He saw Katie's father and stopped. "Uh, sir," he added.
Bad enough that everyone in the wedding party had witnessed her clumsiness, but now she had to tell Jackson about it.
"This is why I only write about sports rather than actually participate in them," she said with a shrug. "I tripped."
"Are you hurt? I hear you broke something."
"A knee strain," her father said cheerfully. "She'll be fine." He hesitated, then glanced between them. "Should I let you lean on him?"
Katie nodded, and her father left. She turned to Jackson.
"How's Ariel?"
"Fine. What happened?"
"Ariel first."
"You first."
She huffed out a breath. "I fell over a purse and twisted my knee."
"She thinks we should get back together. I told her no."
Katie had already known what he was going to say, but it was still a punch in the gut to hear the words.
"Can you be more specific?" she asked cautiously.
He crossed to her. "Do you need ice or something?"
"Ice, elevation, rest and ibuprofen."
"In that order?"
"All at once is better."
"That's what I thought."
Before she could figure out what he was doing, he bent over, gathered her in his arms and picked her up. She shrieked as she left the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Taking you to your room."
The door her father had closed opened again and her mother stood there, wide-eyed. "I heard screaming and..." She took in her daughter in Jackson's arms, then sighed. "That's so romantic."
"It's not," Katie insisted, hanging on to his neck. "I'm not a cat. Put me down."
"I'm taking you to your room. You need to take care of your knee." He walked easily, as if she wasn't solidly built. "Janis, if you could get Katie's purse?"