Chapter One

Mid June

I was falling down the aisle of the church.

I couldn't stop, despite the fact it seemed to be happening in slow motion. My feet went up in the air, my dress tangled around my legs, and my arms flailed helplessly. The bouquet sailed neatly into the third pew.

I was not made to wear high heels.

They would be the death of me.

I'd told my cousin this, but as the bride, she'd insisted.

So, now after two steps, I was tripping in the most ungraceful and embarrassing manner down the aisle. Everyone was watching. The photographer was catching every second of it.

Splat.

The whole church drew an intake of air and then went silent.

I wished there was a way to hit rewind. Or merge into the floor. If I had superpowers, I'd be invisible right now. I'd be anywhere but here with everyone I know staring at me.

“I'm okay,” I said, finding my feet. There was scattered applause, and my cheeks burned with mortification. This was my nightmare.

I wished it was a bad dream, but the tingling in my palms from slamming the floor and the ache of my butt from landing said it wasn't. I heard a soft giggle from one of my younger cousins, followed by a loud shushing, and I wished again that I could turn invisible.

I didn't like being the center of attention in the best of circumstances, and falling down the aisle at my cousin's wedding was not something I'd had on my bucket list.

I considered just running out the back of the church and hiding somewhere, but I was still wearing the stupid shoes that caused this. I'd take two steps and just crash again. So, I got up to my wobbly feet and prepared to try again.

The officiant and the groom both were staring at me, their mouths open and eyes wide. The piano player had to restart the song. At least the photographer had stopped taking pictures.

I smoothed out the satin on the front of my dress and plastered on the best smile I could manage with my entire family and the groom's entire family, all staring at me. I was never going to live this one down.

Someone handed me the bouquet. It was actually in excellent shape for having been tossed across the church. The bride's college roommate had managed to catch it when I fell. I wondered for a moment if that meant she was getting married next. Maybe since I was just a bridesmaid, she'd just be a bridesmaid at the next wedding.

It didn't really matter. Right now, with my face burning, my butt aching, and my pride severely injured, I just needed to get to the end of the aisle. Then I could just stand there and hope that the arrival of the bride made everyone forget my first steps into the church.

I took another step and the damn heel on my right shoe gave out. For the second time in thirty seconds, in front of everyone I'd ever known, I was going to fall again. The crowd gasped.

“Not this time,” the groomsman next to me said, wrapping his massive arm around me. I wobbled but didn't fall. He didn't trust that a grown woman could walk thirty yards without splatting like a toddler onto the floor.

Claud was a professional rugby player for some team in Europe. He was the biggest, strongest man I had ever seen in real life, and that was the reason my cousin had paired me with him to walk down the aisle. In theory, I should have just been able to cling to him while wearing the wobbly shoes, but I'd managed to fall anyway.

He wrapped his beefy arm around my bicep and basically carried me like I was a rugby ball down the aisle. My feet attempted to make the appropriate delicate steps, but I looked and felt more like a marionette on a string.

However, with Claud carrying me ninety percent of the way, we made it to the altar without me tripping again. He wasn't even out of breath.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked before letting go of my arm.

“I can walk the three feet to my side,” I promised.

Claud looked skeptical, and to be honest, he had every right to be.

I carefully lifted the hem of my skirt a little more than was needed for most people and walked on tiptoes to my spot in line. My shoes couldn't betray me that way.

My mother let out an audible sigh of relief when I made it.

The maid of honor glared at me as she came up behind me. She managed to walk the entire aisle on her own without tripping or making a scene.

Luckily, my cousin Cecelia hadn't seen a thing. She was just coming through the big wooden doors with a smile so big I was surprised the church could hold her. Everyone rose from their chairs and turned away from me to look at her.

While everyone was occupied, I slipped out of my shoes so that I could stand without falling and making another scene. No one would notice the hem of my dress pooling on the floor while the real stars of the show said their vows.

Luckily, the bride didn't notice. I was able to merge into the background, smiling, and being happy for my cousin as she married the man of her dreams.

I was throwing those shoes away as soon as I had the chance. High heels were going to be my downfall.

No wonder Cinderella left her shoe on the palace steps when she ran away. The darn things were impossible to walk in.