by autumnkeely

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Dani Rose Cooper hasn't been in her hometown of Cope since her brother's passing, but a call from her longtime friend for a request she cannot reject has her packing her bags and jetting down south. Dani is about to get more than she bargained for.

With over-expecting friends, a mother who just found out her daughter dropped out of college, and a few unbaring men, what could go wrong?

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I was on the last step of the church, debating on whether I should go through with this. My mom's house was a few blocks down and all I had to do was walk away and everything would be peachy.

I debated diligently for a minute, listening to the vows of the two suspected newlyweds. Thinking with the alcohol and not my better judgement, I grabbed the handle of the door and pushed it open. Or tried to. The dang door didn't open. Crap, it was a pull door! I tried again, pulling the door open, a rush of cold air hitting me in the face, but sadly not enough to make me sober.

That's the moment I realized I had no plan. I was supposed to practice a speech with Brett on the way over here, but somehow I had zoned out and now was left with not a drop of preparation.

Clearing my throat and standing with as much poise as a wedding crasher could muster, I decided to wing it. Might as well speak now or forever hold my liquor.

I cleared my throat again, and my voice appeared to echo down the aisle.

"I'm still in love with you!"

The choir suddenly stopped and the tension cracked with the silence of the crowd. The bride, the epitome of Cinderella, turned corpselike, tears ashen as they fall to the floor. I had saved her, and I could see it in her eyes in that moment.

And that's when I noticed the jilted groom. He cleaned up nicely, and carried himself with poise even in such conditions, but there were fragments of displeasure written along the lines of his brows, and eyes buried with a shade darker than his tuxedo. He caught my guilty eyes with his, realizing just who I was. I knew him, more so than the regular townsfolk. Travis Garver shared the same tragic memory I had sought to forget about.

I ran backwards as fast as I could with four inch heels, tossing dignity to the side; I ran through the double doors of the building, the church bells of the entryway singing me a lullaby as I left. It was as if, in a twist of fate, I was Cinderella.

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