The Worst Wedding Date, page 28
Not the reassurance I was looking for.
“Hope it works out with you and Laney.” He steps back from my door. “Wouldn’t mind being related to both of you. Later.”
I drop my head to the steering wheel while he walks away.
I have a wedding to set up. Final calls to make. Things to check on.
So that my sister can have all of her dreams come true.
But all I want is Laney. I want her to tell me this is the right thing to do.
She makes me feel okay. Valued for who I am. Understood. Accepted.
On a day when nothing feels right, I could go for a little reassurance.
But she has her own job today.
Time to get busy doing mine.
32
Laney
The champagne is flowing in the limo as we pull up in front of the spa where we’re doing most of the pre-wedding prep. Hair. Makeup. Manicures. Pedicures.
Emma’s getting a full-body massage and wrap.
We’re all squealing that this is finally the day.
And I’m faking it.
Two weeks ago, I had no doubt this was what Emma was supposed to do with her life. Yes, Chandler took forever to propose. Yes, he’s sometimes an arrogant jerk.
But she’s said since they hooked back up after college that he’s the one.
That she knows it.
That they’re soulmates.
And she’s been so happy since college, I never doubted it.
Two weeks ago, if you’d told me Theo and Chandler didn’t get along great, I would’ve rolled my eyes and said of course they don’t, and I would’ve blamed Theo for it.
But now—now, I’m so conflicted that smiling hurts.
“What is wrong with you?” Sabrina whispers to me while Claire helps Emma pick out aromatherapy scents for her treatments in the spa lobby.
“Do you really think Chandler’s good for Emma?” I whisper back.
Her eye twitches.
My heart sinks. “That’s not a yes.”
“It’s not fair to make Emma suffer because her beloved is on my shit list.”
“If you’d tell me why—”
“Do you know what this week is missing?” she interrupts. “It’s missing the kind of guys you hook up with for hot one-night stands.”
I sigh at the obvious attempt at changing the subject. “Please tell me this wedding is a good idea.”
She nods to Emma. “Tell me it’s a bad idea. Look at her and tell me it’s a bad idea.”
I look.
I do.
I look at one of my best friends in the entire world, and I don’t know.
She’s smiling. But are those stress lines around her eyes or is it my imagination because I’m having doubts on Emma’s behalf?
“Did you know that time Theo went to jail over the Snaggletooth statue, it was Chandler’s fault?” I whisper.
Sabrina purses her lips together.
“Does Emma know?” I press.
She presses her lips tighter, making them go white at the edges.
“She doesn’t know?”
“Laney, Em’s been living for better or for worse, in good times and bad with Chandler for years. I know she says they don’t keep secrets, but I don’t know if she knows. If she does, I’m the last person she’d tell.”
I draw back. “I thought we were all best friends.”
“We are. But she has never put herself in a position to find out if I know the worst things Chandler’s ever done. I know she knows he cheated on every math test in high school. I know she knows he’s the one who stole the stuffed mink from her dad’s workshop not long after they started dating again after college. And I know she knows he’s the one who trashed Bean & Nugget after Grandma died.”
I gasp.
I gasp loudly enough that Em and Claire both look at us.
“Oh my god, whale penises are not that many times bigger than your dog,” I spit out.
Sabrina briefly squeezes her eyes shut but then beams brightly at me. “Surprise!”
Em and Claire giggle and go back to the aromatherapy.
I lower my voice and lean closer to Sabrina again. “I didn’t know that was him.”
“You didn’t need to. She was upset enough that I knew and made me swear I’d never tell a soul because he was sorry and he was never, ever, ever going to do anything like that again. He swore it to me too. It wasn’t just her sticking up for him. And that’s the only time I’ve really thought he hated the café, and Em was just upset because it was…well, it was something Theo would do, and much as she loves him, she doesn’t want to marry him, you know?”
“That’s when they almost broke up three years ago,” I whisper.
She nods. “There’s a line, Laney. There’s always been a line, and he’s told her so much of the crappy stuff he’s done that I think she probably knows. Did Theo tell you that jail stint turned his life around?”
“Yes, but it still wasn’t right.”
“And it was over a decade ago. To you, it’s a new injustice. To the rest of us…”
“Everything feels wrong though. Right now, everything feels wrong.”
She doesn’t argue. Not exactly. “So their wedding lines up with the bad times. All it does is make it official that she’ll never leave him, no matter what he does. She knows men do stupid stuff. She’d say she does stupid stuff too.”
I snort.
“I know, but you know that’s what she’d say.”
“Whoa, why so serious?” Emma asks as she and Claire turn to look at us.
We both jump.
“Laney was just making sure I have condoms on hand and I was giving her shit that she even had to ask,” Sabrina says smoothly.
“Were you doing an art project?” Emma asks.
Sabrina gasps.
I crack up.
Claire smiles at all of us. “Did you find someone at the bar last night?” she asks Sabrina.
“No, but I have high hopes for tonight.”
Claire and I giggle.
Emma wrinkles her nose. “But are you having enough fun?”
Sabrina mock gasps. “Emma. We’re all having loads of fun.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been so worried that people aren’t having enough fun this week. I just want everyone to be as happy as I am.”
Sabrina links her arm through Emma’s. “No one can be as happy as you. But we’re definitely a close second this week.”
We are not a close second.
Not by a long shot.
But it’s what Emma needs to hear, and the reassurance makes her smile go soft and happy again.
I’m with Theo on this. I don’t want to be the reason she doesn’t get married. Not when this is all she’s ever wanted.
And based on how quickly Sabrina’s smile drops away when Emma looks away, I think she feels the same.
A woman in all black with a clipboard approaches us. “Ms. Monroe? We’re ready for you and your party to get changed, and your massage therapist will be with you very, very soon.”
“I can’t believe it’s finally today.” Emma twirls with her robe, her smile bright and carefree.
“Worth the wait, hmm?” Claire says.
Emma smiles.
Sabrina forces a smile.
I force a smile.
She nudges me.
And rather than let myself get drawn into a scene that would make Emma ask what in the world is wrong with the two of us, I slip into one of the small dressing rooms. “Last one ready gets less-fancy tea and cookies in the serenity lounge,” I say.
But even once we’re in the serenity lounge—Sabrina, Claire, and I supposedly relaxing while Emma gets her massage—none of us are smiling.
Claire watches us mostly quietly.
Except for one small comment. “There’s no drama like small-town drama, is there?”
Sabrina grimaces.
I wince.
She’s not wrong.
And while part of me wishes I could’ve avoided it, the other part—
“So, you and Emma’s brother, hmm?” Claire adds.
Yeah.
That other part.
No regrets.
Getting to know Theo—to understand what makes him tick, to look past who I thought he was in high school to who he truly is today, to like him, to have fun with him—has been worth every worry and irritation.
“He’s a lot more than I ever gave him credit for,” I tell her. “I just hope I’m good enough for him.”
Sabrina smiles at me. “The very fact that you’d say you want to be good enough for Theo says everything you need to know about how much you two deserve each other.”
“I can’t believe I would’ve thought that was an insult two weeks ago.”
She laughs.
I do too.
No matter what happens with Emma’s wedding, Theo is the one part I will never regret.
“Did you know he’s modeling?” I ask her.
She pins me with a look I can’t interpret. “He…told you about that?”
“Not exactly. I figured it out. And then I dropped it. We’re not talking about jobs. I’m not being boring.”
She stares at me like I’ve grown a second head.
“What?” I ask. Creepy crawlies are dancing across my skin.
Something’s wrong.
“I’m just really, really glad that you’re finally finding the fun in your life, and really, really glad that you’re fully out of that box you’ve been living in. Open-mindedness looks good on you.”
“What aren’t you saying?”
She grabs my hand. “Laney, I freaking adore you. I’m a little mad at Theo right now, but I will get over it, and in the meantime, I need you to know that I know that if this is real between you two that he will be the very, very, very best thing to ever happen to you, no matter the hurdles you’re going to have to get over to get there.”
“That’s ominous,” Claire says.
Sabrina doesn’t flinch. “They’re very different people. But see this? This glow all over Laney? That doesn’t lie.”
Claire gives me the she’s being cryptic look while Sabrina gets up to refill her teacup.
“Your parents are gonna shit themselves when they find out you’ve been sleeping with Emma’s brother, aren’t they?” she finally says while Sabrina takes her time across the lounge.
I cringe. “Probably.”
“You gonna let that fuck up a good thing?”
“Things worth having are worth fighting for.”
She nods slowly. “Chandler’s never had to fight for Emma. She just takes him as he is, even when the rest of us wonder if he’s good enough for her. Everyone should have to fight a little for love. And everyone should be fought for.”
I stop short. “I…never considered that before.”
She grins. “You’re welcome.”
“I was really hoping at least one of us wasn’t nervous about today.”
“Emma made this choice a long time ago. But you—you’ve just found a good thing. Don’t let fear of a fight get in the way.”
“So your parents have unreasonably high expectations too?”
She laughs.
And then she cringes.
And then we’re both laughing all over again.
I lift my teacup. “To a very memorable destination wedding,” I say.
Claire clinks.
Sabrina lifts her own teacup across the room.
And when we all drink, I suspect we’re all wishing our cups were spiked.
33
Theo
I’m setting up chairs on the lanai for Emma’s wedding when Dad and Uncle Owen join me about an hour after Laney left with the bridesmaids.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” Dad says.
“Don’t think this is hiding,” Uncle Owen says. “Looks more like he’s doing the resort’s work.”
“Not what Emma was thinking it would be, is it?”
“Not compared to those pictures.”
Dad claps me on the back, then heads to the cart of chairs and starts helping too. “Hawaii treating you good, son?”
“Yeah.”
“Looks like it’s not just Hawaii,” Uncle Owen says while he, too, joins in to help.
Both men grin gleefully at me.
“Ready to see Em married off?” I ask, ignoring the questions they’re not asking about Laney.
“All she’s ever wanted.” Dad hefts a chair under each arm. “Know it’s tough on you, always wanting the best of the best for her and thinking nobody will ever live up to that, but it’ll all work out. This time next year, we’ll be fighting over who gets to hold her first baby, and nobody’s gonna care what went down at this wedding.”
“Hope it looks like Em,” Uncle Owen interjects with a cackle.
“No worries then?” I ask.
Dad shakes his head. “Your mom would be so proud of everything she’s done.”
Not helpful.
One of us has blinders on, that’s for sure.
Probably me.
And telling myself Laney’s having doubts doesn’t help. That’s my fault too.
She wouldn’t be if I wasn’t influencing her.
“Sure would,” I agree with Dad.
“You and Laney keep looking at each other the way you have been, and we’ll be doing this again in another fourteen years,” Uncle Owen says.
I don’t laugh at the implication that Laney and I will be the next Chandler and Emma who date forever without getting married. Nothing about that is funny today.
Dad doesn’t laugh either.
Just keeps setting up chairs.
Need to check on the catering staff in the bistro kitchen after a while. Won’t have as many flowers as Emma wanted, but she has an arched trellis.
Don’t know where Chandler is.
Glad he’s not here. He’d probably tell me I’m setting up the chairs wrong.
“Funny, being at weddings,” Uncle Owen says. “Wasn’t it a wedding where Charles Kingston had an affair with Sherry Sullivan about the right number of months before the triplets were born?”
I choke on air.
“Funeral,” Dad corrects.
I look at both of them.
Neither looks at me.
“Oh, that’s right, that’s right,” Uncle Owen says.
“I’m not listening to any of this,” I tell them both. “I don’t want to know any of this.”
“Probably should,” Dad says.
“Gonna need your own ammunition if anyone tries to tell you you’re not good enough for their daughter,” Uncle Owen chimes in.
Dad nods. “Ugly, but true.”
“Not interested,” I tell them both. “But thank you.”
“They’re gonna hold a lot against you, son,” Dad says. “Different world. Different rules.”
Fuck.
Even if Laney will listen and hear me out when I tell her about my GrippaPeen channel, will her parents?
Will they cut her loose from the company if she picks me over them?
She loves her job. Works hard at it. Dreams about it.
“You two mind finishing this up?” I ask. “I gotta make sure the minister’s on the way.”
“We’re trying to help,” Uncle Owen says as I head off the lanai.
“Don’t want you at a disadvantage,” Dad chimes in.
It grates on me when they don’t give me credit for turning my life around the past ten years.
But they usually do.
Which means—I turn back around. “You two have something more direct you want to say?”
“We were pretty direct,” Uncle Owen says.
“Not what he’s talking about, Owen,” Dad mutters.
“Oh. He means the…other thing.”
“Yes.”
“The…naked thing.”
Dad sighs.
“How—who—never mind.”
“Emma was a little tipsy last night,” Dad says.
“She didn’t mean to slip,” Uncle Owen adds. “And we’re more tight-lipped than Sabrina.”
“We just know that there are certain expectations of people in the business world that are different than—”
“I’m not going into the business world.”
They share a look.
Then look back at me.
I know they mean well.
I know they do.
But right now, I feel like a teenage disappointment again.
“We’ve got your back, son,” Dad says.
“But we know we might not be enough,” Uncle Owen adds with a grimace.
I blow out a slow breath and head off the lanai again.
Liked yesterday a lot better.
This time yesterday, Laney was having an orgasm over bacon.
Now, the smoothie I had for breakfast is sitting wrong in my stomach. “When you’re done with the chairs, go see if you can find some extra flowers in the open closet behind the bistro,” I call over my shoulder.
I don’t want to check on catering.
I don’t want to check on the minister and the photographer and the music.
I don’t want to check on the last-minute wedding cake that I almost had to offer sexual favors to get, and yes, I told Laney that story last night after I was feeling better about almost killing her dad, and yes, she laughed her ass off before kissing me until I forgot anything wrong has ever happened in the history of the world.
But I want my sister to have the best day of her life.
And I’m too up in my head as I head toward my rental car, which means I don’t see what’s coming until it’s too late.
Chandler.
And the triplets.
Thought he’d be golfing.
“One of you want to make sure he doesn’t light my clothes on fire?” Chandler asks while he steps to the far edge of the walkway.
He’s carrying his bug zapper.
“Chand my man,” Lucky says, “this is the time when you have to deal with it if Theo here does the obligatory pre-wedding don’t hurt my sister or I’ll kill you thing.”
“It’s a rule,” Decker agrees.
“Even groomsmen can’t stop it,” Jack adds.
