Page 88 of The Secret to a Southern Wedding

“He slept through everything,” Gayle accused.

“And every day I hate myself for that,” Preston said. “Every day I wonder how I missed it. How could I sleep through it. What if I had stayed downstairs with her? Every, single day. Even when I was happy with Linda, I had the same thoughts. You may think I moved on, but I’ll never truly move on from what happened. No matter what I do.”

A tear trailed down Gayle’s face. “I miss my sister.”

“So do I, but we both know she wouldn’t want to see us like this.” Preston’s voice was soft and careful. “She loved both of us. She wouldn’t have wanted to see us fight.”

Gayle’s lip trembled. She glanced at Cyril. He took a step forward, but she held up her hand. “I’m going back home tomorrow. I know what my sister would want, maybe one day I can do that, but... I just can’t right now.”

Preston’s lips lifted in a sad, knowing smile. “Take all the time you need. When you’re ready, I’m ready to be your brother again.”

thirty-four

No one knew how to avoid people better than Imani. In the years after the scandal with her dad, she’d learned the best times of day to go into town to avoid those most likely to pull her into an uncomfortable conversation and mastered the ability of not caring about excusing herself from a conversation, even if she appeared rude. Cutting people out of her life was a lot easier than dealing with the pain of having them there.

After her mom broke off the engagement, she’d done exactly that. She avoided any place where she might bump into Preston or Cyril. Although her mom knew the story, Imani did her own internet sleuthing into his family’s case. The evidence proved his dad had nothing to do with what happened. But the hate from the people who blamed him for not knowing his wife was abducted right from their home when he was there was fierce. She understood why he would want to avoid talking about what happened.

Her heart ached for Preston and Cyril, but despite knowing that she couldn’t make herself reconsider being with Cyril. Her mom’s heart was broken, and Imani couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge or move on from the feelings remaining in her heart. So she’d tried to avoid him completely before she left town. If she saw him, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to pretend as if she didn’t want anything to do with him.

But all her efforts to avoid him couldn’t prevent her from having her mom guilt-trip her into helping at the St. Patrick’s Day Festival the day before leaving. She’d tried to avoid coming by convincing her mom to pack up and go back to Tampa with her instead. Linda insisted that not only had she promised to help out with the festival, but the parade had been Imani’s idea and they couldn’t back out. Which was how Imani ended up first helping line up the floats for the St. Patrick’s Day parade before filling in for various volunteers at the festival. The parade had been a hit with multiple visitors from the region in attendance.

She’d expected to have to work hard to avoid Cyril at the festival, but as a guild board member he was kept so busy that she barely caught a glimpse of him. She told herself she was relieved, but she still scanned the crowd and searched for him.

“Imani, there you are,” Carolyn Jones, the owner of Sweet Treats bakery said to Imani who was filling in for a volunteer at the tent giving out water bottles. Carolyn was one of the many local business owners who hadn’t given Imani much grief when she’d called to cancel the wedding order. Imani was still surprised how supportive everyone was. They’d just taken her explanation and moved on. “Can you do me a favor?”

Imani stopped handing out bottled water. “Sure. What do you need?”

Carolyn held up a large manila envelope. “We’ve got to go around to the downtown businesses and make sure they have their Peachtree Cove Business Guild sticker on the door. They didn’t come in until late last night so not every member has theirs. Will you help pass them out?”

“I don’t know who’s a guild member or not. A lot of businesses decorated their doors.”

“Oh, it’s fine.” She looked over Imani’s shoulder and her eyes lit up. She waved someone over. “I asked Cyril to help, too. He knows all our members.”

The back of Imani’s neck tingled a second before Cyril appeared by her side. And just like that, all her efforts to avoid Cyril were dashed. She let her guard down for a second and this was what happened.

“If you’ve got him then you don’t need me,” Carolyn said in a cheery voice. She held out the envelope toward Imani.

“Won’t it go faster if you help him?” She pushed the envelope back toward Carolyn.

Carolyn pushed it back to Imani. “My daughter’s tap dance class is about to perform on the stage. I’ve got to go see her. Thank you.” She turned and hurried away before Imani could say another word.

Imani clutched the envelope to her chest. Cyril stood silently next to her, but she could feel his gaze gliding over her face. Heat filled her cheeks. “Can’t you do this by yourself?” she asked in a rush.

He shifted until he stood in front of her, making Imani finally look at him. He looked good in the green Peachtree Cove St. Pats Festival T-shirt and jeans. He’d even found a green fedora to top off the outfit. His eyes studied her as if he’d been starving for the sight of her face. “I can, but I’d like to do it with you.”

The whispers of her attraction fluttered in her chest. Imani let out a shuddering breath as she mentally fought the magnetic pull he had on her. “We shouldn’t be together.”

“Why not?”

Because when I see you, all I want is to put my arms around your neck and kiss you. She kept that confession to herself. She raised her brow and cocked her head to the side. “You know why.”

“You can’t blame me for wanting to enjoy any bit of time I can spend with you.” He lowered his voice so that only she could hear him under the hum of the crowd. “I miss you, Imani.”

I miss you, too. The words were so far on the tip of her tongue that her mouth twitched. The light in his eyes as he awaited her response made her both eager to admit the truth and frustrated with herself for being so easily pulled back to him.

“Imani—”

She turned to the other volunteers at the water stand. “I’ve got to help pass out stickers. I’ll be right back.”

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