Page 23 of Should Have Been Me

I ignored the tightness in my chest at his heartfelt declaration. I was really off my game today. “I think she prefers it that way, honestly. She’s never really been a fan of people.” That was something she and I had in common.

He let out a breath and turned back to the television. “I suppose you’re right,” he said, his voice carrying a hint of sadness for the woman he’d once been married to.

The silence that descended on the room only lasted a minute before the chime of Hershel’s cellphone filled the air. He reached for the phone sitting on the small table beside his chair and let out an exhausted breath before placing it back down without answering.

My brows went up when I saw Leighton’s name flashing across the screen. “Everything all right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s fine,” he answered, but the way he began massaging his temples told a different story. “It’s only wedding stuff. You know your sister. She can be a bit temperamental.”

That was a polite way of saying she was a selfish bitch. I could feel the muscle in my jaw clench as I ground my molars together, struggling to keep my irritation from showing. “She knows where you are right now, doesn’t she? Is this really the time for her to be calling and dumping wedding stuff on your plate? Besides, she’s been engaged all of five minutes. Why is everything so pressing all of a sudden?”

“She claims she doesn’t want a long engagement. She has her heart set on hiring a certain event planning company, but she’s having some trouble nailing them down, and it’s causing her a bit of stress.”

Stress that she was undoubtedly dumping on the shoulders of our sick father because she couldn’t be bothered to think about someone other than herself.

“Dad, this really isn’t something you should be worrying about right now. I know Leighton tends to act like these things are the end of the world, but she’ll survive not getting the event planner she wants.”

He let out another sigh, his entire frame slumping like the weight of the world had been dropped on his shoulders. “She’s worried it’ll end up affecting her big day. You know how women get about their weddings. I told her I’d talk to the planners, see if I could smooth things out and get them on board.”

Of course he had. Because his heart was too goddamn big for his own good. Especially when it came to his daughter. I couldn’t believe he was even thinking about something as insignificant as wedding planners at a time like this. His focus needed to be on getting better. And Leighton needed a serious fucking wakeup call, that was for damn sure.

“You know what? I’ll take care of it.”

His head whipped around, his brows winging upward. I couldn’t fault him for the skepticism in his expression, but if it meant taking some of the burden off of him, I’d suck it up and deal with something as stupid as a company that helped plan weddings for entitled brats.

“Vaughn, you don’t have to?—”

“I want to.” The lie came out easy enough. After all, I’d been doing enough of it the past few days, I’d be a pro in no time. “You just focus on your health, and I’ll take care of this issue.”

And hopefully get through my half-sister’s thick skull in the meantime. But I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.

12

VAUGHN

Ipulled up in front of Three’s a Charm Events and slid my car into park. Through the windshield I took in the building’s façade, thinking that, yep, this was definitely the kind of place you’d expect a wedding planning company to be housed.

The shop looked like it had once been a carriage house before it was converted into a business. The board and batten siding had been painted white to offset the rustic cedar shingles under the eaves along the front of the building.

Two large concrete pots sat on either side of the entrance, each holding perfectly manicured topiaries. The window boxes were overflowing with brightly colored flowers, and to the right of the entrance was a trellis covered in some kind of climbing vine that was covered in deep purple flowers. The signage hanging from the middle eave read Three’s a Charm Events in a dusky blush color, the script full of loops and swirls.

It looked like Disney had thrown up all over it. Like it had been pulled right out of a fairy tale and dropped in the middle of Pembrooke like Dorothy’s house falling on that wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. The only things missing were the birds and squirrels coming out to greet you with a fucking handshake and a song. From a business standpoint, I could respect it. It was smart, really, how feminine and... enchanting they’d gone with the esthetic. It called to every bride who pulled up in this gravel lot, telling them this was the place that could create literal fairy tales.

But as a person who refused to ever get married, my balls tried to burrow their way back into my body. I immediately regretted telling my father I’d handle getting these people on board for Leighton’s wedding. A large part of me wanted the throw my G-Wagon into reverse and get the hell out of there. The urge to call Hershel and tell him I’d tried my best, but they wouldn’t budge was strong, and I would have gladly done it if I didn’t think he’d end up climbing into his truck one day after his chemotherapy treatment and drive his ass down here to try and take care of it himself.

That sealed my fate. I wasn’t leaving until they agreed to take Leighton on as a client. With a resigned sigh, I pressed the button on my dash to kill the engine and climbed out, traveling the few feet from my car to the door like I was walking toward my doom.

I was sure the soft, melodic chimes that rang out as soon as I pushed the door open were meant to be calming, but they set my teeth on edge. My eyes took in the small reception area as I made my way to the front desk. The walls were covered in framed black and white photos of different weddings the coordinators had worked on, and I had to admit, from a quick glance, I was impressed. Whoever the photographer was, they had real talent. Even in black and white, the energy of every photograph came through. It was no wonder these people were in high demand.

I would have rather had my molars pulled out with rusty pliers than ever get married, but even I had to admit from the pictures on the wall, they were damn good at their jobs.

“Hi. Can I help you?”

I pulled my attention from the photographs and turned to the cheerful, smiling redhead behind the front desk. I moved in her direction with purpose, ready to get this done so I could get the hell out of here and back to the work I’d been neglecting far too much lately.

“Yes. I need to see about scheduling a wedding with your event coordinators.”

Her smile deflated a bit at my curt tone. “Oh, well, um... I’m sorry, sir. We’re not taking any new clients at the moment, but I’d be more than happy to give you the number for another local company. They do good work; you have my word that you’ll be happy with them.”

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