Page 14 of Burned By the Broken Doctor

“Do you know one of the things I was looking forward to in this wedding?”

“What?” I ask with a smile.

“All four of us planning it. You, me, Damon, and Liam.”

“Really?”

“Speaking of Liam,” June starts, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, “isn't he, like, exactly your type?”

I choke on a piece of imaginary air. “My type? Absolutely not! He's arrogant, self-centered, and the complete opposite of everything I look for in a guy.”

The vehemence in my voice seems to surprise June.

“Whoa, okay,” she says, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “Didn't mean to strike a nerve. But tall, dark, and handsome with a bit of a brooding edge? That's your usual MO, right?”

My cheeks burn. June has a point, but there's no way I'm going to admit it, especially not when that fits Liam Miller perfectly.

“Just because he fits some superficial criteria doesn't mean there's anything there,” I argue, my voice a little too loud, the defensiveness bubbling to the surface.

June raises an eyebrow, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

“Alright, alright,” June says, dragging out a dramatic sigh. “I’m surprised by how you reacted to him there though. I’ve never seen you be rude.”

“I wasn’t rude, June. I was just paying him back in his own energy.”

She rolls her eyes and taps her index finger’s nail on the steering. “That makes it even more confusing. Is there anything we should know?”

“Nothing.” I shake my head. “Forget about Liam Miller. I don’t want to talk about him.”

“You know you can talk to me, right?” she says gently.

“I know,” I mumble, staring out the window.

“Whatever happened between you two, you don't have to bottle it up.”

I grit my teeth, the urge to unload everything on June warring with the stubborn desire to keep it all inside.

“Maybe later,” I finally say, my voice tight. “Right now, I just…need some time to clear my head.”

June nods understandingly. We drive in silence for a while, the only sound being the rhythmic hum of the engine.

But the silence inside me is anything but peaceful. It's filled with a racket of emotions—anger, frustration, hurt. And a strange, prickling awareness that beneath all the anger there might be something else entirely. Something I'm not quite ready to face.

We arrive back at the house, and I feel a sense of relief wash over me. As I shut off the engine, I turn to June with a smile. “I've got something for you,” I say, reaching into the backseat and pulling out a wrapped package.

June's eyes light up with curiosity. “What is it?”

“Open it and see,” I reply, handing her the gift.

June tears into the wrapping paper with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning. When she reveals the photo scrapbook, her mouth drops open in surprise. “Oh my God, Emma! This is amazing! Where did you find this?”

I grin. “It's from the town library. Someone put together a collection of the best weddings over the past thirty years in Harmony Creek.”

June flips through the pages, her eyes wide with excitement. “Whoever made this must be a romantic, just like you,” she says, glancing up at me with a knowing smile.

A sad smile tugs at my lips. “Yeah, I used to be a hopeless romantic,” I say softly. It's why I became a wedding planner. Growing up, my dad and brother were my only family, and I barely remember my mom. June’s mom and our neighbor Martha were the feminine figures in my life, but I grew up more feminine than most. I spent hours in my room reading up on etiquette and ladylike manners, practicing each one again and again in front of the mirror.

It brought the attention of most mothers in Harmony Creek to me, and I enjoyed it. It felt good then to be called Harmony Creek’s treasure, and most of the townsfolk predicted I’d be married with kids before I turned twenty-two. Now I'm twenty-eight, and I still haven’t met my soulmate.

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