Page 29 of The Wrong Fiancée

"In passing," Dad told me. "But not the details and definitely not that Ginny decided her husband had an affair. Sam wouldn't know how to."

"I gathered as much."

"Dean, maybe we should come down for a week or two in the summer," he mused.

"To Kauai?"

"Yeah. Maybe Dante has some bungalows to rent? We can come to you instead of going to Bordeaux for the family summer break."

"Why?"

"I'd like to meet this girl."

"Isn't it a bit extreme to drag all the Archers here to meet Elika?" I wondered, though the idea of them all being here made me both uncomfortable and relieved. Uncomfortable because I knew that the Archers and Thatchers, despite what I'd thought previously, would not get along. Relieved because they'd be able to give me advice on what the hell to do with Elika…and Felicity.

I shook my head.I'm marrying Felicity. I don't need any advice on that.

"I'll check with Dante, or we can rent a house on the island." I heard Dad typing on his computer, which I suspected was himsending an email to his assistant, telling him to move the family summer break to Hawaii.

"Dad, I'm going to see you in San Francisco in a few days. We don't have to drag the whole family here."

"What's the name of this rehab center that Elika’s sister is at?"

I sighed. When my father decided to do something, he basically ignored all other input. "I don't know."

"Find out and let me know. I'll see what I can do."

"Dad—"

"This girl made an impact on you, and it sounds like her life has been tough. We should help her."

"I want to help her and I offered, see how that worked out?"

"You're driven by guilt, I'm just a good person," Dad joked.

I smiled. "Yeah, Dad, you are. How are the grandbabies?"

Dad's voice and tone changed completely as he talked about my niece Solène and nephew Leo.

After the call, I sat on the beach, wondering what the fuck I was doing with my life. I had thought getting settled with a woman, getting married, and having a family was what I had to do—that it was the next step. Still, as I thought about Felicity, I wasn't sure any longer if she was the woman I wanted to be with.

Would I have felt this way if I hadn't met Elika again?

According to Dante—who,afteran interminable dinner with the Thatchers, offered me refuge in his bungalow under the pretense of talking about work—I was never going to marry Felicity. Elika, he said, was simply the catalyst that forced me to realize it sooner rather than later.

"My parents like Fee," I protested.

"Didn't your parents also like Bianca?" Dante asked, amused.

Bianca had been my brother Damian's girlfriend. She'd cheated on him, and he'd had some warped sense of revenge, so he seduced and married Emilia, Bianca's sister. They fell in love and had a great marriage now.Butwe'd all thought Bianca was a better match for Damian than the plain and boring Emilia (who was none of those things).

I shrugged. "Felicity is likeus."

"Defineus," Dante challenged.

"In the art world. She has a PhD from an Ivy League. Is?—"

"Isn't Duncan's wife a baker? Is she too dumb for Duncan?" Dante interrupted me.

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