Page 126 of Never Kiss and Tell

“So, when were you going to tell me you were sleeping with my best friend?”

I shrug, even though I really want to tell her to worry about herself.

“Do I need to?”

She gawks at me.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because it shouldn’t matter.”

Andi fixes me with a look of disapproval. She looks so much like our mom when she does it that it would almost scare me if I wasn’t growing so agitated.

“Listen,” she says, lowering her voice to barely above a whisper. “I love her. I love you. I don’t want to see you guys get hurt. Either one of you. Dad, too.”

Jesus Christ. I rub the stubble on my jaw, gritting my teeth.

“I wasn’t aware everyone was so invested in my love life.”

“Look, all I’m saying is maybe you guys should give it a shot. Dad thinks so, too.”

“This ends Sunday, Andi. I don’t need you or Dad or whoever else making Bailey think there’s something there that’s not. So, mind. Your. Business.”

She meets my cold, dead stare with defiance, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. I know I was harsh, but give me some fucking credit where it’s due. I’m barely hanging on by a thread here.

I know the logical response is to ask Bailey to stay, but I can’t.Call me crazy, call me insecure or a pussy, but the moment she tells me no — the moment she admits this was just a fun little adventure for her while she was on vacation, I’m fucking done for.

I would rather not say anything at all.

As if on cue, Dad stands at his spot and taps his champagne glass with his knife, silencing whatever Andi was about to say next.

“If I could have everyone’s attention, please.”

I’m sure Dad has everyone in the city’s attention with his booming voice. The room quiets down, everyone turning to look at him expectantly.

“I am Charles Coulter, for those of you I haven’t met yet.” People in the room cheer and Dad chuckles, waving a hand. “Thank you. I want to thank everybody for coming tonight. It has been a great pleasure to meet everyone in the Bennet family.”

Under the table, Bailey takes my hand, gently squeezing my fingers. It’s such a simple gesture, but it brings a sense of calm over me that I’m not used to.

“Now, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be funny, or serious, or cry.” He looks down at Kendra, who smiles back appreciatively. “But my wife thought it would be best for me to just say what comes to mind. And we all know not to argue with our wives,” he says, drawing quiet laughter out of the room.

Dad shoves his free hand in his pocket, holding the microphone in his hand closer to his mouth.

“Now, when Andi came to me to tell me that Tom had asked her to marry him, I was shocked, to be honest. You know, in myday, you had to ask the girl’s father if you could marry her before you proposed. I was mad, at first, I’ll be honest.” He pauses for a moment, collecting himself.

“When your daughter tells you, as her father, Dad, this man asked me to marry him, your first thought is, oh, I don’t think so. Who is this lowlife, good-for-nothing kid that’s planning on taking her away from me? How does he get the balls to do that?”

Dad chuckles. “I went through every emotion. But my first thought was, he’s not good enough for her. He’s not. She’s the apple of my eye. How does he think he can give her everything she needs in this life? But then I watched them. I saw how much Andi smiled when he was around, how well he took care of her, and that anger started to fade. I saw her following her dreams. Laughing like she did when she was a kid. Before her mother passed away, God rest her soul.”

Then I knew,” Dad shrugs. “It’s because she loves him. He makes her happy. And if that makes her happy, then it makes me happy. I’m not giving her away. I’m allowing her to grow.”

Dad smiles, remembering something.

“I forgot about this story until recently. I was looking at pictures and found one of Andi covered in this dark, walnut stain. She was so clumsy as a kid, you’d think her legs were on backwards.”

Andi chuckles, embarrassed.

“I remember this story,” I murmur quietly to her.

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