Page 88 of Riding the High

“Coffee,” she mumbles sleepily.

I chuckle as I pull on my sweats, willing my hard-on to disappear so I can start my day. I’ll save my fucked-up feelings for another time. Today, I have to focus.

I look down at my phone as it lights up.

NASH

Were you nervous before your wedding because I’m not nervous.

Should I be nervous? This is a good thing right? Fuck I hope you were nervous.

I toss my phone on the table.

Today Nash and CeCe are getting married, and tomorrow Mabel goes to stay with Ernie and Trudy, Gemma’s parents, at their cottage up north for just over a week. There is a lot to do to get ready. But first, I must make my secret wife some coffee.Husband, brother and dad mode, activate.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Ginger

It feels as though it’s just my luck that the universe would send me the man of my dreams when I was a teenager, only for me to marry him as an adult by accident and start to fall in love with him.

Would it also be my luck that both of us are so stubborn that we haven’t properly talked about any of this, and what it will all mean by the end of the summer?Yes.

And would that same universe also plant his ex-wife in the very salon I’m getting my hair done at for my best friend’s wedding?Of course.

“I didn’t even know she worked here until two days ago,” CeCe hisses to me. “Apparently, she just started in June. She was supposed to be off today, but they had two people call in sick. She isn’t working on any of us. Don’t worry.”

All of us girls are sitting in a row at the upscale Elegance Salon in Laurel Creek’s bustling downtown. I watch Gemma over my shoulder as my hair gets tamed into manageable curls so it can be upswept in the style CeCe wants.

Gemma is pretty, I suppose. Her blonde hair is cut shorter than the last time I saw her. It’s now styled into a smooth bobwith bangs and she has wide almond-shaped blue eyes, high cheekbones and a pretty smile—when she isn’t scowling that is. I can see how Cole could have been attracted to her once upon a time. I chew my lower lip as my hair is tugged in every direction by my own stylist. CeCe sucks back half a glass of champagne beside me just as the door to the salon opens and Ivy comes in with yet another card, passing it to CeCe as Wade follows behind with a massive basket of white roses.

This isn’t the first time the bride-to-be has received a card and gift during our salon trip. Earlier, a giant vase of Hershey’s Kisses was delivered to her. The card read: “A wise man once told me to always kiss the woman you love. In this vase is a kiss for every day since you came home. Since the day you walked back into my life and stole my heart.”

Wade told us there were 381 of them in that damn vase, and I think I’ve eaten at least ten since Gemma walked in the door.

CeCe starts to tear up before she even reads the latest note.

“Who knew Nashby had all this romance buried under that bruised heart?” Liv says from my left side as her red hair is pulled into a half-updo by her stylist.

I squint at the side of her neck, which is left exposed with the movement. Are those … teeth marks? I make a mental note to ask her who the hell has been biting her.

“A wise man once told me to never go a week without bringing the woman you love flowers. So I give you a rose for every week since you’ve been back with me. For every week you’ve shone a bright light on the darkest parts of my soul.”

Mama Jo, who is sitting beside CeCe, swipes tears away from her eyes and gets up to hug her daughter.

“That wise man was your daddy,” she says as CeCe starts to cry again. “He never missed a week. In fact, when he knew he was in his final days, he had Smith Landscaping come in andplant a row of bushes along the fence at the big house so that, every week, and all season long, I’d have fresh roses.”

She kisses CeCe on the head, and turns to Liv and me before saying, “Nash learned from the best.”

Liv flashes Jo a teary smile and squeezes CeCe’s hand. Goddammit, even I feel the tears creeping in. We all look at each other and I shake my head. If CeCe can find her soulmate in her brother’s best friend, can I be lucky enough to find happiness with my best friend’s brother? I’m just about to tell CeCe how much I love her when the devil herself chooses this second to come in and ruin the moment. My stylist heads over to a cart for some supplies and Gemma sneaks right in between me and CeCe.

“Congrats, CeCe Rae,” she says in a sugary voice that sounds like nails on a chalkboard. Her crooked smile is almost a sneer. “And Ginger, fancy seeing you here. I heard through the grapevine that you’re my daughter’s nanny this summer. That’ssosweet of you to do that for Cole. Don’t suppose you two are a little more than friends, huh?”

I shrug and try to keep my voice steady.

“I’m helping myfriendout, yes,” I say calmly, “And I’m happy to spend time with Mabel. She’s an incredible girl. And Cole is just the best daddy.”

“Don’t you have foils to cut or hair to sweep up, Gemma?” CeCe asks with a smile. “I don’t see you acting too interested in what Cole and Mabel are doing any other time. What makes today different?”

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