Page 24 of 4 Weddings and a Feud

“Should’ve asked for more for the nudes,” Michael grumbled.

“There weren’t any fucking nudes!” Rafe elbowed his brother in the belly. “This letter says they’ve emailed me the photos to use in my modeling portfolio and they’ve destroyed their copy of the shirtless one.”

“Why the fuck do you need a modeling portfolio?” Michael asked.

Rafe ducked his head. “I don’t.”

Mary cleared her throat. “What are you going to do with the money?”

He held out the page with the check. “Take it. You paid my medical bill.”

Mary took it from him. “Five thousand dollars is more than the insurance copay for your finger. There’ll be some left over.”

“I think we should use it to hire someone to help you, Mary,” Michael said. “You can’t work full time here and plan weddings, too.”

“Sure, I can,” she said automatically.

“But you shouldn’t have to,” Rafe said. “Look, I know this money won’t go very far, but you should have this chance to follow your dream.”

Mary glanced between her two brothers. “I’ve got the deposits from my three weddings. I was planning to use the money to hire help for you guys.”

“Three weddings?” Michael said. “I thought you only had Cierra and the two women with the funny names.”

“I, um, agreed to take back the one at La Villa. Last night.”

“Last night?” Rafe raised his eyebrows.

Mary straightened a corner of the paper in her hands. “Alex came over and asked me to reconsider. And I did.”

Rafe shook his head. “I hope he begged.”

“He apologized. And tripled my fee.”

“Triple?” Michael’s eyes goggled. “You sure there isn’t something more he wants?”

She drew herself up. “Can’t I be good at what I do and get a bonus for doing it on a compressed schedule?”

“Of course you can,” Rafe said. “And that only goes to prove that you’re the one doing the extra work. You should get the help.”

She looked down at the check. “Until the wedding planning takes off. Then it’s your turn for a break. You guys work so hard.”

Michael crossed his thick arms over his broad chest. “We like hard work.”

Rafe hesitated for only a moment before nodding. “We do. Besides, this isn’t you taking a break. You’re doing more work. Hire an assistant.”

“I’ll get someone to work the counter part-time. I’ve only got three weddings so far. I shouldn’t need an assistant for that.”

Michael shrugged. “Up to you. Did you have someone in mind?”

“Actually, I think I do. Evie McAlister. She’s the wedding planner Alex fired. She could probably use a part-time job until she can find a full-time wedding planning gig.”

He snorted. “You and your soft heart. Are you sure she’s right for the job? Why’d Alex fire her?”

“Does it matter?” Rafe said. “Dickhead doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. Hiring someone he fired sounds like justice to me.”

Mary’s chest tightened. She hated that her brothers still held a grudge against Alex. Especially when she’d be working with him on Rochelle’s wedding. But seeing more of each other could be the chance for them all to smooth over that history. Her brothers would see that Mary had forgiven him, so they could, too. And Alex would see how important her family was to her. He’d dial down his animosity.

They’d all be friends. Just like back in high school. But this time, she wouldn’t fall for Alex, no matter how kind he was. Or how good he looked in a suit.

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