Page 62 of Father of the Bride

“I like him already,” she said with a grin.

After Sunny’s nails and toes were done, she reached over and tapped Brooklyn on the arm.

The girl’s eyes examined the tech’s work. She gave an approving nod before raising her eyebrows.

“Everything okay?”

“That’s what I was gonna ask you,” Sunny said. “How are you, sweetheart?”

Brooklyn’s stare moved to the waves crashing against the shore. “I don’t know. I feel…weird. Off-balance.”

“Nerves?” Sunny offered gently. “Pre-wedding jitters, maybe.”

Brooklyn bit down on her lower lip. “I don’t think so. It’s not Dav. He’s amazing. Something’s just off. I can’t explain it.”

“Just breathe,” Sunny said. “It’ll be fine. I promise. It’s normal to be nervous and to feel like you forgot to do something or pay somebody or…something.Anything. Trust me. It happens to all of us. You’ll be fine.”

Brooklyn gave her a tight smile, and Sunny knew her words had fallen on deaf ears.

On the other side of Brooklyn, Jules sat up and peeked around the bride to address the in-law.

“So, Ms. Sunny,” she said with a teasing smile. “You sure know how to pick ‘em. That man isfine.”

Sunny smiled politely, fully prepared to stonewall the hell out of this girl until it was time to leave. Maybe on her way out, she’d slide Luke’s number her way and let fate handle the rest. But for now? Luke was hers. He had to be.

“How’d y’all meet, anyway?” Brooklyn asked.

Sunny sipped her mimosa. “Why do you ask?”

She squinted against the sun. “At the table, when my dad asked you, you seemed kind of…cagey about it.”

“It’s a long story.”

Jules chuckled. “I think she’s telling you to stay out of grown folks’ business, Brookie.”

Sunny didn’t give a verbal agreement, but her smirk at Jules told the tale.

“I’m gonna use the restroom,” she lied, giving Tigra a nod. “Be back.”

She made her way past the bridesmaids, then circled around the side of the house to get back to the beach tents.

Inside, her tech worked out the kinks, the worries, the stress, and all lucid thoughts. Sunny was boneless and half unconscious, but she was present enough to allow thoughts of Kez to float around in her mind. He’d always been the type of man to fix things, even when he was almost too young to be considered a man—not to mention broke.

Bringing her groceries when she was down to her last pack of ramen noodles. Walking her home after class when she was forced to take an 8 pm class to graduate. Braiding her hair when she sprained her wrist. He even sold his favorite pair of sneakers to buy her a formal dress when she got nominated for homecoming queen.

Kez was a fixer, and Sunny loved that about him. She was starting to realize she still loved everything about him, and that scared her. She thought she’d be emotionally unavailable to every man after Orion. For her own protection. But here she was, defenses down.

That was the scariest thing of all.

Chapter 20

LaFinwasthekind of place you didn’t make too much noise in. Dark mahogany walls, mirrored panels, and the heavy scent of cedar tickled the senses of all who walked through the door. It was the kind of bougie place Mark preferred these days.

He poured himself a bourbon and watched as Davion stood in his tux in front of a three-way mirror, his shirt half-buttoned and brows furrowed.

“It feels tight,” he muttered, rotating his shoulders.

“I can let the seam out another quarter inch,” the tailor offered.

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