Page 2 of A Chance for Us
I groan at that image and start to fake gag. “Gross.”
“I am not sneaking off with Jack,” she defends herself. “We’re newlyweds who like the...forest.”
“You like nothing about nature,” I remind her.
“I like wood.”
I deadpan. “Get out.”
She laughs. “Grow up. I’m married and have a kid. Jack and I want another, and I’m ovulating.”
“Seriously, can one bleach their own ears?” I ask Josh.
“I sure as fuck hope so.”
Stella rolls her eyes. “Brothers.” Then she turns her attention to me. “There’s nothing we can do about the delays and issues, but we have to have a plan. By us having to move the deadline up to accommodate this wedding, it cost us a lot in overtime fees. I know your intentions were good with wanting to help your friend and needing to secure the loan, but it really wasn’t good business.”
Maren called me in the hopes I was still working for my father, needing a place to get married. Time wasn’t something she had an ample amount of, so I did what I could to help her out and with the income loss from the previous wedding, this seemed like a win-win.
“I get it, but she’ll be here tomorrow and I’m not going to tell her or her fiancé that the venue isn’t ready. We’ll tackle whatever we can this week, and I doubt she’ll complain.”
“Maren and Oliver might not complain, but the people actually paying for the wedding will,” Josh adds on.
And that is the issue we’re all worried about. A soft opening is a great chance to work out the kinks and make sure that everything is in order. I know this. I’ve been a part of an opening several times. Doing a wedding is a whole other thing. It’s going to be a complete shit show. I never would’ve agreed to this, but there was something in her voice that I couldn’t ignore. A sadness that I felt deep in my soul. I had to say yes to her, regardless of the outcome.
She was desperate, and I could tell she had been crying before the call. At first, I brushed it off as her being happy to be engaged, but . . . I don’t know.
Stella grips my forearm as I start to walk away. “Wait, the groom is named Oliver?”
“Yes . . . as much as I like to think I’m one of a kind, there are other men with that name.”
“I know that, jackass. You just never mentioned his name or had her fill out the wedding sheets I asked for so I could order things I needed.”
Stella and her spreadsheets. It’s no wonder she and Jack are so perfect. He’s just as crazy about his paperwork. “I didn’t think we needed more sheets.”
“Yes, well, you didn’t run The Park Inn here. You know, the one that was featured in bridal magazines. I did. I was the one who handled it, and while I know you’re smart, I do have some experience too.”
I give her the smile that usually dazzles everyone. “And you will make a perfect assistant to me.”
Josh chokes a little and then steps in before our sister can beat the shit out of me. “Let’s make a list of what else needs to be done in this room so we can move to the next.”
“A few of the guests are friends from college,” I say, hoping to steer the conversation in a better direction.
Stella laughs. “Like your ex.”
She couldn’t resist.
I grumble. “Yes, Devney is the maid of honor.”
“That won’t be awkward,” Stella says with a grin.
Josh snorts and shoves me. “Maybe that’ll make up for the fact that you’re an idiot to agree to this. Having to watch your ex with her husband.”
“Yes, we’ll call it penance,” I say with exasperation.
I need to move this conversation away from the woman I thought I’d marry. It’s not that I am still in love with her two years later, because I’m not, it’s just that no one wants to see the woman they loved married to another man. I’m glad she’s happy. I really am. Her heart was never mine, and I accepted that—begrudgingly. However, my heart was hers, and it broke the day we ended things.
“I heard Devney had a baby,” Stella says as we move through the room, each noting things that are wrong.
