Page 64 of Wedding Season
Alex grinned. “You’re talking to a fish.” He couldn’t say why he was so immensely charmed by this situation, but he had the sudden urge to wrap Mariella in a tight hug. He had a feeling she’d bristle if he tried it, much like attempting to snuggle a feral cat. Yet the look of adoration in her gaze when she smiled at the bobbing fish in the tank couldn’t be denied. She was a closet softie despite all of her prickly edges.
“Did you hear about Amber?” Mariella asked and the moment was over.
Maybe she’d done it on purpose because he was getting too close. He nodded. “It was actually why I texted you about getting together in the first place.”
Disappointment flashed in her eyes for a moment before she schooled her gaze again. Damn. He hadn’t meant to upset her. “Also, I wanted to hang out with you,” he added.
“Nice recovery.”
He didn’t correct her assumption at this point, even though finding out about Amber coming to town had been more of an excuse than anything. It was a conversation they needed to have nonetheless. “You’re okay with her being here?”
Mariella shrugged. “My issue wasn’t as much with your ex-fiancée as with mine. Do I appreciate the way she trashed me in the tabloids and on social? No. Did I deserve it for the way I made a horrible scene at your wedding? Yes.”
There it was again—her unwavering conviction that she’d earned every bad thing that came to her because of mistakes she’d made.
“Jacques wasn’t the first man Amber had cheated with,” Alex said, keeping his gaze trained on the fish. There was merit to the theory of fish as a calming presence.
Even though he’d just revealed one of the most humiliating secrets of his life, he felt an overriding sense of calm. He didn’t know whether to attribute that to Mariella or Millie but figured he could give them each credit.
“You knew and you were going to marry her anyway?”
He shook his head. “I’m not that big of a putz. I found out after. Some guy approached me in a bar and said he’d been with her after the Met Gala the previous year. She’d flown him to a movie set in Thailand for a two-week fling.”
“Maybe he was lying. Maybe he wanted to claim America’s sweetheart as one of his conquests.”
“There were details he shared with me, things only someone who knew her well could know. Intimate details.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For all I know this is her pattern. There could have been more guys. There would have been if I’d married her.”
“America’s sweetheart certainly has some spice in her.” Mariella handed him a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “I suppose that makes you want her here all the less.”
“I don’t want her here at all,” Alex agreed. If he never saw his ex-fiancée again, it would be too soon but...he waited for Mariella’s reaction.
Avery had explained to him how much this opportunity with Drake—that unfortunately also involved Amber—would mean to the town. Specifically, to the owners of the Wildflower Inn.
He appreciated that Avery had come to him in the first place. They didn’t need his buy-in to make the appearance happen.
“It’s fine,” Mariella said after a moment. “Emma and Angi feel the same as you. They don’t want her anywhere near the town.”
“But you’re okay with it?” He wanted to draw out her feelings because they mattered to him. She mattered to him.
“I behaved badly, but so did Amber. Her appearance would help my friends and our business. This is my life now, and I’m not going to sabotage it out of bitterness. I’ve spent enough time on self-sabotage. I’m going to say yes to Amber coming to Magnolia for the event.”
Mariella stared at him as if he’d just grown a unicorn horn out of his forehead.
“I didn’t expect you to say yes.”
He frowned. “Did you want me to refuse so you wouldn’t have to say no?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I promise I don’t care if Amber comes to Magnolia. I don’t even care if she trashes me all over town. Okay, I would care if she did that, but I can’t stop her. She hurt you. She cheated on you. You didn’t deserve that.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you.”
“Then you also have to know there is no possible way she’s going to take personal responsibility for any of it.”
“Also agreed.”
