Page 3 of You, Me, and Forever

It shouldn’t have mattered now, because we weren’t together.

But it made me question myself.

And now I’m a bitter wedding planner, which is never a good thing.

“I don’t think she misses him at all.” Blakely shrugged as she dropped a slice of lime into her sparkling water. “You always seemed bored with him.”

“Thank you,” I said, forcing a smile at her before shooting Violet a hard look. “It’s not about Phillip. I was okay when we broke up. We outgrew one another.”

“Well, thank God for that, because even his name is problematic. ‘Phillip Moon’? I mean, can you imagine having to write ‘Montana Moon’ for the rest of your life?” Violet had always made fun of the name when he and I were together.

“It sounds like the name of a movie.” Blakely shrugged.

“Oh, please,” my best friend said over her laughter. “It sounds like the name of a porn star. Can’t you just hear some big, oiled-up, hairy man slapping someone’s ass and shouting out, ‘Take it like a good girl, Montana Moon’?”

My head tipped back, and it felt good to laugh. “Well, now the porn star name is Angel Moon.”

We were all laughing, which was how it usually was when the three of us were together.

“Anyway, he was a loser, Monny. He never supported your dreams.” Violet held her hands up to stop me from interrupting. “I know, you don’t hate him. Hating people is a waste of time in your world. It’s all amicable. I get it. But he was a selfish dude, even if you hate saying anything bad about anyone. And the timing of his relationship is questionable. I never trusted him, and I think deep down you didn’t either. So now you’ve been buried in work ever since,thanks to our favorite celebrity wedding—but I’ve managed to go on plenty of dates. The tourists are out in full force now, with it being the summer solstice. And the quickest way to get your mojo back is to find yourself a hot tourist and have a one-night stand that reminds you how good sex can be.”

The summer solstice was a big deal in Blushing, because the sun stayed out for nearly twenty hours a day at the height of it. And since our town had become somewhat famous over the last twelve months, the tourism was out of control pretty much year round now.

Hence the reason some jackass rich dude had bought the inn. He recognized the potential. Hell, everyone with social media or a television would know things were booming here.

“I agree. And we’re all single at the moment. Let’s go out tonight and find Monny a smoking-hot loverrrr!” Blakely shouted, and we both gaped at her.

“Clearly, you don’t get out enough, either, because that was—a lot.” Violet chuckled.

“Listen, I’m just stressed about finding some new venues,” I said. “We do the majority of our weddings at the Seaside Inn, and that’s where my mind is right now. I’m not looking for a one-night stand. I’m looking for a new, cool location.”

“Says the girl who’s never had a one-night stand.” Violet smirked. “How many things have you tried because I told you how fabulous they were, and now you love them? This is no different.”

“Are you seriously comparing Tater Tots and Manolo Blahniks to sex with a stranger?” I laughed.

“Girl, those crispy taters and red-heeled goddesses have nothing on a hot, steamy fling. Or just a good make-out sesh with a hot guy to get your confidence back. Plus, we’re good for all events scheduled in the next four weeks, and several of the ones beyond that have already been moved. Who knows, maybe the new owners at Seaside will make this an even better venue that we can utilize?”

“The St. James Corporation doesn’t care about our weddings. They are a massive company out of New York City. They destroy their competitors and probably eat small children for breakfast. I hardly think providing us a wedding venue will be a priority.” I sighed.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Violet said. “We have other options, and those will work until we figure out a new game plan. Plus, maybe this will be an opportunity for us to invest in a venue that we could own. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about it being sold out from under us.”

Violet wasn’t normally an optimist, but I was the yin to her yang, and with me spiraling, she was trying her best to shine some light on the situation. But the reality was, we couldn’t afford to purchase a venue at the moment. Yes, we were doing well financially, at least in terms of anything a new company faces. We were saving money every month for the business, but purchasing a venue large enough to host a wedding would be a whole different ball game. You needed a lot of land for outdoor ceremonies, as well as a structure to offer accommodations for guests who had traveled here. We weren’t in a position to invest a million dollars into a boutique hotel on the water, not that we could even find anything for that price.

Like I said, Blushing was booming at the moment, and real estate was a hot commodity. I’d been lucky enough to purchase a small home of my own last year, which had been a goal of mine.

But purchasing land and a hotel was a whole different story.

“I like the idea of you buying the venue,” Blakely said. “You two are badass boss bitches.”

More laughter.

“That takes time and money. We need to have more options to offer clients, and time is not on our side,” I groaned.

“Okay, I hear you,” Violet replied. “But the first solution is to bring our little ray of sunshine back to life. You’re walking around like someone stole your Gucci bag. Tonight, the three of us go out. We find you a sexy tourist who you’ll never have to see again, and you let himdo naughty things to you and relieve some stress. It will be the final needed closure with Phillip, the asshat. It’ll be the last step to moving on in every aspect of that relationship once you’ve finally hooked up with someone outside of Boring Moon Man. Then tomorrow you’ll come back a new woman, all sated and relaxed, and we’ll solve all of life’s problems together.”

Blakely said, “You could just go and flirt with a guy. You don’t have to take him home. I mean, I’ve watched too manyDatelineepisodes to do something that crazy. I wouldn’t go home with a rando—he could murder you or hold you captive. And obviously there are no locals that you’re interested in, so it would have to be a stranger.”

Violet sighed dramatically. “You are the world’s worst cock block.”

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