Page 113 of Pretend To Be My Cowboy
Lizzy stared. “This is him? The guy? The fake one?”
Emma shook her head. This was so not how she planned on telling her sister about her and Nash’s new relationship. “Uh, yeah, I need to update you on that.”
Lizzy’s chin bunched, her mouth forming a wonky line as new tears descended.
“Lizzy, sweetie, you’re scaring me. What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”
“Oh Emmy,” she sobbed, covering her mouth and muffling her words. “My life is over.”
Emma held her close, aware of Nash as he moved behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder in support. “What is? What happened?”
“The wedding is off,” Lizzy wailed. “It’s over! It’s totally over.”
Emma’s jaw dropped, and luckily Nash had a lot of experience as a big brother because he instantly stepped into the role. He gently wrapped an arm around Lizzy and led her inside, his voice low and soothing as he told her it would all be okay, that she should make herself comfortable…
It was all the things Emma should have been saying, but she was too shocked.
It was over?
She didn’t understand.
By the time she found her voice, Nash had Lizzy settled on the couch with a glass of water, a box of tissues and a bowl of chocolates that she wondered where on earth he’d been hiding.
“I’ll go pay the driver and make some tea,” he said as he left them on their own.
Lizzy snatched a tissue out of the box and dabbed her face, before delicately blowing her nose. Emma sat on the coffee table, worry eating her alive as she tried to wrap her head around this heartbreaking news.
“So that’s him, huh?” Lizzy sounded drained and dazed. She glanced at Emma. “He seems nice.”
“He is nice.” Emma smiled. “But I want to hear about you. What’s happened? Why is the wedding off?”
Lizzy sighed and rubbed her forehead with quivering fingers.
Emma blinked, her lips parting when she noticed the serious lack of ridiculously large diamond on Lizzy’s ring finger.
Wow. This wasn’t just some drama queen moment. The wedding was seriously off if Lizzy wasn’t even wearing her engagement ring anymore.
She was about to ask where it was, but Lizzy started muttering, “I’m not ready to talk about it. I just...I couldn’t stay there, you know? Sarah was at her boyfriend’s and you’d sent that message saying you were staying here for a little while longer and….” Lizzy’s eyes welled up again. “I… I… I just had to get away,” she squeaked, her words falling apart as a fresh wave of tears took her out.
“Aw, sweetie.” Emma rubbed her arms, up and down, just the way Mom did when they were upset.
Nash walked quietly into the room, placing down a steaming cup of tea.
Emma gave him a grateful smile and he replied with a worried frown before easing back out of the room.
“I’m glad you came here,” Emma said quickly. “This is your home too, you know.”
Lizzy sniffed, and Emma bit her lip to keep from spilling all her news, including the fact that she was planning on staying for good. There’d be time enough for all that after Lizzy calmed down.
“Nash made you some tea.” Emma picked up the cup and held it out to her sister.
Lizzy just stared at the steam, like she didn’t know how to drink tea anymore.
“Okay. You don’t want it? That’s okay. Um, what can I do to make you feel better?”
“I don’t know,” Lizzy blubbered. “I don’t know anything anymore.”
Emma’s insides writhed with confusion. She was desperate to find out what went down in Chicago. How could Lizzy go from happily planning her wedding to sitting on this couch in tears?
