Page 49 of Never the Bride
“You and Vinny called off your engagement?” Blair finishes.
Juliet’s dark brows that contrast her light-blonde hair lower in disgust. “Why wouldn’t us breaking off our engagement come as a surprise?”
Blair glances around the table, recognizing her mistake. “No, it would. You just seemed so serious, so that was the first place my mind went. Sorry.”
Nice recovery.
“Of course we’re still engaged. I was just letting you all know”—Juliet turns to Emma with a smile—“that I’ve asked Emma to be my maid of honor. I don’t want the three of you to feel bad, but Emma and I grew up next door to each other, so our bond is a little tighter. But obviously, the rest of you will be bridesmaids.”
I peek at Emma.
Being the maid of honor at a wedding where you’re in love with the groom is rough, but there she sits with a sweet smile on her face.
Props to her. I couldn’t do it.
“Yeah.” Carly is the first to speak. She takes a quick glance at Emma, checking up on her, then replies. “Emma definitelydeserves to be the maid of honor. You shouldn’t have it any other way.”
“When’s the wedding?” I ask.
Juliet flattens her gaze. “Why? Are you going to tell me I’m making a mistake by marrying Vinny?”
“No.”
There are only two marriages I’m concerned about: Selena’s and my own.
“Good,” Juliet huffs, “because I can’t handle your cynicism right now.”
Carly smiles at me. “Camila’s cynicism is what we love about her.”
“Thank you.”
“Not me.” Juliet straightens. “All your negativity about marriage gets old.”
Emma comes to my rescue. “Juliet, that’s easy for you to say. You didn’t grow up under the same circumstances Camila did.”
“So your mom got married and divorced a few times. I don’t think that’s enough to make you as jaded as you are.”
It wasn’t just that my mom got married and divorced a few times. It was the fact that, over and over again, I watched her trust men who ultimately let her down—starting with my dad and going down the line. Each time she thought that, because they’d made vows and entered into a binding commitment, things would end happily, but they never did. I saw the tears. I watched the heartache. And I decided I didn’t want that naive belief in marriage to lead me to a place where I’m sobbing on the bathroom floor because a man who said he’d grow old with me left.
It’s not worth it.
Juliet can’t relate to that kind of pain because Juliet grew up with both parents still married.
She’s not haunted by men who’ve come in and out of her life.
People easily dismiss what they don’t understand. They dismiss me as cynical and jaded without trying to understandwhyI’m this way. And obviously, it doesn’t help that I deal with divorces for a living. It all compounds and makes me who I am.
You either love me or hate me for it.
Today, Juliet is not a fan.
I smile back at her, not wanting to get into the weeds about why I am the way I am. “Maybe I am too jaded, but the good news is, I’m not your maid of honor, so you won't have to hear about all my opinions on marriage. You made a good choice with Emma.”
“Speaking of Emma,” Carly says, trying to change the subject, “what’s the latest on your love life?”
Her shoulders lift, brushing against her auburn hair. “I don’t have anything to report. I’m just looking forward to the last day of school and having a few weeks off for summer break.”
“Oh, c’mon!” Blair says. “You have to have something new to report.”
