Page 1 of Love in Training
PROLOGUE
TWO YEARS EARLIER
My name is scrawledin a familiar script on the envelope I discover at the bottom of my purse. I retrieve it and the decorative comb for my hair with a curious smile. That would be just like Kyle, hiding a little love note even when it breaks the no-contact tradition. But I drop it back into my bag as Lydia scurries back into the room.
“Oh, good. You’ve got your something old.” She takes the comb, placing it carefully in my upswept hair. “And your something new—this gorgeous dress. Something borrowed—your mom’s earrings. All we need is—” Lydia hands me the bouquet of white roses and blue forget-me-nots, then steps back, beaming. “Oh, Caprice. You’re perfect.”
I close my eyes, letting out a contented sigh. Ifeelperfect. Everything is finally coming together. The church, the dress, the planning, the people—well, most of them. I could never have guessed ten years ago, after that first awkward date in high school, that this is where Kyle and I would wind up. But we’d stayed enamored with each other through college and even figured out the long-distance thing once he enlisted. Now, after managing to exist separately for so long, we’re finally tying the knot and will spend the rest of our lives together.
My mom comes over, not-so-subtly wiping tears from her eyes, fussing with the lace on my gown. My one enormous splurge in an otherwise modest wedding. It’s a champagne color that makes my brown skin glow, with a plunging back and a skirt that hugs my curves before giving way to a three-foot train of silk and lace. I’ll still be paying for it several years from now, but it’ll be worth it. I’ve waited so long for this moment. I feel more beautiful than I have in my entire life. I’ve kept the dress a secret from Kyle just so I can see his expression for the first time today as I walk toward him down the aisle.
“Is everyone here?” I ask Lydia, my one and only bridesmaid, matron of honor, and best friend.
“I think so.” She glances over her shoulder. “Anton just went to make sure everyone’s in place.”
A flutter passes through my chest, and I reach out to squeeze my mom’s hand.
“Wedding jitters?” she says with a smile.
“Maybe a little. I don’t know why.” I let out a small laugh. “Kyle and I have wanted to get married for years, but it’s still...”
“A big day?” My mom winks. “Even my wedding felt like it at the time.”
My cheeks heat when she mentions this. Her own marriage ended four years in, after my dad confessed he preferred to sleep with men. While this was a difficult revelation, thingsmighthave worked out if he hadn’t decided to skip out on being a father. She hardly ever talks about him, and when she does, it’s usually under duress. But right now, there’s nothing but mirth in her eyes.
“Everything about myweddingdaywas perfect,” she says with a wistful smile. “And you’re an even more beautiful bride.”
Anton ducks back into the room, looking like a Ken doll in his dark blue suit, his brown hair perfectly styled. Which wouldn’t be funny if Lydia didn’t verymuch resemble MargotRobbie from theBarbiemovie. They’re the most stereotypically beautiful couple. They’re also two of my favorite people.
“Looks like a full house out there,” Anton says. “The minister is all set...” He looks at me, Lydia, and my mom, but his gaze skates past us to an empty chair in the corner of the room. “Where’d Theo go?”
“He stepped out earlier to take a call.” Lydia shrugs.
My twin brother is pulling double duty in the ceremony, walking me down the aisle and serving as best man. Theo and my fiancé had been friends way before Kyle and I fell in love with each other, but he’d taken our romance in stride. The two of them were already practically brothers.
“Right...” Anton says. “I’ll just go see if I can find him.”
My stomach does a little flip as he leaves, and I imagine the rows of people who drove out here to see Kyle and me get married in this beautiful mountain chapel. It’s mostly my mom’s family and our friends from high school and college. Kyle’s parents and brother were invited, but declined the invitation. I have told myself a hundred times it wasn’t because of me, and he’s told me the same thing. But deep in my heart, I know he’s hurt by their absence. Especially his brother’s.
After this is over—after the reception, the cake, and a week together on the beach—Kyle will report back to North Carolina, and I’ll fly back to Denver to pack up the rest of my things.
Then I’ll be all the family he needs.
“Mom, one of your pins is loose,” I say, grateful for something simple to focus on while we wait. She steps closer, and I take a minute to fix her updo. My mother is a tall, elegant white woman whose nearly black hair has only one thin streak of gray to betray her age. We share bone structure and the same smile, and one day I kind of hope I get that gray streak too. “There,” I say, tucking her updo back into place. “All fixed.”
We smile at each other. Then we both look at Lydia, whose face betrays a glimmer of anxiety the longer we stand here in silence. Theo and Anton have been gone a while.
“Not to worry,” my mom says, taking my hand again. “Theo will be back in a minute. I’m sure he just had to get Kyle situated with the minister.”
I nod, trying to ignore the twisting in my middle.
“Yeah, exactly.” Lydia clears her throat and picks up her phone. “I’ll just go?—”
At that moment, my twin brother blusters into the room, all spiffed up and elegant in his service dress blues, his shaved brown head gleaming in the light. Almost as good-looking as the groom. Except when I look up, his handsome face is not at all excited. It’s serious and drawn.
“What’s wrong?” I ask before he can even open his mouth.
Theo hesitates, and for a second, it’s clear he’s attempting a smile. My brother is well known for blowing sunshine where it doesn’t belong, but the sinking feeling in my gut is not going to hear that. Not on my wedding day.
