AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ellie leaned her head on my shoulder as we stood on the steps of the mansion watching everyone leaving, the staff helping to pack the cars. “I love all of them, but I won’t lie, it’ll be nice to have a break. Don’t tell them.”
I laughed. “I won’t.”
The bridal party would be back closer to the wedding. For the bachelor and bachelorette parties. I had no idea what we were doing for those, but I would worry about that later.
The guys were using the gym here in the house and going about a more normal routine now that we had a few down days. There was something nice about them doing normal things here. It felt settled, even if I didn’t.
I woke up between Cade and Rowan, and it might be the best sleep I’d ever had. They made me feel safe on a level I didn’t even understand, and I wasn’t fully ready to examine that. So I slipped out from between them and fled, finding breakfast and my sister before they told me they were using the gym.
A clattering sound made Ellie and I turn. Angela pulled her suitcase out of the door roughly, in high heels despite it being ten in the morning. She looked furious. “Doesn’t the staff normally help with the bags?” I asked Ellie under my breath.
“Usually. Maybe I left their room off the list for that and only put it down for cleaning.”
I tried not to laugh and failed.
“Something funny?” Angela snapped, glaring at me. The giant diamond on her finger sparkled in the morning light, so big I was surprised she kept her balance in the heels.
“Ellie told me an excellent joke.”
She left the suitcase where it was and stalked toward me. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do showing up here with that pack and trying to make Beau jealous, but you’ll never get him back.”
I stared at her. “I have no interest in having him back. He’s all yours. As for showing up here, hi, I don’t know if you’ve met mysister. You know, the one who’s getting married? I would be here anyway, no matter who came with me.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “Just stay away from him.”
“My pleasure.”
She stomped off, and I sighed, looking at Ellie. “You realize that you’re going to see her for the rest of your life, right?”
“Shit.” She grimaced. “I don’t love that. But I do love Warren, and he’s worth it. Besides, maybe Beau will pull the same shit with her.”
As much as I disliked her, I didn’t wish that on anyone. For now, it didn’t matter. We’d have a blissful time without both of them here. “Want to go to CD later?”
“Hell yes I do. Just us girls? Or everyone?”
“Either way is fine. But if we take the guys…” I kept forgetting they were from here. So they probably already knew about the best ice cream shop in Clarity Coast, with the absolutely horrendous name that made it famous.
The Cream Dream put crack in their ice cream. Or that’s what it felt like, because it was so good you could never get enough. In the evening, they turned into an adults-only store with treats shaped like dicks and vaginas, leaning into the pun on the word cream. It drew people from all over, and if you lived here, you just went with it.
“Iz?” Ellie waved a hand in front of my face. “Where did you go?”
“Sorry. I’m just not used to thinking about the fact that they’re from here. They already know all about the name.”
“Something tells me it won’t stop them from using it to their advantage.”
She was absolutely right, and I remembered Rowan’s comment from the other morning. “I’ll ask them if they want to go. Besides, I already know they love waffles.”
Ellie turned to wave to one of her friends pulling out of the drive, and I headed inside. A hand snagged my wrist and pulled me into the coat closet. Lemon and eucalyptus tickled my nose. I whirled and shoved Beau backward. “Get your hands off me.”
He held them up and stepped back, blocking the door. “I need to talk to you, and your guard dogs haven’t let me.”
“Because I told them not to. I have nothing to say to you, Beau.”
“Will you justlistenfor once in your life?”
I blinked and took a step back. The words felt like a slap. “For once in my life? I listened to you forfour years. I’ve listened to everything and you took that for granted. I’ve listened enough. Now get out of the way.”
“I looked for you,” he said, looking down at the floor and slipping his hands into his pockets. “No one would tell me where you were, and you had me blocked on everything. I… wanted to apologize. And talk things out.”
