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Okay, I was out to sabotage him.
But I didn’t want Marigold just because someone else did. I wanted her because she was always meant to be mine. I’d just been too much of an idiot to see it. This Preston dude was just a minor detail. A pebble in my path. I’d kick him out of the way and move on. Like I’d told Marigold, I was going to fix this.
Instead of continuing to be an idiot—which I had to admit, tended to be my default—and beating my head against the wall, I decided to call in reinforcements. I was man enough to know when I needed an assist, and this was too important. I didn’t want to keep screwing up.
Which was why I was sitting in a booth in the Copper Kettle diner, waiting for my sister and my soon-to-be sister-in-law to arrive.
Audrey showed up first, my brother Josiah plastered to her side. He tipped his chin to me, then pulled Audrey in for a kiss. Apparently he wasn’t staying. I never would have figured Josiah would become the mushy for a girl type, but my grumpy-ass brother turned into a teddy bear with her. It was weird.
She said goodbye to Josiah, then waved at me and came over to my booth.
“Hi, Zachary.” She was her usual cheerful self. Her long dark hair was pulled back, and she was wearing a gray sweater, jeans, and her signature easygoing smile.
“Hey, almost sister.”
That made her smile bigger. “I love that. You know, I always wanted brothers.”
“You’re about to get a bunch of them.”
She slid into the booth across from me and scrunched her shoulders. “It’s so exciting.”
Audrey was about to say something else, but Annika swept up to the table in a navy blue sweatshirt and jeans, with three macaroni necklaces around her neck.
“Those are so cute.” Audrey pointed at Annika’s mom bling.
Annika lifted her hand to her neck and rolled her eyes before taking them off. “I forgot I had these on. I was crafting with the girls, then Will wanted to make one too.” She sat next to Audrey, then pointed a finger at me. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“What happened?” Audrey asked.
“You must not have talked to Mari yet,” Annika said.
“Not for a few days, I guess.”
Annika leveled me with her best sister glare. “Why did you tell Marigold you’re in love with her in the middle of her driveway? What kind of crappy game are you playing?”
Audrey gasped. “It’s you?”
I put up my hands. “I’m not playing a game. Wait, what do you mean, it’s you?”
“I’ve just had this theory that Marigold is either in love with you or Luke. Except… uh-oh. What if she’s in love with Luke? If you’re in love with her, and she’s in love with your brother, this just got very complicated.”
I blinked at her a few times. Marigold was not in love with Luke. No way.
Was she?
No.
“No, no, no.” I chuckled and shook my head. “Marigold isn’t in love with Luke.”
“How do you know?” Audrey asked.
Annika raised her eyebrows. “That’s a good question. How do you know?”
“Because…” I wrinkled my nose, like the very idea smelled bad. “Why would she be in love with Luke?”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Annika asked. “He’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, but he’s not me.”
