Page 59 of Never Let Go

I had been the only one fretting about the inheritance coming only to me instead of it being split three ways between my mother, brother, and me. I had also been the only one with issues about spending the money I hadn’t earned.

After taking all of these opinions on board and having a talk with my finance guy, that investment manager Porter had suggested, I’d decided it was time I start embracing all this instead of fighting it. Apparently, even if I made a string of bad decisions, I’d still be financially stable for the rest of this life and the next.

The investment guy had talked me through how he’d set up my finances and the reality was that I was good. All that was left now was for me to start enjoying it.

As I packed, I considered the best way to do that. Other than moving, I was also thinking about finally doing some traveling.

Perhaps taking a trip to Paris to celebrate everything that had happened. If I did though, I’d want to at least invite Amanda. It wouldn’t be the same without her, and once our next date was done, I was hoping she was going to be a permanent fixture in my life anyway.

I wonder if I could give Hope money to buy a plane ticket on my behalf in Amanda’s real name. That way, I’d have the ticket ready to surprise her with and I wouldn’t be breaking any rules to do it, but in the end, I decided that was a bad idea.

Amanda was too much like me in that respect. If I simply bought her a ticket she didn’t feel like she’d earned or might’ve wanted to pay for herself, there was every chance that she’d simply tear it up right in my face.

I chuckled, shelving the idea of taking her to Paris until after I’d had the opportunity to talk to her about it. As I kept packing though, I daydreamed about kissing her in front of the Eiffel Tower and I ended up having to have a cold shower because of it.

The images in my head were beautiful, though. Beautiful and hot as hell. The only problem? In my mind right now, Amanda looked a lot like Shelby and I had to get a handle on that before it could go any further.

28

SHELBY

Ashley’s wedding shower was going off without a hitch. I looked around the bright red and yellow gerberas and the patterned rugs that had been laid out on the greenhouse floor. A long table stretched from one side of the greenhouse to the other. The cheerful flowers surrounded us and others hung in baskets from the ceiling.

An armchair was placed at the head of the table, a throne for the bride-to-be within easy reach of the table of gifts off to one side. Punk rock from the early two-thousands flowed from the speakers, and I smiled as I took it all in, watching as she drank a cup of punch and laughed with a group of her guests.

“Shelby, the punch bowl is looking a little low. Will you refill it before we sit down for lunch and the game?”

I blinked hard as I spun to face Ashley’s mom. “Of course. Have you checked with the kitchen about the food, or should I pop in there when I’m done with the punch?”

“Alice is on her way to the kitchen,” she assured me. “One of the perks of being a co-host and not the host is that you don’t have to do everything yourself, rushing from one thing to the next. Don’t worry, honey. If you’ll get the punch, Alice will make sure the food will be served when it’s supposed to.”

I nodded and returned her smile before heading to the back room attached to the greenhouse. Since they rented this place out for all kinds of events, the back room was set up as an offsite kitchen and storeroom with a fridge, all kinds of cutlery and crockery, and in our case, jugs filled with extra punch.

After grabbing one, I spotted a bag of pretzels lying open on the counter beside it and took that too, figuring that I might as well refill the snack bowls while I was at it. This was my first time hosting a wedding shower, and even as a co-host with Ashley’s mom and sister, I was still super busy.

My mind was on ten things at any one time, checking and rechecking my mental checklist to make sure that we weren’t forgetting anything. Everyone wanted this day to be perfect for her, and no one more than me.

Even in the midst of all that though, I kept finding myself thinking about Tyler. In just a few days, I would be meeting him in person and that seemed to be the only thing I could really focus on. We would’ve done it sooner, but he was moving and I had this wedding, which meant we had to wait.

It made sense and there was nothing wrong with it, but I was just about obsessing over the reveal date, how long it was taking to get there, and how it was going to go. So much so that when I reached the punch bowl, I caught myself a second before I poured the pretzels into the punch bowl and the punch into the pretzel dish.

Stopping short, I inhaled deeply, swapped the two so that they went into the correct containers, and then glanced up to check that no one had seen how obviously distracted I was. As I looked up, I found myself meeting Ashley’s questioning gaze. I sighed, shrugged at her, and then shot her a thumbs-up.

She arched a brow at me from across the greenhouse and I smiled, shaking my head to show her there was nothing to worry about. Ashley frowned before she turned back to her friends and I mentally wiped my forehead.

Whew. That was a close call.

“Alright, everyone,” Alice said, squeezing her hands together in front of her chest. She smiled and approached the table. “If you’ll take your seats, lunch will be served shortly, and while we’re waiting, we’re going to play a little game.”

Some of the women groaned while others grinned. Ashley had wanted the shower to be as showery as a shower could be. We’d dressed her up and had toilet paper and aluminum foil on hand to design a wedding dress on her later. She had a bright pink sash on that said This Bride Kicks Ass. We’d planned a whole bunch of games, and the music and punch gave it all a nice relaxed atmosphere.

I moved toward the table with the others just as Alice started explaining the game. “We’re starting with a game called ‘Don’t Say Bride.’ For those who haven’t played the game before, the aim is to have wedding-related conversations but without using the word bride.”

As I sat down, I tried my best to focus on what she was saying, but my mind kept wandering back to Tyler. The women around me settled in, and since most of them had been talking about weddings anyway, the conversation and laughter kept flowing, but I was too distracted to pay much attention to what was being said.

“Shelby.” Ashley’s quiet voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I smiled, glancing at her where she was sitting in her armchair on my right. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I lifted a hand to wave it at her, forcing my smile to become even wider. “Just trying to keep on top of everything.”