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Brooke
The notes of the song floated to my ears, signifying the first dance between the newly married couple. Chuckling at the melody, I slipped out the side door of the reception hall. Who the hell picked the theme song from Titanic as their first dance song? Nothing like the image of a disaster to solidify a marriage. Then again, what did I care when it came to this couple?
I grabbed a seat at the nearly empty hotel lobby bar, grateful for a break from the longest evening in history.
“What’ll it be, miss?” The older man behind the shiny oak bar was dressed in a black and white uniform.
“Johnnie Walker Blue. Neat. Thank you.”
He placed the generous pour in front of me on a cocktail napkin. In any other situation, I would’ve sipped the expensive golden liquor, but given I was stuck in a living hell, I knocked it back like a champ.
“Another, please.” I placed my clutch atop the wooden bar and dug out my phone to check the time. Twenty minutes until my end of the bargain was fulfilled, and I could officially escape.
The bartender poured the second glass.
“Thank you. Can I ask your name?” I drained the new glass in three gulps. The smooth Scotch-whiskey blend was burning less with every swallow—which was either a good or a very bad thing.
He flashed a smile under his silver mustache. “The name is Teddy, ma’am.”
“Hi, Teddy. I’m Brooke. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well. Would you care for another drink?”
I really shouldn’t. If I didn’t get back to the reception soon, my mother would surely notice. But I could always take the glass to go. “One more would be great.”
“Oh my God, here you are. You cannot be getting drunk at your sister’s wedding.”
Damn. Too late. My mother had found me.
Teddy, bless him, poured despite the interruption. I saluted him with my glass before turning in my stool to face my mother.
She was beautiful in her dress—a sparkly pink, slightly-too-sexy-for-the-mother-of-a-bride designer number. She might appear the quintessential Orange County housewife with her bleached-blond hair, expensive veneers, and carefully maintained body, but she was, in fact, one of the most successful obstetricians in the state of California.
“Brookyln, this is your younger sister’s moment. Can you curb your alcoholism for one evening?”
I was hardly an alcoholic, and considering my father was already a half dozen drinks into the night, I was annoyed she’d take issue with my intake. Throwing it back, I placed the empty glass on the bar and was tempted to order another. “All the guests are drinking. It’s what a wedding reception is for.”
“Yes, but not all of them have the capacity to ruin this day with a loose tongue.”
Ah, yes. It always came back to appearances. I was not to remind people my newly minted brother-in-law was my ex-fiancé. More specifically, my cheating ex-fiancé who’d knocked up my twenty-three-year-old younger sister during their affair, thus producing this hastily planned event.
Not even the Four Seasons could cover the fact this was a shotgun wedding. I suppose between the cheating and the secret pregnancy, I had a lot in my arsenal I could spill if I’d wanted to.
“Don’t worry. I won’t open my mouth the way my sister opened hers for my ex-fiancé.” What could I say? I was done pretending everything was normal about the situation.
She sucked in a breath at my crudity.
Teddy, bless him, poured me another glass of Scotch, whispering, “On the house.”
My mother seethed. Given her perfectly botoxed face, a passerby wouldn't be able to tell she was pissed, but I knew. Between the bridal shower, the rehearsal dinner, and now the wedding, I had inspired that expression often with my reluctance to participate. Old-fashioned blackmail was the only reason I was here.
She whisper-yelled. “Mike wasn’t the one for you. He was for Bethany. You need to get over it. It’s true love.”
Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. All I knew was after investing four years in the relationship, I’d been made the fool. While it was true his cheating had damaged my pride more than my heart, it was too much to fathom that my ex-fiancé, someone I never should have had to see again, was now part of my family.
“I am over it. And I won’t be blabbing to anyone, especially if you let me stay right here at the bar.”
“We had a deal,” she hissed.
