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I felt an odd sense of nerves as I approached the mansion for Noah’s wedding rehearsal. I knew I wouldn’t only have to face Catie, but I’d have to come up against her whole family, too. A family that I thought one day I’d be a part of.
I didn’t have any bad blood or feelings toward any of Catie’s family members. If anything, I thought they were all kind people. Most of them were like Mandy—good. They always welcomed me in, and when I’d asked her father, James, for Catie’s hand in marriage, he gave me a very loud yes. We smoked cigars together and sipped whiskey to celebrate.
Clearly, I hadn’t seen James since everything went down, and I had enough nerves to want to avoid the interaction completely. But that weekend wasn’t about me. It was about Noah and Mandy. So I’d put on my big boy pants and I’d perform the act of best man because that was exactly what Noah deserved—the best.
Thankfully, the only person who gave me a heartbreaking look when I entered their space was Catie’s mother, Sarah. Sarah always looked as if she was on the verge of heartbreak, though, so it didn’t sting me too badly.
Noah approached me the moment he saw me and wrapped me in a big bear hug. “You made it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I replied, hugging him back.
“First question.” He pulled back and patted my shoulders. “Where’s the girl?”
“She’ll be at the wedding tomorrow.”
“Great, wonderful. Next question. Who’s the girl?”
I snickered. The only information I’d given him was that I needed a plus-one. He made me promise to spill the beans the moment I saw him.
“Remember Yara? The girl from across Isla Iberia?”
“Ah!” His eyes widened as a wicked smirk hit him. He shoved me. “The nice girl!”
“Yup. The nice girl.”
“I told you that you liked her,” he claimed, smug about the fact, too. “Good for you, man. You deserve something good.”
Yara Kingsley was, indeed, a good thing. I still wasn’t convinced that I deserved her, though. I wasn’t certain any man alive deserved that woman.
Besides…
She wasn’t even mine.
Not for real, at least.
“Come on, buddy.” I squeezed Noah’s shoulder and nodded toward everyone waiting for us. “Let’s go get you fake married tonight until we get you real married tomorrow.”
When they paired us to walk down the aisle, I begrudged that I had to walk with Catie, but I didn’t show my irritation. Sadly enough, the best man had to be paired with the maid of honor.
Catie wrapped her arm with mine, and we practiced walking down the ridiculously long path. Unfortunately, when you had four hundred guests, there had to be a long path to the altar, due to all the rows of seating.
“You look really great, Alex,” Catie said as we walked down the aisle.
I grimaced and kept my steps forward. “Don’t talk to me.”
“Really? Are you going to be that childish?”
“Trust me, Catie, if I didn’t love Noah so much, there would never be a chance of me ever laying a hand on you again.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her pained expression as if my words had cut her deep. For a moment, I thought of taking them back. But then I remembered who she was and what she had done. I didn’t owe her my kindness. I didn’t owe her a thing. As we walked down the aisle, there was only one thought crossed my mind.
I wondered what Yara was doing back in Honey Creek.
I was counting down the hours until she joined me in the morning.
After the rehearsal, we all headed to dinner at one of the best Italian restaurants in town. The spot had a cigar lounge inside, and after the meal, James tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I’d like to join him, Noah, and the other groomsmen for a smoke while the women shared a few glasses of wine and gossiped.
I agreed, taking my glass of whiskey to the other room.
“How have you been?” James asked as an employee brought out a tray of cigars. We sat beside one another in large, leather chairs that looked like thrones. The lighting was moody, dimly lit, and puffs of smoke could be seen from all viewpoints. “I know it’s been a while since we’d last chatted, and well, after the talk we shared I thought I would’ve been at your wedding to my daughter,” he explained.
“Funny how things change.”
“Funny, but not funny ‘haha’ more like funny ‘what the hell, Catie?’” We picked out our cigars, and James lit them for us. “That’s my daughter for you—unpredictable. Still, that unconditional love has me locked in.”
“That’s a good thing. I wished my parents had that skill.”
James gave me a sad smile before taking a puff of his cigar. He’d known the situation with my parents and how they’d abandoned me. Hell, we’d had a handful of heart-to-heart conversations about how I shouldn’t have let that define me, and that I was a person worth sticking around for. I would’ve really fucking loved to have that guy as a father-in-law. Noah was a lucky bastard when it came to his soon-to-be in-laws.
