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“We think you might be making a mistake,” Jude said, looking over at me.
His words woke me up. This was what this was about. Making sure my sister didn’t make the biggest mistake of her life. Making sure this wasn’t something she’d regret a month, two months, or even a year from now.
“You just met this guy.” I shifted my gaze from Jude to my sister’s face. “You’re giving up your entire life to move here and be married to him. Do you know anything about him?”
“I know everything about him.” She smiled over at Jared, and he smiled back. As their eyes met, I saw it. Love. It was clear as day. “I know he’ll do anything to protect the people he loves. I know he wants two kids that’ll be raised right here in the mountains. I know he spent six years in the military and wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
They continued to stare at each other—long enough that it made me feel a little awkward. I glanced over at Jude, who was watching the two of us, eyes narrowed as he studied us.
“And you?” Jude asked his brother.
That seemed to snap Jared out of whatever was going on between the two of them. “I know this is the woman I’ve been looking for my entire life.” He smiled at me. “You have a great sister, and my brother is pretty awesome too if you want to give him a chance.”
That statement sucked the air out of my lungs. If I wanted to give him a chance? Was it obvious what we’d done in the woods? Was my hair still mussed? Maybe I even had tree bark in the back that I’d missed on my quick check. Or it could just show on our faces that we were only minutes away from having been naked and as close as two people could get.
“I didn’t just fall in love with Jared,” Zoey said, directing her comment at me. “I fell in love with this town, and you will too.”
“Just give it a chance the rest of the weekend,” Jared said. “If you don’t love it as much as we do, you can leave and never look back.”
Jude glanced at me before speaking. “We were here to say the same to you. Give it some time to get to know each other before you commit to a lifelong marriage. It’s not too late.”
“We’re not calling off the wedding,” Jared said, fire in his eyes. “It’s already happened.”
“I’m talking about the paperwork,” Jude said. “You haven’t filed it yet. You had your ceremony and announced your love to your logging buddies and this town, but that doesn’t mean it’s law.”
“These logging buddies are family now,” Jared said. “For both of us. We’ve never had that, and now we do.”
I watched Jude out of the corner of my eye. There was more to this story. They’d never had a family. Their parents weren’t at this wedding, and neither were ours. Like Zoey and me, maybe Jude and Jared were each other’s family.
“Just the weekend,” Zoey said. “That’s all we ask.”
And now all three of them were looking at me. Jude, next to me, had such concern in his eyes. I knew he would push this if I really wanted it. He might even pull his brother aside and talk to him.
But I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to break up my sister’s new marriage. The problem was, I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. I needed time to think. I needed space. I felt like the walls were closing in on me.
“Excuse me,” I said.
And then I turned and ran from the bar. I had no idea where I was going, but the warm night air was comforting somehow. It made me feel a little less alone.
6
JUDE
“What the fuck?” Jared said. “This is the happiest day of our lives, and you’re trying to split us up?”
We’d plopped down at a table near the door, bottles of beer in front of the two of us. Zoey had returned to her guests, leaving us to discuss all this alone.
“It wasn’t my idea.” I stared at the door a long moment, just hoping she’d come marching back through. “She was standing in the bathroom before the wedding in nothing but a pair of panties.”
“That’s my sister-in-law you’re talking about,” he said. “Technically, you’re related too.”
“Not by blood.” I shook my head. “For the record, I fully support your wedding. When you meet someone you know is right, you’ve got to go with it.”
Jared narrowed his eyes at me. If anyone got me, he did. We’d been raised by our grandmother after our mom abandoned us. She was now somewhere, strung out on drugs. It was something we didn’t talk to anyone else about, but now that our grandmother was gone, we were all we had.
“You say that like you’re speaking from experience,” Jared said. “Is there something going on with Brooke?”
How did I answer that question? Yes, that something was the most Earth-shatteringly good sex of my life. But it went well beyond that. We’d formed a connection. I felt it, and I know she did. It was why her running out of here had been such a punch in the gut.
