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“How could I forget,” she deadpanned, following it up with a warm smile for him. “We’ll figure it out. I’m sure Beau would stand up there with you. You guys have a total bromance going on now.”
Beau. Lovely. Even though the man had been at many of the weddings I’d worked as a photographer and attended as a guest, I’d never had to walk down the aisle with him before. Yikes, talk about torture. Layla wouldn’t pair me up with him in her wedding, would she?
Oh, who was I kidding? Of course she’d do that. This was Layla for crying out loud. It was unfortunate that her efforts would be totally in vain, though. Beau didn’t like me like that. In addition to the wedding stuff, we’d hung out a lot lately thanks to the aforementioned bromance between him and Zac. But I could tell he only saw me as a friend or an acquaintance. It wasn’t romantic on his side at all. Sadly.
I swallowed, pushing away my melancholy thoughts. “Yeah, well, I may not have been in as many weddings as my sister over here, but if everyone I know keeps getting married, I’m gonna catch up.”
“Maybe you need to find yourself a groom, then,” she suggested, giving her shoulders an innocent little lift.
“I’ll stick to fictional heroes. No need for a second chance if they don’t break your heart in the first place.” I gave Zac an exaggerated wink. “No offense.”
He snorted. “None taken. Poke all you want, Lyndi. I have a sister. I know the drill.”
I wanted to spill the beans about his sister’s impending engagement, but I held back. Zac and Layla didn’t need to find out about it before Jo herself. That would just be rude.
“Aw, you’re right,” Layla said, wrinkling her nose at Zac. “She’s mean to you because you’re part of the family now. Or you will be soon, anyway. It’s kind of sweet actually.”
“Speaking of the family, since Jo’s here with Trevor, where’s Gray?” I asked.
“With Ms. Hattie,” Zac answered, then he let out a long sigh. “He’s introducing her to the Marvel movies. I told him they’d probably only make it through one of them—maybetwo—but instead of starting withCaptain Americalike he should have, he went withIron Man. He’s his new favorite. But technically, Captain America’s story happens first if you’re going chronologically.”
Layla and I shared a look, and she chuckled. “He loses me when he gets all in the weeds on this superhero stuff. I have a lot to catch up on with these guys.”
“Well, I guess I’ll let you get back to it.” I took another blueberry and popped it into my mouth, giving my sister an unrepentant smile.
“Bye,lurker,” Layla replied with a laugh.
As I turned away, my watch alerted me to an incoming phone call. Will’s name and number flashed on the screen, so I hurried off to the side of the outdoor event space and pulled my phone out of the camera bag I’d stashed under a table.
Catching the call just in time before it went to voicemail, I slid it nervously to my ear. “Will?”
“Lyndi. Hey. Don’t react.”
I blinked, totally shocked by the sound of his voice. I believed my caller ID, but since Will was supposed to be on deployment, seeing his number had thrown me for a loop. How the heck was he calling me from his own phone from a foreign country?
Then I snapped out of it, my eyes searching for Aria. I found her on the opposite side of the patio talking to a few guests, so thankfully she was too far away to hear me.
“Aria’s not with me,” I said into the phone. “What’s going on? Aren’t you supposed to be on the other side of the world right now?”
“I should be, but I’m not. I snagged a spot on the advanced party roster without telling Aria so I could come home early and surprise her.”
My mouth dropped open. “Shut up. No you didn’t.”
“I did.”
“We’re at Starlight. It’s the—”
“Valentine’s dinner. I know. I’m in the parking lot.”
Tears filled my eyes before he even finished his sentence. I’d seen way too many surprise military homecoming videos on TikTok, and the fact that he was here now to surprise my best friend had me ready to cry already.
“That’s amazing. She’s going to freak!”
“I hope it’ll be good. She hates surprises.”
I rolled my eyes. “She’ll love this one.”
“Fingers crossed. And actually, I was hoping you could help me make it happen since you’re there.”
