Smiling, I looked up at him, and his eyes lifted to meet mine. In that moment, I felt it. He didn’t have to tell me. I just knew. Tripp loved me, too.
Tripp
Present day
It had been a long day, with Bethy’s words replaying over and over in my head. All of the guys had eaten lunch with Woods, and then we’d spent the rest of the afternoon playing golf. Woods—not Rush—tried to talk to me about Bethy, which was a relief, since I didn’t feel like giving someone else the full backstory just yet.
I needed a plan. One that involved more than me following her every day. Bethy was talking to me now. I had to figure out what the next move should be. Because her words last night weren’t forgotten, nor would they ever be. They were the small ray of hope I’d been looking for.
I waited outside my hut for Bethy to come out of hers. We were due at rehearsal in ten minutes. Luckily, we weren’t being forced to dress in tuxes tonight—the dress code was dressy casual. Slacks and a button-up shirt would suffice.
Bethy stepped out, fidgeting with her purse. Her gaze swung up to meet mine, and she faltered a moment. She hadn’t been expecting me to wait for her. I had been doing the at-a-distance thing for so long now.
The pale yellow skirt she wore hit her at mid-thigh and was made from the type of flowy material that caught the breeze and teased you. She wore it with a sleeveless white blouse that tied at her waist and a pair of backless heels.
When I’d finished taking in every gorgeous inch of her, I lifted my eyes back up to meet hers. “You look beautiful.”
I could see the emotion flash in her eyes before she tucked her purse under her arm and stiffened. “Thank you,” she replied tightly.
“Did you enjoy your day at the spa?” I asked as she took a tentative step in my direction. She had to pass me to get to the rehearsal. There was no way around it. Unless she wanted to swim there.
“It was nice,” she said.
Neither of us moved. It was a standoff.
Finally, Bethy sighed. “What do you want?”
I grinned, amused by her exasperated tone. “To walk with you to the rehearsal.”
She started to say something, then closed her mouth. I watched her internal struggle. Finally, she caved. “Sure. Fine. Whatever.”
She walked toward the island, and I fell in step beside her. I didn’t push further by forcing her to talk to me. I decided this was enough for now. She wasn’t shoving me in the water and screaming at me. We had made progress.
Everyone was gathering on the stretch of beach where the wedding would be held. When we reached the group, Bethy finally stopped walking and looked at me. “I’m tired of this. We were friends once. We both loved Jace, and we both lost him. I’m done trying to blame someone other than myself. I don’t want to be angry anymore. It’s time I rebuilt my life and found myself again. So”—she held out her hand toward me—“friends?”
Friends. We’d never be just friends. But if that was what she wanted to do, then I could work with it. I slipped my hand into hers, and we shook.
Then she smiled. A real, unforced Bethy smile. “This is a good thing. Jace would want this. Right?”
I shook her hand and let go as she pulled it away. “Yeah. He’d want this. He’d want to see you happy.”
Bethy nodded. Then she turned and headed toward the group. I didn’t follow her, though. Not yet. I had to let the moment soak in. Bethy was ready to forgive me. We were going to be friends.
I looked over to see Woods watching me. I nodded my head and grinned at him before making my way over to receive my instructions, along with the rest of the guys.
“There’s the last one,” Thad said, pointing at me as I walked up. The lady with her hair up in a bun and an iPad Mini in her hands looked like she was the boss.
“Height problem,” she announced. “Della has you with Braden, but Braden is too short for you. Even with heels. Most women are too short for you, but Braden will be barefoot on the sand. It’ll look bad. Let’s see,” she said, scanning something on her iPad. “Where’s Bethy?” the lady asked.
“Yo, Bethy!” Thad called out, and Bethy turned to look over at us. “Come here.”
She walked toward us, her skirt dancing in the breeze. I hated knowing Thad was admiring the view, too. I was going to have to set him straight.
“Yes. Much better. She’s at least three inches taller. Not such a massive gap,” the lady said as she looked at Bethy. “Thad, you will be escorting Braden. And Tripp, you will be escorting Bethy. Now, for your positions,” she said, walking off with her back straight, pointing and barking commands at everyone in her wake.
“Yeah, but Tripp’s the best man, and Braden is the maid of honor. Aren’t they supposed to walk out together?” Thad asked. I shot a warning glare at him. If he had any intentions where Bethy was concerned, I’d remedy that real fast.
“This is my job. I’ll make it work. I don’t need your help,” the lady snapped at Thad, who shut the hell up.
I glanced back at Bethy. “You good with this?” I asked her. I was fucking thrilled about it, but I didn’t want to make her do something she didn’t want to do. I’d deal with the drill sergeant if I had to.
She shrugged. “Sure. Friends, remember?” she replied matter-of-factly.
I watched the breeze play with her skirt as she walked away.
“Friends, huh?” Rush said, coming to stand beside me.
“Yeah. She’s decided we can be friends,” I told him, not taking my eyes off her. She said something to Della, who glanced over at us and then back at Bethy. I saw Bethy nod, and Della looked relieved.
“I tried the friends thing with Blaire once. It lasted less than a week before I was stripping her naked in the back of my Range Rover. Good luck with that,” Rush said in an amused tone before walking off.
He didn’t have the history with Blaire that I had with Bethy. It would take a hell of a lot longer before I made that kind of headway with Bethy.
He had no idea what I had to overcome with her.
Bethy
“An Betty, see me!” Nate’s little voice called out. I spun around to see Nate in Rush’s arms as they walked into the rehearsal dinner. Rush bent down to set his son on the floor, and then his little legs were off and heading straight for me. Laughing, I opened my arms for him.
“My best fella is here,” I said as his little arms wrapped around my neck. Nate had been only a few months old when Jace drowned, and I’d spent a lot of time with Blaire during the months afterward. I couldn’t be alone. Watching Nate when they’d needed a sitter had been good for me, and we’d bonded.