“Plus, this way, we get to have a tour before the rest of the party arrives,” Scott added, nervously glancing around as gravel crunched under his tires in the parking lot at the winery. “I can’t believe we haven’t had time to come out here before now to see what you’ve done to the place for the night.”
“It was supposed to be a surprise.” I chuckled as I unbuckled my seatbelt, then got out of the car. “Welcome to your rehearsal dinner, though.”
As they climbed out, I waited for them to join hands and then stepped to the side, gesturing dramatically at the big canvas sign with their names printed on it standing in front of the tasting room. “I really hope you guys love it.”
Lights had been turned on beside the rocky path to the entrance and a string of them hung above the old barn door that led into the tasting room. With the sun starting to set in the distance, it was beautiful, and one look at my sister told me she wholeheartedly agreed.
They followed after me. As I showed them where we’d set up for the dinner and took them to the area where the ceremony was going to be held outside, I heard her whispering to Scott about what a great job I’d done.
Relief mingled with pride when I turned to face them after the tour. “What do you think? This is going to be better than the park, right?”
“So much better,” Teddy gushed, tears of happiness—I hoped—in her eyes for once as she clasped her hands together in front of her chest and swept her gaze around the space once more. “I love the park. Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve married Scott anywhere, but this is like something out of a fairy tale. I’m so glad you offered to help with the wedding, even though it’s been a little more stressful than I thought it would be.”
“I’m sorry about the stress, but as long as you’re happy with this, I’m happy. That’s all I ever wanted.”
“I’m so happy,” she whispered, launching herself into my arms and giving me a huge hug. “I can’t believe you did all this.”
“Well, I had a little help from my friends,” I conceded. As if we’d planned it that way, Emma chose that moment to walk out of the reception venue and out into the garden where the actual rehearsal would be taking place.
She looked beautiful, as always, wearing a simple yellow sundress and golden, strappy sandals. Her hair was loose and her makeup minimal, but she took my fucking breath away. It surprised me again how viscerally I’d been reacting to her recently.
I’d liked her back in high school. A lot. Once I’d finally realized she wasn’t a kid anymore anyway. That summer we’d spent together had been great, but I had never let myself get too invested. I’d been on a one-way path to leaving Rockdale, and I hadn’t wanted anything to hold me back—not even the girl I’d been convinced I was falling in love with.
After Teddy and I had left, it had taken me some time to get her out of my head, but then I’d met Anna. She was very different from Emma, but I had liked that about her at the time. It had been easier to forget about the girl I’d left behind when I’d had this hot, streetwise chick with a sharp tongue and sharper wit to distract me.
One thing had led to another with Anna, and it had felt like, before I’d even blinked, she and I had been together for years and we were talking about marriage. Somewhere along the line, Emma had faded into my past. Even thinking about her had felt like cheating on Anna, so eventually, I wouldn’t even let myself do that.
Seeing her now and feeling that familiar bone-deep attraction to her every time I did reminded me of the way she used to make me feel, though. It reminded me of why there had been times before we’d left that I’d wondered if I was doing the right thing for leaving her behind.
Teddy went over to hug her and the two of them bent their heads together, talking and laughing while I remembered why Emma was just as out of reach to me now as she had always been. She was my little sister’s best friend, and that was all she could ever be.
Despite knowing that I couldn’t act on how drawn I felt to her, I couldn’t help imagining that it was the two of us who would be walking down the aisle and starting our lives together as the rehearsal finally got underway. If it really had been us about to get married, it would’ve been the most fulfilling journey of my life.
I watched her closely as we went through the motions. My mind constantly put her in my sister’s place as the bride.Emma is going to be a fucking stunning bride one day.
As the thought hit, I felt a pang of regret that it wouldn’t be me she’d be marrying.Who knows? In another life, it just might have been.
If I hadn’t left when I had and we’d come out with our relationship to give it a real chance, it was very possible that the girl next door might have one day become my wife. I envisioned it for a moment, the simple life.
A life here in Rockdale with her, but when I blinked, the moment was gone and I was glad for it. I hadn’t been cut out for that life. As much as I was attracted to Emma, I never would have been happy to have settled down here with her. I’d always have wondered what I was missing out on out there in the real world, and the truth of it was that I would’ve been missing out on a lot.
New York City. Parker and the guys. Traveling. My entire fucking career. None of those things would’ve been possible for me if I’d stayed here, and I was better for having it all in my life.
Shaking off the idle fantasies, I tuned back in and listened to the officiant when he explained who would be doing what and when. Suddenly, just after he told us we could go and that we were done here for the evening, a commotion broke out behind me.
“Really, Caitlyn? Here? Tonight?”
“Stay out of it. It’s not like you care, anyway.”
“Are you insane? We’re getting married. Of course, I fucking care.”
I spun toward the sound of the loud arguing. My gaze immediately zeroed in on Reece and Caitlyn standing at the back. He must’ve gone straight to her after he left the spot next to the podium where I was still standing. I didn’t know what could’ve happened so fast, but it was clear that he was pissed as hell.
He grabbed his future wife’s phone out of her hand and glanced down at the screen. It was almost like I could see the burning rage that thundered through him. Every muscle in his body tensed and his face turned bright red before all the blood left in a rush and left him as pale as a sheet.
As he looked at the phone, he sneered and threw the thing down on the ground to smash it. When he raised his foot to stomp on it, Caitlin lost it and started screaming.
“Don’t you dare, Reece Walsh. You have no right. You hear me? No right.” She raised a trembling hand and pointed at his chest, her face a mask of hurt and rage as she descended into a complete and utter meltdown. I couldn’t even make out what she was saying anymore, but as I looked around, my gaze caught on Teddy and my jaw clenched.