by Zoe Forward
“They might. Noah mentioned something about you and Jake going together as a date?” Her gaze was too bright.
“That hasn’t panned out. You know the two of us tend to argue.” And end up kissing. Her gaze found Jake chatting with Noah.
“Oh. That’s too bad.” Her brows drooped.
“Mom, really? You tried to fix me up by sending me on that errand with him. How could you?”
Her mom waved a dismissive hand.“You’re a smart, career-driven woman. At your age, that’s where you need to be. Career first. Your generation settles down when they’re older. Times are changing. A bouquet catch doesn’t mean anything anymore.”
“Wasn’t it great-grandma who made the prediction about bouquet catching at your mother’s wedding? Hasn’t she been right since? You caught the bouquet at your cousin’s wedding and met Dad within a year. She was right three other times too.”
“Coincidence. That’s all.” Mom’s troubled gaze indicated she believed in the prophecy, more like a curse, and thought Becca would end up alone for the rest of her life. She didn’t need the additional stress this weekend of everyone asking about the bouquet catch in sympathetic tones. “Look, hon, I’ve got to run. They’re screwing up the buffet. If things change and you and Jake can manage to not kill each other and go together, as in really together-together tomorrow then let me know so I can sell the hell out of it to the rest of the family.”
In a blink, she was fussing at the caterers.
Mom used the h-word. Mom didn’t cuss. Like ever. This wedding really was making her crazy.
Her father marched up and pulled her into a bear hug. “Hey, Becca. Sorry I couldn’t catch up on your shenanigans on the West Coast last night.”
“Are you okay?”
“Bit bumped up, but nothing’s broken. At my age, that’s what matters.”
“I missed you.” She hugged him tight. She wanted him like this always, remembering the past and recognizing her. But his doctor had warned them his dementia would worsen.
He whispered back, “If you can nail him down, Jake is one hell of a catch. You could do better, but he’ll do.”
Not him too.
“Da-ad.” She hit two syllables with her reply as she glanced around to see who’d overheard. No one nearby. Her mom had flitted off to micromanage the bridesmaids, who hovered near a monster flower display at the front of the church. Becca tugged her hair to cover her flaming face. Her dad probably said it on purpose.
He belly-laughed and shot her a gotcha finger point.
“We’re not a thing. We had to do an errand together. Mom assigned us the task.”
“Your mother mentioned you asked him to be your date to the wedding. She seemed all jazzed about it.”
“It’s not going to happen. All we do is argue.”
Her dad glanced dramatically to where Jake stood. “Maybe he wants you two to be a thing. With the way the man keeps eyeing you… That boy has always eyed you in ways that tempted me to have a fatherly sit-down with him. As luck would have it, you always seemed oblivious. You preferred arguing him into annoyance.”
Her gaze wandered to Jake, where he laughed with the groomsmen. “He checks out anything female.”
“Well, he better not be checking out my wife.” He waved at Mom.
“Of course, he’s not checking out Mom. He’ll never see me as anything other than Noah’s little sister.”
Dad chuckled. “That boy never saw you as just Noah’s sister. He might believe he should think of you as Noah’s sister though. I offered him a beer a few Thanksgivings ago, but he turned me down…you know the kid never drinks.”
She frowned at him, wondering if his dementia had kicked in. The logic in thought progression made no sense.
“I’m not losing my mind right now.” He winked at her. “Hear me out. I hoped a drink might loosen him up and get him talking. He likes you, but he fears he’ll turn into his drunkard father. I met Jake’s father once before the abusive bastard kicked the bucket. Good riddance. The man did a head job on Jake. Made the kid think he’d be a relationship screw-up for the rest of his life. That’s why I think Jake bed hops. For you, though, I’m pretty sure he’d consider not falling into old habits, and it scares the hell out of him.”
“Dad, stop it.”
“What? Jake’s father was a drunken, abusive bastard to the boy. There’s a hell of a lot of fear in him. He needs a strong woman to show him he’s not his father. Someone like you.”
She covered her face with a hand. “Oh God. This is not happening. We are not talking about me and my brother’s best friend dating. This is the end of this conversation.”
“Hey, Becca. Is Dad being…Dad?” asked Michael while pulling her into a one-arm hug.
She gazed up into Michael’s face. The few lines around his face looked deeper than last year. “He’s doing the unwanted advice thing again.”
Her father grinned and walked off.
“So, how was the day with Jake?” Michael asked, concern in his tone.
What is this? A family conspiracy to set me up with Jake? “We only fought a little bit. He made the printer fix some mistakes. All in all, we survived.” She couldn’t meet Michael’s gaze. He’d know they didn’t just fight.
“That’s it. Nothing else happened?” His brows rose with the fake innocence he only cast when he knew something. Had Jake and he spoken about her?
“Like what?” She pinned him with her gaze.
Michael gave a half shrug. “Hey, you okay? I mean, this morning when you tripped over Mom’s vase thing, you seemed off.”
“Jet lag. Where’s Darcy?” She glanced around.
Michael grimaced. “We broke up last night. You were right. I caught her texting some other guy. This time it’s really done. Our thing has gone on as long as it could.”
She covered her mouth with her hand and jumped forward to hug him. “Are you okay? You guys were together, well on and off, for a while.”
“I’m glad I found out before… I can’t believe I was thinking marriage might be in the future. What’s worse is that I work for her father. I’ll be putting in my notice next week.”
“That’s awful.”
“Don’t stress it. I always land on my feet. It’s actually a relief. Managing IT for his hedge fund company bored me.” He grinned his go-to lazy smile despite the pain in his gaze.
“I’m sorry and wish we could talk more, but I’m being summoned by Mom.” She waved back at her mom. “Let me know if there’s anything you need. Shoot. I’ve got to see what she needs right now.”
The phone in her purse buzzed. Her real phone. Incoming call.
Pascal.
She would not be answering.
Text from Pascal: Haven’t received the info yet.
Jake chugged a bottled water like a dehydrated man after three days on a boat at sea. He snagged another bottle from the refreshment station. His body remained on fire from the auto-replay in his mind of Becca in the thong.
Even so, something had been off with her when the phone rang. He hadn’t missed the slight tremble of her hands and the way she nibbled on her lip. Maybe it had to do with the job she alluded to that sucked.
No intern should be under that kind of stress. Maybe her boss was pressuring her into… his mind spun with disgusting possibilities. He speared at a grape with anger riding high and broke the toothpick.
He cast aside the defiled grape with a curse and froze when he found himself under scrutiny from Noah who stood on the other side of the table of copious food items.
“Thought you were going to be Becca’s date today?” Noah asked.
“Maybe tomorrow. I don’t know.” Jake grabbed a sandwich with some unidentifiable pink meat and white cheese. Guilt dug a hole in his stomach about the episode less than a half hour ago with Becca as he bit into the caloric concoction. If Becca’s mom hadn’t called, they’d have been very late to this rehearsal. He met Noah’s gaze despite his best effort at avoidance.
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br /> A struggle played itself over Noah’s face. “What’s going on with you and my sister?”
Shit. His use of “sister” seemed intentional. “I had to drag her out of the bar last night. Then we were stuck together for half a day. That’s probably what’s going on.”
Noah’s gaze slid to the broken toothpick and grape. “Uh-huh. Well, she’s giving you some funny looks. Are you leading her on? Did you two…?”
“No.” He pretended interest in the fruit assortment, picking up a few grapes without use of a toothpick. “We had a long morning. A few arguments. I guess I better warn you we got caught at an Electronics World playing Zoneworld Warrior. Pictures were taken. There were probably social media posts. We were wasting time for the printer to fix a fuckup, but a manager at the Electronics World recognized me.”
Noah grinned. “Did the magazine article blow your cover?”
“Haha. Very funny.”
“Who won the game?”
“She did.”
“Good for her. Maybe it’s gloating she’s throwing you, then.”
“Something. I have no idea what your mom was thinking to force us together today.”
“Ah, Mom.” Noah’s shoulders lifted and dropped. “Here are the rings. It’s your job to watch ’em now.” He excavated a small box from his suit pocket and passed it over the food table to Jake. He looked relieved.
Jake popped open the box to see the twin platinum circles. “Did you get them engraved?” He plucked out a circle, shifting it in the light to see the inside only finding a maker engraving.
“Not yet. We can’t figure out what to say. No rush. We’ve got time to figure out the right thing, at least I hope so. Can you do me a favor tonight?”
“Sure.” Jake shoved the ring box into his inner suit jacket pocket.
“Since you’re not Becca’s date can you keep Reid away from her? That guy…I’ve known him since high school. He’s a jackass. Not the right kind of guy for her to tangle with. Becca becomes unpredictable with a few drinks in her.”
Jake tensed. “All right. Sure. I’ll keep Becca away from the jackass. Er, keep the jackass away from Becca. Can do.”
“And don’t lose the rings.”
“These are tough tasks.” He grinned. “I’ll do my best.”
The rehearsal ran a lot longer than expected. Now Jake watched Becca from across the reception entryway as she flipped through a photo album of the wedding couple. Sadness flashed across her face. She glanced up at an approaching guy he recognized as a reporter. She smiled, said a few words. The guy laughed. They flipped a few pages in the memory book together and chatted. Becca had a natural charm that put others at ease and drew them in. Some lucky bastard would enjoy that someday.
He arched his feet to alleviate their persistent ache. New shoes. Stupid. Standing through the minister’s never-ending lecture on fidelity in the middle of the ceremony practice run-through hadn’t helped.
Reid had vied for Becca’s attention throughout the rehearsal in a way that made Jake itch to punch him. The guy had cast her various funny faces in attempts to make her laugh. The schmuck seemed interested in her, but based on the way he’d eyed one of the other bridesmaid’s spilling-over cleavage, his plans were flexible. An any-girl-will-do guy wasn’t good enough for Becca.
Noah clapped him on the shoulder. “What’d you think of the rehearsal?”
“Great practice ceremony.” He aimed for a supportive smile but suspected the grin sucked.
“You’re a shitty liar.” Noah laughed and grabbed a glass of wine from a passing waiter. “It was boring as hell.”
“Please tell me you asked the minister not to do that particular speech tomorrow.”
“He’s one of Mom’s friends. I think they do a book club together or something. I realized a few months ago that I have little control over this entire fiasco. Once Emma was recruited to help, the wedding became a debacle of epic proportions. You will not believe the extravaganza we’re in for tomorrow. The minister? I’ve sat in his office four times in the past three months. I think the guy likes to hear himself talk. He’s obsessed about his couples avoiding divorce. So, no. I have no clue what he’ll drone about tomorrow, and I can’t stop him. I suggest you tune it out.”
“I had flashbacks to Bible school.” Jake shuddered. “But if there’s one couple who’s not headed for a quick end, it’s you and Tori.”
Noah chuckled. “My goal at this point is to survive this event until the plane is off the ground and we’re on our way to Fuji. Sunday morning. Me, Tori, a private beach, and clothes optional for five days. I plan to drink too much tonight since I can’t— Since Mom won’t let Tori anywhere near my place until tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, man.”
“I’ll survive.”
Jake nodded in Becca’s direction. “Reid’s an asshole.”
“Agreed. He’s a dick.”
“I’ll beat the shit out of him if you want. I don’t like him.”
Noah cast him a funny look “Nah. He’d look bad at the wedding, and Mom would never forgive you for ruining her photos.” Noah blew out a long sigh. “I can’t put Becca on my list of worries tonight. I’ve got fifty relatives I need to visit with. Shit, the thought of Reid trying to…with her… I can’t go there. But Mom’s half of the family has been pushing single guys at Becca all night. If she drinks too much… You should hear what happened at the bachelorette party when she got toasted on shooters.”
“What happened?”
“I couldn’t really get all the details, but it ended with Becca singing at the top of her lungs wearing some guy’s underwear.”
“Was she naked in his underwear?”
“Now that is a disgusting image. Eww. I don’t know. God, I hope she wasn’t. Ask her yourself, but getting more details on the event is like trying to crack the code of the secret sisterhood.”
“I got it tonight. No worries. I’ll make sure Reid isn’t successful without beating the crap out of him. I’ll be her designated get-home-safe person.” In my bed though? No promises. An image of Becca under him, naked and writhing, flashed in his head. The room suddenly felt stifling with too many people. He tugged to loosen his tie.
Noah said low, “Thanks. It might actually be a good idea if you were her date tomorrow.”
Shit. “If you need your parents distracted during this thing so you and Tori can have a few minutes alone, let me know.”
“Maybe.” Noah’s gaze settled on his soon-to-be wife. He shook his head and pinched his nose. “No. That’d be wrong. Too many people watching. There are at least three press people around here somewhere.” He glanced around. “I can’t wait for this to be over.”
“I’m going to save Becca from that reporter. Later.” Jake stalked to the memory table. “Hey, Becca.”
The reporter beamed at him, as expected. “Jake Allen, I’m from the New York Times.” The guy’s gaze darted down to Jake’s chest and then back up. The reporter’s eyes gleamed with the offer of any sort of sex.
“Yes, that’s me.” Jake sipped his cranberry drink, although he wanted to gulp it. Be nice to this guy. Be charming. Press persona. His gaze darted to Becca, who had resumed perusing pictures of Tori and Noah in the album on the table.
The reporter said, “I saw the cover article on you out this week. Great pictures.”
“Thanks. It was an enjoyable shoot in Milan. Becca and I were just going to see her parents, if you’d excuse us.”
“Of course.” The reporter politely backed off.
Jake latched onto Becca’s elbow and steered. He whispered into her ear, “Smile, please.”
She followed his lead with a grin and whispered back, “I thought he was going to ask you out.”
“Me too.”
“He was sweet, even if all he did was ask about you. It was kind of a relief to have a single guy who wasn’t nudged by a relative to ask me out. Do guys hit on you often?”
“Yes, especially at events. Reporters can
get vindictive if I’m not nice when they’re interested in more than an interview. It’s a tough line to walk.”
“You lean both ways?”
“No. I don’t have anything against it. It’s just not for me.”
She paused at a photo collage of Noah at the entrance to the banquet hall. She pointed to the middle of the collage. “Noah will die when he finds out Mom used his prom photo.”
“The braces are classic. I’m getting a photo of that.” He pulled out his phone and clicked a shot. “It might make an appearance at our next staff meeting.”
“He’ll die.”
“Well worth it to see him squirm. He keeps showing an embarrassing shot of me in cycling gear in a before-the-fall and after-the-fall scenario. I call this payback.”
She sobered. Her eyebrows snapped together. “He makes fun of your accident?”
Laughter shot out of him. “What’re you going to do? Beat up your brother for being mean to me?”
“I am fully capable of kicking his ass, even if he does have a hundred pounds on me. I know his weak spots.”
“It’s all good. I kind of miss cycling. But I was too competitive and kept crashing. After a broken wrist and collarbone, I decided the gym was less life-threatening.”
“I would’ve liked to see you in one of those spandex outfits,” she mumbled so low he almost missed it. She pointed at a picture of Noah as a kid with a dog and smiled. “I remember Bill. He and Noah were inseparable.”
“So, when will we be doing all this for your wedding, Becca?” He couldn’t believe he’d asked that.
She stared at him in silence. He prepared to laugh it off, but then she said, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get married.” So soft he almost missed it, she muttered, “Or live that long.”
Was she sick? She didn’t act ill, but maybe that’s why she hadn’t been herself since he ran into her at the airport. “Is there something wrong?”
“What? No.”
He wanted her happy. Becca wouldn’t be happy if she were alone for the rest of her life. She needed kids and big Thanksgivings and worrying over kids’ college funds. “You’ll find the right guy someday. There’s another sci-fi geek out there who’ll rock your world.”