by Sam Ayers
“Downstairs. Having a cup of coffee, everything okay?”
“Yes,” she smiled. “I thought you got lost again.”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. T. I was there with him.” Liam grinned walking towards them.
“Oh, Liam, thank you! Your mom and dad are here already!”
“Really? I’ll be back soon,” Liam said to Connor and walked away.
“Doodle-bug, come with me, we need to greet our relatives,” Mrs. Taylor said as she pulled Connor along with her. Connor rolled his eyes and followed her. For the next half hour, it felt like he met and greeted relatives old and young, vaguely known and half of them forgotten. As he was about to excuse himself and walk over to his friends, he heard a grim voice behind him.
“So, the prodigal son has returned!” Mr. Taylor’s cousin spoke. “My, my, you have grown up. How does it feel to be back home? Getting a good place to sleep, good food, everything for free? Must be nice!”
Connor frowned and was about to retaliate when someone stood in front of him in a protective manner. Connor looked at Carter in shock as he spoke, “Uncle Roger, how nice of you to join us! Not very busy lately? Oh yes, I heard you quit your job. Why, the pay wasn’t good enough?”
“How do you know about that?” Roger asked rudely.
“Hmm . . . I heard a jerk was fired for being completely insolent and offensive. Do you happen to know who that was? Or should I enlighten you?” Carter asked in a calm yet firm tone. “Uncle Roger, before you degrade my brother, do look at yourself first. At least, Connor is independent and has a good job. And he isn’t the one trying to humiliate people here. So I suggest you behave or just turn to your right and keep walking till you reach the damn door! Another word about my brother, and I’m calling the security to drag your sorry ass out of this room! Come on, Connor, let’s go!”
Connor stood next to his brother dumbstruck. Carter turned around and walked away, pulling his brother along with him.
“What was that, Carter?” Connor asked once they reached the other side of the banquet hall.
“Look, I couldn’t help myself,” Carter scowled at the long gone man’s back. He ran a hand through his perfectly set hair, messing them so a single strand slid onto his face. Huffing, he tried to push it back. “Can’t really stand jerks like that. They’ll be good for nothing, entitled morons themselves, but they will try to ruin someone else’s day just to make themselves feel better. Of course he doesn’t get to do that to you! Whose brother does he think he was messing with? Well, nonetheless, let’s move on, shall we?”
“Thanks,” Connor said quietly.
“Anytime.” Carter gave him a small smile, patted his shoulder and turned around. He gasped and froze on spot. Looking at his gobsmacked brother, Connor threw a confused look in the direction that had Carter stunned; the sight put Connor in a similar plight.
Connor’s jaw refused to rise up off the floor, but he couldn’t really fault it. Harley had walked in, the perfect picture of pure elegance in a short, white, high-necked dress which was intricately embroidered. Her hair fell in soft curls that framed her face, and a smile lit up her face when she saw them.
No wait, not them. Just Carter.
Connor frowned a little when Harley walked towards Carter and gave him a gorgeous smile. Carter bent down to give her a quick kiss, and he slipped his arm around her waist and moved away. Connor adjusted his coat and walked to his table and sat next to Ethan, who was singing Harley’s praises. The rehearsal took place soon, followed by the dinner, and Connor couldn’t help glancing at Harley. Sometimes their eyes would meet, but she turned away soon. The toasts followed after the dinner, and Mr. Taylor smiled and stood up to give his speech.
“Good evening, everyone. For those of you who don’t know me already, I’m Miles Taylor and this is my beautiful wife, Mae. We are the parents of the groom. We’d like to thank everyone for joining us tonight. Six months ago, a very good friend of mine, Matt Evans introduced us to his daughter. My son was quite taken when he met her. Once we got to know Harley, we knew she would fit right in, and now it’s hard to imagine our family without her. Harley, dear, we love you, and we are so happy that you are marrying our son. Carter, your mother and I love you so much, and we are very proud of you. I don’t want to hold up this celebration. It is now my pleasure to propose a toast to the happy couple. Congratulations! Let’s wish Carter and Harley every happiness and a long life together.”
Mr. Taylor smiled and went back to take his seat. Just as Carter was about to stand up to give his speech, the lights dimmed and a spotlight fell on someone standing in front of them. That someone was none other that Connor.
“My turn.” Connor smirked and winked at them.
“Oh God, no!” Carter groaned. He was about to stand when Harley grabbed his hand tightly.
“Let him,” she whispered. Carter sat down and sighed heavily.
“Hello everyone,” Connor said with a smile. “Yeah, I’m back! I can just see the shock on all your faces. And for all those who don’t know me, I’m Connor Taylor. NOT the best man; unfortunately, I’m Carter’s little brother. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna take long. Frankly, I was so shocked when I received the wedding invite, but not because Carter was getting married. No. Today, I think for just five minutes I got the old Carter back. You see, I was a bit weak when I was young, always bullied. And got beaten up sometimes. It was Carter who used to protect me, who used to fight those bullies for me. And I was so lucky to have a brother like him.”
Connor paused and looked at his brother who nodded, asking him to continue.
“The day I realized I could fight my own battles, I left. At times, I regretted the decision. But things happen for a reason. Strange things! Recently I met a girl who was so charming and gorgeous, but she found someone better.”
Harley held onto Carter’s arm, and he patted her hand lightly. Connor, who noticed this, frowned a little. “Carter, I can never be that someone who’s better. You are! Bro, all I want is for you to be really very happy. And I know that Evans will make you happy, because she’s awesome like that. So, Carter, thank you for all those years. You have been a great brother to me, and we’ve had some excellent times together. I wish you both all the happiness in the world, Carter and . . . Harley. Congratulations!”
With that Connor toasted to the couple and walked back to take his seat. Liam looked at him and sighed lightly. His best friend was hurt and there was not a thing in the world he could do to fix this. After all, his hands were tied.
It was Carter’s turn for the speech, and he stood up with a huge smile on his face. “Good evening everyone,” Carter began with a huge smile. “On behalf of Harley and myself, I would like to thank everyone for attending the rehearsal earlier this evening, as well as this wonderful dinner. First of all, I would like to thank my parents for hosting the dinner and for all the love and support. I also want to thank Harley’s parents, Amanda and Matthew for everything they have done to support Harley and me. And to my beautiful fiancée, Harley, I can’t thank you enough for saying yes. It might not be easy, but I know we can handle anything as long as we are together. My heart is ever at your service, darling. So, thank you everyone, please enjoy yourself. In three days, we do it all again. Thank you.”
Carter smiled and walked towards Harley and kissed her cheek lightly. She smiled as he grabbed her hand and kissed it too.
Just then, Connor stood up, Liam and Ethan looked up at him.
“Listen, I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be back soon,” Connor said and excused himself.
“Do you think he’s okay?” Ethan asked, worried eyes trailing after his lost-looking cousin.
Liam sighed. “You know how Connor is, if he doesn’t want us to see, we won’t. He may well be shattering but all he will show us is that crazy big smile of his.”
The party continued and it took them another fifteen minutes to realize that Connor hadn’t come back. Everyone was talking about the wedding and other things,
and they had forgotten that Connor wasn’t there with them. Ethan decided to let his father know, so he walked towards his dad and whispered in his ear, “Dad, bad news. Connor is missing.”
“Again?” Brandon asked, shocked, and Ethan nodded in silence. “Okay, don’t tell anyone yet. I’m going out to search for him. I’ll call you when I find him.”
“What will I tell aunt Mae?”
“Just tell her that Connor and I went out to get some fresh air,” Brandon said as he walked briskly towards the exit. He went downstairs and asked at the reception if Connor had booked a room or something. When they said no, he decided to search the restaurant and the café. Brandon tried calling Connor’s phone, but it was switched off. Finally, he stood in front of the bar and contemplated whether to search for his nephew in there. Sighing, he walked in and quickly spotted Connor sitting at the bar and chatting with the bartender. The girl kept laughing as Connor said something funny.
Brandon walked towards him and touched his shoulder. “I was searching for you all over the place! Seriously, Con, a bar?”
“Oh hi, Uncle Brand,” Connor grinned. “Why were you searching for me? I’m not the important person here. Carter is! Go, search for him!”
Brandon looked at the counter to see four empty glasses, “Connor, please tell me you didn’t drink all this? Great! You’re drunk!”
Connor chuckled and asked for another shot. “This is diet coke, Uncle. I just asked Rosy to add whatever she wanted! She’s awesome, you know?”
Brandon frowned as he pulled out his phone to call Ethan.
“What? You don’t think she’s awesome?” Connor asked, pouting. “None of the girls I find awesome like me! You know Harley? Harley Evans? Carter’s fiiiiaannncée? She’s awesome! I like her. But she said no! End of the story.”
Brandon cut the call and sent his son a text instead. He looked at Connor and asked, “What do you mean you like her? Connor, are you out of your mind? She’s marrying your big brother!”
“See! Not cool! You aren’t happy for me, but do I give a damn? NO!” Connor said cheekily. “No one’s happy for me! Because I’m the prodigal son!” Connor slowly climbed up the chair and onto the bar counter. “Listen to me! Hey, world!” He shouted loudly, attracting attention. “I love a girl, who doesn’t love me back! And no one is happy for meee!”
“Damn it, Connor, get down!” Brandon called as he tried to pull his nephew down. By now, Liam and Ethan had walked in and with their help, Brandon managed to get Connor down.
“No one loves me!” Connor sulked and plopped onto the chair again. “I wanna go home!”
“What is going on here?” Liam asked as he noticed the drunken state his friend was in. “Why is he so drunk?”
“We need to take him home,” Brandon said. “Mae would be upset if she sees him like this. Do you guys have any idea what to do now?”
“He can crash at my place,” Liam said quickly. “But he’s gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow. C’mon, Con, let’s go!”
They pulled him up to his feet, and Connor grinned. “Take me back to the dinner. I need to tell Harley how I feel! I should be the one standing there with her, not him! Not Carter! I’ll show him I’m—” At that, Connor fainted in Liam’s arms.
“What has he done to himself? This crazy kid!” Brandon sighed and raked his fingers through his hair before helping Ethan and Liam to carry Connor out to the car.
“Don’t worry, guys,” Liam spoke as soon as they managed to get Connor inside the car. “He’ll be okay.”
“Can I come with you two?” Ethan asked eagerly. He looked at his father, who just nodded.
“Sure! We need to stop at my sister’s place to pick Padfoot up. He’s needs a babysitter, and you are perfect for that job.” Liam smirked as he got behind the wheel and started the car.
Even as the rehearsal dinner came to an end, Connor’s disappearance midway nagged at Harley and she sighed, resting her head on one hand as she wondered what had happened. It was obvious from his speech that he loved and respected Carter, but then why go missing after a speech like that? Was he really alright?
Maybe he left, her subconscious pointed out. He couldn’t bear to see you with Carter.
When a hand slid over her waist, she jumped and turned around to see Carter giving her a charming smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said chuckling a little. Harley smiled and shook her head.
“Excuse me for few minutes, Carter, I need to go to the restroom,” she said moving away a little.
“Sure, darling!”
Harley rushed out of the banquet hall and was searching for the restrooms when she spotted Lillian walking ahead. She changed course and followed her quietly. Lillian was deep in conversation with someone on the phone. Harley couldn’t help but overhear it.
“Seriously? That’s bad! No, just Tylenol would do and some strong coffee. Oh, he’s there with you guys? Padfoot okay? Oh! Oh my! No way, Liam!” Lillian let out a gasp. When she turned around, she spotted Harley and quickly said goodbye to Liam.
“Harls, what are you doing here?” Lillian asked in surprise.
“Searching for the restroom,” Harley explained. “What were you doing here? Was that Liam?”
“The restrooms are just around the corner, come along. I’ll tell you once we get there,” Lillian said and hurried off. Harley followed her best friend in silence and once they entered the restroom, Lillian spoke, “Harley, Connor drunk himself into a stupor and passed out!”
“What?” Harley exclaimed in horror.
“Look, Liam and Ethan had to take him back to Liam’s place. Padfoot was staying at his sister’s home, and Liam just brought him back. They managed to wake Connor up, and now he’s having some pain meds for his headache. Liam said Connor will go back to sleep soon. But seriously, he got drunk on your wedding rehearsal. Put two and two together and what do we have here? He loves you, Harls!”
“You think I don’t know that?” Harley sighed. “Connor thinks he loves me, but he really doesn’t. We are just friends, and I’m marrying his brother, Lily!”
“But you like him? You like Connor, too?”
“No!”
“Girl, you can lie to anyone but me!” Lillian glared. “Look, you should go back to the hall. Carter will be looking for you.”
“Where are you going?” Harley asked, walking out with Lillian.
“Home. I’ll probably visit Liam tomorrow. Don’t forget it’s also your bachelorette party tomorrow! You sure you want it at your new place?”
“We have a beach right outside our house, Lils,” Harley explained. “We can have fun there.”
“Fine! You can’t say no to anything tomorrow.” Lillian grinned. “Bye, Harls. Take care!”
After saying goodbye to Lillian, Harley picked up her phone and quickly texted Connor.
C, what is wrong with you? Why did you get drunk? Please don’t tell me it’s because of me! And we are going to have a nice chat tomorrow. If you run, I’ll find you and have a forceful chat with you. Okay? Take care. – H x
“Harley?”
She turned around to see Carter walking towards her. “Darling, we are going home. Almost everyone has left, except my parents and my uncle’s family. Looks like Connor left early with Liam, and Ethan went with them too.”
“Oh! Do you know why?” Harley asked innocently.
“I think . . . he got emotional during that speech.” Carter sighed as they walked out to the parking lot.
“Why isn’t he your best man, Carter? You guys were so close when you were young!”
“There’s the keyword, ‘were’. We aren’t now. Things have changed,” Carter said, opening the door for her. He then walked to the other side and quickly got in and rubbed his hands. “It’s a bit cold, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, very cold,” she replied with a sigh.
“Harley, people change. Connor became someone who was so different. We used to argue so much. And then it
got worse, we started fighting a lot. He had to go!”
“Carter, you are a good person, no doubt about that. But I’m sorry to have to say this. You aren’t the best brother out here. When your little brother started arguing with you, instead of retaliating, you could have sat down with him and had a hearty chat, tried to understand what was bothering him. You protected him when he was a kid, like any good big brother would, but why did you fail to protect him when he grew up? Did you ever realize your brother needed you so much that he was doing weird stuff just to get your attention? Argued with you just to get you talk to him?”
Carter looked at Harley, dumbstruck. He had absolutely no words right now. Seeing him so quiet, Harley continued, “Carter, I’m not gonna lie to you. Connor is a good friend of mine. Being the only child, I was always alone. It was hard to make friends. But two weeks ago, he came into my life and changed the way I looked at things! People who have Connor Taylor in their lives are really lucky. Because he’s a good son, a great friend, and a great daddy to Padfoot. One day he will be a great husband and an awesome dad! It’s up to you if you want this guy in your life like a good brother.”
Carter started the car without a word. What Harley had said made a lot of sense. He was the one who pushed Connor away. It really was his fault. In silence, they drove back home.
Meanwhile, Ethan sat in Liam’s living room, feeding some biscuits to Padfoot, who was confused as to why his uncle gave him treats instead of his daddy. Connor was in the guest room, snoring loudly, and Liam thought that he sounded like a broken tractor.
Liam ended his call with Lillian and went back to the living room to see Ethan giving Padfoot some water. After drinking it, Padfoot kept looking at the guest room.
“Do you want to go to bed, Pads?” Ethan asked, and the little pup woofed. “Okay, you can sleep on the bed. Be careful, Connor’s snores are horrible now.”
Padfoot wagged his tail and ran into the guest room. He jumped on the bed and snuggled next to Connor, who was still snoring loudly. Padfoot sighed and licked Connor’s face once before he lay down on the bed and soon fell asleep.