If he could have been anyone’s ‘the one’ it would have been Laurel’s, he realised. But he didn’t have that kind of faith in himself.
His father was waiting at the door, and he frowned at Dan as he climbed the steps to Morwen Hall. Suddenly, the Gothic exterior seemed all the more appropriate for the week Dan was having, and he spared a glance up at the architecture rather than meeting his father’s gaze.
‘Where have you been? Melissa will be here any second and Riley has been asking for you.’ Wendell grabbed him by the shoulder and led him off to a side room, near the hall where the ceremony was taking place.
‘Asking for me?’ Dan frowned. ‘For me? Why?’
He’d been trying to get his brother alone all week, and now he had him he didn’t have a clue what to say.
Don’t marry her...she’s the devil incarnate. But if you love her...if you think you can be what she needs and that she can be who you need...then take that chance. Jump and forget the safety net. Be a braver man than I am.
‘Damned if I know. He’s in here.’
And with that, Dan was cast into the side room, where his brother stood by a window, looking very much as if he’d like to climb through it and make a run for it.
‘Riley?’ Dan said, closing the door quietly behind him. He had a feeling this conversation would be best unobserved. ‘Everything okay?’
Riley spun to stare at him, eyes wide with panic. ‘Am I doing the right thing? Marrying Melissa?’
Dan closed his eyes. Everything he’d wanted to say to Riley had flown out of his head, pushed aside by the memory of Laurel’s face when he told her no.
‘How should I know?’ he said eventually.
It wasn’t as if he was the expert on all things romantic. Look at the mess he’d made with Laurel.
‘Because you’re my big brother!’ Riley ran a hand through his hair in despair. ‘Look, I’ve never asked you for anything before. I know you resented me coming along and ruining your only child status—’
‘I didn’t—’ Dan cut himself off. Had he? He’d always thought it was the other way—that Riley had stolen everything from him. But what if that wasn’t the whole story?
‘Yes, you did. But that doesn’t matter now. Because you’re my brother, and I need you, so you have to help me. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ Dan said, settling down into an armchair in the corner of the room. ‘What do you need?’
‘Thank you.’ Riley sank into the chair opposite him. ‘So, how do I know if I’m doing the right thing? Marrying Melissa?’
‘You remember that my only experience of marriage ended in divorce, right?’ Bitter, painful divorce.
‘Then I’ll learn from your mistakes,’ Riley said desperately. ‘Why was it a mistake to marry Cassie?’
‘Because I wasn’t enough for her.’ The words were automatic, the feeling ingrained. ‘She wanted more than just a stuntman. She wanted a star.’
Riley frowned. ‘That can’t be all of it. She wouldn’t have married you in the first place if that was all there was.’
‘I...’ Dan stalled. Was he right? What else had there been? He’d spent so long not thinking about Cassie, not wanting to examine what he’d lost. Had he missed something?
‘She said... Right before she left she said that I wouldn’t let her in. Wouldn’t let her be what I needed.’
He hadn’t known what she meant then, and he wasn’t sure he did now. But he knew what he needed, at last. He needed Laurel. And yet he couldn’t risk having her.
‘Well, that’s no help at all.’ Riley sighed. ‘Okay, well, what about Laurel? You two seem pretty close. How did you know that she was the one?’
‘Riley, you and Melissa were engaged before I even met Laurel. Besides...it’s not what it seems.’
‘What it seems?’ Riley raised his eyebrows. ‘What is it, then?’
‘We were...’ Now Melissa knew it meant Riley would also know soon enough—along with the rest of the world. He might as well tell his brother himself. ‘It was a prank, I guess. We’re not really together. We just thought we’d pretend this week, so neither of us had to come to the wedding alone.’
It sounded pathetic, put like that. And more like a lie than telling everyone they were together had, somehow.
Riley’s eyebrows were higher than ever now. ‘A fake relationship? Really?’ He shook his head. ‘Man, you’re a better actor than I gave you credit for. Because you two sure looked like the real thing to me.’
The real thing. Not an act...not a stand-in.
Could he have that? For real? He’d run when she’d suggested it, knowing he couldn’t live up to expectations and not wanting to disappoint her—or risk the pain when she realised the universal truth that Dan Black was Not Enough.
But what if he could be? What if he could have been for Cassie? For Riley? For his parents, even?
What if he could change his story? What if it wasn’t too late?
He shook his head. One epiphany at a time.
‘Yeah, well. Today’s not about me and Laurel. It’s about you and Melissa,’ Dan said, bringing the conversation back to the more urgent matter at hand.
The wedding was supposed to start... He checked his watch. Now. The wedding was supposed to be happening right now. He needed to sort out Riley’s head—and then maybe he could start on his own heart.
‘So...why did you ask her to marry you in the first place?’ he asked.
‘I didn’t really, I don’t think.’ Riley’s forehead was scrunched up a little, as if he was trying to remember. ‘It was more like we’d been dating for a while, you know, and it seemed like the logical next step. Well, that’s what Melissa said in her interview afterwards, anyway.’
‘Of course.’ Dan rubbed a hand over his forehead. ‘Okay, tell me this. What’s got you thinking all these second thoughts anyway?’
Riley sighed. ‘It’s this thing with Noah and Eloise. Melissa seems kind of...worked up about it. I think she might even have had something to do with it hitting the internet.’
‘I’m certain she did,’ Dan said evenly. ‘So? How does that make you feel?’
He was starting to sound like that therapist Cassie had wanted him to see. He’d gone once and refused ever to go back. Even in LA, not everyone needed to see a therapist.
‘A little uncomfortable, I guess. But...it’s kind of part of the job, right? The publicity and everything. I mean, we take it when we want it, so we have to put up with it when we don’t too.’
‘I suppose so.’ Another reason to be glad he was merely a very successful businessman and stuntman, rather than a star. He didn’t want anyone prying into his private business, thanks. ‘Okay, so, next question. Why do you want to marry Melissa?’
‘Have you seen her? She’s gorgeous. And she’s a rising star. Together, we can be a proper Hollywood power couple.’
‘And do you like her?’
Never mind love, Dan decided. That could be fickle as anything. But liking was important. Liking was what got you through the long days and the bad times. Having a friend at your side.
As he’d had Laurel this week.
Not thinking about Laurel.
‘You know, I really do,’ Riley said, smiling soppily. ‘I mean, I know she can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but when it’s just us...she’s funny, you know? Like, when she’s not being “Melissa Sommers, film goddess” she can just be Mel. And that’s nice.’
‘Sounds like you have your answer right there, then,’ Dan said.
‘Yeah. I guess I do.’ Riley looked over at him and frowned. ‘But what about you? There’s seriously nothing going on between you and Laurel? Because, honestly, I thought the two of you might spontaneously combust, the looks you were giving each other at the dinner table last night were so hot. I reckon
you could be in there if you wanted. You should give it a go, man.’ He clapped a hand on Dan’s shoulder and grinned. ‘Love’s great, you know?’
‘If you say so,’ Dan said, non-committal.
He knew how great it could be. Could sense even now how phenomenal he and Laurel could be together. But that only told him how much more it would hurt to lose it.
‘Come on. We need to get you married.’
Then he could get back to his regularly scheduled life. Without love, without Laurel, and without all these feelings that made his chest too tight.
* * *
The wedding was perfect.
Laurel strode into Morwen Hall ahead of Melissa and their father, ready to stage-manage the wedding of the year and make sure absolutely nothing stopped Melissa and Riley from getting married—as long as they both still wanted to.
With all that determination she’d built up, it was actually kind of an anti-climax when nothing went wrong.
Riley was waiting at the front of the aisle when she checked, and even Eloise was waiting with the other two bridesmaids. She looked kind of detached—as if she wasn’t going to let anything about the day affect her.
Laurel couldn’t blame her for that.
She sidled up to Eloise as they stood outside the ceremony room, waiting for the signal to start the procession. Caitlin and Iona were fussing with Melissa’s train, while the bride checked her reflection one last time and straightened the tiara on her veil-less head.
‘Told you she wouldn’t wear the veil.’
‘You were right,’ Eloise said, with no emotion in her voice.
‘You okay?’ Laurel asked, lowering her clipboard and looking up at her, concerned. ‘I heard... Well, there’s been a lot of talk this morning.’
‘I’m sure there has,’ Eloise replied serenely.
‘You seem very...calm,’ Laurel said. ‘Serene, even.’
Eloise gave her a small smile and raised one shoulder in a half-shrug. ‘What else is there to do?’
‘I suppose...’
She could be calm too, Laurel realised. She could ignore everything Dan had said, go on about her life without him and pretend the whole thing had never happened. She could act as if it didn’t hurt until the pain faded away for real.
Or she could get fired up, say what she really thought, and go after everything she wanted. Even if he said no, even if he didn’t listen. Even if he could never love her... Wouldn’t it be best to know for sure? To face him down and tell him everything he needed to hear before he made that decision?
To take a chance at being the princess who rescued the prince from a life of never being good enough for love.
That was a starring role Laurel could really get behind.
Never mind serenity. She had something much more important to fight for.
True love.
After so many years believing she wasn’t good enough, and trying so hard to be anyway, she’d broken free. She was done with trying to earn love. She was going to demand it instead.
The string quartet at the front of the ceremony room started a new piece and Melissa gave a little squeal. ‘It’s time!’
‘Good luck,’ Laurel whispered as they lined up in their assigned order. ‘I’m going to head in and watch from the front.’
Where she could keep an eye on everything. And grab Dan the moment this was over and give him a piece of her mind.
* * *
From his seat in the front row Dan watched Riley’s face light up as he saw Melissa walking down the aisle towards him and hoped that his brother had made the right decision. As much as being married to Melissa would drive him insane, for Riley it was a different story. Anyone who made his face light up like that, as if his heart was beaming out happiness from within...well, he had to give his brother kudos for taking a chance on that, right?
Then he glanced across the hall and spotted dark brown hair above a blue dress and felt his own heart start to contract.
Laurel.
She’d slipped in to take a seat in the front row on the other side of the aisle, a few chairs down from her stepmother. Her cheeks were flushed, and even at a distance he could see the brightness in her eyes.
That was not a broken woman. Whatever she might have hoped for, his turning her down hadn’t caused her any pause at all. She’d stormed inside, dealt with Melissa, put on the wedding of the year—and kept every ounce of her composure while doing it.
He was so proud of her he could barely breathe.
It was good that he was leaving, he reminded himself as Melissa and Riley took their vows. Good that she’d be free to seek out all the things she wanted from life, away from Melissa’s shadow. Away from the distraction of their affair.
Laurel had the strength now to go out and find her prince, her happy-ever-after—he could feel it and he was glad about that. Really he was.
So...why did it feel so wrong?
Almost before he knew it the ceremony was over, and Riley and Melissa were walking back up the aisle, arm in arm, ready for what was sure to be the longest wedding photography session in history. Sighing, Dan got to his feet, hoping he could grab a drink at least before he had to loiter around waiting to see if they actually wanted the non-famous brother of the groom in any of the shots.
But before he could start to follow them out of the hall he felt a small hand on his arm and looked down into Laurel’s blazing brown eyes.
‘Don’t you say a word,’ she snapped, with all the fire and determination he’d seen in her earlier barely contained. ‘Because I have a lot of things to say to you. And you are going to listen, and then I am going to go and organise the wedding breakfast. Okay?’
‘Okay.’ Dan blinked. ‘Wait, I mean—’
‘Too late. Now listen.’
She took a deep breath, and Dan braced himself for a list of all his faults—probably organised alphabetically, knowing Laurel.
‘I know you think you can’t have this. That love isn’t something that stays for you. But you’re wrong. Maybe you haven’t found the right woman yet, or maybe you don’t let any of them in enough to love you in the first place. But whatever it is you have to give it a chance, Dan. You have to be the hero of your story too, you know. You can’t always be the stand-in, the fall guy, the one who gets beaten up and edited out. You don’t have to be a star to chase your own happy-ever-after, okay? And this week...this week you showed me all that about myself. You gave me the confidence to stand up to Melissa—not to go behind her back and ruin her day, but to tell her the truth, to explain how I feel and to move on. To stop trying to earn her love because I thought I wasn’t good enough. I am good enough—for me. And that’s all that matters. You showed me that there’s life beyond Melissa’s shadow—and, trust me, I’m going out there looking for it. And I think it’ll be a crying shame if you don’t do the same.’
She let go of his sleeve and took a step back, staring up into his face as he tried to get his scrambled thoughts in order.
‘I get it if you don’t want to look for that happy-ever-after with me. You’re right—we only agreed to a fake relationship and I’m not going to try and hold you to anything more. But if you don’t want to try because you’re too scared—because you think you can’t be good enough, that you can’t live up to expectations—you’re an idiot. Because I’d rather have the real you than some mythical prince any day.’
He opened his mouth to respond, still unsure of the words he was looking for, but she reached up and put a finger to his lips.
‘One more thing,’ she said. ‘You also taught me that we each need to be true to ourselves and our own dreams—not try to be the people our families or friends think we are. We have to be our own people. And I wouldn’t be doing that if I didn’t tell you that my own person is in love with yours.’
Love. Love? Dan started to shake his head, but Laurel was already walking away.
‘Can’t stop. I’ve got a wedding reception to pull off, before I can go and start my own life. Goodbye, Dan.’
No. Not goodbye.
She was leaving him...walking away...and it was all his own fault.
The reality of his own culpability came crashing down so hard that he practically fell into the seat next to him. It was Cassie all over again—a woman he cared for walking away, seeking her own happiness because he couldn’t share it with her. No, not couldn’t—wouldn’t. He wouldn’t take that chance, that risk of not being enough for her. And that meant he’d always be alone. Always be left behind and put aside—not because there was someone better, but because he wouldn’t give enough of himself to find a true partnership.
He’d spent so long expecting people to leave, to be disappointed in him, he’d built up walls to stop them even coming in in the first place.
The question was, did he even know how to knock them down again? And if he did...could he risk it?
* * *
Laurel leant back against a pillar in the ballroom, wishing she could take off her stupid shoes, and watched Melissa and Riley take their first dance together as husband and wife.
She’d done it. She’d got through Melissa’s wedding without any major disasters—if you didn’t count the state of her heart. But even taking that into account she felt stronger, more certain about the future than she had in years.
The credits were about to roll on Melissa’s big day, and Laurel was still standing.
She raised her champagne flute just a little, toasting herself, and took a sip as Noah and Eloise took to the dance floor too, for the planned ‘best man and maid of honour’ dance. Laurel winced at the distant look on her friend’s face and hoped that the desperate way Noah was talking to her meant that he was apologising.
Somebody should, she felt. And, as she’d said to Eloise earlier, they couldn’t let the men they loved break them.
She wanted Eloise and Noah to work things out—find their happy ending. Even if she couldn’t just yet.
Proposal for the Wedding Planner Page 15