June Bride (A Year in Paradse Book 7)

by Hildred Billings

  A veritable monster.

  Sunny was on the verge of tears as she faced reality. Brandy was out there somewhere, right now, shrugging off the hell her fiancée had shoved into her face. She had come to apologize to me. Her! Apologizing! To me! While it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibilities, Brandelyn was a proud woman who didn’t like to admit she was wrong. Everyone had their faults, of course. So happened Sunny was willing to overlook that personal fault because the good things about Brandy made up for that. She overcame that flaw for two seconds to actually apologize, and that’s how I respond?

  In the drunken heat of the moment, Sunny had lashed out the only way she knew how. Sober sunny, however, looked in the mirror and decided she didn’t like what she saw. Or what she saw beyond her own reflection.

  Brandy wasn’t simply somewhere stewing in her embarrassment. She was hurt. The thought that Sunny was the one to hurt her only made it worse. It wasn’t supposed to be like her. Her! Sunny Croker! The woman everyone said was as bright as her name and the friendliest gal around town. (When she bothered to go into town, anyway.) When Brandelyn and Sunny announced their engagement, it was to sage comments about how compatible they were. Two sides of the same coin. Opposites attracting, instead of reacting. Sunny would help mellow Brandelyn out, and Brandy would bring Sunny out of her shell. Instead, the stress of the wedding had completely thrown them out of whack. Brandy was so unmellow that the whole town felt those powerful reverberations, and Sunny had become more of a shadow than a ray of light.

  Brandy was right. This wedding would simply be one forgettable day in most people’s lives. The marriage itself was more important than a wedding. The wedding was simply a means to an end! Who cared if they got married in the woods or in a church? On the beach or in city hall? All that mattered was making the commitment to build a home together and bringing out the best in each other.

  The offered olive branch was inadvertently snapped in half, and Sunny had no one but herself to blame. It was up to her to somehow make it right. Immediately. Because the wedding was in a few days, and she would be damned if she was the reason it went up in flames.

  “Hand me my phone,” she said, renewed purpose crowning her voice. “I’ve got a call to make.”

  Anita stared down the look in Sunny’s eyes. Only when she received confirmation that Sunny wasn’t going to call Brandy – and make things worse, of course – did she slide the phone over and fold her hands upon the table.

  There was one emergency contact in Sunny’s phone that she was about to call for the first time ever. A contact that had been placed there in case something unfortunate ever happened to Brandelyn Meyer… and her mother had to know.

  Chapter 15

  BRANDELYN

  “Would you turn that frown upside down?” Cathy scoffed in her daughter’s direction. “It’s your bachelorette party. You’re not allowed to frown.”

  Brandy supposed one could call this a bachelorette party, although it looked nothing like Sunny’s drunken revelry at the local watering hole. There were no uninvited guests joining in and throwing breast-shaped erasers at the stage. No tacky, colorful drinks with naked lady straws. No hooting, no hollering, and definitely no drunks.

  Just how Brandy supposedly liked it.

  Her mother and sister surprised her with a trip to the coast, where they had the balcony of an upscale lunch spot to themselves. Freshly caught seafood sizzled on grills, spritzed with lemons and garnished with fresh herbs. Home fries cooked to perfection accompanied seasonal fruits. Every glass was filled with a respectable cocktail, although Cathy was already on her second mimosa. So was Brandelyn, though. The more she thought about her wedding, the more likely she was to indulge in a little champagne.

  She hadn’t spoken to Sunny in three days. Well, nothing more than a few short, snippy sentences. The wedding was still on, supposedly, but the rift between them only continued to grow. Brandelyn had been scandalized by the gossip around town. While nobody said it was about her, specifically, she knew the truth. The “wet fish” on everyone’s lips was Brandelyn Meyer, the woman who was scheduled to have the wedding of the year in Paradise Valley. Oh, but one shouldn’t expect too much from the wedding night. Poor Sunny! She would be doing all of the work! Good thing Brandelyn was nice to look at, huh? Because that’s all Sunny got.

  Her mother assured her it would pass. Honestly, Cathy was much more lackadaisical about the affair than Brandy anticipated. I was so embarrassed to tell her why I was upset with Sunny. Cathy had raised a minor stink when her daughter came home Saturday night on the verge of tears. Hadn’t she gone out there to apologize to Sunny? Why was she crying like she had been stood up at prom? Gosh, did she have to make everything about her?

  Not until Brandelyn gathered the courage to confess did her mother finally understand. To a point. “All right, Bran, it’s been two days. Go talk to her, already. I plan on attending a real wedding next weekend. Make it happen!” Yet Brandelyn didn’t have the heart to return Sunny’s calls, much like Sunny hadn’t returned her calls when the situation went the other way around. Now I know how it feels. Guess we can all go home now.

  She had been looking forward to her bachelorette party surprise ever since her family arrived from New York. Her mother claimed to have looked online for “the best spot for what I have in mind,” which naturally translated to “I really want to go to the coast, so we’re going to the coast.” Brandelyn loved the idea, though. Just her, family, and a few close friends who could make it? It should’ve been paradise. The day was clear and warm. The ocean was calm at that time of day. The few people on the beach behind them kept to themselves, with only a few dog barks to take them out of the moment.

  Yet Brandelyn could hardly look some of her friends in the eye. Mayor Karen Rath did everything in her power to avoid talking about what happened at Sunny’s bachelorette party. Oh, no, she hadn’t been there, of course, but she heard all about it Monday morning when she came into her office at city hall. When she saw Brandelyn that day, she offered a demure smile and said, “I’m sure everything will blow over soon.”

  The party was more akin to a wedding shower than a bachelorette party, but with the focus on Brandelyn, she could pretend that Sunny had no part in it. Even when she unwrapped the new place settings she had been asking for ever since she last perused a Macy’s. The bright yellow and green Fiestaware sets would look adorable in Sunny’s cottage, a place Brandelyn had been considering spending more time during the beautiful summer months. That’s how it should be. I’ll stay there during the summer, she’ll stay with me during the winter… we were going to figure it out, eventually. Sunny had conceded to change her address to Brandelyn’s house because it was bigger and more practical. (Although she would now have to pay city taxes, since at the moment she lived outside of Paradise Valley’s limits.) Except what would Brandy do in return?

  She loved that little cottage. It was where they first made love… and where they last made love. Was that what she was thinking about when she made those horrible comments at her party? Brandelyn hid her sniffing behind the box of bright green Fiestaware. Everyone who noticed politely looked away.

  “I just… really love it, Mom. Thank you.”

  “Aww.” Cathy held her hand to her chest and offered her daughter a kiss to the cheek. “Look at my little girl. Making a home for herself and her future family.” That kind smile soon turned into a frown of disdain at her other daughter.

  “Yes, yes, Ma!” Lizzie tossed her napkin down onto her empty plate. “City hall! Shotgun wedding! I know!”

  “Well, I know a thing or two about that myself,” Karen said, because she always loved to overshare about her marriage when she had a mimosa in her. That’s all right. She bought Sunny and me a spa day here on the coast. “Wasn’t city hall, but let me tell you, my mother gave me some dire looks when my ex-husband and I had to have a flash wedding at the American Legion Hall. Ah, well. My son is in college now! So, it wasn’t all bad.”

>   “Your daughter is an honor student at the high school, yes?” Brandelyn welcomed the change in topic that took the focus off her. “Was Anita Tichenor one of her teachers?”

  Karen instantly realized where Brandy was going with this. That was the only explanation for the fake smile through gritted teeth and an extra clench to her mimosa. “Yes. English. Christina really loves her.”

  Of course. Everyone loves Sunny and her best friend. Brandelyn didn’t hold anything against Anita, who had done her best to damage control an unfortunate situation. Yet anyone who was a best friend of Sunny’s right now wasn’t necessarily on Brandy’s side. I can’t believe there are sides right now… what are we doing?

  “Brandy, hon.” Cathy moved aside the gift bags. Some colored tissues attempted to fly away in the sea breeze, but Cathy stuffed them down beneath boxes of Fiestaware and the brand-new cappuccino maker. “There’s one last little present we have for you before dessert.” She cleared her throat. “It’s a bachelorette party, after all.”

  Half the smiles at the table disappeared. “Uh…” Brandelyn said. “Don’t tell me you hired a stripper.” Cathy? Hiring strippers? Even for her lesbian daughter, that was impossible. Brandy would only believe it when she saw it, and even then…

  “A stripper?” Cathy overcompensated her awkward laughter. Was it supposed to assuage Brandelyn’s fears that her mother had personally hired sex workers to descend upon this humble bachelorette party? Because it’s wasn’t working. It was only making everyone in the room look at her as if she really had hired strippers.

  Lots and lots of strippers, based upon that laughter.

  “You’re hilarious, dear.” Cathy finished her second mimosa and smacked her lips in glee. “Ooooh, a stripper! We couldn’t make your sister that jealous that you’re getting so much special treatment.”

  “Mom!” Lizzie snapped.

  Cathy ignored her. “You have a special present in the private dining room. Go on. Ask the hostess up front about it… oh, there she is!”

  The woman in jeans and a black blouse approached Brandy with a blindfold in her hands. “No,” she whispered to the bride. “It’s not a stripper. We wouldn’t allow that on these premises.”

  Brandelyn wasn’t sure how relieved she was. Not at all, really. That only meant something crazier was afoot. If she couldn’t anticipate her own mother’s actions? She might as well throw herself off the patio and land face first in the salty sands of Oregon’s coast.

  “If you have to be blindfolded,” Monica said, while perusing Instagram on her phone, “then it’s naughty, whatever it is!”

  “It’s not naughty!” Cathy insisted. “What kind of pervert do you all think I am? Look at this lunch. Isn’t it classy?”

  “Tell you what.” Brandelyn stood, accepting the blindfold from the hostess’s hand. “I’ll put this thing on if you get my mother another mimosa. She’s not driving, anyway.”

  Brandy couldn’t tell who hooted and who cheered her on to go “get that surprise you deserve.” She was too busy being blinded to the world. I have to admit, this is a little exciting… Everyone insisted it wasn’t a stripper, but for it to be for her implied it was more than a little special. Besides, if it were a stripper, odds were good her mother got her a male one, because Heaven forbid she and Brandy stay on the same page of these things.

  The hostess tested the knot Brandelyn tied behind her head. I can still see a few things… plenty of light around here. That would change as soon as she was led inside, where a few of the other diners choked on their food and drink to see a woman wearing a T-shirt that said BRIDE walking blindfolded into another room.

  “Have a seat right here, Miss.” The hostess guided Brandelyn to a chair by a window. She felt the draft and heard the ocean waves on the other side of the glass. Perfect combination to enjoy the afternoon by herself. If that’s what she were there to do, anyway. This was a blindfolded woman, after all. “Enjoy your party.”

  She was gone within a minute. Brandy pressed her hand against the window and sighed. Maybe my gift is getting some peace and quiet. Yet too much peace meant thinking about her predicament with sunny. Not really much of a gift, now was it?

  Someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Brandelyn almost knocked her whole body against the window. The gasp of fright overcoming her was only mitigated by the familiar scent of a woman she knew better than she knew herself.

  “Huh?” Brandy ripped her blindfold off, as if that had been part of the plan all along. Before her stood Sunny, wearing nothing slinkier than a pair of denim shorts and a peachy tank top that showed off her gardeners’ biceps. Yet it was the apologetic look on her face, tipped with pink lips and a pair of tender brown eyes, that almost made Brandy come undone. “Sunny? What are you doing here? Are you my surprise?” Brandy thought about it for two more seconds. “Wait. What did my mother have to do with this?”

  Sunny held up her hands to get Brandy to stop talking. “I called your mother on Sunday. Told her that I really need to make up what happened to you in some way. She told me that your bachelorette party was happening today and that I might come by to say hello… like you came by mine to say hello.”

  Don’t I seriously regret it, too. Brandelyn could be living in blissful ignorance right now as she prepared to marry the supposed love of her life. “Everyone in town is talking about me like I’m some…” She bit back the rest of her words. She couldn’t bear to repeat what she had heard.

  “I know. I’m sorry.” Sunny clutched her hands before her, as if she were about to get down on her knees and beg for forgiveness. She didn’t. Her fists merely pressed against her chest, facing the fact that she would not yet get to touch Brandelyn. “I also know that me saying I’m sorry doesn’t change the fact that I made a real mess of things.”

  “Why would you ever say something like that if you didn’t think it was true?”

  Sunny looked up from the floor, her big, bright eyes so clear that Brandy nearly gasped. I don’t care how beautiful she looks right now. She should be ugly crying and groveling on the floor! Oh, she thought that, yet the truth was that Brandelyn could look into those glistening brown eyes for the rest of her life. Wasn’t that one of the many reasons she wanted to marry this woman?

  “I don’t think it’s true. You’re a great lover, Bran. I wouldn’t be fooling around with you after all this time if it weren’t true!”

  “But you said those things… and it’s not like we really do it much anymore anyway…” Brandelyn chomped down on her bottom lip before it began to wibble. “I know we don’t have to make a lot of love for us to have a great relationship, but when you tell the whole town I’m like a wet fish, I can’t help but think it’s true!”

  “You know why I said that?” Sunny lowered her hands, palms open and fingers spread. “Because I thought of the meanest thing I could say when I was drunk. I was still raw from how I felt after our last fallout. Then Anita dragged me into the bathroom to knock some sense into me, and then you showed up, and…” She sighed. “I’m sorry. That’s all I can say. I can’t take it back, I can’t change what people are doing and saying… but I can apologize. I can tell you that I’m deeply sorry for what I said. And that I love you, Bran.”

  Brandelyn had been prepared to rip a new asshole into her fiancée’s tush. Honestly, she should have! Sunny was right. She couldn’t change what she had done or what effect it had on the town. Brandy didn’t care if it would blow over within a couple of weeks and everyone moved on to some new scandal. It still hurt, like a weight pulling down her heart through her ribcage.

  “You want to marry me after all that?” Brandy asked. “Do you still want to marry me after I’ve made you wear clothes you don’t want and completely took over all the planning? You still want to be with me although I’m not any good in bed?”

  “Brandy!” Sunny was supposed to be a special gift. Yet her presence only ripped a hole open between them, one bigger and more menacing than before. Why does
it have to hurt so much to look at my own fiancée? Sunny didn’t get rumors about her. Nobody looked at her and thought she was totally a control-freak who made a great doctor but a terrible girlfriend. Everyone loved Sunny! They wouldn’t believe a rumor like that about her for a single second, but about Brandy?

  This only exposed a truth about herself that Brandelyn never wanted to address. It didn’t matter if her prowess in bed was something anyone considered a problem. All that mattered was that her personality was so reprehensible that nobody paused to think about the veracity of certain rumors.

  They simply expected it. Because they wanted to.

  “Of course I want to marry you.” Sunny stepped forward and took her fiancée’s hands. “All I’ve been able to think about ever since you proposed is how much I love you! Sure, this whole wedding thing has us jacked up, but it’s gonna be over soon! I’ll wear whatever you want me to wear, Bran. I’ll haul my ass into the cutest church in town if it means you’ll have the wedding of your dreams. I want your dreams to come true! That’s what I signed up for when I said I loved you!”

  Brandelyn was soon swept into an embrace that knocked a single sob out of her. After only a moment’s hesitation, she wrapped her arms around Sunny and reveled in the familiar feeling of the woman who was meant to be her night and day. She’s my sunshine after the sun goes down. That’s what makes her so Sunny.

  “I love you,” Sunny repeated, voice cracking. “I only want to be married already. Let’s put all of this behind us and move forward with our lives. Together.”

  Brandelyn hugged her tighter. Pressing her body against Sunny’s had never felt so good.

  Or relieving, for that matter. Almost as if everything she needed and wanted was right here, ready to be hers, forever.