“I have.”
“And your groomsmen have the right ones, as well?”
“Probably. I’ve told them where to go.”
“You need to check.”
“I will.”
“Do they know the rehearsal dinner tomorrow has been moved to seven instead of six-thirty?”
He kept forming little boxes and filling them with the appropriate chocolate candy before adding them to the stack in the middle of the table. The women took over from there, tying on a delicate pink ribbon imprinted with their names and the date of their wedding.
Two days. The worst will be over in two days…. “I’ve notified them of that, too.”
“Even Brandon?”
He’d invited Brandon to be in the wedding party for the sake of his parents. He felt it would be too obvious a slight to leave him out. But other than receiving a brief email confirming his participation, Kyle hadn’t heard from his stepbrother. “Even Brandon.”
“I’ll double-check with him tonight.”
The idea of Olivia spending time with Brandon for any reason made Kyle flinch. She hadn’t meant much to him when the two of them went to a prom together years ago. But she meant a lot to him now. “I can email him again.”
“Why don’t you just call him?”
He met her gaze. “Maybe I will.”
Ham, as Olivia’s father was called, paused in his work to raise his eyebrows at this exchange. But, as usual, he didn’t say anything. Sometimes Kyle wished he would. He wished someone would admit that this wedding was a huge mistake. Because he couldn’t. If Noelle wanted to marry him, he had no choice. He had to stand up and do the right thing or he wouldn’t be able to live with himself later.
Chapter 5
Relieved to be away from her parents’ house, Olivia dialed Brandon’s number as she sat in her car, letting the engine idle in the empty parking lot of Just Like Mom’s. The diner was closed, along with almost everything else in town, including the touristy shops dedicated to Whiskey Creek’s gold rush heritage. It was late enough that she was hesitant to start the long drive home. She was tired. And she wasn’t optimistic that facing her empty apartment would be that much better than crashing in her old bedroom. She seemed to be miserable no matter what.
“I’m not sure how to break this to you,” she said as soon as Brandon answered.
“Break what to me?” he responded, his voice husky, which made her wonder if she’d awakened him. “You couldn’t have found someone with a bigger telescope.”
She knew he was teasing but, feeling herself flush, decided to ignore the innuendo. “I, uh, told a little white lie about you.”
“Did it make me look good or bad?” He didn’t sound too excited by the prospect either way.
“Maybe a little opportunistic?”
“Okay. Let me have it.”
She drew a deep breath. “Kyle and Noelle think we’re seeing each other.”
“That’s it?”
“Not quite.”
“I’m waiting…”
“They also think we’re sleeping together.”
“Really.”
“I don’t know what got into me,” she said. “Kyle pulled me aside and said it was killing him to know he was causing me pain, and I…I couldn’t stand being so transparent and vulnerable. So I told him I’m not hurting at all, that I’m already seeing someone else.”
“Me.”
“Right. I could’ve named someone from Sacramento. That’s what I should’ve done, obviously. He couldn’t have proven that one way or the other. But…”
“It wouldn’t have been half as much fun.”
“No, it wouldn’t have had the same impact.” She’d found Noelle’s reaction even more satisfying than Kyle’s, but she didn’t mention that. She was fairly sure her sister would be a sore subject with Brandon, even after the number of years that had passed since she’d invaded his privacy. “I hope you’re not too sorry you stopped to help me.”
“Not at all. I just wish I could’ve seen Kyle’s face.”
She smiled as she remembered. “He went white as a sheet.”
“Good. Maybe it gave him the jolt he needs.”
“In what way?”
“I haven’t given up hope that he’ll come to his senses and call the whole thing off.”
Olivia pictured Kyle and Noelle as they’d been at dinner. They hadn’t seemed particularly close, but they were dealing with a lot of stress, even more than normally accompanied a wedding. She wasn’t convinced she could get an accurate reading from what she’d seen. “Maybe he loves her.”
“You and I both know who he loves.”
She hadn’t expected Brandon to be so candid. “There is the baby—”
“Jumping into a marriage destined to end in divorce won’t help the baby.” He lowered his voice in a way that demanded an honest answer. “Would you take him back?”
“No!”
“You’re done with him no matter what he does, no matter how much he begs?”
“He won’t beg. You know Kyle. Once he’s made up his mind, that’s it. He’d never embarrass Noelle, my parents or your family by backing out. Whatever else he might be, he’s a man of his word. But I’m done with him.”
“And now you’re all mine.”
The zap she’d experienced earlier, the one that left her feeling slightly giddy, struck again, like a lightning bolt out of the clear blue sky. Which made no sense. She was still in love with Kyle—although their relationship was completely and totally over.
Assuming it was basic chemistry, the kind that could come out of nowhere even with a complete stranger, she shrugged off her reaction. He was merely referring to what she’d said earlier. “Or so they think. I’m sorry I went that far. I had no right to drag you into something that could have long-term repercussions inside your own family. But…it won’t turn out to be a big deal. I let both him and Noelle know it’s not serious. We don’t have to go around holding hands or anything. Maybe a smile or two at the wedding—that’s all.”
“You’re saying you implied we’re not making love, just having sex.”
“Exactly. But I made sure they knew it was mind-blowing.” She tried to joke a little herself but the images that flashed through her head—images of Brandon’s mouth on hers—made her words anything but funny.