Juliette scraped her teeth along her bottom lip and met her mother’s cool gaze. “I was hoping you’d want to be the florist?”
Silence descended on the back of the shop. Gigi pursed her bright red lips as beats of tension hung in the air. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft yet prim. “I’ll consider it.”
The energy between the sisters bubbled to the point of bursting. Whenever Mama considered something, it was almostalways a yes. Juliette tried not to smile, just in case she changed her mind.
“This idea of yours, this wedding venue…it seems to be rather long term, no?” Gigi folded her arms across her chest, eyeing Juliette from over the rim of her glasses.
Juliette knew what she was asking. It was the same thing they all asked her. Even Brock. “For the time being.”
It was the best answer she could give them.
“Hm.” Gigi nodded once, then walked away.
The sisters let out a collective breath.
Anne-Sophie shoved her hair back from her face and grinned. “I can’t tell if she’s excited or angry.”
“Probably a little of both,” Adrienne put in, scrubbing her hands on her leggings.
“At least it’s one more thing checked off the project list. I’ll have to remember to tell Brock she agreed. But now with Yaya…” Juliette ran the tips of her fingers over the soft petals of a dahlia. She didn’t want to overwhelm him, and it felt wrong delivering good news in the middle of his grief. “I’ll just wait a few days.”
After a beat, she glanced up to realize all three of them were staring at her. “What?”
Adrienne leaned forward, propping her elbows on the worktable. “Are we going to talk about the fact that Rodrigo will be here in a week? I want to make sure you’re truly okay with him coming to Mystic Cove. After all, it’ll probably be you who shows him and Charity the beach house, not Brock and Anders.”
“Oh, I?—”
“Hold up.” Vivianne’s hand shot into the air. “I think we need to discuss the fact that Juliette didn’t sleep in her own bed last night.”
Anne-Sophie gasped. “Tell us!"
“You owe us that much, Jules.” Vivianne pointed at her with a stem of eucalyptus. “Especially since none of us are getting laid at the moment.”
Juliette laughed.
“Okay, okay. One thing at a time. I’ll admit, the whole Rodrigo marrying Charity thing caught me off-guard. But…” She hesitated, shame crawling up the back of her neck. “But I kind of expected it. Or at least, I knew he had plans to marrysomeone.”
Just not her.
The twins gaped at her, and Anne-Sophie shook her head, cocking it to one side. “Wait, what?”
Juliette told her sisters about how she found the ring and showed it to a friend on New Year’s Eve, and how her life tumbled out of control from there. She skipped the imagery of Rodrigo banging some woman on their bathroom sink, sparing them the details of how slowly her heart broke.
“That jerk.” Adrienne’s green eyes were blazing.
“I’m going to kill him.” Anne-Sophie’s fists coiled at her side, and her jaw was locked so tightly, it looked ready to snap. “As soon as he gets here, I’m going to kill him.”
Vivianne looped her arm through Anne-Sophie’s, pulling her close. “Easy there, tiger.”
“Don’t kill him yet. We need him alive so we can keep our first wedding on the books.” Juliette tried to smile to make light of the situation, but her attempt was paltry at best. “I really thought he was going to propose to me, but looking back, I guess all the warning signs were there. I was just too busy ignoring them.”
Vivianne leaned over the worktable and propped her chin on her fist. “Would you have said yes?”
“I…” Of course, right? Marrying Rodrigo was the one thing she’d always wanted, at least Juliette told herself as much. “I thought so. For years I dreamt of saying yes. I knew what colorsI wanted for our wedding. I knew where the reception would be held. I had this vision of a gorgeous dress with a beaded satin bodice and princess skirt. My future wedding was going to be perfect, but the face of the groom was always a blur.”
“When Rodrigo gets into town, you won’t be alone.” Adrienne clasped Juliette’s hands with both of hers, squeezing gently. “We’ll be here for you. Every step of the way.”
“That’s right.” Anne-Sophie slung one arm around Vivianne and lifted her chin. “We’ll help you get through him being here, and we’ll do it together.”
