“I’m sure there’s a good reason for a bridesmaid to associate with the bride’s family,” Gail says crisply.
Charles looks like he’s debating if anyone would miss me if he skewered me like a shrimp and dumped my ass at sea.
“Vacation Laney’s fun,” I say. “I like her.”
Yep.
Can’t help myself.
And you’d think there’d be some satisfaction in their shocked horror, but there’s not.
All I have is a creeping feeling of utter worthlessness that I’ve spent more than a decade trying to get over.
I have worth. I have worth. I have worth.
Laney knows it. Laney knows it. Laney knows it.
Not helping.
Not as much as I want it to.
Especially considering that little bit ofhopegrowing in my chest is futile.
Dreaming about Laney back home requires telling Laney that my penis earns a nice big paycheck every month.
It doesn’t matter how much she’s changed.
That’ll be a dealbreaker for her.
No doubt.
No question.
So I’ll be the guy showing her a fun time, showing her shecanbe courageous and bold and live the life she wants to live, until I have to tell her.
Which isnotbefore Emma’s wedding.
No trouble. No upset bridesmaids. No more hiccups for Emma getting what Emma wants.
My phone buzzes in my hand, and my heart leaps in joy when I see it’s from Laney.
Dress is going to take a while.Can you double-check that everything’s okay for the rehearsal dinner tonight?
Yep.
Even when it’s about a disaster, I love seeing her name on my phone.
It’s not, but I’m on it. Don’t tell Emma, I text back.
And then I get busy fixing what I can.
With the creeping sensation that all too soon, I’ll have to face what I can’t.
28
Laney
I don’t seeTheo again until I dash onto the lanai a few minutes before the rehearsal dinner is supposed to start, and alarm bells go off in every part of me the minute we make eye contact.
