“Actually, Mrs. Kowalski,” Mandi spoke up.
She’d been so quiet I’d forgotten she was here, but everyone’s attention turned to her instantly.
“Hallie wants Carter and her dad at her wedding,” she continued. “And she wants them to be happy. She’s excited for her dad and glad Carter’s finally being honest about himself. Me too.”
Carter squeezed my hand when Mandi turned to smile at him, and I glanced at him to see he was smiling, too.
Good. Nothing worse than an ex you couldn’t be civil with.
“And I think I speak for all of us when I say you’ve been the single biggest source of stress for everyone this week. Hell, formonths. You called me out of the blue six months ago andlied to methat Carter wanted to get back together and I don’t even remember why I went along with all this. Carter’s great, but he’s clearly happy right now. Why would I want to take that away from him? Why wouldyouwant anything other than to see your family happy?”
Mandi sure as hell had a point. I was starting to like her. Prettyandsmartandwilling to stand up to Mrs. K.
My stomach sank.
Perfectfor Carter. Now that he wasn’t pretending to be something he wasn’t, and now that Mandi could see that and seemed to like him a little more for it, she was perfect for him. She’d look good standing next to him.
I’d have to be an asshole to get in their way.
“How dare you speak to me like that?” Carter’s mom asked. “After all I’ve done for you. I’ve treated you like my own daughter.”
“I know,” Mandi said. “Which is why I feel sorry for both Hallie and Carter. I’ve watched the way you treat them and I’m glad they’re both going their own way now. Neither of them deserves any less, and neither does Mr. Kowalski.”
“Thank you,” Carter’s dad spoke up, so soft it broke my heart. He’d never had anyone to stand up for him.
This whole goddamn family was a mess.
Another wave of love welled up in my chest for Carter, the urge to wrap my arms around him and hold him until he got sick of me growing again.
I just wanted to take him away from all this.
So did Mandi, apparently. She was okay, I thought. More than okay. Not my type, but not a bad person at all.
Carter’s mom, on the other hand…
“Fine,” Mrs. K spat. “You can all do this wedding without me, see if I care.”
No one exactly rushed to stop her storming off.
“Stop, no, don’t go,” Trent whispered once the door had well and truly slammed behind Mrs. K.
He clearly wasn’t her biggest fan, either. Trent would’ve seen what I’d seen by now—the damage that she’d done to everyone she was supposed to love.
Mandi offered Carter another small, wry smile before starting to gather tablecloths up again.
“We should go,” Carter nudged me. “Can’t be late to the wedding after this.”
I was still hanging onto his hand.
“Yeah,” I said, not quite ready to let go. “Gonna have to share the shower.”
“That doesn’t sound like it’ll speed things up atall,” Carter said, laughter in his voice as we headed for the car.
23
Carter
“Wow,”I said as Aiden walked out of the bathroom, hair neatly slicked back, charcoal suit hugging his body in all the right places, eyes sparkling.
