Chapter 13

13

WES

T he girls were shopping for wedding dresses, and I was enjoying my new outdoor living area with my brothers. I felt strangely excited to see Sutton walk down the aisle toward me in whatever she chose.

“I was just happy to get out of there. Everything was white. The floor, the couch, even the mirror frames.” Ryder shuddered.

“Sounds awful.” Otto shoved his head under Teddy’s hand.

“Did you get to see her try anything on?” I moved to the small fridge to grab beers. I had the fireplace and the heaters on to battle the cold.

“I got out of there as soon as I could. If you want me to bring my daughter to a dress shop, you should be there first. The woman who worked there asked if I wanted to stay and see my bride in her dress.”

Teddy snorted. “What did you say?”

Ryder tipped his beer back. “That she wasn’t my bride. I already had my day and wasn’t looking to go through another. ”

I exchanged a concerned look with Teddy. “Are things okay with Stacy?”

“Things haven’t been great for a while, and with the transfer, I’m worried about what’s going to happen.”

“Is Stacy moving with you?” I asked, thinking that would be the obvious thing to do.

Ryder let out a breath. “She doesn’t want to.”

“What are you going to do?” Teddy asked.

“I don’t know. I have to take the transfer in order to get promoted. That’s how it works. It means more money.”

“Sounds like you have to take it.” I took a long pull of beer, wondering what Sutton was doing now.

“After six months here, I can move back to Virginia. She wants me to commute during that time.”

Teddy lowered his bottle. “She wants you to drive from Baltimore to Virginia every day.”

“Not exactly. She said something about renting a place, then coming home on the weekends.”

Jameson frowned. “Is that what you want to do?”

“I don’t want to be away from Faith.”

“That’s a tough situation.” I couldn’t imagine having to live away from the person I loved. I’d never had to be far from Sutton. Even during college, we managed to visit each other often and kept in touch.

Ryder rested his elbows on his thighs. “Your wedding is giving me an excuse to bring Faith with me while I visit to take care of finding a place. But once I relocate here, I don’t know if I’ll be able to see her unless I drive back and forth.”

“Have you asked Faith what she wants?” Teddy asked.

Ryder shook his head. “Not yet. I don’t want to put her in the middle.”

“We’re happy to have you close by but not at the expense of your marriage,” I said .

“Could Faith live with you?” Jameson asked.

Ryder grimaced. “Not if Stacy has her way.”

“Are you willing to be away from your daughter for six month?” I asked him.

“I’ll be putting a lot of miles on the truck because I’m not a fan of being away from her.”

I had a feeling this situation was going to test their marriage, but I didn’t say anything. Ryder had enough on his mind.

Ryder’s phone buzzed. “They’re trying on flower girl dresses.”

He showed me the screen of his phone. Faith wore a simple white dress with an eyelet design. I knew that much from the girls talking about the wedding plans. On her head, they’d placed a little crown. “I’m not ready for my baby to be wearing white.”

“She’s just a flower girl. I’m glad she could be part of my day.”

“You have a couple more years before you have to worry about her dating,” Teddy said.

Ryder groaned. “I don’t want to worry about it at all.”

While my brothers ribbed Ryder about Faith dating teenage boys, I texted Sutton.

Am I going to get a picture of you wearing a dress?

Nope. That’s bad luck.

I resisted asking if that was the case when we weren’t engaged for real. In moments like this, it felt a little too real. Was Sutton trying on dresses and imagining herself walking down the aisle toward me?

You have to give me something.

The guys joked about protecting their nieces from dates, and I took advantage of their inattention to look down at my phone.

My phone buzzed with an incoming message and an image attached. It was just her foot peeking out from under the lace edge of her dress, toenails painted a pale pink. How could that image be so enticing?

You’re gorgeous. I can’t wait to see you walking down the aisle toward me.

My heart rate was picking up at the thought.

Careful. This isn’t real.

It was the reminder I needed because it was too easy to forget. She was hanging out with my sister and nieces trying on wedding dresses while I was bonding with my brothers. It was the perfect moment, and I wanted it to be our reality.

Jameson leaned over my shoulder to look at the image. “You don’t think it’s weird that your fake fiancée is trying on wedding dresses for real?”

I scrambled to get out of my messages without him seeing, but it was too late.

Jameson raised a brow. “That’s oddly intimate for a fake fiancée.”

Teddy gave me a look. “Fiona said the ring looks legit.”

I shook my head. “I’m not going to buy my fiancée a fake ring.”

Jameson leaned back on the cushions, cradling the bottle next to his thigh. “She’s your fake fiancée. Why would you need the rest of it to be real? ”

I shook my head. “We need to convince her family that it is. This is the way to do it.”

Teddy scowled. “This whole thing sounds crazy to me.”

I sighed. “You don’t come from a family like Sutton’s. They don’t operate like normal ones.”

“Forcing someone to marry is practically medieval,” Jameson said.

“I’d prefer Sutton walk away from the whole thing.” That would be healthier for her, but now that we were going through with this relationship, I liked having her in my bed. I got up later than usual so I could revel in the feel of her in my arms.

Sutton never allowed herself to get that close to me during the day. And other than the kiss on New Year’s, she didn’t initiate contact. It made me wonder if she was protecting herself from getting hurt, or if she wasn’t feeling what I was.

I wouldn’t know unless I talked to her, but I needed more time to blur the lines, to mess up those careful boundaries she had in her head when it came to me.

“They’re the only family she has.”

Teddy cleared his throat, then said, “Maybe we can be that family for her. She’s always been a part of it.”

Jameson’s brow furrowed. “Is that a good idea when you’re just friends? What will happen when you meet the woman you fall in love with? She won’t want Sutton hanging around. No woman would.”

I didn’t tell him, but I planned on making my move well before the divorce came to fruition. If we divorced, that meant I’d put everything on the table, and she’d said no to a future with me. The only thing left to preserve would be our friendship, and that would be hard if I revealed my true feelings for her .

Dad opened the slider from the basement. “Is this where the troublemakers are?”

Otto ran right up to him, and Dad handed him the treat he always kept in his pocket for him.

“They’re at the wedding dress shop spending all of Wes’s money,” Jameson helpfully added.

Dad’s eyes flashed with amusement. “Is that so?”

I stood and slapped him on the back. “You made it.”

Dad sat on a chair. “I wanted to tell you all something while you’re together.”

We looked at each other.

“Axel is taking his leave with us sometime in the summer.”

“Too bad he couldn’t be here for your fake wedding,” Jameson teased.

“How should I talk to him about your marriage?” Dad asked me.

“Let’s not tell him. I don’t want him worried about me when he should be focused on his job.” There was no way Axel would understand. He saw everything in black –and-white, right or wrong, and this was most definitely wrong. We were lying to Sutton’s family. I didn’t like it, but it was necessary.

Dad sighed heavily. “I don’t like lying to him, but that’s probably for the best.”

“He’d hate this.” He wouldn’t understand why Sutton didn’t walk away from the ultimatum and her family. It wasn’t lost on me that Axel enlisted when he turned eighteen and hadn’t returned other than for short visits. Sometimes he preferred to go home with friends than come here.

“I’m just happy he’ll be home soon. It’s been too long,” Teddy said.

Dad looked around at us. “I’m worried about you boys. I don’t want you to be afraid to make a commitment to someone.”

Jameson frowned. “Why would we be?”

Jameson might have met his significant other, but the rest of us hadn’t, or at least weren’t pursuing anyone.

“You watched your mother get sick and die. That would be traumatic for anyone. I don’t want you to hesitate to make those connections with someone. I couldn’t have said this at the time. But now that I’ve had some time to think about it, and I’ve watched Daphne and Fiona fall in love and get married, it was better to have loved and lost your mother, than to never have had her at all. I wouldn’t have all of you, and you’re the best things I’ve ever done.”

“That’s nice, Dad,” Teddy said, “but I don’t think Mom’s death affects our relationship status.”

Dad grunted. “I’m not so sure about that. The rest of you are anticommitment. Hell, Wes is marrying his best friend just for her inheritance.”

I held up my hands. “To be clear, I’m not getting any money out of this deal. She and her mother talked about giving a lump sum to me, but I said no. I don’t want her money. I just want her to be happy.”

“By this time next year, you’ll be divorced, and what will you have gotten out of the situation?” Dad asked.

“You think I’m wasting my time,” I said, knowing I wasn’t. This was something I had to do, and I didn’t need to explain it to anyone else.

Dad let out a breath. “I just worry about you. All of you. I want to see you settled and happy.”

I exchanged a look with Teddy.

“I get that. But you can’t force love,” Jameson said. “Sometimes it appears when you least expect it.”

“Like with you and Claire?” I asked, genuinely curious and feeling weird about asking my little brother for advice. But the fact was, he’d found love before the rest of us. We’d always thought he was young and immature, but he knew what he wanted and went after it.

“Neither of us were looking for love. I didn’t think I’d find it with a single mom, but I love her and her son. So don’t rush it.”

“I’m not saying to rush it. I’m just asking you to open your minds to the possibility of meeting someone. You’re not getting any younger.” Dad gave Teddy a pointed look. Then he turned his attention to me. “If you love that girl, you have to tell her.”

I shifted in my seat. “Who said I love her?”

“I’ve been watching you two dance around each other for years. If you don’t love and admire each other, then I don’t know what’s going on. It’s clear as day to me. Now, if you don’t have chemistry or don’t see eye-to-eye on the important stuff, then fine. She wants kids. You don’t. You can’t fix that stuff. But everything else can be figured out.” Everyone fell silent, listening to Dad who so rarely doled out life advice. “Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.”

I swallowed hard, not sure what to say. I wasn’t ready to tell my family my plans. If anyone was going to know I loved Sutton, it would be her.

Jameson leaned forward, a smirk on his face. “He’s marrying her. I don’t think he’s letting the opportunity pass him by. It’s actually the opposite.”

My jaw tightened. “Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing.”

Thankfully, the conversation moved away from me. Later, we got up and started grilling in my outdoor kitchen. It was nice to have company at my house .

Dinner was already on the table when the girls walked in with a flurry of shopping bags, talking and laughing.

When Sutton saw me, she smiled, making her way toward me as if no one else was in the room. She put her arms around me and hugged me tight. Looking up at me, she said, “Thanks for the spa treatments. It was so nice after a morning of shopping.”

“I wanted you to have a good time.” She did everything that was expected of her, but she rarely slowed down to take time for herself.

“I did. Thank you.” When she realized my brothers and my dad were watching our interaction with interest, she stepped away.

“We’re eating dinner. Are you hungry?”

She smiled. “Starved.”

I took her bags and placed them in the living room, not bothering to look inside. If it was related to the wedding, she probably wanted to keep it a secret.

Daphne, Izzy, and Fiona said their goodbyes and headed home.

As much as I enjoyed when all of us were in the same room, sometimes it was nice when it was just the brothers. We had our own bond, separate from our sisters.

Dinner was loud. Everyone was happy that Ryder and Faith were here, and I was hopeful that he’d move here permanently with Faith. Even if it was only for six months, it would be better than not seeing him.

“How was dress shopping?” I asked Sutton when everyone else was discussing their vacations.

“It almost felt like it wasn’t me trying on those dresses. It felt surreal.”

“You never wanted to get married.” Even when we were kids, she was adamant about that. She sensed that there wasn’t much love between her parents, and she saw the difference with mine.

“And now that I am, it’s weird.”

She knew it wasn’t real, and that was giving her conflicting emotions. She didn’t necessarily believe in love, and here she was getting married.

I couldn’t handle it if she was marrying one of those guys she dated. Even if this was the craziest thing we’d ever done, it was the only solution.