Chapter 38

Harley

It was a great day.

After breakfast we took River to preschool and then went and bought my engagement ring. I’d felt strongly that we keep our original wedding rings since we still had them, and Tommy was okay with that, but my engagement ring was breathtaking. He’d chosen an emerald-cut ten-carat diamond in a platinum setting. It was huge but simple, and probably much bigger than I needed, but he’d been right that we’d been broke the first time we’d gotten engaged.

He’d offered to upgrade it a few times but I’d always said I loved my ring.

Of course, after the divorce I’d thrown it in the ocean in a moment of overwhelming frustration and sadness. There were very few things I regretted more than that, but it didn’t matter anymore.

We were getting married and I was over the moon.

I’d texted Presley and then dropped a picture of the ring on my left hand in the group chat with the girls from Harmony Place and Mina had been the first one to respond.

MINA: Are you fucking kidding me?! Can you even move your hand? How much does that thing weigh?

HARRIETT: Holy shit—does this mean Paris is a go? I need dates, girlfriend!

BETTY: Oh my goodness, I’m a little teary! Congratulations!

HARLEY: Thanks, guys! I’m excited. Paris won’t be until July or August—I don’t think the European leg of the tour is firmed up yet—but get this: We’re going to elope in Vegas next week!

HARRIETT: What? When? I’ll book a flight.

I hadn’t anticipated that the girls would want to come, but the more the merrier as far as I was concerned.

HARLEY: Give me tonight to get some details with Tommy and I’ll message you guys tomorrow.

MINA: Woot! Vegas-bound, bitches!

BETTY: You guys are crazy… but I’ll be there.

The conversation went on for a little while, but there was no response from Freya. I figured she was probably busy and that was okay, she’d catch up later.

Unfortunately, the one person who wasn’t happy about our impromptu nuptials was Wynter.

“I just started a new job!” she said, throwing up her hands that night when she got home from work. “How am I going to ask for a day off to go to Vegas to watch my sister elope?”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, grimacing. “I know the timing is awful, but I can’t do this without you. Can you take the day without pay and I’ll give you money?”

“It’s not about money,” she grumbled. “But let me talk to my boss tomorrow, see if we can work something out.”

“Thank you!” I threw my arms around her neck. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“Yeah, by leaving me to go on tour.” She made a face.

“Well, you’ll have this big old house all to yourself.”

“You’re going to keep it?”

“I have no idea what the long-term plans are, but we’re definitely not doing anything like buying a new house between now and when we leave on tour.”

“I’m happy for you,” she whispered. “Truly. You deserve this. I hope you two do better at communicating this time, but I don’t think anyone has ever loved you like he does. And vice versa.”

I nodded, staring at the ring on my finger. “Do you think…Carter would be happy for us?”

“There is no doubt in my mind. He would be happier than anyone. He loved you enough to want you to be happy. You know that.”

“I wish he hadn’t had to die for us to find our way back to each other.”

“Me too.” She squeezed my arm. “But Carter was going to die anyway. You know that. He always had one foot in the grave.”

I swiped at my eyes. “Anyway, I love you. Let me know what your boss says.”

“I need to know exactly what day you’re going to do it.”

“I’ll let you know before bed. Tommy and I are thinking Wednesday or Thursday.”

“I think Thursday,” he said, coming into the kitchen where we’d been talking.

“So you’re making an honest woman of my sister again?” Wynter asked him, folding her arms across her chest. “Think you can make it stick this time?”

Tommy nodded solemnly. “I’m going to do my damnedest.”

“Good. I can’t live through another divorce.” She rolled her eyes in my direction. “She was a mess.”

“I don’t think I have another divorce in me either,” Tommy said, reaching for me.

“Congratulations, you two.” She hugged Tommy and we chatted for a few minutes about logistics.

“We want casual,” I said firmly. “If we do a whole big thing in Paris, we’ll do formal, but for Vegas, we’re thinking a of a quickie thing at a chapel. In and out.”

“That’s what he said.”

“That’s what he said.”

Tommy and Wynter spoke in unison and it reminded me of how often they’d done that the whole time we’d been married. They’d been close and I was glad they seemed to be picking up right where they left off.

“Already?” I demanded playfully. “We’re not even married yet and you’re finishing each other sentences and reading each other’s minds.”

“It’s a brother-sister thing,” Tommy deadpanned. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Are you telling your family?” I asked Tommy.

He shook his head. “I’ll call my dad after it’s done, say it was unplanned. He’ll just be grumpy about everything, and I don’t have time for his moods.” Tommy and his dad hadn’t been close in a long time. He still tried, but it wasn’t the relationship they likely would have had if his mother were alive.

“Have you told him we’re back together?”

“No.” He hesitated. “You’re not his favorite person right now.”

“Well, to be fair, I was never his favorite person.”

“No, but he might have taken the divorce harder than I did.”

“Really?”

“He just assumed you took me for everything I had, no matter how many times I tried to explain you didn’t.”

“Still calling me a gold digger?” I asked. His father had always thought that about me, and we’d given up trying to tell him anything else.

“Yup.”

“What’s a gold digger?” River asked, coming into the kitchen.

“It’s what they called the people who dug for gold during the California Gold Rush,” Wynter answered, scooping him up in her arms.

“What’s the Cal’fornia Gold Rush?” he asked.

“How about we go look it up on the internet?”

They left the room and Tommy and I laughed.

“That was a close one,” he said.

“She’s good like that.”

“Is she happy for us?”

“She is, but she’s mentioned more than once that she’s worried about us kicking her out or selling the house out from under her or something.”

“You want me to talk to her? We’d never do that.”

“I know, but it’s hard for her. She moved in because I was distraught when Carter died. She was worried about me and whether or not I’d be able to take care of River, so she gave up her apartment and everything. She’s been saving for a house, but you know how expensive everything is here.”

“Should we offer to buy her a place?” he asked.

“I’ve tried. She doesn’t want money.”

“Well, she has a home with us as long as she wants or needs it. But I’ve been thinking about that too.”

“About what?”

“Where we’re going to live.” He paused. “What about if we bought something on the water? You love the ocean and I do too. Or…” He snapped his fingers. “What if we sell this place and buy something on the beach, but keep our old condo and let Wynter live in it rent-free until she’s ready to buy something of her own?”

My eyes widened. “Tommy, that’s a great idea!”

“Best of both worlds, right?”

“Although, I think she likes being around River.”

“Well, we can give her the choice, you know?”

“It wouldn’t be soon, right? If we’re going on tour the first of the year, there’s no time to sell my place or find a new house.”

“No, but why have this big house that’s going to be empty for over a year? Why not put it on the market and get Wynter settled at my place? I think she’d be happier in something smaller while she’s alone? It’s closer to her new job, too.”

“There’s that.” I paused. “All right, let me bring it up when it’s just the two of us. I don’t want her to feel pressured or like we’re kicking her out of her house.”

“Whatever you think.”

“Oh, by the way…did I mention that the girls from Harmony Place want to be in Vegas with us?”

He chuckled. “This is turning into quite an event for something that’s supposed to be quick and easy. The gang from Nobody’s Fool said they want to come too. I talked to Bash earlier today and he told the others. One thing led to another…”

“That’s okay. I mean, if our friends all want to show up, it’ll be a party.”

“I kind of liked the idea of it being more intimate,” he said quietly. “But I don’t think we can back pedal at this point.”

“No, probably not. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to get away from us.”

“It’s all right. As long as I have you, I’m good.”

“I need to find a dress.”

He smiled. “Something red. That’s my favorite color you wear.”

“For a bride?”

“For my bride? Hell yes.”

I grinned.

The bride wore red.

I liked it.

Now I just had to find it.