Chapter 12

TWELVE

"Why did you ask me to meet you here?" Roe scrunches her nose and reads the bright, white sign hanging above the door behind me.

I try not to focus on the way her skin has paled since the last time I saw her in my apartment. Unlike then, her hair cascades across her shoulders, her loose curls framing her thin face. Without thought, my gaze falls to her chest where her chemo port is now connected, the silhouette of the small square visible under her black T-shirt.

Roe's dark eyebrows are knitted as she lowers her gaze from the sign to me, but her eyebrows move from confusion, arching into realization.

"Laurel…" She says my name so quietly, it can barely be heard over the heavy flow of traffic behind her. Her eyes dance back and forth between me and the sign. "This is a bridal shop, Laurel."

"Yep." I nod, with a closed mouth grin. I cross my arms and move to stand beside her, joining her in looking at the sign. "You're going to help me pick my wedding dress."

"What?" This time her voice is loud enough to be heard over Boston traffic. She turns and latches onto my arm. Squeezing her fingers tightly, she forces me to face her. "What do you mean your wedding dress ? You're getting married?"

"Yes." I nod and shrug my shoulders. I'm suddenly nervous telling Roe about the wedding. "I'm getting married... in five days."

"Five days?" she booms, her eyes practically bugging out of her sullen face.

"Yes." I bite down on my bottom lip, shrinking further. I'm worried she's going to be angry with me. I tell myself she can't possibly when the reason I agreed to marry is to ensure my savings are available for her treatments should she need it. Excitement bubbles in my chest as I pull the white, shimmering envelope from my purse and hold it out to Roe.

Her eyes widen as she takes it from me. "I don't understand," she says, ripping it open. She isn't gentle, not wasting any time to learn the details of my sudden impending nuptials.

"The invitation explains it all." I scratch the back of my head. My sister's opinion has always meant the most to me. Even if we might be competitive, and even when I feel her opinions aren't warranted, I still value them. I've worked out how to tell Roe I'm marrying Lennon by the end of the week. Ultimately, I've decided to wing it. Sometimes the best strategy is to go into these types of situations without a strategy.

Roe doesn't break her attention away from the invitation when she slides it out of the envelope. She turns it over and runs her fingers over the embossed black, purple, and red flowered border. What feels like hours but is probably only seconds pass by as she reads the black and gold lettered script printed in the middle.

"Oh, my God," she breathes as she slowly and finally looks up from the invitation. "You're marrying Lennon Harding? The Lennon Harding?"

I nod, the words getting stuck somewhere between my heart and my throat. I open my mouth, but all I can do is hold my breath, anticipating my sister's reaction. My chest moves. I'm breathing but words fail me.

"Let me see the ring," she squeals, grabbing for my hand. She flips it over, her face falling when she sees it's empty.

I cover my hand and take in a shaky, nervous breath. "I don't have it yet. Lennon said he's taking care of it."

"Okay." She frowns, disappointed.

"It's not a big deal." I casually wave her off.

"When did you start dating Lennon?" She's looking past me as if she's mentally searching for a time when I would have mentioned dating Lennon. She catches on quickly, finding the answer. "Why didn't you tell me? How could you keep this from me?"

Hurt and sadness flash across her face. I want to wrap my arms around her, but I don't. She deserves an explanation—one I'm hoping will make sense and not make it sound like I'm making a huge mistake.

"Um." My ability to speak returns. "We haven't really been dating. We've only been engaged for a couple of weeks."

"Wait." She places her hand on her forehead, still looking down at the invitation. "You've been engaged for a couple of weeks, and you didn't bother telling me? This is huge, Laurel." Her watery gaze shoots straight for my heart. "Especially since I was telling you to go for him at the funeral. Is that why you were so against it? Because you didn't want me to know?"

"No." I shake my head, wrapping my hand around hers. "Not at all. I didn't know he was going to propose then, and we weren't dating yet, either."

"Hold on." She laughs but there's no humor behind it. "You weren't dating then? Laurel, the funeral was less than a month ago. Are you insane?"

"I know it was." I can't explain it, but the need to defend mine and Lennon's engagement kicks in. I'm aware Roe doesn't know all the details or know that, although my marriage to Lennon is strictly business, marrying him won't be the worst mistake I'll ever make. No, my marriage to David is still strongly holding first place in that race.

"Do you even really know him? I mean, besides the wonderful things you had to say about him and his family at his father's funeral."

She's resorted to sarcasm. I ignore her comment, my non-strategy strategy finally kicking in. I'm diving headfirst into the truth.

"More than you think," I confess. The floodgates have opened. "I first met him on our nineteenth birthday."

"Nineteenth birthday?" Her eyebrows knit.

"He was a friend of the guy you were dating from Boston College. Lennon was sitting with their group that night," I explain. I can tell she's trying to remember which guy it was she was dating at the time. "After you and your date went out on the dance floor, I left. I was waiting for my ride outside the club when I accidently got into the wrong car. Lennon's car. After an embarrassing exchange, he offered to give me a ride home."

"Oh," she mutters with distant eyes. "I had no idea."

"We had sex that night," I blurt out. "In his car."

Her jaw drops. "Laurel Eleanor!" She slaps me on the arm. A familiar ghost of a smile appears on her mouth. It's been a long time since I've seen her crack one. One that isn't forced, at least.

"Yeah, well… we didn't meet up again until I met the Hardings for dinner over a year ago."

"I remember." She nods, looking at me with pity for that night. I'd filled her in on every detail, leaving out the part where I'd felt awful for Lennon not having recognized me. "How was it seeing him since that night, though? That must have been awkward for the both of you. Or maybe not, considering you're marrying him now."

I lift a shoulder. "It was definitely awkward, but not because it was the first time we'd seen each other since that night. It was awkward because I expected him to look like a deer in headlights, you know what I mean? Like, shocked we'd run into each other after all this time. But he didn't. He'd looked at me as if he'd never met me. Introduced himself and his date to me. Then I was forced to push through the entire night wearing fake smiles and making polite conversation." Pressure builds behind my eyes, and I can feel tears springing behind them. I don't want to cry. I want to keep today light and fun, not focusing on the fact my soon-to-be husband couldn't remember me.

"That's terrible," Roe says, moving our joined hands so she's now holding my hand instead. She squeezes it. "If you were so upset with him not remembering you, how is it that you're now engaged? Help me fill in the dots here, Laurel."

Refusing to shed a single tear, I inhale a shaky breath. "A few days after the funeral, he came to my office and asked me to marry him. His father apparently left the company and everything to him, but only under the condition he get married within thirty days."

"So, he chose you?"

"Not exactly." I sigh. "He had to marry a Branford. Either me or you, but considering you're already married… well, that left only me…" I let my voice trail off, allowing the information to sink in. I give Roe a few seconds to process, eyeing her emerald cut diamond ring wrapped around her fourth finger.

"Why us?" she asks the question I don't think any of us know the answer to. Not even Lennon.

I shake my head. "I don't know. I don't think anyone does. I turned him down that day though."

"You told him no?" She chuckles.

"Yes. I was angry with him, too. I couldn't get past the fact he didn't remember me and then had the audacity to ask me to marry him."

"What changed your mind?"

"You." I allow my confession to dissolve in the air between us.

She gasps. "Me?" Roe allows a tear to slip from her eye as she shakes her head. "How did I change your mind when I didn't even know until now?"

"You need the money, Roe. You need the money for your treatments. Lennon told me he will take care of me and that I won't have to pay for anything anymore. But I made sure I'm not sacrificing myself in the process. With Lennon's support, I can give you what I have. All my savings. You were worried I was going to lose all the money I have but this way, I won't."

"I can't believe this." Warm, fresh tears slide down Roe's porcelain cheeks. I can't tell if she's brokenhearted, angry, or relieved. But when her eyes find mine, they're none of those options. Instead, all I see is pain and fear. "I can't let you marry him for me, Laurel. It isn't right."

"You're my sister." I pull her in for a hug and bury my chin into her small frame, allowing her warmth to wrap around me. "You honestly didn't believe I'd just sit by and watch you not be able to get all the treatments available to you, did you? You need this money, and this is a win for everyone. Lennon gets the company. You get your treatment." I loosen my grip Roe, holding her at arm's length, secretly keeping the part about how I'm not exactly dreading marrying him to myself.

"And what about you?" Roe's chin trembles.

I let out a small laugh. "I get to be Mrs. Harding for a year, I guess."

Roe laughs with me. It feels good. Relief washes over me. She isn't angry or bitter. Maybe she's too tired, considering she starts her chemo treatments this week. Or maybe she understands where I'm coming from.

"Have you told Frederick?"

"Not yet." I shake my head. "You're the only one who knows. But even when I tell Fred, I don't think I'm going to tell him my marriage to Lennon will be a contractual one."

"Understandable." She nods.

I sniff and eye the white bridal sign above the door, my mind wandering to thoughts about what married life with Lennon will look like.

"There's more, isn't there?" She eyes me suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" I wipe my hands across my cheeks, drying the tears I gave up fighting.

"You care for him. I can see it in the way your eyes lit up when you handed me the invitation. I can see it in the way you smile when you say his name."

"No, I don't. I don't react in any sort of way." My cheeks flame with my lie.

I react with Lennon. Very, very much so.

Roe sees through my lies. "Laurel, this wedding and marriage might go a little smoother if you stopped lying to yourself. If you didn't have feelings for him, you wouldn't have been so hurt when you realized he didn't remember you. You also wouldn't be this okay with marrying him. After your marriage to David, I know you don't take this lightly. You made that very clear at James's funeral."

I shake my head. I don't want to talk about my feelings for Lennon. Or Roe's cancer. I want to shop for a wedding dress. "Even if I did have feelings for him, he doesn't feel that way about me. Lennon is a businessman, and that's all this is to him: business."

"Well, I guess we'll see who's right at the wedding." She breathes a heavy, cleansing breath and smiles, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. "Thank you, Laurel. I may not agree with the way you're going about this, but if this isn't love, then I don't know what is. I can't tell you what this means to me."

With the truth of mine and Lennon's relationship now in the open with Roe, I feel a weight lift from my shoulders. The pain and fear that comes with Roe's diagnosis hasn't disappeared, but at least there are no secrets between us. And when we step into the bridal store, another wave of relief washes over me. Roe is the first person to ever know the history between Lennon and me.

My night with him has been a secret I've had the burden of carrying for the past six years. I haven't even been able to talk about it with the one I shared the night with.

Lennon.

My heart feels lighter when Roe and I step inside. Seas of white dresses stretch along each wall. Various bits of lace and sequins peek out from white chiffon and silk. Roe elbows me, and I turn to catch the largest grin I think I've ever seen on her. I'm grinning the same way. We've shopped in stores of this scale all our lives, but never a bridal store, and never for a wedding dress.

"I didn't realize until now how exciting this is," she says, hooking her arm in mine. "We didn't get to do this for your first wedding. Actually, I wasn't even there. This is nice, isn't it?"

I nod, unable to speak. It is nice. I feel like a princess, and I haven't even tried any of the dresses on yet, which are a far cry from the red bikini and white sarong I was wearing the day I married David.

"Hello." A woman with long, curly brown hair greets us. "Do you have an appointment set up with us?"

"Um." I nervously look at Roe. "No, I don't think I do."

"I'm sorry." She frowns. "We aren't able to have you try on any of the dresses unless you have an appointment."

"Oh. Are we able to make an appointment? My wedding is in five days, and I really need to find a dress."

"Five days?" The curly haired woman gasps, placing her hand on her chest. "I'm sorry. Even if I were to get you an appointment, there is no way we could have a dress ready for you in five days."

"Well, shit," Roe mutters.

Panic starts to course through my veins. I should have known better. There's no way a store such as this one could have a dress ready for me by this weekend, or any of the other stores on Olivia's list.

I'm ready to leave the store when my phone rings from my purse. I pull it out, reading Lennon's name flashing across the screen.

Roe eyes my phone and gives me a knowing grin. I stick my tongue out at her and answer.

"Lennon," I say, keeping my voice as even as possible.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Black Heart." His voice is deep and low, vibrating my insides. Butterflies fill my stomach.

I roll my eyes at his new nickname for me. Roe's eyebrow lifts, and I shake my head at her.

One day, I'm Mrs. Harding. Now, I'm Mrs. Black Heart.

"I apologize, ma'am." The curly brown-haired woman interjects, stepping closer. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I have a bride arriving soon for her appointment. Maybe you could try a department store or a secondhand shop. They'll likely have wedding dresses you can buy off the rack."

"Wait a minute." Lennon growls through the phone and into my ear. "Are you wedding dress shopping?"

"Yes," I tell him, clearing my throat. "My sister Monroe is here with me, and we just walked in."

Roe turns her attention to the woman long enough to shoot her a glare before she looks back at me, leaning in to listen in on our conversation.

"Why did it sound like the woman was asking you to leave?" he asks. "Were you able to find a dress?"

"Not exactly." I wince. The woman still hasn't moved, refusing to walk away until she's sure we've left her store before her next client arrives.

"What do you mean?" He's lowered his voice again, but this time it's darker.

"I went to the first store on the list Olivia sent, and the lady who works here says I need an appointment before trying anything on. Plus, she says they can't get a dress done for me in time for our wedding."

"What the fuck?" Lennon asks. "Did you give her your name?"

"I didn't realize I was supposed to."

Before my parents died and Kellan destroyed our reputation, our family name held meaning and importance like Lennon's does in this city. But I never liked using it to get what I wanted. Lennon clearly doesn't take issue with it.

"Tell her you're Lennon Harding's fiancée."

"Lennon," I sigh. "It's fine. I can go somewhere else."

"Laurel. You're going to be my wife, and you deserve to pick whichever dress you fucking want. It shouldn't matter which store you go to." He pauses, his breath blowing through the phone to my ear as if he were here with me. My body heats.

"Is the woman who works there with you now?" he asks.

"Yes."

"Good. Put me on speaker."

"Lennon." His name falls on a sigh again.

I'm not even remotely embarrassed by Lennon wanting me to put him on speaker. The butterflies in my stomach and the heat radiating across my body is simply from the shift I sense in his tone. He's irritated the woman is giving us a difficult time, but at the same time he's being protective. Like he cares if I'm happy. And knowing that does all sorts of things to my chest and stomach.

"Laurel," he grits out. "If you don't put me on speaker right now, I won't be able to control myself so easily the next time we meet in my conference room. Next time, it'll be more than just your shoes."

This time my stomach does a full somersault.

My heart hammers in my chest, and my body may as well burst into flames.

I momentarily consider not following through on putting him on speaker to find out what he means, but I decide against it.

"My fiancé would like to speak with you," I tell the woman, eyeing the name tag attached to her black pants suit. "Erica."

Erica crosses her arms over her chest as I pull the phone away from my ear and click the speaker button.

"You're on speaker, Lennon," I tell him.

Roe's hand covers her mouth, and her eyes are spread wide in shock.

"Is this Erica?" Lennon asks.

"Yes, sir." She eyes me, sending me a narrowed, annoyed gaze. "As I told your fiancée, she will need to find a dress at another store. Our bridal store runs on an appointment only system. You must have one to shop here and place an order for a dress. Besides, your wedding is on such short notice there's no?—"

"I don't remember asking you to repeat to me the exact same excuses you told my fiancée," Lennon cuts in, anger dripping from his voice. "This is Lennon Harding. I believe my assistant Olivia spoke with you earlier telling you that you should be expecting my fiancée in today, did she not?"

"Oh." Erica's face is as white as a ghost. She nervously looks down at my phone, reading his name. Her neck bobs as she swallows deeply, realizing the mistake she made. "I'm sorry, Mr. Harding. I wasn't aware?—"

"No," he cuts her off. "You weren't aware. Because if you were, you would be showing my fiancée any dress she requests instead of standing here talking to me, denying my fiancée of the dress she deserves. You would also know that there is no budget. The future Mrs. Harding will get whatever dress she falls in love with, and my assistant was also informed that we were able to make special arrangements for any alterations that might be needed for the dress to be ready by Saturday. Am I correct, Erica, or were we all misinformed?"

"No, sir. You weren't misinformed. I should have asked your fiancée her name when she entered the store. Of course, we have special arrangements set in place for you."

"Good," he says, satisfied. "I expect you to treat my fiancée and her sister with respect and give them the best dress buying experience."

"Be assured, our team here will get whatever the future Mrs. Harding requests."

"Great," he says. "Oh, and Mrs. Harding?"

He's already back to calling me by my future name. My cheeks heat with Roe's increasing stare.

"Yes, Lennon?" I pull my phone closer, no longer keeping it outstretched for everyone to hear, even though I keep him on speaker.

"I look forward to seeing you in the dress that was made especially for you," he teases. "And to meeting you at the altar."

He doesn't give me the opportunity to answer before he ends our call. I didn't even get to ask why he called in the first place.

Dropping my phone in my purse, I'm still reeling from the past few minutes when I trade glances between Roe and Erica. Erica's face is mixed with both fear and hesitation. Roe is buzzing with excitement.

Her grin stretches all the way up to her bright blue eyes as she wags her finger in the direction of my phone sitting in the bottom of my purse.

"Oh, yeah." She beams. "This isn't just business. That man loves you."