You, Me, and Forever (Blushing)

The next two weeks were ridiculously busy. I’d spent my days getting ready for our next wedding and choosing finishes for the renovation out at the ranch. We’d decided to name the boutique hotel the Blushing Inn. Violet and I liked that it had the name of our town, as well as our business. Connor thought it was a perfect fit as well.

I spoke to Myles’s assistant almost daily, and I refused to ask how his boss was doing, even if I was dying to know.

Even if every night since he’d left, I cried myself to sleep. I didn’t cry once when Phillip and I broke up. Hell, I didn’t even cry when I’d learned that he’d cheated on me with his now fiancée.

But the loss of Myles St. James from my life had been massive. Painful.

I’d started feeling it the day we’d returned from Banff. I knew I couldn’t say goodbye to him without falling apart, so I’d said I was sick. And maybe in the traditional sense I’d stretched the truth to protect my already broken heart. But I’d been physically ill, knowing the time had come.

Somewhere along the way, I’d fallen deeply in love with a man I couldn’t keep.

He’d sent my father over to my house with food, and I’d pretended that I didn’t want to get him sick. I took the food and insisted he head home.

I’d always been someone who liked to deal with my sadness on my own. Well, aside from Violet, who didn’t care if I told her not to come over.

She came anyway.

She’d spent that first night at my house, letting me cry it out. She didn’t remind me once that I’d done this to myself. She didn’t shame me for getting myself into this situation.

She’d just let me cry.

And the next day I’d insisted I was fine, and I threw myself into work.

But I’m anything but fine.

So, when I spoke to Connor, which was almost daily, I made a point to keep it all about business.

And that’s the way I wanted to keep it.

We worked well together, and I was grateful that I had a contact other than Myles.

“You’ve been working such long hours,” Violet said as she drove out toward the Blushing Inn so that we could check on the renovations, since it had been a few days since we’d been out there. Charlie said they’d had a bunch done for us to come see, and the hope was that we would be open for business in a few weeks.

“I could have done this on my own. You need to sleep, Monny. You look exhausted,” Violet said.

“I thrive when I’m exhausted. I’m in wedding mode, and I can rest after this weekend.” I’d forced myself to put a smile on my face every day. I would not wear my sadness with me.

“Blakely told me that Tracy Wright called the office looking for you this morning.” She pulled into the driveway and put the car in park. “Her wedding is over. Her honeymoon is over. What could she possibly want now?”

“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you,” I said as I pushed out of the car. It was cold this morning, and we were both dressed in sweaters and jeans. The sun was out, but the breeze made it chilly.

“Tell me. I need some entertainment.”

We walked up the cobblestone path to the front porch and saw several trucks parked out front. The crew was trying to get this done for us as quickly as possible.

“She asked me to go buy her whitening strips and drop them off. Then she called because she started her period, and she asked if I had a way to make it go away.”

I couldn’t make this shit up.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Violet said before she broke out into a fit of laughter. “The wedding is over. Why is she calling her wedding planner and not her husband?”

“She said she had bad cramps, and she just assumed I could run and do a quick favor to help her out. I told her to call Bryan because I was swamped at work.”

“Bad cramps, huh? It’s called karma, bitch. If you treat everyone like shit, the universe is going to deliver Aunt Flo with a side of cramps every month for the rest of your life.”

I chuckled as we stepped inside.

Charlie was there, bent down as he worked on the banister. His arms flexed as he used the nail gun to secure one end, with two of his guys holding it in place.

“Hey,” I said. “I didn’t know we were changing out the banister.”

“Yes. This is unexpected, Charles,” Violet said as she studied the wood railing and glared at our contractor, whom she seemed annoyed by most of the time.

“Well, it was kind of a surprise.” He cleared his throat before stepping to the other side of the staircase and motioning for me to follow. “Myles asked me to bring this over from the Seaside Inn. I think it’s got yours and your dad’s initials engraved here.”

A lump lodged in my throat. The one I’d fought so hard the last two weeks to push away. I nodded and blinked multiple times as my fingers traced over our initials carved into the gorgeous dark wood. There were little nail holes where we’d hung our stockings every year.

“You brought the banister from the Seaside Inn over here and switched them out?” Violet asked as she strode from one side to the other, admiring the woodwork.

“Yep. We’ll use the banister from this place on another project at some point. But he thought you’d like it if we could salvage the one that holds a lot of memories for you,” he said, and his gaze was filled with empathy.

Charlie was normally a pretty serious guy, but he’d been checking in with me more than usual lately. I assumed it was because we were working on this project together.

I nodded.

No words came.

He’d remembered that the banister meant something to me.

Damn you, Myles St. James.

I wanted to be angry at him for leaving. But the anger had yet to come.

I swallowed several times as I continued nodding, making a promise to myself that I could let it all out when I got home tonight.

I would give myself an hour to fall apart.

To grieve. To be sad. To feel all of these things that I was desperately trying not to feel.

“Fuck,” Charlie said under his breath.

“Is that a proposition?” Violet asked.

“What?”

“Oh, I thought you were being suggestive.” She smirked. Violet loved to mess with people, but Charlie was not the kind of man you messed with.

“No idea what the fuck that means,” he grumped. “But there’s one more thing to show you, and I feel like it’s going to upset you now that I’m seeing the way you reacted to the banister.”

“Did the billionaire send a clay molding of his magic dick?” Violet said as if she were discussing the weather.

Charlie shook his head with irritation. “No. There are no clay dicks.”

“Good to know, Charles.”

He ignored the comment, since she’d refused to call him “Charlie” after he’d asked her to stop calling him “Charles” multiple times over the last two weeks. Which only made her do it more.

“Come on. Let’s get this over with.” He directed his guys to go help the painters upstairs, and he led us to the kitchen. They were putting in the new cabinets, and the countertops were going in tomorrow. We’d removed a wall between the kitchen and the dining room, as we wanted to expand the kitchen, and they’d framed the new wall several feet away from where it originally stood. It was on the side of the kitchen, so I was anxious to see how it would all look with the change.

“It’s so much larger,” Violet said as we both turned at the same time. “What the motherfucking mind blow is going on?”

Charlie actually laughed at her response before straightening his face and looking at me. “What do you think?”

The lump in my throat was no longer stable.

My bottom lip started shaking, and it didn’t matter how many times I blinked, the tears were too thick.

The dam broke, and I couldn’t fight it.

Tears blurred my vision as I stared at the wall that I’d painted years ago for Howard and Lydia. Turquoise and pink butterflies and flowers swirled in the design.

I turned to look at Charlie, who startled when he saw the tears coming down my face.

“For fuck’s sake, Charles!” Violet said. “You could have given her a heads-up.”

“What? I didn’t know she’d be upset by it.”

“Oh really, genius. She painted that goddamn wall.” She fumed, and I wanted to make her stop, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the wall.

“I’m very aware. I’m the dude who had to take a wall down without damaging it and move it a mile away, keeping it intact, and then build it into the remodel. I’m more than fucking aware that she painted the wall, Violet. I thought she’d be happy that we salvaged it.”

I didn’t even care that they were arguing.

“Of course you did. You have a penis!” she shouted. “You don’t have a clue how our minds work. Good luck to you when Harper’s a teenager. She’s going to hate you.”

I turned because she shouldn’t have brought Harper into it.

“Stop,” I said, my voice shaky, as I swiped at my cheeks and my nose, trying to pull myself together. “I do like it. It was just unexpected.”

“Well then, let’s not bring my kid hating me into the conversation if she’s okay with the wall.” He glared at the woman beside me.

“Of course she’s okay with the wall,” she groaned. “She thought it was demolished. Which means that she’s already grieved the wall, and then you go and surprise her with it. Next time . . . just do better, Charles.”

“I’ll keep that in mind when I’m using every bit of manpower I have to get this gigantic fucking wall over here in one piece.” He didn’t hide his sarcasm.

“Thank you. I appreciate that effort.” Violet plastered a very fake smile on her face.

“Thank you, Charlie,” I said, my voice quiet and shaky.

He sighed. “It wasn’t my idea. But he really wanted it salvaged for you. He was very impressed with it.”

“Oh, he who shall not be named.” Violet glared at Charlie once again. I didn’t know why she was blaming him when he was just doing his job.

He ran a hand over his face. “Trust me, I don’t want to be the middleman.”

“Well, we all know that you penises like to stick together, don’t you?”

“Again. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “Yes, Violet. I have a dick. A rather large one, if I’m being honest. But that has nothing to do with the fact that I was hired to do a job, and that’s what I’m doing.”

“Typical. Do you have any more surprises for my girl, Charles? Perhaps you could prepare her for whatever you’ve got left in that bag of dicks you seem to be carting around.” She glared at him, arms folded across her chest, her eyes fuming. “Let me guess. Did he find her first baby footprint out in the garden and have it gold plated? Or did he find her first baby tooth and have it made into a pearl necklace that you’re going to present to her next?”

He laughed. “You’re absolutely insane.”

“You have no idea. I haven’t even gotten started.” She smirked.

My phone vibrated relentlessly in my back pocket, and I pulled it out to see several texts from Monica, who was getting married this coming weekend. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Vi, I’m begging you to tone it down. I’m good. We’ve got to get over to the bridal shop. Monica is having dress issues.”

“It’s your lucky day, Huxley. I wasn’t finished with my wrath just yet,” Violet grumped.

“Thanks for doing all this, Charlie. I’m honestly overcome with emotion, in a good way. I worked hard on this wall, and I just assumed it was gone. And the banister . . .” I placed a hand on my heart. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

“Thank you, Montana. That makes it all worth it,” he said before turning and raising a brow at Violet.

“What? You don’t seriously think I’m going to apologize for being a protective best friend, do you?” Violet chuckled. “See you around, Charles.”

He grunted something under his breath, but I couldn’t make it out, and we walked outside together and got in her car.

“You okay?” she asked as she started driving toward downtown.

“Yes. You shouldn’t have been rude to Charlie. It was really sweet of him to make sure it got moved over correctly. He’s doing his job, Vi.”

“I know that,” she sang out dramatically. “But I like giving Charles shit because he’s so . . . edgy. And he gets all worked up. A girl can have some fun. Plus, you cried. You never cry. So I would have attacked anyone that was the cause of it in the moment.”

“I can’t believe Myles did that,” I said.

“Yeah, he’s clearly the world’s worst fling,” she said, putting the car in park after she pulled into the Blooming Bride’s parking lot. “This was supposed to be light and fun for you. You were supposed to have a one-nighter, let the man rock your world, and realize what a dud of a douche Phillip was before going off into the dating world. Your fling lasted for months, took you on trips, and salvaged your childhood memories. What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Of course I even failed at having a fling. It was supposed to be fun—I wasn’t supposed to fall for the guy.” I pushed out of the car.

“Love sucks!” Violet yelled, and I turned around and used my hand to cover her mouth.

“We’re wedding planners. You can’t say that out loud.” I held my hand there as I waited for her to nod.

“Don’t remind me. Let’s go see what today’s problem is.” She looped her arm through mine.

I pulled the door open, and we both straightened and plastered smiles on our faces.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Monica said. She had a look of panic on her face. She looked around at her mom and her bridesmaids and added, “We’re having issues getting the back zipped.”

Her dress looked like it was made for her.

A white satin princess-style gown.

“I took the measurements and was certain I got them right,” Beatrice said. She was the local seamstress, and she took a lot of pride in her work. I was certain she was still recovering from her experience with Tracy, as she’d been really tough on the older woman about her alterations.

I stepped in front of her and raised a brow. “It fits perfectly everywhere else.”

“I know. I’m not sure what’s happening up here.” Monica looked down at her chest.

“This isn’t a shotgun wedding, is it?” Connie, Monica’s mother, said, her voice all tease as she sipped her champagne on the couch. A couple of Monica’s bridesmaids giggled.

“Oh my gosh, Mom. I’m not pregnant.”

The strapless gown was gorgeous, and her boobs did look notably larger than they had at the last fitting; they were bursting out of the top.

I stepped up on the podium and studied her from head to toe. “Did you wear a different bra when you got your last fitting done?”

Monica chuckled. “Oh, I did just buy this new bra. It’s supposed to work wonders for us less-endowed girls.”

I tried not to laugh. “Violet, unzip the back a little bit for me.”

She moved up onto the podium and did as I asked. “Hold the top away so I can see what’s going on.”

Monica held the fabric away from her body as I tipped my head down and looked. “May I make an adjustment?”

“Yes. Have at it.”

I reached into the cleavage area, found the little opening on the inside of each cup, and tugged the unusually thick padding out of the bra. I held the two pads in my hand and asked Violet to zip the dress up.

“Oh. Ohhhhhh. Look at that. It fits perfectly,” Monica said, and her bridesmaids all relaxed on the couch as her mother moved to her feet and got teary eyed as she took in her daughter. “Thank you so much, Montana. You both are little wedding ninjas, the way you just jump into gear.”

“Yes,” Connie said. “Monica told me that Violet worked some magic getting her the wedding cake that she wanted, even though it was slightly out of budget. Somehow, she got them to bend on the price.”

I chuckled. Violet was a fabulous negotiator, and I’d heard her on the phone, mentioning how many weddings we refer to this particular bakery a year. She’d also mentioned that there was another baker in town who was eager to get new business. And they immediately took 20 percent off the cake that Monica had really wanted.

“We’re here to make your lives easier on your special day.” I smiled.

Beatrice looked relieved as she widened her eyes at Violet and me.

“Here, Bea, have a little champagne,” Violet said as she handed a flute to the older woman, while everyone else was gushing over Monica’s dress.

We said our goodbyes and made our way outside, just as my phone rang.

I groaned when I saw Tracy’s name light up my screen.

“Put her on speaker. I want to hear what she has to say this time.”

I chuckled and then answered before moving her to speakerphone. “Hey, Tracy.”noveldrama

“Montana, I just called your office looking for you and Violet, and Blakely said you were together.”

“We are. We’re dealing with some wedding stuff. What’s up?”

“Well, it’s your lucky day. We’re going back to my place to watch the video my parents had made of me as a little girl, from birth all the way to my wedding day. It’s got everything on it. It’s like a movie. It’s three hours long, and all my bridesmaids are heading over now to watch with me. You and Violet have to come join us.”

The look on Violet’s face was giving me I will murder you slowly if you agree to this vibes.

“Oh, I wish we could, Tracy. We’ve got to get over to the venue to see how setup is going for the Berry wedding this weekend.”

She whined a little but said she understood. “Some brides are so high maintenance,” Tracy said.

I chuckled, because she just might have been the least self-aware person I’d ever met.

“Okay, well, have fun,” I said. “Take care.”

“I’ll record some of it and send it to you so you don’t feel like you missed out.”

Violet threw her hands in the air, and I thanked Tracy and ended the call quickly.

After we slipped into the car, Violet turned to me. “Do we really have to go to the venue again? We already checked everything earlier today. We still have all day tomorrow to get things done.”

“No. We’re dropping the car at the office, grabbing Blakely, and walking to the Moose Brew. I think we’ve earned some cocktails.”

“Yes! She’s back!” Violet fist-pumped the sky.

I wasn’t back. Not by a long shot.

But drowning my emotions in a few martinis felt necessary at the moment.