Four Weddings and a Break Up (5 page)

“He took time off his high-power job in Las Vegas to help out,” Lois added. “Wes is the owner of D&A.”

Ginny needed to pick her jaw up off the floor. D&A was an extremely wealthy real estate business—they built hotels all over the country and brokered deals rumored to be in the billions. And Wes was the owner. He’d also taken time off to help out his family. He wasn’t heartless or a scumbag or anywhere near Mr. Rat Bastard’s vicinity.

“Of course, Wes was a very bad boy as a child. Why, when Wes was a little boy, he would streak naked through my backyard and scare the living daylights out of poor Miss Millie.”

“How is your cat doing by the way? Still living off the souls it likes to collect at night?”

“Miss Millie passed away a long time ago.” Lois dabbed her eyes. “But I’ve got Checkers now. You must come over and see him.”

Wes leaned forward, draping his arms over the cart, and flashed a smile. “You just want me to streak naked through your backyard again, don’t you, Mrs. Jacobs?”

“See? Bad, just like I said.” Lois tittered, again. “Wes, let me tell you about Ginny—”

“That’s not necessary,” Ginny said.

“—she’s good and courageous and sweet and heroic. We love her, and the town only wants the best for her. And we don’t want to see her get hurt again.” Lois sniffed.

Every muscle in Ginny tightened. “Mrs. Jacobs, don’t—”

“Ginny is a hero, Wes.” Lois paused dramatically.

Wes leaned in closer.

Ginny opened her mouth, her sound of protest muffled by Lois’s next words.

“Ginny was an English teacher at Cape Hope High. She stopped a student who’d brought a gun into the high school.” Lois’s eyes misted. “Ginny took a bullet and almost died to save another student.”

“It was nothing,” she said quietly.

Wes straightened, his eyes roving over her. She could see the questions going off in his mind. Where was the scar? Who had shot her? What exactly had happened? If he was sticking around, he’d find all of that out in no time. But not from her. His mouth flattened into a thin line.

“That sounds like something to me.”

Already, he looked at her differently. Now, he was going to treat her like everyone else in Cape Hope. As the hero. As the woman who took a bullet to save a student.

Except for Kyle.

She hadn’t saved him. He’d taken his own life right before her eyes. She wasn’t a hero. She didn’t deserve any accolades. She was a big fraud. And she wanted it to be forgotten and return to her life of obscurity before all of this happened.

“She’s our hometown hero,” Lois repeated. “And—”

Lois abruptly stopped as another middle-aged woman who was tall and reedy-thin with black chin-length hair pushed a cart past their aisle. A teenaged boy who bore a striking resemblance to her, trailed behind.

“That’s Marie DePaul,” Lois said, even though Wes hadn’t asked. “Her oldest son shot Ginny before taking his own life.”

Ginny had pleaded and pleaded with Kyle to not do it—that there was still hope; that he could get help and that she was sorry she hadn’t known that he’d been bullied so badly, that bringing a gun into school had seemed like his only option. There had been so much blood. It’d splattered her and had been coming out of her, and her hands had been covered in it. All she had been able to smell was death and more death, and that survival shouldn’t come at so high of a price.

And Marie DePaul might as well have been a blank slate. It looked like she was operating in the world with the barest of functions, and she didn’t stop. The younger son, Bobby, sneered at her. The whole DePaul family hated her and blamed her for Kyle’s suicide—for not seeing that he’d been bullied. For not stopping it, and for not saving their son. Since the shooting, the DePauls had lost their standing in the community.

Lois continued in a lower voice. “David and Marie’s marriage ended. David was the police chief but was forced to resign. There are a few people who blame Ginny for all of it.”

“How so?” Wes’ voice was sharp.

“You know how people can be,” Lois said. “Enough about that. It’s too beautiful out for such a depressing topic. I’m sure you both want to talk about better things and make plans for your date this weekend. I’ll see you there.”

With that, Lois wielded her cart past them and turned the corner, disappearing from view.

“I’ve got to go, too,” Ginny said.

She needed to get out of here before Wes asked any questions. She knew Wes had only said he was her date to get Lois off her back. While she’d been shocked at the gesture, she’d also greatly appreciated it. She didn’t expect Wes to follow through. She’d come up with an excuse this weekend.

Before he could say anything to her, she left. Hopefully the checkout line wasn’t too long.

A
fter paying for her groceries
, Ginny walked to her car. She wasn’t too surprised to find Wes leaning against the back end of a black Ford Explorer parked across from her old Volvo. She’d seen him in the other checkout line, much shorter than hers.

He pushed away from his Ford and headed toward her. “So, what happened?”

She started putting bags into her trunk even as her heart started beating wildly. “What do you mean?”

Wes helped her. “You got shot.”

“I did.” Maybe he would get from her short tone that she didn’t want to talk about it. Especially not to him.

“Where?” His eyes roamed over her body.

It was a normal question to ask, but she was still irritated by it. He had made it abundantly clear he wanted nothing to do with her last night, and now he suddenly wanted to know her whole story. Like she was some sideshow freak. She crossed her arms across her chest.

“No streak of lightning hit you last night as far as I know. So your superpower of x-ray vision is not in effect.”

“Well, damn.” He paused. “Are you going to tell me?”

Not in this lifetime. Her scar was ugly and horrific to look at—sometimes, she couldn’t even glimpse it without a shudder of revulsion going through her. Ginny pushed an errant strand of hair off her face. “Why? I’m not going to show you.”

“Last night I didn’t see anything. Or feel anything.” Wes stepped closer to her. “Was it bad?”

“I hardly think about it anymore,” she lied easily. No one knew that her dreams were often about her being shot. Ginny noticed Lois Jacobs pulling away in her white Cadillac. Now that Lois saw her with Wes again, maybe Lois would stop trying to set her up. Ginny could only hope.

“You can tell me.”

She resisted rolling her eyes at him. She knew his game. He was the type of guy who used humor, a flash of that devastating smile, and his charm to get his way. But she wasn’t one to be played. He just wanted information out of her, and she also suspected that he was only talking to her because he wanted something. What that something was remained a mystery to her—for now.

“Still not showing you anything.” She gave up any pretense of putting her groceries away and faced him. “Why do you want to know so badly?”

He flashed a grin. “I’m curious. And I think we could be friends.”

“Friends?” After last night? After how he had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her? She didn’t think that was possible.

“Why not?”

There were too many reasons to list. She picked one. “You don’t need me.”

“I do. You’re female.”

Talk about flattery. If he needed a woman, there were plenty available. “You must have gotten straight A’s in Biology.”

“Barely passed. I couldn’t cut up the earthworm. Luckily, my lab partner—”

“Let me guess. She was female, too.”

“Yup. Her name was Bella. When I got a whiff of—”

“It’s sunny out. You’re not sparkling. Did you put on anti-glitter sunscreen?”

“If you step closer, it smells like chocolate. You can lick me, if you want.”

They both stared at each other. Ginny remembered how Wes had dipped his head down, licking up the beer from her breasts to her mouth. She took a shaky step back. And then another.

“My ice cream is going to melt,” she said. “I have to go.”

“Ginny. Wait.” He held out his hand. “I mean it. We can be friends and help each other out.”

“How?”

“I saw it in the market. Lois was harassing you and trying to fix you up.”

Why was he bringing
that
up?

“So?”

“She was doing the same thing to me. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, Lois Jacobs came over with her newly divorced daughter and tried to set me up. When I was in the market, a few women came up and tried to set me up with their daughters, friends, what have you.”

She made a clucking sound of faux sympathy. Really, if that was the crux of his problems, he had it easy. “You poor baby. It must be so hard fending off all that unwanted attention. How do you do it?”

“I’m trying to avoid it. Like you.”

Touché.

“I need to focus on my dad and help my family out as much as I can,” he continued. “I can’t afford any distractions.”

She didn’t know if she should be insulted or not. “I’m not a distraction?”

“You’re . . . you.”

“You don’t even know me.” There. Let that sink into him.

“I know enough.” His eyes told her exactly what he was remembering in that moment. “Anyway, like I said, everyone in my life is trying to fix me up. It’s the beginning of June. Weddings are going to be cropping up like roses. People are going to try and set us up.”

“You want to date me so you don’t get set up with anyone else? Just last night, you were telling me that all we had was a one-night stand.”

“I’m a guy. Guys say stupid shit all the time.”

She didn’t say anything.

“That was the part where you were supposed to deny it.”

“Why would I? You did say something stupid.”

He blinked. “Huh?”

She almost took pity on him as she closed her trunk. “You keep referring to it as a ‘one-night stand,’ except it wasn’t—it wasn’t even a half hour stand. It was twenty-four minutes, tops.”

“I’m like Domino’s. If you don’t get it in thirty minutes or less, the next one is free.”

And she would still get heartburn. “So now you want to ‘date’ me?”

“Fake date,” he clarified. “I’ll appear at things for you, and vice versa. It’ll give us breathing room. Maybe if people see that you’re with me—”

“What? People will suddenly forget I was shot?” she demanded. “C’mon. Get real. If anything, I’ll be under more scrutiny for being with a guy like you. Someone who’s new to town. Everyone is going to want to figure you out. If I’m with you, I’m going to get more questions.”

“Sugar, your thinking is off. I’m as bad and dangerous as they come. You know what they say. If you want the fire off you, put the heat on someone else. I can do that for you because you’re going to help me out, too.”

She laughed. Mr. Dangerous. She’d been right in so many ways. What Wes was proposing bordered on the ridiculous. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to pass.”

“Suit yourself.” He started to walk away, then stopped. He strode back toward her and gave her a business card. “But if you change your mind, call me.”

W
es was still shaken
by what he’d learned about Ginny when he arrived home at Dad’s. She’d been shot. Jesus.

Her face had grown so pale when Lois had told the story, and he’d been shocked because Ginny had struck him as normal and real and just down to Earth, and
that
happening to her was completely wrong. She had tried to downplay all of it, especially when Lois had referred to Ginny as a hero; he hadn’t missed Ginny’s soft denial or how her gaze had grown shuttered.

At first, he’d assumed Ginny had been uncomfortable with the praise. Perhaps she didn’t want the story bandied about because that must have been extremely hard for her to overcome. It must be difficult to live here after such a thing had happened—she probably couldn’t escape from residents hailing her as a hero.

His timing or his approach in the parking lot hadn’t been the greatest. He’d stupidly assumed she would talk to him. Of course she had avoided the subject, with how he’d not even recognized her in the frozen food section. But she was hurting, and all he’d wanted to do was to be there for her.

Except he hadn’t recognized her at first.
Real smart move there
. He’d been so distracted by thoughts of his dad and his piss-poor relationship with his brother Jake that he’d blanked and forgotten. He just plain sucked as a person.

Plus, he hadn’t been able to stand Lois pressing Ginny about who she was dating, much like she had done to him earlier this morning. Before he’d realized it, he’d said that it was him. Then the whole revelation about the shooting came out, and he’d seen the glimmer of tears in Ginny’s eyes . . . the idea had come to him. They could help each other out and be friends.

Except she had turned him down.

She would call him. Eventually. He had a gut feeling that she would. It was just a matter of time. And Wes could be an extremely patient man when it was warranted.

But for now he had to make dinner.

He took out the box of Velveeta macaroni and cheese. The directions were easy, and if he couldn’t make this, then there really was no hope for him. He set the water to boil and waited. Dad was in the other room watching a Phillies game with Jake. The front door opened and closed.

“Seth, you’re early,” Jake remarked from the living room. “No Liz tonight? It’s so odd to see you without her. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Seth laughed. “She’s doing some things for the wedding with her mom. Besides, I know it’s Wes’ first night here. I thought it could just be us guys. Where is Wes, by the way?”

“Making dinner,” Jake answered.

A few moments later, Seth entered the kitchen. At thirty-one, Seth was the middle child of the family. Like Jake and Wes, Seth also had black hair and steely gray eyes. His hair was a little on the shorter side but had more wave in it. A small scar sliced his left cheek. Instead of looking rough and raw-boned, Seth was polished and refined. Even though Seth had caused trouble when he was younger, he’d always been the peacemaker of the group.

Seth didn’t hesitate. He went up to Wes and hugged him briefly, then clapped him on the shoulder. “Wes. I’m so glad you’re here. What’s on the menu tonight?”

Wes held up the Velveeta box in answer. “Just your every day five-star cuisine.”

“I’m not complaining. I’ve always enjoy processed, melted orange cheese.” Seth opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. “Want one?”

“Sure.”

Seth tossed the bottle, and Wes easily caught it. Then Seth took out another one, uncapped it, and took a long pull.

“Everything okay?” Wes added some salt to the water before facing his brother. “How’s your fiancée?”

Seth’s smile widened. “Liz is great. You know how women can get, especially a few weeks before their own wedding. With the cottage still not finished—”

“You’re building a cottage?”

“I thought you knew?”

No. He hadn’t. Then again it wasn’t like he and his brothers had any sort of regular correspondence. And it wasn’t like he had readily availed himself to open lines of communication with his brothers. Or his dad.

This is why he was in Cape Hope—to help out his brothers and Dad, and to forge a better relationship with his family.

“I didn’t. Building it from scratch?”

Seth took out a head of lettuce, washing it under the sink. “Might as well make myself useful.”

“By washing lettuce?”

“By making a salad.” Seth removed the cutting board from above the stainless-steel fridge. He started slicing the lettuce. “As to the cottage, it’s all new. Right on the southern point—there’ll be views of the ocean on all sides.”

“Sounds nice. How big?”

“It’s a cottage, so not terribly big or too small. Just right. Comfortable,” Seth said. “It’s going to have three bedrooms and two full baths. The kitchen is this nice little nook that overlooks the back—there’s a small yard, just enough for a swing set and tiny garden. Maybe even big enough for a doghouse. I’m going to paint the house a light blue, like Liz’s eyes.”

Man. His brother was a goner.

Seth must have seen the look on his face. “Hey, I know what you’re going to say.”

Wes raised a brow. “You do?”

“You think I’m pussy whipped.”

“No, I don’t think that.” Wes paused. “I think that you’re ball and chained to that pussy.”

“I was like you once.” Seth placed the lettuce into a bright green bowl. “The only thing I was committed to was baseball and football. I never believed in love, you know because of how Dad’s marriages never stuck. Love didn’t seem to last. Then I met Liz. She changed everything.”

“Sap.”

Seth headed to the fridge and took out some tomatoes and an onion. “Maybe I am. It doesn’t make me less of a man because I want to do things for the woman I love.”

“Oh, Jesus.” Wes groaned. “I feel like I’m in a Hallmark commercial.”

“Hallmark commercial or not, I think it’s time you added the macaroni, Gordon Ramsay wannabe.”

Wes turned down the heat on the water a little and poured the shells in. “I’m not knocking what you have with Liz. You just don’t want to get so wrapped up in her that you lose yourself. That’s all.”

“I’m not insulted. However, that’s not what Liz and I have. We respect each other. We accept each other as who we are and don’t change the other.” Seth leaned against the counter. “But you should have a Ph.D. in avoiding commitment.”

Not this argument again. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Not family type of commitment. You have to do that. Blood and all. I’m talking about love.”

“I have other things to concern myself about right now. I don’t have time for that sort of thing.”

“Whatever you say.” Seth watched as Wes drained the shells and added the cheese. “How is everything with you?”

“Huh?”

“The move and coming back here?”

“It’s fine,” he said automatically. “It’s not like it’s permanent. Jake’s got some issues.”

“Jake always has issues,” Seth said affably. “He’s had to deal with Dad more than we have. You know, he’s the one who brought TJ and me together to take over the business five years ago when Dad’s health went south. Jake’s been stressed with all of it.”

“He didn’t seem too happy with me.”

“Jake is just Jake,” Seth said. “Just give him time. I’ll work on him, too.”

Give his brother time. Sure. Wes could do that. Except he was only here for three months. Hopefully that would be enough time to heal any existing rifts.

S
he was not going
to call him. She was not going to call him. She was not going to call him.

Ginny kept repeating that to herself on the way back to her apartment. As she put away her groceries. Even when she called her mom back and surprised the both of them by accepting her mom’s dinner invite for that evening. She’d stared at his business card, which was just his name and cell number in black font on expensive cream vellum. She wrote “Mr. Dangerous” under his name, then drew devil horns and a tail. But when she headed out to her mom’s, she couldn’t resist tucking his card into the pocket of her jeans.

Although, she wasn’t going to call him.

His idea was ridiculous. She didn’t know what had driven him to offer that in the first place—to play pretend as if they were little kids. She didn’t like him, and he just wanted to use her. She was sure that in his book sex would still be on the table. Friends. Ginny snorted.

Except the thought of not having to put up with another bad date was very tempting.

She pulled up in front of her mom’s place—a large, sprawling, gray four-story house that also operated as a bed and breakfast, The Gray Lady—and saw that her sister was already here. Ginny walked up the porch steps and waved hello to Grant Wallis, the new gardener and all-around handyman their mom had hired in April. Grant was from Scotland, had a deep burr of a voice, and was always cordial to her and Julie. Before Ginny could knock, her mom opened the door.

“We’ve been waiting for you. Hello, Grant.” Her mom looked past Ginny to where Grant was pulling out some weeds.

Grant’s head jerked up, his silver hair shaggy around his strong face. He spoke in his thick Scottish accent. “Hello, lass. Do you want to see what I’m doing with the roses later on?”

Curiously, her mom blushed. “Yes. Of course.”

Then waving good-bye, her mom pulled Ginny inside and into the hallway, which was done in a cherry maple. Her mom was young, only fifty-one, and pretty, with her honey blonde hair cut to her jaw, and a smattering of freckles dotting her nose and cheeks. Her brown eyes were bright with excitement, and she squeezed Ginny’s hands. “I’m so glad you said yes. I invited a few people to join us.”

“Mom,” Ginny drew out. “I thought it was just family.”

“I consider them to be members of our family.” Her mom adjusted the hemline of Ginny’s shirt. “Oh, how I wish Julie wasn’t in the kitchen right now. Maybe I can get her real quick to put some color on your face. I don’t know why you don’t make yourself up more. And for goodness’ sake, Ginger Belle Michaels, please take out that ponytail and wear your hair down. You’re such a pretty girl.”

“Mom.”

“I’ll stop before I get ahead of myself. But do try and smile.”

“What did you do?”

“Oh, nothing. I just invited a few people over. Like I told you.” Her mom led her to the living room. “Now promise me you won’t get mad.”

“I can’t promise that.”

“Ginny.”

“I promise,” she said halfheartedly, crossing her fingers behind her back.

Satisfied, her mom gave Ginny a gentle shove into the living room. Sitting on the couch were seven men, ranging from mid-twenties to late thirties. Handsome, average, nice . . . they all ran the gamut in looks and physique. The only thing they had in common was that all of them held a yellow rose.

“Where did you find them? Online?”

“No,” her mother said, a little guiltily. “Well, maybe one or two. The rest work at the bed and breakfast.”

“I think this is illegal,” she muttered. “Or child abuse.”

Her mother ignored her and turned her attention to the men. “Gentlemen, this is my oldest daughter. The one I was telling you about. Her name is Ginny. She’s thirty-three, and she teaches high school English. Very smart. Got a great sense of humor. Pretty. And very nice.”

“Why not just tell them I’m good for breeding, too?” she asked.

“Now as we discussed, you’ll each have five minutes with Ginny. She’ll cut the buds off your roses from four of you, leaving three left. Those three will join us for dinner. Although don’t worry for those who aren’t picked. I instructed Julie to pack you a take-home meal and dessert. I’ll bring Ginny to the kitchen where you’ll have your one-on-one with her.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ginny said to the men. All of them looked so uncomfortable. One of them muttered something in Spanish. She turned to her mother, her hands on her hips. “Mom. Do they even speak English?”

“The language of love knows no barriers.” Her mom eyed the men with relish. She pointed to a tall, lean man with wavy dark hair and equally dark eyes. “Raoul
es mi favorito
. Do I have that right, Raoul?” Her mom enunciated the last question slowly.

Ginny wished that the earth would open up and swallow her whole.

“
Sí
.” Raoul’s mouth glinted with humor.

“Seriously, I am so, so sorry.
Lo siento
,” she added for good measure.

“Ginny!” Her mom grabbed her arm and propelled her out of the room to the kitchen, where her sister was taking out a tray of freshly baked sugar cookies.

“I am not doing this,” Ginny hissed. “You wonder why I don’t come over here. It’s because you ambush me.”

“Ginny, you’re getting up there. It’s my fondest wish that I have grandchildren.”

“Then do this to Julie!”

“Way to throw me under the bus, Gin,” Julie said as she placed the cookies on a cooling rack. “Because of that, you’re not going to sample the newest addition to Just Desserts.”

“Bitch,” Ginny said jokingly. She tapped her fingers on the granite counter. With a business just a year old, Julie and she worked from morning to night. Julie was always coming up with new baking ideas and did the accounting while Ginny organized all the catering jobs, the orders, and anything else that needed managing. “I think we should highlight our cupcakes more, too.”

“I’m definitely on board with that. Anyone can make a fancy wedding cake. We excel at that. But to also make decadent cupcakes . . .”

They both looked at each other, almost as if a light bulb had gone off over their heads at the same time.

“This weekend,” Julie breathed. “The Glorious Food festival.”

Ginny nodded her head. “Yes. We can have a sample of cupcakes out at the picnic. And we can give them creative names.”

“I can make them all gorgeous, and ohhh, I have some ideas of what flavors to mix and how to design them, and—”

Their mom cleared her throat, but her face was soft and her eyes misty. “You girls are just great. And very lucky to have each other. When I was a kid, all I wanted was a sister or brother. It wasn’t meant to be. So when I married your dad, I wanted a family. When he passed away last year, it was the hardest thing. I don’t know what I would have done without you girls. I want you to have the love that I did. That’s what I want for you both.”