“If you’re trying to snitch an extra rose for your bouquet, I’ve got one here,” I announced in my sweetest voice. My phone warned me we had five minutes until showtime. “Your father’s waiting outside, and he looks about ready to cry that you’re finally getting married. Smile, Amy. It’s your big day.”
Either aware I’d shackle her to a literal iron ball or she was unable to follow through with disappointing her father yet again, Amy slid back into the room. “Why are you doing this?”
“I love my brother almost as much as he loves you. And since I do love my brother almost as much as he loves you, I won’t tell him you tried to run. I’m telling myself at least one of you will have a great day. Maybe after the vows are exchanged, your cold feet will warm up. Also, if you try to run at the altar, I will chase you. You’re not giving my brother the run around today. Just be grateful I hired extra staff to cover your cancellations. You’ll have your perfect day, and if it makes you happy, you can gloat over how much it cost me to cover your ass.”
“You paid for the replacements?”
According to her tone, she couldn’t believe it was at all possible I could afford to do such a thing. My brother was the one with the money and connections, not me.
Or so she thought.
My job would never move me too far up in the world, but people trusted me with their money, and that went a long way in the business world.
“With my sweat, blood, and tears. You can thank me later.”
Judging from her glare, she wouldn’t be thanking me anytime soon. I refused to care. Satisfied I wouldn’t have to tell my brother the love of his life had run, I pointed at the door. “It’s showtime. Pretend this is the happiest day of your life. It would be embarrassing if your face ended up plastered on the front page of some tabloid. They love calling out runaway brides who sucker their grooms out of tens of thousands of dollars on a wedding. And I really don’t think your daddy will be keeping you in his will if you humiliate him in front of his investors today. Hate me all you want, but I am helping you.”
“The tabloids? What tabloids?”
“You’re a registered thoroughbride marrying a man with some money and influence, Amy. Of course the tabloids are interested in your wedding. The only way you win is if you see this through.”
I really hoped she was half as great a person as my brother believed. If not, I’d have to figure out some way to convince him to forgive me.
“I hate you,” Amy whispered.
“I’m sure you do. I’m a bitch on a good day. Don’t make this a bad one.” I glared at her and snapped my fingers, once again pointing at the door. “Time for you to be happily married. Emphasis on the happily. Double emphasis on the married. Now, march!”
Two
I held my breath through the officiation.
I took my place as the bridesmaid of honor, kept a smile plastered on my face, and wished I could go home and sleep. When I’d suggested shorter vows, I’d pissed off my brother and triggered Amy’s indignant wrath. I’d convinced them to cut down the twenty-minute monstrosity to five nerve-racking minutes. Time dragged while I worried my brother’s thoroughbride would bolt for the door.
She stayed, and I held my breath through the officiation. Only after they both signed the paperwork did I relax.
Well, as much as I could. One thoroughbride down, one reception to go. If I pretended we weren’t booked for three hours of photographs before the reception, could I skip? I’d done my part. For better or worse, my brother was a married man.
I hoped he didn’t regret his choice—and that Amy wouldn’t wage a war to turn my brother against me. I figured that was part of being an in-law. I gave it twenty-four hours before I became enemy number one.
If I focused on the good things, I’d get through the day. Mom and Dad were happy, beaming that their son had gotten hitched and had wrangled a thoroughbride without her running off. To them, it didn’t matter we were adopted; they’d done their jobs as parents and seen their boy safely married off. The bride’s parents seemed to be likewise thrilled.
Mom would wait a few weeks before starting her campaign to marry me off. Dad would start dropping hints immediately if not sooner, as I’d seen the gleam in his eyes when he’d watched Amy’s father walk her down the aisle.
Maybe I needed to run away before I got caught up in the wedding nonsense.
Per our plan, the happily married couple left the church with the rest of the wedding party in tow. Three limousines waited to cart us to the botanical gardens thirty minutes away.
Amy stuck close to my brother, who did his best to start a conversation with his new wife. In the time it took us to divide into the three limousines, he’d coaxed a single smile out of her.
It was better than I expected, all things considered.
I really could be a bitch sometimes.
Before I could pick a limousine, Kate linked arms with me and dragged me to the last limo in the line. “That was brilliant. No one outside of the bridesmaids has any idea that was almost a disaster.”
Well, someone was happy with me. I’d take what I could get. I retrieved my phone from its hiding place in my cleavage and checked the time. If I had gotten one of the larger models, I wouldn’t have been able to pull the stunt off. All hail simple, small phones with decent cameras built in. “We have eight more hours of potential disasters ahead of us left. Let’s not get overly optimistic here. The only reason the photography shoot might work out is because I handled the arrangements for the limos and the gardens. And yes, I booked a second photographer knowing Amy would somehow screw up the first one.”
“Why aren’t you a wedding planner?” Kate shoved me into the limo and scooted onto the leather seat beside me, and the other bridesmaids converged to ensure I couldn’t escape. “You’ve worked miracles today. How did you even pull this off? Emily, Sarah, and I? We can’t figure it out.”
I laughed. The truth hurt, and I’d be spending the next six months of my life ruing and lamenting the choices I’d made to make my brother happy. “I’m a tax accountant, Kate. So far, I’m doing two years’ worth of corporate taxes for several small businesses. Basically, I bribed people, offered to do their personal and corporate taxes, and spent the entirety of my vacation fund making certain this wedding happened.”
“On top of the fifty grand your brother paid?” Kate’s eyes widened.
“Fourteen grand of that went to the church and reception hall. Thanks to Amy’s poor life decisions, the rest of the funds went bye-bye.”
“That’s horrible. You won’t get any of that back?”
“I wasn’t planning on getting the money back. I don’t have time to chase after every cancelled contractor. At most, I could get the payments for the actual work back, but the deposits are gone. And thanks to Amy’s poor life choices, the deposits were way too high for the work anyway. Please don’t tell Mat. He has no idea Amy lost the deposits and most of the wedding funds with her cold feet. But it’s done now, and she signed the marriage certificate—and no one protested their vows. As far as I’m concerned, it was worth every penny.”