our entire livelihood on the word of one uber-bitchy bride? I should’ve known.”
“I’m so sorry. If there was something I could do—”
“I don’t expect you to take on my burdens.” Something caught her eye out the window. “There’s Brody now, off to mow the lawn. I’d better tell him and get it over with.” Reluctantly, she trudged out the door, head hanging in defeat. I racked my brain, trying to come up with something to help. In my old life, I’d have had options, but currently I had nothing of value to offer these kind and generous people. I was angry as hell at the Schmidts for taking advantage of them. I wondered if they’d ever planned on following through on the wedding, or even worse, going through with it and not paying for it.
I stared at the door long after she’d gone. Worrying about Mandy’s problems distracted me from my own mess for a while.
The door opened, and Easton strode in with a big grin on his face, followed by Axel. “Hey, I need more towels. Those kids go through them, and that dog rolled in something. We had to give her a bath. So if you have some old towels—” He stopped in mid-sentence and cocked his head to regard me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure.” My voice caught as I choked back a sob, suddenly overwhelmed by everything piling on at once.
“Anything I can do to help?” Easton had that uncomfortable look on his face guys got when a woman was crying and they didn’t have a clue what to do and escape wasn’t an option.
“Only if can find me a bride and groom within two weeks.”
“A bride and groom?” he repeated as if not sure he’d heard me correctly.
“Yes, a bride and groom. There was supposed to be a big, fancy wedding here in two weeks. The bride and groom split up and left Brody and Mandy holding the bag for the expenses incurred. They can’t get refunds on most of the deposits. It’s too late.”
Easton shot a glance in Axel’s direction.
Axel held his hands up, shaking his head. “Not me. I mean, I love her and stuff, but I’m not quite ready for that step yet.”
“Not you, dumb shit. Maybe I should make it official with Caro.”
“Really? You’d do that?” I tamped down my excitement in case he wasn’t all that serious.
“Yeah, really?” Axel repeated, narrowing his eyes and regarding his friend as if he’d lost his mind.
“Yeah, really.”
“It’s short notice,” Axel said.
“Everything’s planned. You’d both have to be okay with the colors and cake and all that stuff. But I know Mandy would give you a deal.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried she’ll turn me down if I ask her.”
“Nah, she loves you. I don’t get it myself, but she’s crazy about you.”
“And I’m crazy about her. I’m asking her right now before I lose my nerve.” Easton hurried out of the inn, while Axel and I watched him go.
“He forgot the towels. I’ll take them.”
I prodded myself into action and returned with a stack of towels. Axel took them from my arms and thanked me. Once he shut the door behind him, I ran off to tell Mandy about our possible good fortune.
At least things were working out for someone in my life.
Chapter Twenty
Final Buzzer
~~Kaden~~
I walked down the country road to Easton and Caro’s cottage in search of a diversion. I’d been fretting over this hellish situation with Lanie for a few days. I was torn between my own selfish desires and what was best for Lanie. The biggest problem was that I didn’t know what was best. Steele’s idea had merit, but Lanie would be safer if she continued to hide. Yet what kind of life was that? For either of us.
I didn’t want another woman. I wanted her. All of her. I wanted her past, present, and future. The only way I’d have that would be if she quit hiding. What if doing so was fatal? How would I feel? Would I ever forgive myself?
I plodded up the porch steps and reached for the doorknob only to be almost slammed to the ground by two excited women. They were so busy jabbering they barely noticed me, let alone the fact that I’d plastered myself against the railing to avoid colliding with them.
“Hi, Kaden,” they said in unison as they almost skipped down the path to the inn. I stared after them, puzzled by their behavior.
With a shake of my head,