The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,195

took sip of his beer, then lowered his bottle. “Libby’s not my girlfriend. She’s just a friend.”

Garrett studied him for a moment. Given the way those two acted around each other, he was pretty sure Noah might need a straight talk of his own.

“Libby’s worried about her and would do anything to protect her. That’s why she and Megan were so quick to jump in when Neil showed up.”

That got Garrett’s attention. “Blair’s not the type to tolerate people hovering and taking care of her. She’s too independent for that. I can’t believe she let Megan drag her off like that.”

“Blair hasn’t been acting like herself lately, and like I said, they’re worried about her. They think she’s making a mistake but is too scared to admit it. If they push too hard, she’ll do it anyway just to prove them wrong.”

Garrett suspected they were right.

“I’m sure the way Neil was acting in the kitchen hasn’t done much to set them at ease.” Noah drained his bottle, then stood. “Let’s go out there and keep an eye on the douchebag. Libby doesn’t trust him, and neither do I.”

Though the last thing he wanted to do was watch Neil parade around with Blair, he forced himself to rise from the stoop. If he truly wanted a chance with her, what choice did he have? Maybe it was time to tell her that Neil was cheating on her. Perhaps it would ease the guilt she was sure to be feeling. But he worried it would harden her heart against love even more, or worse, she’d accuse him of lying about her worst fear in a desperate attempt to win her back.

He’d sit on the information and hope he could win her over his way. He only hoped his way didn’t take too long.

Chapter Sixteen

Blair didn’t have a lot of experience with showers, but this had to be the strangest one she’d ever attended. After the gifts, Knickers divided the attendees into three teams and set them to work draping one team member with toilet paper in an attempt to create a wedding dress.

Knickers insisted that if Josh and Neil were going to sit in on the shower, they had to join a team. So Josh was sent to Megan and Libby’s group with a couple of other partygoers, and Neil joined forces with his mother and sister and a few others. Of course, Neil’s mother decided it would be cute if Neil was the bride, and soon he was draped in long ribbons of paper. He shot a grin at Blair, who was waiting by the food table. Her job was to judge at the end. She was sure his amusement was supposed to give her warm fuzzies or fill her with reassurance after the kitchen debacle, but all she felt was disgust, directed at both Neil and herself.

Libby was the model for their group, and Megan and the others wasted no time before slapping toilet paper on her in a haphazard manner.

Dena’s kids were out in the yard, each with a roll of toilet paper, throwing streamers up into the trees. Knickers watched in dismay, gnawing on a knuckle. “Oh, dear.”

The back door burst open, and Megan’s grandmother let out a shout. “Ho, boy! You’re playing dress-up. I wanna play.” She was dressed in a hot pink bowling shirt, paired with silver sparkly leggings and orthopedic shoes. Her gray hair was accented with pink streaks, and her arms were wrapped around a present wrapped in purple paper. She set the gift on the presents table and hurried over. “Is the theme Vegas-style weddings? I want to be the bride.” She started to lift up her shirt.

Knickers cringed. “Mother, stop! There are children present.”

Her mother looked taken aback. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

Several people laughed, much to Knickers’s chagrin.

“You can be on our team, Gram,” Libby said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer. “Where have you been? It’s not a party without you.”

“It’s bowling night. I couldn’t let my team down, but I decided to come home early.” She pinched Libby and Megan’s cheeks. “I couldn’t miss my girls.”

Megan gave her grandmother a hug. “I’ve missed you, Gram.”

“Then you and Josh need to get your hienies back in K.C. I’m not getting any younger.”

Blair was surprised by the sorrow that crept into her as she watched the exchange. The only real family she had left was her mother, and she hadn’t expected to miss her so much, especially at