Forever in Cape May (The Sunshine Sisters #3) - Jennifer Probst Page 0,2
end of every path.
Until a few months before graduation, when her mother called.
Bella’s husband had been killed in an accident, leaving Taylor’s sister alone with a newborn baby. Things had fallen apart, and she was needed.
So she went home and learned that some dreams weren’t meant to be.
Chapter One
“We have a problem.”
Taylor turned to the frantic MOH—maid of honor—and knew this was going to be bad. They were already well into the reception, and everything had been running smoothly. Had she really believed they’d get through this evening unscathed?
Dammit. It was Friday the thirteenth. She’d known it would be bad luck to book a wedding, but her sisters had laughed at her superstitions and had practically bullied her into taking it on. Her stupid sibling pride had once again overridden her good sense. Next time, she’d stick to her beliefs, no matter how her sisters teased her.
She arranged her face into the fake calm that was critical to keeping panic to a minimum. “I’ll take care of whatever it is. Tell me.”
The MOH, dressed in an awful pink fluffy dress that had been chosen specifically to make her look uglier than the bride, mashed her fingers against her poppy-pink lips. “Susan found her husband banging one of the waitresses in the bathroom and is going apeshit. They’re over there.” She pointed out a small circle of three people at the back of the room, near the wedding cake. “I don’t know what to do!”
Taylor’s brain flickered past the endless scenarios that all spelled F-U-C-K-E-D. “Where’s the bride?” she asked.
“Over by the bar.”
She’d taken this one on alone, so she had no assistant to lean on. She mentally ticked off the top three actions of the wedding planner creed:
Contain the problem.
Keep the wedding couple blissfully unaware.
Smile and don’t panic.
“Patty, I need you to keep her at the bar. Do shots. Tell jokes. Anything you need to do to keep her attention. Okay?”
The MOH gulped, nodded, and took off.
Taylor stopped by the DJ and instructed him to start the popular coordinated dances. In seconds, most seats were empty, guests enthusiastically dancing to the “Cha Cha Slide.”
With determined strides, she headed to the knot of people consisting of an emotionally distressed wife, a guilty husband caught with his pants down, and a nosy bridesmaid with a satisfied smirk. She pegged the problem right away: meandering cheater hubby had previously nailed the bridesmaid. The cheater looked a bit like Chris Hemsworth and probably liked using his hammer with different partners. Susan was young—Taylor estimated her age to be around twenty-two—and emanated shocked hurt.
Halfway there, Taylor caught Pierce’s gaze. He lowered his camera from taking candid shots of the dancers and mouthed the words All okay?
She shook her head and gave the thumbs-down signal for code red.
His expression matched hers. God, they’d just wanted an easy evening so they could get home at a decent hour, crack open a couple of beers, and shoot the breeze for a bit. He tucked his camera under his arm and headed over.
“Why would you do this to me?” Susan asked in a broken whisper. “At my friend’s wedding?”
“Baby, I didn’t do anything! I had a stain on my pants, and she said she could get it off with seltzer. You are completely overreacting.”
Taylor’s fingers automatically clenched into fists. God, she wished she could deck him. But she kept her cool, smoothly inserting herself between the couple. “Susan, I think you need some space and privacy. Why don’t we go into the bridal room and discuss?” she asked in a low voice.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Fake Thor said. “Let’s not embarrass ourselves.”
The nosy bridesmaid—Willa—gave a sneer. “You can’t talk yourself out of this one. I knew you’d get caught again one day, and Susan has finally had enough of your filthy lies!”
“Stay out of this, Willa,” Fake Thor warned.
Pierce appeared like a Prince Charming and smiled at the cheater. “Hey, why don’t we take a short walk and get out of the spotlight?” He slowly walked forward so Fake Thor was forced to back up. Taylor did the same with Susan, and a few precious feet were finally put between them.
She could do this. Get them to the private room, where they could blow up or break down. As long as it wasn’t in front of the wedding couple and their guests.
Susan stiffened, her gaze swiveling to lock on Willa’s. “What do you mean ‘get caught again’? Did you know he’d been cheating on me?”