week.” Her sister grabbed a still-steaming mug of coffee. “So the plan is to go ahead with the reception—well, party now—so that the photographers can shoot it for the wedding venue brochure. It seems a real waste to have everyone home and with all our dresses and tuxes available and not turn this into a win for the business Knox and Weston want to launch.”
“What about you?” Aunt Louise asked.
“I’m twenty-six, newly single, and, according to my sister, the smartest person in the world—”
Hadley interrupted with a chuckle. “That wasn’t exactly what I said.”
“Close enough.” Adalyn grinned at her. “So the opportunities are endless. Who knows, maybe I can get a job as the chief financial officer for this up-and-coming charity consulting company I’ve heard about.”
“That would be amazing.” And Hadley meant every single word of it.
Adalyn hopped up from her bed at the same time that Hadley bounded up from the chair, and they met in the middle of the room and hugged in one of those mind-meld events that only sisters could have when you said about a million things without uttering a single word. By the time they broke it up, they were both happy crying and, looking around at their mom and Aunt Louise, they weren’t the only ones.
“The photographer is going to be here in a couple of hours,” Adalyn said, wiping away a tear. “Go get dolled up in your bridesmaid dress. We have a party to kick off. Be sure to tell Will that we wear cowboy hats with tuxes around here.”
Every single champagne bubble of happiness filling her chest popped at once and Hadley flinched. Looking at the hopeful faces and smiles, she almost gave in to that little voice that told her to make up some excuse as to where Will was, to keep the perfect image intact. However, those days were gone.
Releasing a deep breath, she let the truth out. “Will’s gone.”
“Where did he go?” Aunt Louise asked.
“Back to Harbor City.”
“What happened?” her mom asked.
Bringing her family up to speed wasn’t fun, but it was so much better than feeding them a bunch of excuses. By the time she told them about tossing the rental car keys to Will and telling him to get lost, there was no doubt from the grim expression on the other women’s faces that they were most definitely in agreement that she did the right thing.
Of course, the only problem was that she still hurt as if there was a gaping hole in her chest where Will used to be. For the past year, he’d been a constant—driving her nuts, teasing her, turning her on, making her laugh, surprising her, and yes, showing her the man she’d finally fallen for so hard that she’d never even realized it was happening until it was too late.
“Well, I sure called that one wrong,” her mom said once the true story was all out in the open. Then she pulled Hadley into a hug. “I’m sorry. I thought he really cared about you.”
“Me too. I mean, not at first, but with everything that happened and—” Emotions clogged her throat, making it next to impossible to talk and the tears that in the past she would have held in to keep her family from seeing the real her fell free.
“So it’s an independence party tonight,” Adalyn said, joining in on the group hug.
Aunt Louise wrapped her arms around as much of the trio as possible. “Yee-fucking-haw.”
Their mom gasped. “Language, Aunt Louise.”
“Some days call for water and some call for vodka, Stephanie.” Aunt Louise squeezed harder. “This is a vodka kinda day.”
Their mom squeezed her girls a little harder, too. “Yee-fucking-haw.”
The shock of hearing their mom cuss—let alone drop the F bomb—was enough to make everyone burst out in laughter. And by the time Hadley was headed back to the cabin to change into her bridesmaid dress, her steps were lighter, if still dogged by heartbreak. It wasn’t until she walked inside and saw Will’s black cowboy hat on the floor that it hit her like a Mack truck and she forgot how to breathe again. Then the absurdity of the situation came to her in a whoosh of hot fury. She hadn’t done anything wrong beyond falling in love with the wrong man. She’d learned her lesson. She wouldn’t ever let that happen again.
Fuck him. He’s an asshole.
Will fucking Holt really was the evil twin and the absolute worst. She swept the cowboy hat up off the floor. That