Read Online Best Laid Wedding Plans by Lynnette Austin - Free Book Online Page A

with a bride and groom.” Her lip trembled. “I haven’t been back to Adelaide’s since. Haven’t had a cosmo since.”
    â€œI can understand that.”
    â€œCan you?”
    He nodded.
    â€œI’ve driven blocks out of my way to avoid the restaurant. Find an excuse to leave if a cosmo is ordered at my table.” Her breathing had grown ragged. “Unreasonable, right?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThey’re triggers. Triggers I can’t defeat.”
    â€œI can’t watch hockey anymore,” he said, running a hand up and down her arm. “Without Wes—”
    â€œIt’s awful, isn’t it?”
    â€œYeah, it is.”
    â€œCrazy thing is, I have no idea how I got home from Adelaide’s that afternoon. No clue what I told my bride and groom.” She leaned into Cole for a moment. “I had a friend finish their wedding plans. I couldn’t do that, either.”
    They stood in silence. A clock in the hallway ticked off the minutes.
    â€œThe day of his service? Mixed in with the sympathy cards a friend forwarded from Savannah?”
    â€œDon’t. Don’t do this, sugar.”
    â€œNo. I need to. I can’t talk to Mama and Daddy.”
    â€œThen go ahead. Get it out.”
    She swiped at the tears that escaped, took a deep breath. “Mixed with the sympathy cards was a letter. From Wes.” Her voice broke. “His last to me. He asked about Mama and Daddy. About Charlotte and the dog. Told me not to worry. Other than being sick of eating sand, all was fine.”
    Cole laid his forehead on hers, held her tightly to him, and rubbed her back. Felt the waves of pain that washed over her, threatened to swamp her. Acknowledged his own pain. His loss.
    He reached out, wrapped his index finger around hers. The smallest of touches, a connection.
    God, he was still a mess over this; the wound felt fresh and new. It was being here. Here where Wes had grown up. Where they’d traveled the road from boyhood to manhood.
    Releasing her finger, he feathered his own beneath Jenni Beth’s chin, tipped it up so their eyes met. “I’m sorry, honey. So damned sorry.” His voice grew husky on unshed tears. “You didn’t want to hear that from me before, but…”
    â€œI know.” She met his gaze unblinkingly, a haze of those same tears in her eyes. “And that was selfish of me. I wanted to believe no one suffered as badly as me. That I had the monopoly on grief. I—” She shrugged. “Well, that doesn’t matter.”
    He believed it did. Whatever she’d been about to say bothered her. A lot. But she’d shut down. Made it clear sharing time had ended. At least on this subject. He could live with that. For now.
    â€œWhere’s your college picture?”
    â€œMine?”
    â€œYeah. Yours. The other kid in the family.”
    She flushed and waved her hand in the air. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m not sure Daddy hung it anywhere.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    Jenni Beth’s back stiffened. “It doesn’t matter.”
    But it did. It should. The Beaumonts had two children. One dead, one fighting for the family’s heritage. Both deserved to be celebrated. It irritated him that they took their surviving child for granted.
    A couple steps ahead of him, Jenni Beth moved on, and Cole trailed behind her. He reminded himself why he’d come but still found it hard to focus on the house rather than the sweet butt in those short shorts.
    He told himself she didn’t put that little swivel in her walk to torture him. That it simply came naturally to her. And didn’t that make it all that much more dangerous?
    He forced his mind to the task at hand.
    â€œYou’re gonna want to replace the trim along the ceiling here,” he drawled, “and on down the hallway, too.”
    The dog had roused himself enough to join them and poked along, sniffing at