Chapter 2
FLYNN
I stared at the text that had just come in over my phone. "What a moron!"
"What's that?" I turned my phone to show my sister, Bea, the text our cousin just sent me.
Beckett: Courtney agreed. My wedding is now yours.
"Oh my God!" Bea hissed. "He did not convince his fiancée to marry you!"
"I didn't think it was possible," I mumbled. Courtney was the dream girl all men measured their future wives to. She was the type of woman who you held onto, against all odds, once you were lucky enough to lock her down.
Courtney was the one that you put a ring on, settled down with, and never-ever thought for a single second about stepping out on. She was sweet, understanding, willing to compromise, and when she took you into her circle of trust, the loyalty she showed was unwavering.
"He's an idiot. There's no way Courtney agreed to do this without it causing a rift between them. She's been planning their wedding for years and he just…" Bea's voice trailed off. Like me, she was probably imagining all the ways this was going to go awry.
"Should I call her?" I asked as my eyes remained glued to the stupid text.
Bea shook her head adamantly. "No. You should set up a meeting to see her in person. There are things you will both need to discuss ahead of time and…" My sister was quiet for far too long and it worried me.
"And?" I questioned as I glanced up to see the devastation on her face. It would no doubt be a thousand times worse when if it was Courtney standing there.
"And be kind to her. She must be absolutely crushed right now."
I watched as my sister worriedly pulled her thick, curly hair back and stuffed it into one of those scrunchy things she and our other sister always left lying around everywhere. Her eyes looked a bit misty as she chewed on her bottom lip, deep in thought.
“I should call this whole thing off. I never planned to do it anyway. I only humored Beckett’s wild idea because of what I overheard Dad say.” Bea nodded her head before her eyes met mine.
“I know why you agreed to think about it. I heard him on the phone when I went over to see Mom and Mina.”
“I wish he would confide in us about the business, so we can help.”
Bea laughed. “Mina is in college and I am a teacher. I’m not sure what we could do to help, but you have to know that doesn’t mean Dad’s problems are on your shoulders, Flynn.”
“I know that, but dammit,” I glanced back down at the text. “I can’t let this be for nothing now. Courtney didn’t deserve this.” My eyes met Bea’s worried gaze. “She’s going to hate me for this.”
“No,” My sister stated. “Courtney isn’t stupid. She’s going to focus all her anger on Beckett, where it belongs.” She sighed and then patted my shoulder. “I know you used to have a thing for Courtney. I’m not sure you should do this. As much as I hate this situation for her, I think it will end up hurting you as well. I hate that Beckett chose to do this to her, because she doesn’t deserve it, but you’re my brother and I don’t want to see you hurt either.”
“I think, maybe, I need to talk to Beckett face-to-face before I go see Courtney. Maybe, I can still talk him out of this.”
My sister sighed and then moved in to give me a hug. “I love that you would put her first when he won’t. Don’t expect too much from our cousin, Flynn. I think he’s been looking for an excuse to gain his freedom without looking like the bad guy, and this opportunity seemed too good to be true.”
“I don’t understand why. Courtney is the goal and he already has her.”
Bea shrugged her shoulders. “He also never had to work for her. They’ve been friends their whole lives and started dating early on as well. It has always been a given that they would end up together. My guess is that Beckett can’t appreciate what he didn’t have to work for.”
“That’s fucking dumb,” I groused. “Maybe it isn’t a good idea to go see him. My fist is itching to make contact with his face more than I want to talk sense into him.”
Bea giggled. “He would probably sue you, since Grandpa didn’t even mention him in his Will.”
I grumbled again. “I think everyone forgot that Grandpa might not have mentioned him, or you and Mina, but he did add a stipulation that it was up to me if I chose to share what was handed to me.”
“I don’t want any part of it, so keep it all. I’m pretty sure Mina feels the same.”
“Why?”
Bea shrugged her shoulders. “Money isn’t everything. It might help, but it causes just as many problems as it resolves.” My sister gave me a look that said more than her words did. “Look at what it is doing to Courtney right now.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that has as much to do with money as Beckett would like for everyone to think.” I glanced back down at the text on my phone and re-lived the shock at seeing those words again.
Beckett: Courtney agreed. My wedding is now yours.
I breathed out a heavy sigh and then let my fingers fly across the keyboard on my phone as I responded.
Flynn: We need to meet up.
Beckett: Can’t. Busy at the moment.
I scrolled away from my texts and moved to FlipStack, the social media of choice for people who love putting it all out there. Sure enough, a picture had been uploaded to my cousin’s page showing him at Porter’s Pub. Bea leaned over and noticed what I was looking at.
“I hope Courtney hasn’t seen this.” We both stared down at the image of my cousin with a blonde plastered to his side and some of his buddies cheering him on in the background. “He’s in full-on celebration mode.”
“On second thought, I don’t need to go see our cousin. I’m going to head over to Courtney’s place.”
“Let me know if you need backup.”
“For what?”
“All the emotions,” Bea whispered sadly as she grabbed her purse and got ready to leave my house.
“Hey!” I called out to her. When she turned my way I offered a smile to my sister. “You never mentioned why you stopped by.”
“I just wanted to check on you, with the wedding two weeks away, I figured you’d be stewing in all that unrequited love you had for Courtney. Your player ways never fooled me, Flynn.” She waved her hand as she turned and left my house. I stood there and stared at the door as it closed behind my sister. Sure, she knew about my crush on my cousin’s girl years ago, but I thought everyone bought the fact that I loved my single, no-strings take on dating. There had been women in and out of my life, and my bed, over the years, especially after Court and Beckett announced their engagement, but none of it had been satisfying. It was all a distraction to try to take my mind off the one woman I wished I could have. I guess I hadn’t done that great a job, since my sister saw through it.