Chapter 17
Clothes were spread across my bed, hangers and more clothes scattering the floor.
I was packing for a weekend, but one would think I was packing for a month.
The problem was I had no idea what to pack.
I never thought too much about pajamas when Wyatt and I were together.
They never stayed on long enough… if I even got them on.
Now I needed something that didn’t say rip these off me. I also wanted something comfortable and not clinging too tightly to my stomach. I rested a hand there. There wasn’t a bump, but what if it appeared overnight?
I grabbed my prenatal vitamins and the anti-nausea meds—that weren’t helping—and went to toss them in the bag but halted. Wy couldn’t see these. Digging through my bag, I retrieved my bottle of antacids and dumped a few vitamins and pills in there.
What if my morning sickness kicked in full force? Wyatt wasn’t going to accept I’d spoken with the doctor. Throwing up every morning was not normal. I’d started my morning puking for thirty minutes as it was. I wouldn’t be able to hide it from him.
And I didn’t want to. Not anymore. He had a right to know.
I wanted to stick to my plan, though. Just had to get through this wedding, and I would tell him.
He already had to be the life of the party because it’s what everyone expected of him, if I dumped this news on him, it would take that much more out of him to put on a happy face and give everyone the entertainment they loved.
If they only knew how exhausted he was by the end of a night, maybe they wouldn’t put so much pressure on him to be their jester.
They didn’t see the way he collapsed on the bed once the music stopped and the lights dimmed.
The way his smile faltered the second the door clicked shut behind us.
The way he stared at the ceiling like it was the only thing holding him together.
I saw it.
I saw all of it.
It was why I couldn’t tell him yet. He already put too much on his shoulders as if it were his responsibility to make sure every single person in the room was having the time of their life.
I would let him have his weekend. Let him make people laugh, dance like an idiot, wear his tie around his head, and charm every single person he met.
He deserved one last hurrah before everything changed.
A knock on the door grabbed my attention, and I stepped over the mess on the floor and made my way to the front of the house. I glanced out the window and yanked the door open for Sutton and Rhone.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked as Sutton held up a dress I had let her borrow months ago.
“Here to return this.”
“You didn’t have to come all the way here. You could have dropped it off at the vineyard or given it to Rhone.”
She shrugged and pushed her way inside with a smile, her dark hair swinging over one shoulder, and her big brown eyes sparkled with mischief. I loved Sutton. She’d been Rhone’s best friend since we were kids, and I considered her a sister, so I knew exactly what she was doing.
“You’re here for dirt, aren’t you?”
“Of course not,” she denied, her full mouth curving into a smirk that made her look far too pleased with herself.
“Sut, you’re smirking,” Rhone immediately called her out, one dark brow arching. He leaned against the wall, tall and annoyingly composed, his sharp features set in that smug expression he had perfected in high school.
Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she straightened her shoulders. “Am not.”
I laughed despite myself. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but there is no dirt to report.”
“Rose, you’re getting ready to go away with Wyatt for the weekend, sharing a hotel room. If there’s no dirt, you still have to be feeling some sort of way.”
That was the thing about Sutton. She, like any true small-town girl, loved her gossip, but she also cared immensely.
“If I’m being honest, I’m trying not to think about it.”
Sutton threw her arms up in the air. “That’s a terrible idea,” she said, her hands falling back down against her dark-wash jeans.
“If you don’t prepare yourself, you’re going to be slammed with feelings when you’re there and not know how to process.
It’s better to let yourself sit in it for a bit, so you can be prepared. ”
“No amount of thinking is going to prepare me for this, trust me.”
“I don’t understand why you two just don’t get back together. This is stupid and a waste of everyone’s time—”
Sutton slapped a hand over my brother’s mouth. The impact of skin against skin echoed in the space between us.
Rhone’s jaw tightened as Sutton—all five-foot-five of pure attitude—glared up at his 6’2 frame with wide, dramatic eyes. Sutton let out a squeak of surprise before yanking her hand away.
“Did you just lick me?”
Rhone plopped onto my couch, long legs stretching out in front of him. “You had it coming.” He put his hands behind his head, arms bent at the elbows as he cradled his neck.
“Don’t listen to him,” Sutton said. “He’s an idiot.”
“At least I have a personality.”
This time my eyebrow arched. “What does that even mean?”
“He’s giving me shit because I agreed to a date with this guy.”
“She has a date with some hoity-toity trust fund douche.”
“Mistake me if I’m wrong, but you have a trust fund.” Sutton turned an intense glare on my brother. He deserved more than that. A good punch to the gut was warranted.
Rhone sighed. “At least I don’t tuck my t-shirts in.”
“He tucks his t-shirts in? Like when he’s wearing a dress shirt?” I asked.
“No. Just jeans and a t-shirt. Tucks that thing in so tight like he’s heading to a square dance convention in 1992.”
Sutton snorted. “God forbid a man wants a little structure in his wardrobe. Maybe he has confidence.”
“Confidence in what? His belt buckle?” Rhone shot back.
“You’re just mad I said yes.”
“No, I’m mad you said yes to him,” Rhone muttered. “You can date whoever the hell you want,” he added, leaning back as if he didn’t care. Sutton’s shoulders tensed. It was brief, and anyone else would have missed it, but I knew her too well not to notice.
She quickly released the tension. “Exactly. Whoever I want. Which is why I said yes.”
“Just don’t let him drive you in that ridiculous BMW with the spoiler on the back.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “Not one that makes it look like the car is trying to lift off.”
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!” Rhone exclaimed.
“So he has a souped-up car. I think it balances his tucked-in shirt.” Sutton glanced at her nail, then shot daggers at Rhone.
“Whatever. Do what you want. But if he disappoints you or breaks your heart, I’m not going to pick up the pieces.”
That was a boldfaced lie, and we all knew it, but even Sutton didn’t say anything. She just nodded and then turned back to me. “Speaking of this date… Can I borrow another dress?”
“So that’s why you returned this one?” I lifted the dress she conveniently returned today.
“Guilty, but this guy has money.”
“Money doesn’t make him a good person,” Rhone added from the couch.
Sutton rolled her eyes and spun toward Rhone. “I know that, jackass. I’m just saying, he has money, and I don’t want to show up wearing something I got on the discount rack at the resort.”
The resort had several shops within, and many of the locals went there for more options without having to drive out of town.
“And since you went through a designer phase, I know you have a closet full of options.” Sutton plastered a massive smile on her face, looking extra adorable.
“Go take what you want,” I said without hesitation. She could have free rein of my closet whenever she wanted. She knew that.
She clapped with a little giddy jump. “Yay!” She took off toward my bedroom, and I turned to Rhone, who was fully lounged on the couch.
“You okay?” I asked. He never came out and said he had a thing for his best friend, but we all kind of assumed. And maybe we were wrong, but I saw the way he looked at her when he thought no one was watching.
“Fine.” He pushed up, placing his feet on the ground. “I’m more worried about you.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“Not as bad as Sutton.”
“I heard that!” Sutton called out from the bedroom.
“I’m taking it one day at a time.”
“He’s hurting, you know,” Rhone said, glancing at his hands before making eye contact with me. “Got drunk at Brady’s the other night. We had to carry him out of there.”
That was definitely not like Wyatt. He drank too much when he was having a good time with friends and family, never alone. He preferred a single glass of wine and a big blanket to cuddle under while he watched reruns of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
“That bad?” I asked my voice barely a whisper.
“Said he felt like he was losing something, but he didn’t know how to fix it.”
My heart clenched. Of course he didn’t. Wyatt was the kind of man who made everyone else feel good, even when he was unraveling inside.
“He loves you,” Rhone said as if a hundred other people hadn’t already told me that. As if I didn’t already know that myself.
“I know.”
“Are you scared?”
Tears pricked my eyes, but I forced a smile. “Absolutely terrified.”
“Then maybe you two still want the same things.” He shrugged. “Just something to think about. Then again. I’m not exactly an expert on love.”
Sutton reappeared, holding up a hanger with one of my favorite designer dresses—a flowy floral number that hugged all the right places and was perfectly forgiving.
“I’ll dry-clean it,” she said with a wink.
“You always say that.”
She beamed at me. “This time I mean it.”
Rhone rose from the couch and spun his key around his finger. “Ready to head out?”
“I got what I came for,” she said. “Though, not as much tea as I had hoped.”
“I have a lovely lemon ginger I can offer you,” I said, fully aware that was not the tea she was referring to.
“I normally would take you up on the offer,” Sutton said.
“But I just saw the state of your room. You need to pack and clean. We’ll leave you to it.
” She threw her arms around me, squeezed tight, and kissed my cheek with a smacking sound that echoed around us.
“Love you. Call me when you get back. We’ll grab coffee, and I can tell you all about my date.
” Her eyes drifted to Rhone, who let out a low groan.
“I will.”
She released me, and Rhone swung his arm around me. “Love you, sis. Be easy on Wy, okay? He lost his entire world.”
“I did too, you know.”
Rhone inhaled, then released it slowly, as if he was debating if he should say what popped into his mind. “Yeah, but you made the call. He would have stayed.”
The truth hit me like an unexpected uppercut to the gut. The wind rushed out of me, and my body froze.
He kissed the top of my head, and he and Sutton left. I stood there, wishing he would’ve kept that truth bomb to himself.