Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Reid
The last thing I wanted to do the night before my wedding—real or not—was spend it with my brothers.
The irony wasn’t lost on me, because, in almost any other scenario, that’s exactly how I’d want to spend the night before getting married. My brothers were my best friends. We were a close family.
Annoyingly so at times.
Which was exactly why dinner at Brody’s house was going to be unbearable. I had no doubt that news of my engagement had made its rounds through town. The fact that my phone hadn’t already been blowing up with text messages and calls demanding an explanation from Grayson, Brody, Preston, and Ethan could only mean one thing.
They were planning an ambush. Or an intervention.
Either way, I wasn’t looking forward to it.
I knocked twice on the front door of the house we grew up in. After Dad died and Mom remarried and moved south, my oldest brother Brody bought the house, which made it a handy and somewhat familiar gathering spot when we got together.
At times—like now—it felt like I was sixteen again, getting called out for skipping class or coming home late.
All four of my brothers were already in the kitchen when I walked in.
“Am I late?”
I wasn’t.
Preston, the youngest, handed me a bottle of beer. “Good to see you.”
I took it with a nod of thanks and tipped it to my lips. Judging by the atmosphere in the room, I was going to need it.
No one said anything for a few minutes. I was almost half done with my beer before Brody spoke up. “You’re always welcome to bring your fiancée to family dinner.”
Even though I was expecting it, I almost choked on my beer.
“After all,” Brody continued. “She’s family now.”
“ Almost family.” It was my twin who made the clarification.
Unlike the others, Grayson wasn’t smiling.
Fuck.
There were a lot of details I hadn’t considered when I proposed our little arrangement to Avery. My brothers and how they might react were definitely one of the bigger ones.
“Feel like filling us in on some of the details, brother?” Ethan leaned back in his chair. “Like, maybe…who she is?”
“She’s a super cute blonde.” Grayson spoke up, his face still an unreadable mask. “She just inherited the Tamarack Inn from her grandparents and moved back to town.” He lifted his bottle to his lips and took a drink before continuing. “What? A week ago or so?”
“Almost three weeks ago, now.”
“Feels pretty quick, don’t you think?”
I stared directly into the eyes that were identical to my own. “When you know, you know. And it’s really not that quick after all. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
Grayson shot me a look.
“Remember when Grandma would take us over to the inn in the summers while she visited with Mrs. Walker?” There was a flicker of remembrance on my brother’s face. “We’d run around the gardens and there was always a little girl there, too.”
“No shit?”
I nodded. “So really, we’ve known each other most of our lives.” Grayson opened his mouth to object, but I didn’t give him a chance. “Besides, if I’m not mistaken, you were more or less pushing Avery on me. I guess I have you to thank for all this.”
He didn’t look away. “I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Thank you.”
Guilt flared through me, but I worked to keep it off my face. I’d never lied to Grayson before. There wouldn’t have been any point to it anyway. We’d always been so close, he could see right through any and all of my bullshit.
If he could see it now, he wasn’t saying.
“So?” Preston pulled my attention away from my twin. “What’s she like? She must be pretty special if she managed to melt your frozen heart.”
“My heart is not frozen.”
“No,” Preston agreed. “Just hard.”
“Like a rock.” Brody laughed. “Seriously, she must be some kind of magical to break through your walls so quickly.”
Magical? Maybe not. But special? Abso-fucking-lutely.
“Quinn said she was pretty,” Ethan offered. “And really nice. She said that you all had ice cream yesterday.”
“Was that before or after your engagement?”
I ignored Grayson and focused on Ethan.
“We did.” I glanced around the kitchen. “Where is Quinn? We need to talk about how she hears everything . That kid is always listening.” And I needed to pull my niece aside and try to explain this new situation to her.
“She’s at a friend’s.” Ethan shrugged. “And yes, she is a good little spy.”
“Right.” I drained the last of my beer, set the bottle on the counter, and lifted an eyebrow. “That works both ways, brother. She mentioned something about my potential and how I needed a good woman.”
Ethan burst out laughing. “I can’t speak for your potential, but it sounds like maybe you’ve got a good woman now.”
“She’s a good one, all right,” Grayson said. “No idea what a cute little blonde with a smile that bright saw in a grump like you, but…cheers, Reid. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
“Is Reid ever really happy?” Preston ducked out of the way of my fist. “Seriously, bro. We’re happy. Even if it is a ridiculously quick engagement. I can’t wait to meet her.”
“I bet Mom’s pretty excited.”
That was the other big factor I hadn’t given enough consideration. Mom. I blew out a breath and grabbed a bun from the basket Brody was setting out. “Yeah, I haven’t told Mom yet.” I tore off a piece. “I thought I’d wait until she came up to visit this fall.”
“This fall? Is that when the wedding will be?”
Fuck.
I stuffed the piece in my mouth and dropped the rest of the bun on the plate.
“Reid?”
“About that,” I finally said. “I actually can’t stay tonight because…well, tomorrow’s the big day and I?—”
“What the fuck?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Is she knocked up?”
The room erupted into chaos with everyone speaking at once.
I waited until my brothers quieted down a bit before offering up a little more information. “No, Avery isn’t pregnant.” We would have had to have sex for that to happen. And as much as my evenings were filled with fantasies of that very thing, that’s all they’d been—fantasies. “We just don’t want to wait.” I slowly backed away from the table. “It’s not a big deal or anything. We’re just going to have a small thing at the courthouse for now. Maybe we’ll have a big reception in a few months.”
We had no intention of having a big party because if everything went according to plan, the marriage would be dissolved by then. But if this was going to work, we had to keep up appearances. They had to believe it. Everyone did.
After returning to the inn yesterday, Avery and I had gone over the plan, such as it was. And we’d decided it was easier not to tell anyone the truth. Especially in a town this size. It had to remain a secret if it was going to work. At least until all the papers were signed and the inn was legally hers.
“We’re not very traditional.”
All four of my brothers stared at me in silence and for the first time, I thought maybe I was going to be called on my immense amount of bullshit.
Finally, it was Brody who spoke first. “That actually seems pretty on-brand for you, Reid. I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect to ever see this day at all. But this adds up.”
Preston nodded in agreement, and Ethan shrugged. “He’s not wrong. And hell, the only thing that matters is that the two of you are happy.”
“I appreciate that.” I accepted his offer of a quick hug. “Really, Ethan. Thanks, man.”
Brody and Preston followed suit, offering me their well wishes, and then it was just Grayson.
“I’ll walk you out.” He moved past me before I could object.
With a wave to the rest of my brothers, I followed Grayson out to the porch, bracing myself.
The screen door slapped shut behind me. “Hey, about all of this…I’m really?—”
“You’ll need a witness tomorrow.” His jaw twitched.
I could see there was so much he wanted to say. The fact that he didn’t was a testament to our relationship and the trust between us.
Trust that I was fucking with.
I hoped like hell he’d understand.
“Two o’clock. At the courthouse.”
Grayson nodded. “I’ll be there.”