Chapter 9
MARCUS
“Karaoke? Really?”
Marcus glanced at his sister in the back seat and shrugged. “I thought you liked to sing, Izzie.”
Isabelle wrinkled her nose. “Sure, in the shower. In the car with the radio turned up so loud you can’t tell if I’m off key.”
Her fiancé draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close so he could kiss the crown of her head. “Someone who can play piano as well as you do can’t be bad at karaoke.”
“Just because I play doesn’t mean I can sing.”
“I beg to differ.” Jason chuckled.
“He’s right, Izzie. I’ve heard you sing. You’re good.”
Once again, she made a face, and he laughed. Then she leaned forward so her head popped out between the two front seats over the center console. “Since when do you like to sing? Does this happen to have anything to do with Wynter?”
Marcus shrugged. “She’s going to be there. And some of her friends, too.”
“Oh? I didn’t know she had other friends in town.”
At the memory of a similar statement he’d made regarding Wynter, Marcus lifted his shoulders nearly to his ears. “Don’t let her hear you say that.”
“Well? Who else did you guys hang out with? I can’t remember you having friends either.”
He side-eyed her a flat look. “Gee, thanks.”
She punched his shoulder playfully. “Kidding. But seriously, who else is coming?”
“Some girl named Rose.”
“Rose? Rose Taylor?” Jason said.
Isabelle twisted to stare at her fiancé with curiosity. She swung her glance back to Marcus. “You know her?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. “Met her briefly. Red hair. Big personality.”
Jason grinned. “That’d be her.”
This time Isabelle slugged Jason. “Who is she?”
He rubbed his upper arm. “Ow.”
She huffed. “Don’t be a baby.”
Marcus glanced between the two of them in the rearview mirror with a chuckle, but he couldn’t deny he was curious as well. “Turns out Wynter met her in college.”
“Wynter went to Cornell?” Jason asked.
Isabelle groaned exaggeratedly. “Who is Rose Taylor?”
“My cousin,” Jason said with a smile.
Isabelle lifted a brow. “Your cousin. And I haven’t met her because…”
He shrugged. “I mean, we’re not that close. We hang out at huge family gatherings, but the day-to-day? Not so much. If it makes you feel any better, they’ll be invited to the wedding.”
“They?”
“Yeah. Rose has a bunch of sisters. Five, I think.”
Marcus let out a whistle. “That’s a lot of hormones in one place.”
“You’re telling me,” Jason agreed.
“Hey!” Isabelle snapped.
“Anyway,” Marcus drawled. “She was dropping Wynter off at home after they had hung out, and she invited me. Don’t know that Wynter was too thrilled about it, though. Actually, she looked downright mad.”
Isabelle snickered. “I like her already.”
Marcus shot her a warning look. “I need you to stay out of it, Izzie.”
“What? I didn’t do anything.”
“I know that look.”
“What look?” Isabelle batted her eyes at him.
He shook his head in exasperation. “Just… leave Wynter alone, okay? I’m finally getting to a good place with her. We’re finding our footing in our friendship, and I don’t want to ruin it.”
“Friendship,” Isabelle said slowly. “Ugh. That’s no fun.”
“I mean it. Stay out of it,” Marcus warned.
She huffed and settled back in her seat. “Fine.”
“Jason! I didn’t know you were coming.”
Marcus hung back with Isabelle as Rose came barreling toward Jason and threw her arms around him.
Isabelle leaned closer to Marcus and said through slitted lips, “If we weren’t engaged, I’d be jealous. Not gonna lie.”
He smirked. While Rose was beautiful in her own right, she didn’t hold a candle to the raven-haired beauty behind her.
Wynter tucked a few stray strands behind her ear and pointedly avoided looking at him.
Beside her were two other redheads. Probably Rose’s sisters.
They were smiling at the reunion for the most part until their eyes shifted to him and Isabelle.
Jason reached out for Isabelle’s hand before tugging her closer to the group. “This is my fiancée, Isabelle.”
Rose grinned wide at Isabelle and enveloped her in a tight hug. Isabelle grunted at the collision and tossed a look of desperation Marcus’s way. He shook his head with a smile. This was the family she’d be marrying into. She needed to get used to it at one point or another.
Then Jason motioned to Marcus. “And this is Isabelle’s brother.”
Rose winked at him. “We’ve met.” Then she motioned to the other two women. “These are my sisters, Lily and Jasmine.”
Isabelle glanced between the three redheads. “Flowers?”
Rose didn’t bat an eye at the question. “Yep. Our mother was kinda a hippie. She loves flowers, and our dad loved her. So…” She smiled. “At least our last name isn’t Bush.”
Isabelle laughed nervously, and Rose grimaced.
“Golly, that usually lands better.” She glanced at her sisters and thumbed at Isabelle and Marcus.
“Tough crowd.” Then she faced the group again.
“Anyway, let’s pick out songs and get a table.
They have the best onion rings here. But since it’s December, they’ve got peppermint-flavored everything.
Brownies. Fresh churned ice cream. You name it. ”
Marcus followed the group farther into the restaurant, which looked like it used to be an oversized coffee shop.
It was an open concept with mostly tables that seated four.
They pulled two of them together, and if it hadn’t been obvious that Rose was team Marcus and Wynter getting together, it was made perfectly clear when she ensured they were seated side-by-side.
Wynter sat stiffly at his side as they placed an order for their appetizers and sodas. Then she seemed to listen to Rose and Jason catch up, but Marcus knew her better than that.
She was pretending.
He leaned closer to her and whispered, “Karaoke, huh? I didn’t realize you liked to sing.”
Wynter raised her brows. “There’s probably a lot you don’t know about me.”
“Not for lack of trying,” he said.
She flinched, and good grief if that didn’t make him feel even more guilty.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Me, too,” she whispered. Finally, she lifted those beautiful blue eyes to meet his.
“I’ve missed you, Wynter.”
Her sad smile all but shattered him. “I missed you, too.”
His eyes bounced around her face, drinking her in. He was starved for this woman even though they’d seen each other every day for the better part of a week. “I want to know more about you—the stuff I’ve missed. Tell me everything.”
She scoffed. “That’s a lot.”
“I’ve got time.”
There was something about the way she looked at him then, like she was remembering the way things had been between them. How easy it had been. Then, with a dip of her head, she whispered, “I got a job as a lead entomologist for a company in California doing research on the behavior of bugs.”
“That sounds intense.”
She smiled. “It is.” Wynter went on to describe the reasons she was studying the bugs’ behavior as a terrible rendition of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus came over the speakers.
They both flinched when the singer’s voice cracked, then shared amused glances as she continued the explanation of her job.
“I’m glad you found something you love.”
“It’s great. And the best part is that my company has partnerships all over the country. They were able to find me something here, so I didn’t have to stop working. Mostly, it’s research-based, and I can do it from home, which is also good considering how much help Grams needs right now.”
He nodded. “Sounds perfect. I’m so proud of you, Wynter.”
She cocked her head, smiling at him in a way that made the last six years fade away. He could almost believe they were back to being the same old Marcus and Wynter. “Thanks.” She shifted in her seat. “What about you? Working for your brother still?”
“Yeah. But I think it’s about time I start looking into other stuff.”
“Why?”
He thought for a few seconds. “I don’t really have a hand in the dog training.
And he’s expanded to the point of hiring other people to do a lot of the ranching side of things.
I feel like…” He blew out a breath, his cheeks puffing.
“I don’t make much of a difference. I think I want to do something that’s just for me. ”
“Makes sense.” Wynter placed a hand over his.
It was a gesture that she’d done a thousand times when they’d been younger, but now, it stunned him.
It was as if an electrical current flowed between them.
A spark igniting the glowing ember that their kiss had left behind.
He stared at her hand, wondering if he was imagining his reaction to her.
But then she yanked her hand free of him and placed it in her lap.
“Hey, love birds, you’re up next!”
Both of them startled and glanced toward Rose, who was smirking like she’d caught them doing something untoward.
Wynter scowled at her friend. Isabelle gave him a knowing smirk. Confusion laced the faces of the others present at their table.
“We didn’t sign up for a song,” Marcus said.
“Oh, but you did.” Rose gestured toward the large television screen hanging on the side of the space. The screen was split into two. One side had lyrics highlighted as the current performer sang. The other side had a list of performers and the song they’d be singing.
Sure enough, Marcus and Wynter were listed as a duet, and the song they were singing was “You Make it Feel Like Christmas.”
Marcus could see the argument on the tip of Wynter’s tongue, but his own desperation refused to lose this opportunity. He grabbed a hold of her hand and tugged her to her feet. “Come on, Wynter.”
She gaped at him. “You can’t be serious,” she hissed.
He graced her with his most charming smile. “For old time’s sake?”
“We never did Karaoke.”
“There’s a first time for everything… and then next year it can be for old time’s sake.”
She scoffed, but before she could argue further, he tugged her toward the stage. Her fingers were intertwined in his, and this was the moment he realized a truth he’d been struggling with since the first second he’d laid eyes on Wynter at the lighting ceremony.
He didn’t want her to leave again.
And it wasn’t because he was desperate for their friendship.
It wasn’t because he missed her more than he’d missed anything.
He wanted her to stay because six years ago, he’d fallen fast and hard for her. All it had taken was the briefest touch of his lips to hers. Some part of his soul had connected with hers on a level he still couldn’t understand.
Marcus was in love with Wynter, and one day they were going to be together.
She just didn’t know it yet.