Chapter 2
FOUR MONTHS LATER
“ W hat do you think?” Zoe pressed the flats of her hands against the bodice of her wedding gown as she turned from the full-length mirror to face Jules, who was sitting at the foot of the bed.
“You’re a vision.” A gush of emotion went through Jules as a tender smile tipped her lips. Her older sister was so beautiful and glamorous with her expressive brown eyes, golden hair, and even features. It was no wonder that she was a social media fashion icon. The designer dress fit her like a glove, and her makeup was flawless.
“You think so?” Zoe fingered her veil. “Is it too much? Should I go with the shorter one?”
“No, it’s perfect.” Jules and Zoe had similar features and build. Also, they had the same golden-blonde hair. However, Zoe was more glamorous with her long, wavy hair and stylish manner of dress. Jules, on the other hand, wore her hair straight and rounded on her shoulders. Her makeup was much lighter and more natural. When she wasn’t dressed in scrubs, she opted for comfortable jeans, t-shirts, and low-heeled shoes.
Zoe brought her hands together. “I can’t believe I’m getting married today. To Tippin, of all people.” A low chuckle sounded in her throat. “If he insists on wearing those gosh-awful unicorn socks, I’ll wring his neck.”
Laughter gurgled from Jules’s lips. “Well, you do call him your unicorn.” The description fit to a T because Tippin was quirky and walked to the beat of his own drum.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that I want him to wear those ridiculous socks,” she fumed.
“Is he gonna sing to you with his new guitar?”
She made a face. “Oh, yeah. You know him, he’s determined.”
“Well, Dad did pay good money for the guitar.”
Jules rolled her eyes. “Seven hundred and sixty-eight thousand dollars, to be exact.” She shook her head. “If my followers knew that the only reason Tippin got engaged to me was because Dad bribed him with a guitar, they would have a heyday.”
A shrewd smile tugged a corner of Jules’s mouth. “You love him.”
Happiness danced in Zoe’s sable eyes, rinsing them in gold. “I do. I love him so much that I have to pinch myself to make sure any of this is real.”
It was good to see her older sister so happy. The Sterlings and the Armstrongs were long-time family friends. Consequently, Zoe and Tippin had been together since birth and were childhood friends and sweethearts. Then, in high school, when Zoe started running with the popular crowd, she ditched Tippin—a folly that caused a bitter war to break out between them. This war wreaked havoc on the prep school they attended as the two of them went head-to-head for years, playing all sorts of mean-spirited pranks on one another. Tippin egged it on by writing scathing articles about Zoe in the school paper.
Jules had always known that Zoe still carried a torch for Tippin. However, her sister’s true feelings didn’t bubble to the surface until Zoe found herself in dire need of Tippin’s help.
Zoe had worked hard to build her business that included a new makeup line. A little over a month ago, Zoe found herself in the terrifying situation of being stalked by her ex-boyfriend, Nico Ventura, a blockbuster movie star. In a crazy turn of events, he turned out to be a psychopath who killed Zoe’s friend, Stacie, and her manager, Gage.
Tippin was the tech guru for an elite bodyguard agency that specialized in protecting billionaires. Dad arranged for Tippin and Zoe to get fake engaged so that Tippin and his team could protect her. It was no secret to anyone in the family that Dad orchestrated the situation in the hope that Zoe and Tippin would rekindle the spark they once had.
Dad’s plan worked like a charm. In fact, it took less than a week for Zoe to realize that she still had feelings for Tippin. Of course, Zoe and Tippin still fought like cats and dogs. It was how they communicated. One minute, they were tossing verbal daggers back and forth, and the next, they were kissing like there was no tomorrow.
Jules’s stomach knotted. At least Zoe and Tippin were able to get their grievances out in the open so they could resolve them. She was the idiot who’d fallen for the G.I. Joe tough guy who kept all of his feelings bottled up.
Brock had been hired as Zoe’s bodyguard while Tippin posed as her fiancé. Jules first met Brock when she went to visit Zoe in West Hollywood. From the moment she first laid eyes on Brock Ellis, Jules had been smitten. She and Brock had jumped into their relationship full force, and now Jules was head over heels. In retrospect, they probably should’ve taken things more slowly. Brock was a retired Navy SEAL and carried some baggage from his time in the military. However, that wasn’t the root of their problem.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Jules blinked, coming out of her thoughts. She looked up to see the concern on her sister’s face. “Nothing.” She forced a chipper smile. “I’m great.”
Zoe tipped her head, her hand going to her hip. “You’re a terrible liar. Tell me what’s wrong.”
A fist squeezed Jules’s stomach. “It’s your wedding day. I don’t want to burden you with my problems.”
“You’re my sister, and I want to know what’s going on,” Zoe countered with a steely expression.
Jules let out a heavy sigh. “Something’s off between me and Brock.”
Zoe made a face. “Did y’all have a fight?”
She grunted. “If only. The problem with Brock is that he holds everything in. Be grateful that you and Tippin have a pattern for working out differences.”
A grin stretched over Zoe’s face. “Oh, yeah. We remove the gloves, fight it out, and the last one standing wins the round. That’s our pattern.” Seeing Jules’s distraught expression, sympathy softened the edges of Zoe’s eyes and mouth. “I’m sure that whatever this is … y’all will work it out.”
“Don’t count on it,” Jules huffed. She blinked furiously to hold back the tears. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t stop them from sliding from the corners of her eyes and dribbling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” She let out a shaky laugh and used the backs of her hands to swipe at her tears. “I didn’t want to do this on your wedding day.”
“Tell me what happened,” Zoe prompted gently.
She took in a disjointed breath. “It’s stupid.”
Zoe eyed her, waiting.
“You know how Brock was planning on coming into town last week?”
“Yeah, I meant to ask you how it went, but I was so busy with the wedding prep that I forgot to bring it up. Sorry.”
She waved a hand. “No worries. It didn’t happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because Trevor got a stomach bug, and Brock didn’t want to leave him.” Even as she spoke the words, she felt like a heel. She’d reached a new low—getting jealous of Brock’s seven-year-old son because the poor kid got sick.
“Aw, I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
“Why don’t you just reschedule?”
“That’s the plan.”
Zoe searched her face. “So what’s the issue?”
“I dunno. I just feel like something’s off. Brock has been distant.” She gritted her teeth. “And I don’t trust Adrian any farther than I can throw her.” To hear him tell it, Brock’s ex-wife was a piece of work. Jules wouldn’t put it past the woman to pretend that Trevor was sick just so that Brock would feel the need to cancel his trip.
“Brock’s still coming to the wedding, right?”
“Yeah, he’ll be here.” The prospect of seeing him again caused butterflies to flutter in Jules’s stomach. Having a long-distance relationship wasn’t for the faint of heart. Originally from Utah, Brock now lived in Coronado Island just outside of San Diego. He’d moved there several years ago when he started working for Billionaire Sutton Smith. Adrian, the ex-wife, and Trevor also lived in San Diego.
“Good,” Zoe said with an encouraging smile. “Y’all can have a nice, long talk and sort out all of your differences.”
Jules began picking at an imaginary spot on her dress. “Yeah, maybe.” This turmoil she was experiencing was new for Jules, and she didn’t like it one bit. It was the first time she’d ever had such strong feelings for anyone she’d ever dated, and it was petrifying. Was that why she was freaking out? Because she’d finally found the one?
She just couldn’t shake the worry that something was wrong. Brock was pulling away from her—she knew it as well as she knew she was sitting here. She balled her fist. “You know what, I don’t care about Brock Ellis. Time for me to move on.”
Zoe cut her eyes at Jules. “You could always rekindle your relationship with Dean Powell. Didn’t Mom say that he was coming today with his parents?”
“Seriously?” Jules groaned. “Why can’t that guy get a clue?” She suppressed a shiver. “He cornered me in the soup aisle of the grocery store the other day. It was the gym the week before that.” She held up a finger. “Oh, and let’s not forget how he happened to run into me at the hair salon.”
“He’s stalking you,” Zoe said in dismay. “This is bad. Why haven’t you said anything?”
“Because Dean’s harmless, that’s why.” Zoe was understandably sensitive about this topic, considering her ordeal with Nico Ventura. However, just because Nico was psychotic didn’t mean that Dean was. Realizing that Zoe was unconvinced, Jules added, “Dean will eventually get tired of chasing after me, and he’ll give up.”
“I hope you’re right.” Zoe frowned. “But just in case, I’d better mention something about it to Tippin. Ask him to keep an eye on the situation.”
“No, don’t do that,” she said quickly. “The Dean thing is no big deal.” She tossed Zoe a reassuring smile. “I mean it.” There was no sense in making a mountain out of a molehill.
Zoe arched an eyebrow. “If anything changes, let me know.”
“Will do.” With a sly grin, Jules put two fingers to her temple in a hearty salute.
“I’m serious. I worry about you, especially after that thing with the irate husband of the patient who died.”
Jules wrinkled her nose. “That was bad. Thankfully, things have calmed down.” The surgical center’s quality assurance team launched a Root Cause Analysis (or RCA) and determined that no red flags were found in the patient’s chart. It was discovered that Lisa had a family history of clotting disorders and had recently taken a long flight back from Europe, a fact that had not been disclosed at the time of the surgery.
It was deemed that Lisa’s death was caused by a rare, unpredictable complication rather than negligence.
Lisa’s husband, Steve, had shown up at the center drunk, ranting and railing. He was escorted off the premises. After that, he called the center several times and left some negative reviews on various social media platforms. The staff was on high alert, everyone fretting over what Steve might do. However, things had been quiet lately, which was a relief. Hopefully, Steve had found a more productive way to deal with his grief. Even when his wife was alive, Jules could tell that the man had some serious anger issues.
Although she’d been cleared of any fault, Jules still carried the heavy weight of guilt, questioning if there was anything she could’ve done differently. Also, she was still distraught over Alyssa’s death. It was hard to believe that her friend was gone. Did Alyssa’s parents even realize that she was pregnant? Jules had gone to the funeral and saw Alyssa’s distraught parents, but she didn’t have the heart to say anything to them about the pregnancy. The whole thing was so sad. If she hadn’t persuaded Alyssa to leave her boyfriend, then Alyssa wouldn’t have been on the road that day, and she would still be here.
Don’t go there , she warned herself, knowing that dwelling on the what if would only make her miserable. She mentally cleared away the despondent thoughts, not wanting to ruin this day by focusing on the negative.
The door opened, and Mom stuck her head in the room. When she saw Zoe, she gasped in delight. “You look so beautiful,” she gushed. Her voice quivered with breathy emotion. “I can’t believe my oldest daughter is getting married today.” She smiled through her tears. “To the man she’s secretly loved since childhood.”
Zoe chuckled. “Um, you’ve got it backward. Tippin is the one who secretly loved me.”
Mom grinned. “That pendulum has been swinging both ways for many years, darling. I’m just glad y’all finally came to your senses.”
“Well, at least one of us has,” Zoe grinned. “Hey, will you please send Dad or someone to make sure that Tippin doesn’t wear those awful unicorn socks?”
“I’ll do my best,” Mom assured her with a twinkle in her eye. “But you know Junior, he has a mind of his own.”
“It’s Tippin now,” Zoe reminded her.
“Tippin,” Mom corrected. She threw Jules an amused look. “The boy arbitrarily changed his name.” She tsked her tongue. “Who knows what he’ll do next?”
“I heard that,” Zoe said dryly, but it was obvious from the way her eyes were dancing that she loved Tippin’s spontaneity and the fact that he kept her guessing.
Mom took in a breath, a sense of urgency overtaking her. “Okay, I was sent by the wedding planner to tell you that it’s time. Your four-wheeler awaits,” she announced, her voice dripping with irony.
Jules flashed Zoe a cheeky grin. “Can you tell that Mom has made peace with the fact that you’re holding the wedding on a remote section of the ranch?”
Ever since Zoe told Mom where she and Tippin wanted to get married, Mom had been pouting. Mom had envisioned Zoe getting married in the venerable church the family attended, followed by a lavish ceremony at the country club. She’d balked when Zoe insisted that the ceremony be held in a field under the tree where she and Tippin shared their first kiss.
“Let’s just hope your wedding dress that your dad paid a small fortune for doesn’t get soiled from you being carted over in the four-wheeler,” Mom said and then shook her head in weary frustration. “I’m sure the guests are getting antsy from the ceremony being held so late.”
“At sunset,” Zoe pointed out with a surreptitious wink at Jules. “Per Tippin’s request.”
“Junior—Tippin,” should be happy,” Mom pointed out. “After all, he’s getting everything he ever wanted.”
“And a guitar that costs as much as my house,” Jules teased.
Mom made a face. “That too.” She fanned her hand impatiently. “Let’s go. You’ve kept the guests waiting long enough.”
Zoe turned and took one final look at her reflection in the mirror. “Okay,” she said with a resolute breath. “Let’s do this thing they call life.”
“Let’s,” Mom piped in as she grinned at Jules.