Chapter 2
Max
The entrance and main stairwell of the Lamplight Inn were covered in cotton candy peonies on every surface, on the railing for the stairs, and most impressively, the floral arch I’d constructed last night in the inn’s communal living room for the ceremony.
I’d left the rehearsal dinner early, before dessert, to come here and start setting it up.
My younger sister, Harper, and I worked until two in the morning to get it perfect.
The pink blooms climbed like ivy—with ivy and baby’s breath—above the fireplace and up the chute, turning it into a floral waterfall. It was almost too much. If this wedding hadn’t come so dangerously close to not being enough, to not being what Daisy deserved, maybe it would’ve been overdone.
But I was the one who noticed the glimmer of sadness in her eyes when she insisted to Todd that the courthouse would be fine.
I was the one who cataloged every downcast stare when Todd complained about one thing or another, even though I’d stepped in to handle everything for him. And let him take credit.
I let Todd tell Daisy that having a small ceremony at the Lamplight Inn was his idea.
I let him take credit for the blueberries and cream wedding cake that I picked out because I was the one who’d gone to the tasting.
Daisy had too much morning sickness, and Todd, who’d gone out the night before with one of his friends from college because Daisy was studying, was suffering from a different kind of morning sickness.
I wanted this day to be special for her. I wanted to see that most beautiful smile one more time when she saw the flowers. When she tasted the cake. When she kissed her groom. There was no overdoing the promise of forever, no matter how it killed me inside.
I took the stairs two at a time, my heart starting to beat a little harder in my chest. Just before I got to the top, Daisy and Lou’s voices filtered out from the suite at the top of the stairs, the door partially cracked.
“I look like a white whale.”
“You look beautiful, Daisy,” Lou chided.
“I agree with Lou. You look gorgeous, Dee,” Harper joined in.
I slowed and stopped on the landing. I didn’t realize my sister was here too.
“Maybe I just feel like a whale because I can’t see my ankles. Are my shoes even going to fit?” A pause. “Maybe we should just go to the courthouse. Then I could wear my sweatpants.”
“You’re not going to the courthouse,” Lou insisted. “First, because there is no world where you don’t look gorgeous, and second, because Max would cry if you didn’t get married in front of his flower arrangement.”
My jaw tightened. The irony of how wrong she was didn’t escape me.
“I’ll cry too,” my sister chimed in. “I left at twelve-thirty, dead on my feet, but Max was here until two. He sent me a picture when he finished.”
There was a long pause followed by Daisy’s soft voice again. “He’s done too much.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s nothing my brother wouldn’t do for you—”
I knocked loudly, very loudly, on the door and stepped back.
Not everyone was as oblivious as Todd to how I felt about Daisy.
Then again, Harper was probably the one person who was around us the most. Too busy to date was my excuse for dragging my younger sister to rounds of golf or an afternoon out on Todd’s parents’ boat or to one of their fancy society parties.
Half the time, it wasn’t because I couldn’t stand to spend hours watching Todd and Daisy together, but because it meant hours I’d spend talking to Daisy alone.
Todd always barricaded himself with friends at any event involving his family—me, our frat brother from college, Scott, and Daisy.
He claimed it was so I wouldn’t be the third wheel, except he and Scott would end up going off socializing and gallivanting.
Meanwhile, Daisy and I would be left to quiet moments alone.
Those quiet moments with her most beautiful smile were death by a thousand cuts.
Knowing she was marrying Todd—helping it unfold—was the final nail in the coffin I’d willingly climbed into, making today both a wedding and a funeral.
I knew I had to move on—knew I had to find some way to get over her. But even distance couldn’t work. Not when Todd started slacking on the simple wedding plans. Apparently, climbing into a coffin wasn’t enough. I decided to dig my own grave, too, by stepping in to help.
“Oh, Max.” Lou opened the door and stopped short. “I thought it was Wade. What are you—” Her brow furrowed just until her eyes found the bouquet. “Oh.”
“What is it? Is Todd—”
“Max just brought over your bouquet,” Lou answered over her shoulder. “Here. I can take it. You shouldn’t see the bride—”
“It’s okay, Lou,” Daisy called, and I saw her move from where she’d been lying on the bed. “I think that superstition is only for the groom.”
Which you aren’t, the reminder buried like a barb under my skin. No matter how I made myself bleed, I’d never get it out.
“Okay, I’m going to go down and check on Wade and refill your water.” She hugged a giant water bottle to her chest and stepped into the upstairs hall. “The flowers look amazing, Max,” Lou said. “I took so many photos to add to the wedding brochure. I think it’s going to be a great collaboration.”
MaineStems provided all the flower arrangements for the inn, complimentary as long as Lou let me put a plaque next to the vases with a QR code to our site so guests can order their own flowers on demand.
That was the premise of my business. Flowers delivered when you needed them for men who forgot birthdays and anniversaries and Mother’s Day.
Like this, said a small voice in the back of my mind, my gaze dipping to the bouquet in my hand. For men like Todd.
“Thanks, Lou,” I replied as she moved aside, only for Harper to block the doorway next.
“Harp, where are you—”
“Frankie just texted that the candles are all packed up and ready, so I’m going to go help her and Chandler.”
“Okay…”
She beelined right around me like she couldn’t leave the room fast enough.
And then it was just Daisy and me.
My breath bled through my lips as I looked over the woman sitting on the edge of the bed.
Jeweled combs gently pulled her loose waves of sunlight back from her face, spilling them over her shoulders and down her back.
Her dress was a pristine white, the lace sleeves reaching to her elbow and then fanning over the fullness of her breasts.
With the high waist, it obscured the growing swell of her stomach.
She had the fabric pulled up to her knees, her bare feet dangling off the edge. They still didn’t touch the ground.
“Hi, Max.” Her makeup highlighted those big, hopeful brown eyes as they stared at me and reddened every inch of her full lips while they teased out my name.
Hi. The response stuck in my throat. She was too damn beautiful…forever a pixie goddess who decided to dip her toes onto Earth.
Say something. My jaw worked overtime to let some sort of sound out as I approached, but there was nothing.
Or maybe there was everything. Four years of everything I’d ever wanted to say to this woman, to tell her, to confess to her, it barreled up my throat like a runaway train, crashing into my lips and leaving only an inarticulate catastrophe for my tongue to sort through.
Her gaze followed me closely as I kneeled in front of her, like I was her knight rather than the fool who’d fallen for my best friend’s fiancée.
“Most beautiful,” I finally managed words, completely forgetting about the flowers in my hand.
Daisy’s eyes snapped to mine, and the smile she gave me was that full-bloom beauty. The knife in my chest made a hard twist.
“Thank you, Max.” Her smile dwindled into a cautious one. She wore the cautious one far too many times lately, and no matter how many times I prodded Todd, he never seemed to pick up the difference. Because people only changed when they wanted to.
“What is it?” I caught my knuckle under her chin, lifting it. She tried to shake her head, to look away so I wouldn’t see the tears stringing like twinkle lights along her lashes. “Tell me, Daze,” I pleaded, using the nickname I only ever pulled out when Todd wasn’t around.
“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right, but it’s probably just my hormones.” She quickly swiped her eyes, but one tear snuck free.
I went to cup her cheek and catch it with my thumb, but she tensed back.
I immediately dropped my hand, frustration pummeling my chest. Dammit, Max.
It wasn’t my place to be drying the tears of my best friend’s fiancée, even if she was my friend too.
Even if sometimes it felt like we’d spent more time together over the last four years than she and Todd did.
Frustration churned like an engine in my chest as I offered her the bouquet like some kind of segue away from my misstep.
“Most beautiful,” she echoed and brought them up to her face, a shield drawn between us. Her cheeks flushed pink, like the brush of the peony petals stained her skin.
Suddenly, I couldn’t bear the thought of it ending like this. For four years, I buried how I felt about her. For the next four seconds, I had to let it live.
“Does Todd make you happy, Daze?” I needed to know. I needed to hear her answer, just once, so I’d never regret not telling her that my best friend wasn’t the only one who’d fallen in love with her.
Slowly, her lashes peeled open, and I waited, my breath under lock and key in my chest. “Max…” Just as she started to speak, something changed. Her brow furrowed. Her head tipped. Something caught her attention. “What’s this?”
She reached between the flowers and pulled out an envelope.
My jaw went slack. “I…don’t know.” I certainly hadn’t put it there.
“It’s from Todd,” she murmured, flashing me the front that read Daisy in his unmistakable scrawl.
“I didn’t realize he put a note in there,” I said, the fist around my throat gripping tighter as she opened the envelope and slid out the folded paper inside.
I’d missed my shot. The moment I’d had to finally tell Daisy the truth—just once—was gone. Stolen by the man who was going to marry her. And I took it as a sign that she’d found the buried note when she did.
“I should get going. I don’t want to make your groom late,” I said roughly, and went to the door.
I couldn’t wait—couldn’t watch as she read his letter. I needed to get the hell out of here and get my shit together.
“Max…” My hand stilled on the knob. “Max, what is this?” Her voice was hollowed out by panic, a gossamer shell of what it normally was.
I spun, and my heart dropped into my stomach with all the casualty of a bomb. Daisy stood beside the bed, the note in her hand, but she shook so badly, it flapped like a bird about to take flight.
“I-I don’t understand.” Daisy looked at me, her tears in free fall, but that wasn’t even the worst of it. The worst was the flash of betrayal in her eyes. “Did you know, Max?” She charged at me, the paper flapping in my direction. “Did you know he was going to do this?”
It took me two tries to take it from her fingers. “What are you talking about?” I growled and scanned the card.
Daisy,
I’m not good with words, just like I haven’t been good with you over the last few months. This isn’t the right way to do this, but it’s the only way I know how. I can’t marry you. This isn’t…who I am. I’m sorry.
Todd
“Did you know he was going to run?”
All I knew was that I was going to kill him.