Chapter 21 #2
“Brock, Anders, and I have started renovating the old Gallagher beach house.” Juliette tucked a loose wisp of dark brown hair behind one ear and distracted herself from her mother’s pointed stare. “We plan to turn it into an exclusive boutique wedding venue.”
“Oh.” Gigi twirled the peony stem between her fingers. “Is that so?”
“Yes. Aidan, Brock’s dad, was trying to have the property bought out so he could build a strand of hotels and condominiums along the peninsula.” Juliette meticulously added the roses to the vase, one at a time. “We had to stop him.”
Gigi gasped. It may have been slightly extra and dramatic, but it worked for their mother.
She clamped one hand over her heart and whispered something in French.
“Mais non. That will not do. We don’t want Mystic Cove to become an extension of Virginia Beach.
” Her nose wrinkled. “All those tourists.”
“Exactly.” At least Mama was on her side for this much of the story.
“We were trying to think of a way to quickly save the beach house from demolition, while proving it can still be worthwhile and bring in money, yet preserve the beach at the same time. So, I came up with the idea of a wedding venue.”
“You did?”
“It’s a great idea too,” Vivianne added. “Adrienne is going to be the onsite photographer. I’ll head up the social media and marketing, and Sophie…well, she hasn’t agreed yet, but we’re hoping she’ll book the weddings.”
Anne-Sophie smiled but rolled her eyes to the ceiling. There was no doubt wedding planning wasn’t nearly as lucrative as whatever job she was working now.
Gigi added the peony to the sympathy arrangement, then fisted her hands on her hips. Her large jeweled rings caught the light and sparkled like rainbows across her knuckles. “You have it all planned out then?”
“Well, not all of it,” Adrienne admitted and ducked her head, sending a knowing look to Juliette.
Right. Now or never.
Juliette scraped her teeth along her bottom lip and met her mother’s cool gaze. “I was hoping you’d want to be the florist?”
Silence descended on the back of the shop. Gigi pursed her bright red lips as beats of tension hung in the air. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft yet prim. “I’ll consider it.”
The energy between the sisters bubbled to the point of bursting. Whenever Mama considered something, it was almost always a yes. Juliette tried not to smile, just in case she changed her mind.
“This idea of yours, this wedding venue…it seems to be rather long term, no?” Gigi folded her arms across her chest, eyeing Juliette from over the rim of her glasses.
Juliette knew what she was asking. It was the same thing they all asked her. Even Brock. “For the time being.”
It was the best answer she could give them.
“Hm.” Gigi nodded once, then walked away.
The sisters let out a collective breath.
Anne-Sophie shoved her hair back from her face and grinned. “I can’t tell if she’s excited or angry.”
“Probably a little of both,” Adrienne put in, scrubbing her hands on her leggings.
“At least it’s one more thing checked off the project list. I’ll have to remember to tell Brock she agreed.
But now with Yaya…” Juliette ran the tips of her fingers over the soft petals of a dahlia.
She didn’t want to overwhelm him, and it felt wrong delivering good news in the middle of his grief. “I’ll just wait a few days.”
After a beat, she glanced up to realize all three of them were staring at her. “What?”
Adrienne leaned forward, propping her elbows on the worktable.
“Are we going to talk about the fact that Rodrigo will be here in a week? I want to make sure you’re truly okay with him coming to Mystic Cove.
After all, it’ll probably be you who shows him and Charity the beach house, not Brock and Anders. ”
“Oh, I—”
“Hold up.” Vivianne’s hand shot into the air. “I think we need to discuss the fact that Juliette didn’t sleep in her own bed last night.”
Anne-Sophie gasped. “Tell us!"
“You owe us that much, Jules.” Vivianne pointed at her with a stem of eucalyptus. “Especially since none of us are getting laid at the moment.”
Juliette laughed.
“Okay, okay. One thing at a time. I’ll admit, the whole Rodrigo marrying Charity thing caught me off-guard. But…” She hesitated, shame crawling up the back of her neck. “But I kind of expected it. Or at least, I knew he had plans to marry someone.”
Just not her.
The twins gaped at her, and Anne-Sophie shook her head, cocking it to one side. “Wait, what?”
Juliette told her sisters about how she found the ring and showed it to a friend on New Year’s Eve, and how her life tumbled out of control from there. She skipped the imagery of Rodrigo banging some woman on their bathroom sink, sparing them the details of how slowly her heart broke.
“That jerk.” Adrienne’s green eyes were blazing.
“I’m going to kill him.” Anne-Sophie’s fists coiled at her side, and her jaw was locked so tightly, it looked ready to snap. “As soon as he gets here, I’m going to kill him.”
Vivianne looped her arm through Anne-Sophie’s, pulling her close. “Easy there, tiger.”
“Don’t kill him yet. We need him alive so we can keep our first wedding on the books.
” Juliette tried to smile to make light of the situation, but her attempt was paltry at best. “I really thought he was going to propose to me, but looking back, I guess all the warning signs were there. I was just too busy ignoring them.”
Vivianne leaned over the worktable and propped her chin on her fist. “Would you have said yes?”
“I…” Of course, right? Marrying Rodrigo was the one thing she’d always wanted, at least Juliette told herself as much.
“I thought so. For years I dreamt of saying yes. I knew what colors I wanted for our wedding. I knew where the reception would be held. I had this vision of a gorgeous dress with a beaded satin bodice and princess skirt. My future wedding was going to be perfect, but the face of the groom was always a blur.”
“When Rodrigo gets into town, you won’t be alone.” Adrienne clasped Juliette’s hands with both of hers, squeezing gently. “We’ll be here for you. Every step of the way.”
“That’s right.” Anne-Sophie slung one arm around Vivianne and lifted her chin. “We’ll help you get through him being here, and we’ll do it together.”
“All of this powerful sisterhood stuff sounds really fabulous.” Vivianne feigned a yawn, and the glint in her eyes turned mischievous. “But I want to hear about your night with Brockton Gallagher.”
“Yes!”
“Me too!”
Vivianne arched one dark brow. “Is it serious?”
“I don’t know.” Juliette had tried not to think about Brock for this exact reason. The spark burned so brightly between them, but just like last time, she was worried she might get burned. “I’m not sure it can be serious with us.”
Adrienne patted her hand, nurturing as always. “Why not?”
“Because he left me once before.”
“The boot camp thing?” Vivianne asked, and Juliette nodded. “You need to ask him about why he left. It’s high time he fesses up. I remember how crushed you were when he wouldn’t return your letters and then wouldn’t answer your calls. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know.”
“Viv’s right,” Adrienne put in. “We’ve seen the two of you together. You’re perfect for each other. You were perfect for each other then, too. There has to be a reason he ghosted you, a reason it all fell apart.”
Juliette shrugged, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “He told me he found someone else.”
“Bullshit,” Anne-Sophie scoffed. “The two of you were planning a future together. There’s no way he magically found someone else.”
“Agreed.” Vivianne clicked her tongue, pushing her dark curls back from her face. “It sounds like something he made up because he’s too afraid to tell you the truth.”
“Maybe,” Juliette muttered, realizing that confronting Brock about their past was the very last thing she wanted to do. If he didn’t tell her the real reason he stayed away, then she wouldn’t ever be able to move on, with or without him.
Brock promised her until forever. When he left and never came back, her whole world crumbled.
But now they were both back in Mystic Cove, together, and all those old feelings of endless possibilities and wishes upon stars were filling her heart again.
If she stayed, she would have to face her mother at some point, and even though she was finally designing again, it wasn’t in Gigi’s nature to make her life easy.
The snide little comments wouldn’t disappear, the constant nudges or insignificant slights, they would all be something she faced daily.
But if she left, her sisters would be devastated.
And Brock, well, she’d lose him forever.
Something inside her gut twisted.
A knowing.
An understanding.
Clarity struck her like lightning. Juliette wanted to stay in Mystic Cove. Not only for her sisters, whom she adored, but also for Brock.
For the man she still loved.