WEDDING BELLS

ADDISON

THREE WEEKS LATER

I ’d been hard at work the past few weeks, getting the restaurant set up and buying a couple of equipment pieces I needed that hadn’t come with the place. First up was an outdoor smoker that could handle cooking pounds of various meats all at once, for hours on end.

It was a beautiful piece of machinery.

I might have married it if I wasn’t going to marry Patrick instead.

I also talked to Mrs. Baker, the owner of the Main Street Diner, and got her blessing on my restaurant theme and menu, even making some suggestions of her own that I’d absolutely take into consideration.

The woman was a saint. She told me the days of the week that I should be closed, reminding me that we all needed days off in this business. Which was ironic, coming from her, considering the diner was open all seven days and she worked every single one of them.

“We all make mistakes we can’t come back from,” she’d said in response when I pointed out that fact.

During the tourist season, we’d close on Mondays. And during the off-season, we’d close on Mondays and Tuesdays. We’d also only be open for lunch and dinner. Closing for breakfast sounded great, but I’d still be there nice and early, prepping and smoking the meat each day. The things I wanted to serve would take hours, sometimes days, to cook properly.

Patrick was dead set on building the bar I’d mentioned wanting and refused to let me hire anyone else, as if I would have anyway.

And Bella had given me an enthusiastic, “ HELL YES ,” when I offered her the bar manager position.

Things were coming together quickly and easily. Both were encouraging signs that I’d taken to heart.

But right now, Main Street BBQ could wait because Brooklyn and Thomas’s wedding day was here. The entire O’Grady clan was in the brand-new wedding barn. It was fully complete and slated to open to the public in two weeks. It was already booked out a year in advance, just like they’d all suspected it would be. The place was going to be a huge hit. And the chalets I’d heard all about were finally starting to be framed.

Sugar Mountain Resort was growing in the best possible way. I couldn’t have been happier to be a part of it.

“I’m so excited,” I breathed out as I fixed Patrick’s bow tie on his suit. “You look so handsome.”

“What about me?” Matthew said from somewhere behind me.

“You know you look good,” I said, and Thomas appeared. “And the groom looks stunning.”

“Hey now,” Patrick whined, and I gave him a kiss.

“You look the handsomest,” I whispered.

“I heard that.” Matthew frowned.

Patrick and Matthew were Thomas’s best men while Brooklyn had her best friend, Lana, and Clarabel standing by her side. They were getting married in one side of the barn while the reception would be on the other. The wedding side was filled with white chairs and flowers tied to the ones on the aisle. The reception side held long wood tables with wildflowers in small vases and white candles lining each one. It was stunning.

“I’ll give you guys some time alone. Do whatever weird things brothers do. I’m going to go check on my dad and see how the women and Clara are doing.” I gave Patrick a wink and a kiss before heading out of their private room.

“Addi, take the damn dog with you,” Thomas shouted, but I’d already closed the door.

I walked down the stairs, careful not to step on my dress when I spotted my dad talking to Patrick’s. “Hello, gentlemen.”

“Hello, daughter,” my dad said, sans crutches.

The cast was off his leg, and I’d never seen the man happier than the day they finally cut it off. He actually took the crutches apart and then melted them down. Yeah, my dad had burned his crutches to molten lava.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Mr. O’Grady cooed before pulling me in for a hug. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re up next for all this.” He waved an arm around the place. “Ready for it?”

“Ready? Yes. All this?” I said as I looked around at the massive space. “Not gonna happen.”

The two men made confused faces, but I didn’t elaborate. They’d learn soon enough that an intimate wedding on our balcony, overlooking the acres of trees on our property, was where I planned on getting married.

“How are the boys doing?” Mr. O’Grady asked, and I gave a nod toward the staircase I’d just walked down.

“They seem in good spirits. I’m sure you can head up there if you want. I was going to check on the girls and make sure they’re good. And then I want to check on Bella and make sure she has everything she needs for later.”

“You’re not working, you know,” my dad said with a slight frown.

“I know, but I can’t help it. It’s in my nature,” I said with a shrug. “I’ll be back.”

I spotted Bella at one of the beautiful wood slab bars, organizing bottles and making a face.

“Everything good?” I asked as she looked up.

“I think I might need more ice, and I’m not sure where it is.”

“I’ll find out and get you some,” I said with a nod.

She grinned. “Thank you.”

“Of course. All the alcohol and mixers okay?”

She nodded. “Yep.”

I glanced at the framed paper that sat on the bar. It read, Please enjoy a specialty cocktail on us. Cocktails were made especially for us by Bella from Main Street BBQ. Then, it listed four cocktails with the ingredients for each one underneath. They had clever names, like the Brooklyn Babetini, Clarabel Cosmo, Thomas’s Twisted Tea, and an O’Grady Sour.

“They put your name and our restaurant on the menu?” My eyes were misting over at the thoughtfulness.

“It’s awesome, right?”

“Very. And these cocktails are so clever, Bella.”

She blushed at the compliment, but she was really good at this.

“I’ll check on the ice and be right back,” I said before disappearing into the large back kitchen.

Bella was right though; there was no extra ice in sight. After finding some help, who set off to pull buckets of ice for the bar, I went up the other set of stairs toward the bridal dressing suite.

I knocked, and three voices shouted for me to come in.

“Wait, what if it’s Thomas? He can’t just come in,” Lana disagreed.

“Come in, unless you’re Daddy. Then, stay out,” Clara’s little voice directed before she started giggling hysterically.

“It’s just me. Addison,” I said.

They all started yelling at once for me to get in there. I pushed open the door, and my mouth fell open.

“Oh, wow. Brooklyn, you look so beautiful,” I said as I took in her unique green dress that complemented her red hair and matching ruby ring.

“Isn’t this dress wild?” Lana said with a smile. “I love that she’s not wearing white.”

“Well, I have been married before,” Brooklyn added with a small frown and a little wince.

I noted to talk to her more about her past when the timing was right. I hadn’t been told much about it and figured going straight to the source was my best option for that kind of girl talk.

“What about me?” Little Clara poked at my hip with her finger. “Do you like my dress?” She spun in an emerald-green dress of her own.

“I love it. It’s so sparkly,” I commented, noticing that her entire skirt looked like it was covered in glitter.

“I live for sparkles. Right, Aunt Lana?” Clara said before covering her mouth with a giggle.

“We all live for sparkles,” Lana agreed with a fist pump in the air, and Clara mimicked her.

Lana was a trip. I liked her.

“Anyway, I just came up to make sure you didn’t need anything. Water or snacks or anything?”

“That’s so sweet, Addison. Thank you. But, no, we’re good. Just ready to get this thing started already, right?” Brooklyn said before looking right at Clara.

“Yeah! We want to get married!” Clara shouted.

And get married they did.

Thomas and Brooklyn exchanged vows that they’d written for one another, and Clara had vows of her own that made everyone in the packed barn cry. And right before they were pronounced husband and wife, the three of them each picked up a vile that held colored sand. Brooklyn’s was red, Thomas’s was blue, and Clara’s was purple. They poured the sand together into a glass box that read, Perfectly Blended . It represented the three of them coming together to form one family. It was a sweet gesture and looked so pretty in the glass.

I was sitting on the end of a row, next to my dad, Jasper at my feet. My eyes searched for one male body to the right of Thomas and found Patrick already watching me. The man had been staring at me almost the entire time. He was happy for his brother, of course, but I knew what he’d been thinking throughout the ceremony. Because I’d been thinking the exact same things. It was hard to watch someone get married and not think about your own wedding. Listening to them pledge their love to one another made my heart grow even larger. And I couldn’t wait to do the same with Patrick one day soon.

I glanced for a second at Matthew, who was looking toward the back of the room. Turning around so I could see who had his attention, I realized that I shouldn’t have even had to look. The guy was staring at Bella, and it appeared that she was gazing right back at him. I watched until she broke eye contact and quickly glanced at Matthew, who looked disappointed at first before pulling his expression together.

The ceremony ended with cheers and flashes of camera bulbs going off. We were all directed into the other half of the barn for the reception and cocktails.

Patrick found me as soon as he was able. “They need us, love.”

“Us?”

“Family photos,” he said.

I argued, “I’m not officially family yet.”

“Soon enough. Brooklyn insisted.”

“Oh. Okay then.” Because if it was Brooklyn’s idea, then I was okay with it.

We posed for photos, the mountains framing our bodies in the distance. I was certain they would make the most stunning background. Especially once the sun started to set and we settled in for one last round of formal family shots.

“We can dance now?” Clara asked, her eyes wide as she looked up at Brooklyn.

“Yes! Let’s dance.” Brooklyn smiled and reached for Clara’s little hand as they made their way toward the makeshift dance floor.

After dancing for what felt like hours, I leaned my head on Patrick’s shoulder and sighed. “You did good, babe.”

“With what?” he asked.

I really believed he’d forgotten he was the one who had built this place.

“This barn. The vision. The execution. It’s magical.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Thanks.”

I looked up at him and saw the same boy that I’d fallen in love with back in high school. His eyes were the same color blue. His hair the same shade of dark brown. And he still looked at me the way he always used to, like, somehow, I was the one who had hung the moon in the sky when we all knew it was him.

“I love you.” He dipped his head down to kiss me before twirling me once more.

“I love you too,” I said. “I need some water.”

He laughed, and we both looked toward the bar, where we spotted Matthew standing in front of Bella, having what looked like a pretty serious conversation.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” I whispered.

“Yeah. What do you think’s going on over there?”

“I’m not sure, but we should definitely find out,” I suggested.

Patrick laughed. “Oh, we’re definitely finding out. Matthew’s the nosiest one of us all. It’s about time he was on the receiving end,” he said a little too enthusiastically.

Before I knew it, he was pulling me by the hand toward the bar.

When we arrived, all the talking halted. Matthew and Bella both stopped moving their mouths and swallowed whatever words were about to come out.

“What are you doing to our bartender, little brother?” Patrick asked Matthew, who seemed unfazed by the question.

“Trying to convince her to go home with me after these lovely festivities are done,” he answered with what I assumed was total honestly.

Bella laughed so hard that she almost choked. “Please take him away.”

“Not until you say yes, Bells,” Matthew started begging, his hands pressed together and everything. “Say yes. Come home with me.”

“I’m not letting you break my heart twice,” she said under her breath, but it was loud enough for all of us to hear.

“Break your heart?” Matthew repeated before he focused his eyes on hers and held. “When did I break your heart?” he asked so sincerely.

“I want to know the answer too,” Patrick added, and I swatted his shoulder. “What?”

“This isn’t our business,” I ground out, but knew that once Bella and I started working together, I was going to get the information out of her at some point.

“Bells…” Matthew said the name that I’d never heard anyone except for him call her.

“Don’t act like you don’t know exactly what you did, Matthew O’Grady,” she sassed.

His eyes were pulled together so tight that I thought they might stick that way. “I don’t, Bells. I really don’t. Tell me. Please,” he pleaded, but Bella was unmoved.

“Just go away. I’m not a game. Or some prize you can pick out of a machine just because you’re bored.”

Damn. That one hurt even me.

Matthew reared back. “I’m not bored, Bells.”

“You sure do act like it. Always hanging out at the saloon, drinking yourself into a stupor, like you have nothing else to do with your time.” Bella kept slinging words that were painful to listen to. Even if they were true, they still stung.

Matthew let out a laugh that sounded more shocked than anything. “I hang out at the saloon because that’s where you are, Bells. I could do anything I wanted with my time, but I choose to be with you.”

“Oh my God.” She rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. I might have fallen for all of your pretty words when I was a kid, but I’m not a teenager anymore, and I don’t believe a thing you say.”

“Then I’ll show you,” Matthew slammed a hand on top of the bar before he pointed a single finger at the poor girl.

“Please don’t,” Bella responded, sounding serious.

“Fiance?” Patrick said the word as he looked at me and reached out his hand. “Let’s remove ourselves from whatever this is.”

“I don’t know, fiancé,” I repeated the word back at him before deciding that it sounded dumb. “This is kind of fun to watch.”

“I’m sure you’ll be seeing plenty of it once the restaurant opens,” Patrick said and I snarled.

“Oh no. Matthew, you will not be coming into the restaurant and harassing my manager,” I pointed at my future brother-in-law, but he only shrugged like he had no choice in the matter.

“I second that,” Bella interjected and Matthew’s gaze swung right back to hers.

“I’m feeling a little ganged up on,” Matthew said, his voice almost sad.

“I’m sure one of the single women here will help you feel better, big guy,” Bella said as she reached across the built in bar and shoved at Matthew’s shoulders. “Now go. Find one of them and leave me alone.”

“Not sure I can do that, Bells.”

I shook my head, trying to shake off the back and forth banter the two of them kept serving to one another. “Take me home, lover,” I said toward Patrick before pressing a kiss to his waiting lips.

“With mother fucking pleasure, Babe.” He held me tight in his arms as he dipped me before bringing me back up with another kiss.

“Hearts are breaking all over Sugar Mountain tonight,” Bella said with a whistle and I knew exactly what she meant.

Two O’Grady brothers were officially off the market. Only one remained. And I wondered if Matthew was truly serious about Bella or if it was some kind of game to him. I guessed we were all about to find out.

THE END

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