Chapter Eleven
She’d kissed Brian Kowalski.
It was the first thought to pop into Siobhan’s head when she opened her eyes, which was extra annoying because it was the thought running on a constant loop when she’d finally fallen asleep.
Rather than sliding out of bed and enjoying a quiet cup of coffee before Oliver stirred, she pulled the blanket over her face in an effort to hide from the world.
She knew it would fail. Oliver certainly wasn’t going to spend an entire day hiding under the covers with her.
And as the actual wedding part of the wedding trip crept ever closer, she’d promised Steph they’d focus on preparations today.
There was only so much they could do since Brian’s brother wasn’t arriving with the bigger stuff from the rental company until later in the afternoon.
And it was going to be a simple ceremony, so there wasn’t a lot of fussy stuff to do.
Steaming the outfits. Preparing the vines they were going to wrap around the arbor.
The memory of Brian stringing the fairy lights flashed through her mind, followed swiftly by the remembrance of his lips on hers as his hand cupped the back of her neck.
Nope.
Suddenly too warm, Siobhan pulled the blanket off her face. That wasn’t enough, so she pushed it off entirely, careful not to nudge Oliver in the process. He was getting restless and she knew he’d be awake soon, but she’d take every minute she could get.
Unfortunately, there was no way for her to think about the wedding preparations without thinking about Brian and those lights, so her mind kept returning to the kiss over and over.
The fact that her first instinct to call Robin and tell her everything was immediately followed by a resolve to tell Robin nothing was like a flashing neon sign telling her she’d definitely done the wrong thing.
They commiserated regularly about the sad state of their sex lives—Siobhan too tired to care and Robin too picky. If Brian was a man she was supposed to be kissing, her best friend would have been her first call.
Instead, she was desperately hoping nobody would ever find out. Not Robin and especially nobody with the last name of Kowalski.
When Oliver finally opened his eyes, Siobhan was almost relieved he was awake because she needed the distraction.
Rather than popping out of bed and hitting the ground running, her son snuggled against her and she recited one of his favorite board books from memory.
In a few places, she deliberately substituted a different animal or color, and Oliver would giggle and correct her, calling her silly.
When she suggested some oatmeal, she half expected him to remember the Kowalski family would be gathering for the big breakfast buffet and jump out of bed, but he didn’t seem to have a lot of interest in them today. She got him dressed and then started the oatmeal while the Keurig brewed.
She’d just sat down when her phone buzzed with a message from Steph. Breakfast is ready!
Siobhan didn’t even have to look at Oliver to know it was going to be a while before they emerged from the camper. He was content to be leisurely this morning, and anytime he was content, she was.
We just woke up. Oliver’s feeling lazy, so we’re going to have a quiet breakfast inside today.
Lazy mornings are best! See you in a while, then!
A few minutes later, her phone buzzed again, this time with a text message from a number that wasn’t in her contacts.
You’re not leaving, are you? I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, and I’ll work in the store today if it makes you more comfortable.
Adding to the “that’s so wrong” list, the assurance there would be no more kissing triggered a deep sense of regret—maybe even loss. She’d liked that kiss a lot.
This is Brian, by the way.
Siobhan laughed at the second message, and then she laughed again at Oliver’s look of sleepy confusion. His mom laughing at seemingly nothing over her first coffee of the day was a new experience for him.
After taking a long swig of the coffee and thinking for a moment, she typed in her response. I’m not leaving and you don’t have to hide. We’re adults, it won’t happen again, and we’re not at breakfast because Oliver slept in and he’s having a quiet morning. We’ll be out in a bit.
Even though he sent back a smiley-face emoji, Siobhan suspected Brian might make himself scarce today. They might be adults who knew kissing couldn’t happen again, but they were also adults tangled in a family drama who didn’t even like each other a few days ago, but kissed last night.
There was no way around that being awkward.
Several hours later, with the clouds gathering to deliver the brief showers in the forecast, Siobhan left Oliver in the care of Mary, Ellie and some of the other women, who were going to put on a movie for the little ones and do some of the wedding baking.
Alone with Steph in the bride and groom’s cabin, Siobhan sat on the edge of the bed, trying to get as much of the downdraft from the ceiling fan as possible. “I can’t believe they’re going to bake in a camper.”
“I know, right? But they always have. I told them baking stuff ahead of time and freezing it was fine, but it’s my wedding. And the guys offered them the kitchen in the house, but Gram’s used to her oven, whatever that means.”
“I’m not a baker, even when I’m not in an aluminum box, so I have no idea.”
Steph pulled a hand steamer out of a bag she’d been rummaging through. “I’m so glad you were able to come Wednesday instead of waiting until Sunday. I was afraid if you just came for the wedding part, things would still be awkward at the ceremony.”
“It was smart to dangle a free vacation in the woods of northern New Hampshire with my son in front of me. And you’re also lucky, because you called on a day I was so over the city I wanted to curl up on the floor of my shower and cry. Excellent timing.” She laughed. “I’ve had fun.”
Of course, if she’d only come for Sunday and Monday, she probably would have left Oliver with Robin.
Her friend would have watched him for overnight and then gotten him off to daycare with little disruption to his schedule.
And if she hadn’t brought Oliver with her, Brian and his family wouldn’t have seen him and nobody would know.
But she would have. At some point, she would have seen Brian smile in that way the Kowalskis had and the resemblance was so strong, there’s no way she wouldn’t have missed the connection. And then what would she have done?
Probably nothing at the time, she decided.
But once she got home, it would have eaten at her.
She would have tried to contact Kelly, of course.
But as terrifying as this all was, she didn’t think she could live with herself if she chose to hide him from Brian.
That was a choice her sister had made, not her.
“You okay?”
Siobhan blinked away the what-ifs and smiled at her friend. “Of course. I was just lost in thought for a minute.”
“Anything juicy?”
Alarm jolted through Siobhan at her friend’s choice of words.
Had she and Brian been seen last night? “Juicy? Hardly. I was thinking about the best order to steam the clothes in, actually. And speaking of, I can handle this myself, you know, freeing you up to relax. I’m pretty sure taking stuff off your plate is in my job description. ”
“Listen, I had to fend off pretty much all of the women in this campground right now to get this time with you. I feel like we’ve hardly had time to talk since you got here and I feel bad. You dropped everything to be my maid of honor.”
“Don’t worry about me. We’re having a great time.” Not the part where she accidentally found her son’s biological father—maybe—and then kissed him, but she and Oliver were enjoying themselves for the most part. “It must be nice to spend time with your whole family like this.”
Steph beamed. “It really is. It’s exactly what Kyle and I wanted. Bringing our families together and just wallowing in the love and happiness is the perfect way to make it official.”
She couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Wallowing?”
Before Steph could respond, there was a light knock on the door and then it opened. Brian stepped in, blinking as he crossed from the bright sunshine into the dim cabin.
“Hey, Steph, do you need—” He spotted Siobhan and froze for a second. “Sorry. I heard you were steaming stuff and figured I’d see if you need an extension cord.”
“Glad I wasn’t in the middle of trying my dress on,” Steph said, and then she laughed. “And Brian Kowalski, are you actually suggesting I plug something with a heating element into an extension cord?”
“There’s a big difference between a hand steamer and a space heater.” He snorted. “And that was Bobby that almost burned down the garage, not me.”
“I’m going to get you a T-shirt that says It Was Bobby for Christmas.”
“I’d wear it every day.” He looked at Siobhan. “Did she tell you Rob used to be Bobby until his voice changed and he thought a new nickname would make him sound older?”
She laughed. “Rob told me about the nickname, actually, although he left out the part about his voice changing.”
Brian grinned, his blue eyes crinkling, and Siobhan smiled back.
Their gazes held until her heart was pounding in her chest. Then she realized she was twirling the end of her hair around her finger and shoved her hands into her pockets.
One ill-advised kiss and she was acting like a dreamy teenager.
“We’re all set, I think,” Steph said, and they both looked at her without responding. “The extension cord you were talking about? We don’t need it.”
“Oh, right,” Brian said. “Text me if you change your mind.”
When the door closed behind her cousin, Steph put her hands on her hips. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
She waggled a finger between Siobhan and the door. “That. You and Brian. There was…something going on there.”