Chapter 33
33
S am’s reunion with her parents hadn’t gone quite as expected.
She’d anticipated an interrogation of mammoth proportions, mainly revolving around her absent fiancé.
Instead, they welcomed her with open arms, lavishing her with more love than they had in her twenty-five years to date. Rather than plying her with questions, they smothered her, reinforcing how much they’d missed her.
She couldn’t handle this drastic change in her strict, orthodox parents, and the truth had spilled out before she could stop it.
Well, most of the truth.
She told them about working for Dylan Harmon to prove her independence, about being liberated living away from her family, about how Max made her skin crawl, and the thought of marrying him would sever her relationship with them permanently.
She’d cried tears of relief when they embraced her and apologised for driving her to such lengths, admitting they hadn’t realised the pressure they’d been placing on her and the rest of their children.
The experience had been a catalyst in changing her relationship with her parents and if she’d known what her harebrained scheme would do, she might’ve done it a long time ago.
She’ told them everything, almost, leaving out the part where she’d lost her heart to a man who now despised her.
But she hadn’t had time to dwell. Once Pete had seen his parents change of attitude, he’d told them about marrying Ebony, and the entire family had been coerced into making the wedding happen as soon as possible.
It had barely been a week since she returned from Melbourne, and today, her best friend would become her sister-in-law.
Putting the finishing touches on her makeup, she knocked on the interconnecting door of the hotel rooms the girls had used to get ready for the big day.
“Are you finished, Eb? It’s almost time to go.”
The door swung open and in typical flamboyant style, her friend struck a pose.
“What do you think? Do I look like a bride?”
Sam smiled and brushed away the tears that sprung to her eyes at the sight of her friend clad in an ivory sheath dotted with crystals, her usual flyaway hair smoothed into a sleek chignon and adorned with a sparkling tiara, and sheer veil that dropped to the floor.
“You look incredible. Pete’s going to pass out when he sees you.”
Ebony rolled her eyes. “Let’s hope not. It’s taken too much effort to get him this far and I’ll be damned if he backs out now.”
“There’s no chance of that. My dorky brother is absolutely crazy for you. Are you sure you want to become part of our insane family?”
To her amazement, tears glistened in Ebony’s eyes. Her friend rarely cried; Sam could count the number of times Ebony let emotion get the better of her.
“We’re already family, and don’t you forget it.”
Sam hugged her best friend and blinked back her tears, knowing if she let them fall now she’d never stop.
Since her return from Melbourne and in the privacy of her room each night, she’d cried enough tears to fill the Pacific twice over and she’d be damned if she let her heartbreak spoil Ebony and Pete’s wedding day.
Ebony released her. “Time to get this show on the road. There’s a chapel down the road where my charming prince is waiting.”
Sam chuckled, unable to associate the brother who had put frogs in her bed with Ebony’s version of a charming prince.
“If you say so. Though personally, I think that guy’s a fable, ranking alongside that gingerbread house I spent years searching for in our local rainforest as a kid.”
“They’re not all like Dylan, you know,” Ebony said, fixing her with a pointed stare.
Sam shrugged, wishing her friend hadn’t brought up the man she’d been trying desperately to forget.
“It’s not his fault. I lied to him. It’s natural he’d jump to conclusions about the rest.”
“That’s BS. If the guy had half a brain in his head he would’ve followed you here and given you a chance to explain. Don’t you dare defend him.”
Sam squeezed Ebony’s arm and led her to the door. “Calm down. It isn’t good for the bride to get this riled before the ceremony. Besides, Dylan Harmon is history. Let’s focus on more important matters, like getting you married.”
Thankfully, Ebony dropped the subject, leaving Sam to wonder how long it would take before she believed her own propaganda and relegated the memory of the one man she loved to past history.