Broken (42 page)

She sat down in the chair and laughed. “Well, you’ll never believe this, but he was out running on the road, and we ran right up on each other. He scared the piss out of me. I saw his light, but at first, I thought it was a car with only one headlight.”

My mouth dropped open, and I just stared at her. “You’re kidding me, right?”

She looked at me like I was the one who was crazy. “No, I really did run into him. He stood there for five minutes and lectured me. He said I had no business being out so early and in the dark even though it was the country. Then, I had to hear about how I should be wearing some sort of reflectors—because you know how much traffic comes down that road.” She rolled her eyes. “We’re out in the middle of Bumfuck, Egypt, for Christ’s sake.”

I let out a giggle. “I think it’s kind of cute. He’s worried about you, Court. You know, Courtney, we really should talk about the other night.”

“Ugh, my God, Whit. Will you please just drop it? I was drunk and wasn’t thinking clearly.”

I let out a sigh and turned back to the sky getting lighter by the second.

Stubborn girl.

“You know Reed loves you.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw her head snap over and look at me.

Oh God. I’m so going to hell for this.

“Did he tell you that?”

I slowly turned and looked at her. “Do you really want to know? I mean, you say you’re in love with Mitch and all, so what should it matter how Reed feels?”

“Damn it, Whitley! Did he tell you that? Did he tell you he’s in love with me?”

I let a small smile play across my face.

“Whitley, please just—”

Just then, the back door opened, and Anna came walking out.

Fuck me.

“Hey, girls. What are you both doing up so early? Whitley, you should be getting your beauty sleep.”

I tried smiling up at Anna, but over the last six months, I had really grown to dislike her—a lot. She was always trying to keep Reed and Courtney apart. I didn’t trust her, and I knew she was pushing Reed into moving faster than he was ready to.

“I wanted to watch the sunrise on my wedding day. Courtney here was out freaking jogging.”

Anna glanced over toward Courtney, who was looking out at the sunrise. I knew she was pissed that Anna had interrupted our conversation, especially since I was just about to tell her that Reed had told Layton he still loved her.

“What were y’all talking about? The wedding?”

I just looked at her.

Rude-ass bitch.

I just smiled and nodded.

She smiled back and then let out a giggle. “Oh my God, I have to tell someone before I burst!”

I looked over and saw Courtney roll her eyes. I let out a small laugh as I watched Anna jump around like an idiot.

“Well…what is it?” I asked.

“Reed asked me to move in with him, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to pop the big question soon!”

I sat up and both Courtney and I said, “What?” at the same time.

“He asked you to move in with him, Anna? Are you sure?”

Anna’s smile faded as she gave me a dirty look. “Of course, I’m sure, Whitley. I don’t think I would misread something like that.”

She looked over at Courtney, and the smile that spread across her face told me she was only saying this because she must have overheard us talking just now.

She’s totally lying.

Courtney got up and excused herself. “I need to go take a shower and start getting things ready. Duty calls for the maid of honor and all. I’ll talk to you later, Whit.”

Shit! Shit! Shit!

There was no way Courtney and I were going to have a chance to talk alone again. I looked back up at Anna, who was smiling as she watched Courtney walk back into the house.

“It was so nice of Mimi and Frank to let us all stay here. When are we going back to Layton’s house?”

Anna wasn’t even in my wedding party, so I had no idea why she’d stayed with us last night.

“I’m not sure.” I got up and turned to walk inside.

“Whitley, are you okay? You seem…upset,” she said with a fake-ass smile.

“Do you believe in Karma, Anna?” I asked.

She just stared at me as the smile disappeared from her face.

“He loves her, and you and I both know it. If they’re meant to be together, there is nothing you can do. No amount of lying on your part is going to keep them away from that love. You and I both know that Reed did not ask you to move in nor did he ask you to marry him. I hope to God Karma comes back and bites you in the ass.”

I turned and walked away from her. I had a wedding in a few hours, and the last thing I needed was this bitch’s drama, but I made a mental note to let Reed know about Anna’s little bit of
good news
that she’d shared with us.

“Holy hell, Whitley. Girl, can you plan a wedding or what?” Courtney said as we walked around the reception area.

Two large white tents were set up in the backyard of Layton’s house. I walked along the tables to make sure everything was just as I wanted. Each round table had a silver satin tablecloth on it with a centerpiece of white roses and silver candles. Every few feet, there were silver candlestick holders holding small bouquets of white roses and carnations.

They look perfect.

The plastic plates were all clear with a silver beaded accent around the rim. The fake silverware looked so real. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought it was all real and not plastic. I smiled as I looked up and saw all the clear bulbs hanging down from the top of the tent.

The food table was reclaimed wood doors being held up by old wine barrels. Huge glass vases with greenery were on each one
.

It’s perfect—beyond what I pictured it would look like.

I smiled as I looked around. “Once all these candles get lit, the light will reflect off of the clear bulbs and light it up even more in here.” I glanced over toward the dance floor.

Between the two tents was a large dance floor. Small round tables were set up all around outside the tents and were also draped in the same silver satin cloth. Each one held a small votive candle placed in a small mason jar. Some of the trees had white and silver chandeliers hanging down from them. I couldn’t wait to see what they looked like when all the lights hit them.

I walked up to the cake table. The cakes had already been delivered, but they were in the house. Layton had picked out a Texas A&M cake, of course. The bride’s cake was a four-tier cake that a sweet girl in Llano had made. She was trying to start her business, and our wedding was her first wedding. The bottom tier was square followed by a round tier, then another square tier, and a round tier to finish it off. Layton and I had decided to go with a silver letter M for the top of the cake. The small silver accents on the cake added just the right amount of elegance, but it wasn’t over the top.

“How did the gazebo look, Whitley?” Jen asked as she walked up to me.

Jen had been helping me with my event-planning business since Courtney had been swamped with books to edit. I loved working with Jen, and I was shocked at how much we both envisioned the same thing.

I smiled as I winked at her. “It was perfect. I loved the silver carpet, and the candles lined up along each row of chairs were genius. Thank you for using LEDs. The last thing I want is for someone to knock a candle over!”

Jen smiled at me and nodded. “I’ll have them lit ahead of time, so as the sun starts to set, they will light the area.”

“I can’t believe this is really happening!” I said as I looked at Courtney.

“Well, believe it, baby girl. I just happened to see your very nervous husband-to-be earlier, looking out the back window at you walking around out here,” Courtney said with a laugh.

I spun around and searched every window.

“I already called Reed’s cell phone and told him to stop fucking up his best-man duties by letting Layton get a peek of you.”

I looked back at Courtney and laughed.

“Okay, Whitley, you need to go in and get ready,” Jen said as she looked at her watch.

My heart started pounding as I made my way back to the house. Layton was upstairs in Mike’s room with Reed, Mitch, Kevin, and a few other friends.

As I walked through the kitchen, Kevin came running down. He opened up the freezer and grabbed ice. He took one look at me and smiled. My hair was already pulled up and curled to tame my natural curls.

“Holy shit, Whitley. You look beautiful.” He looked me up and down.

I looked at what I was wearing—sweatpants from Victoria’s Secret and one of Layton’s A&M shirts.

“Do I even want to know why you’re getting ice?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Hmm…probably not. But I promise, there’s not a lot of blood.”

My heart dropped.

“What in the fuck are y’all doing up there?” Courtney asked as she started to follow Kevin upstairs.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Honey, go in the bedroom. I’ll be right there. Don’t worry! It’s all going to be okay. Go on.”

I stood there with my mouth hanging open as I watched Kevin running up the stairs two at a time with Courtney following him.

“I’m going to kill him if he hurt himself,” I said as Jen took me by the arm and led me to the master bedroom.

I heard a loud thump, and I just closed my eyes for a quick second and kept on walking.

Yep…his ass is grass if he hurts himself on our wedding day.

Kevin came bursting into the bedroom, and I let out a moan when I saw Courtney following behind him.

Shit!

She took one look around and slowly moved her hand up to her mouth.

“What. In. The. Fuck? What were y’all doing?” She looked around the room, and when her eyes caught sight of Reed, she let out a small gasp and went running over to him.

“Son of a bitch, Reed, hold up your head, so the blood doesn’t get on the tux,” Richard said as he tried to stop Reed’s nose from bleeding.

“Oh my God, Reed!” Courtney pushed Richard out of the way. “What happened? Oh God…did you break your nose? Oh my God, you poor thing!”

Reed looked over at me.

“No, his nose isn’t broken,” I said in a pissed-off voice.

Courtney spun around and looked at me. “Layton! Why would you punch him? My God, it’s your wedding day. What’s gotten into you?”

“Um, Court, he didn’t punch me,” Reed said.

“Well, who in the hell did?” Courtney turned back to Reed.

“I did,” Mitch said from across the room.

He was sitting in a chair with Scott, one of our friends from high school, still holding him down.

“What?” Courtney yelled. “My God, why would you hit him? And are you okay, baby?” She walked over to Mitch and looked at Scott. “Why are you holding him down, Scott? What’s going on?”

Mitch stood and pushed Scott away. “Why don’t you ask Reed? I’m sorry I punched you in the eye, Layton. I’m so tired of this fucking shit.”

I gave him a weak smile as I watched him turn and walk away. Kevin had already given me the ice to put over my eye.

Whitley is going to kill me if I have a black eye in our wedding pictures.

Courtney stood there, stunned. She slowly turned and looked between Reed and me. “Is someone going to tell me what in the hell happened in here?”

“I think it’s stopped bleeding, Reed,” Richard said.

“Layton? Reed?” Courtney put her hands on her hips.

I glanced over toward Reed. “There was a disagreement of sorts. Reed and Mitch got pissed at each other, and Mitch started punching Reed. I jumped in to break it up, and Mitch accidently hit me.”

Courtney’s mouth dropped. “What were you fighting over?”

“Nothing. It was stupid, and it was my fault. I’ll apologize to Mitch before the wedding,” Reed said.

I quickly turned my head to look at Reed.

Why in the hell is he lying?

Courtney started shaking her head. “Are you ever going to grow the fuck up, Reed?
Oh my God.
If Layton gets a black eye, do you know how upset Whitley is going to be? It’s his wedding day, Reed!”

“I know, Courtney. I know.” Reed let out a long sigh.

“See…this is exactly why…” Courtney stopped talking.

Reed snapped his head up and looked at her. “This is exactly why…what?” he asked.