Broken Dreams (Broken Series) (18 page)

“Your first appointment is tonight at seven,” Mallory filled me in once we were all checked
in and sitting around the hotel room. “You’ve got a massage scheduled.”

I squealed in delight and hugged her. “You guys are the best friends a girl could ask for.”

“Well, if you’re going to get married, you should do it right
.
” Gabby smiled wistfully.

“Oh, Gabs, I’m so sorry about you and Wolfe. I know this must be hard on you.”

“No,
it
’
s
okay,” she assured me. “I’m just a little nostalgic. My and Wolfe’s wedding was hardly more than a two
-
minute thing at the courthouse. Maybe that should have been clue number one for me,” she laughed.

“The size of the wedding doesn’t matter, you know,” Mallory said suddenly, sitting up straight in her spot on the couch. “It’s all about love. Big or small, a wedding is about dedication to one another, for as long as you live.”

I agreed with Mallory whole-heartedly, but I knew Gabby would disagree. She and Wolfe ha
d
been through some tough times over the years, and her impending divorce must be driving her crazy. Having Mallory spout off about the sanctity of marriage was probably the last thing she wanted to hear.

“Sometimes things fall apart. Dreams die,” Gabby whispered.

Mallory moved closer to her and took her hand. “Then you’ve got to find the glue to put them back together, or discover a new dream together. Dreams come and go, but love is forever.”

I wiped the tears away from my eyes at her words, knowing in my heart that her words were just applicable to my life as Gabby’s. I needed to let go of my broken dreams and just love Baker as long as I was able.

Mallory’s speech enlightened my situation and I realized I had less than an hour before my appointment. I told the girls to order room service and then I went about finding some paper and a pen, ready to write my vows to Baker.

Chapter Twenty

Baker

The bachelor party was actually very mild, considering I spent the last four days in Vegas. There were no brawls or fights, but there were definitely shots. A bottle of Jagermeister was passed around between the three of us and we enjoyed Jagerbombs throughout the night. When darkness fell, we took
to
the streets of the Old Port, bar hopping all night to celebrate my upcoming nuptials. We stopped in at a sports pub that was far less crowded
than other bars and took a table.

We ordered some appetizers and beer. Luke was surprisingly quiet. “What’s up with you?” I asked him, snagging a tortilla chip and scooping some salsa onto it.

“Well, I was going to propose to Mallory this week,” he admitted.

I choked on the chip and Wolfe had to pound me on the back before I could breathe again. “What do you mean you were going to propose? You never told me that!”

“I know. Joe left me a family ring, though
,
and even gave me his blessing, in the form of a letter. I’ve been holding onto it, carrying it everywhere with me, but the timing hasn’t been right. But I finally decided to do it this week, on Friday night, and then you guys had to plan your wedding this week
.
”
H
e sounded defeated.

“So do it anyway,” Wolfe suggested.

“I couldn’t do that. Rainey would have a fit,” Luke argued.

“Actually, I think it would be perfect. If you do it at our reception, all your closest friends will be there. Rainey would love it,” I promised, only a tic nervous that she wouldn’t like the idea.
B
ut I felt like I knew her well enough to say she would enjoy it.

“If you’re sure,” Luke hedged.

“Absolutely
.
”

“Do it!” Wolfe raised his beer and we clinked the bottles together.

Hours later, we were too drunk to stay out any longer. We took a cab to our hotel in downtown Portland and
rode up to the fourth floor. We were in our room for less than ten seconds before we all passed out.

The next morning
, I woke up on the floor with an extreme headache, but I made it to the bathroom before I blew chunks. I splashed water on my face afterward, taking note of the way my stomach felt and tucking the information away for future reference. I’d never been so drunk in my whole life. No one should ever consume that much liquor.

I wiped my face with a hand towel and went out into the room, collapsing into a chair by the window. Luke was face-down on one of the beds and Wolfe occupied the other. They were both still fully clothed and I stifled a laugh until I realized I was wearing my clothes from last night, too. I swiped my phone off the table and decided to text my fiancé
e
.

Good morning, Beautiful.

Hey babe. The girls are treating me to a spa day. How was your night?

I looked around the room, noting the beer bottles and half-full cups of Jager.

Fantastic.

I bet. Are you going to pick up a tux today?

Yeah, I’ll text you when we get back into town. I love you.

I love you, too. See you later.

I smiled. It was like once she let her guard down, she was this whole other person, one not afraid to be close to someone
else and let them in. It was a good change of pace.

I wondered what would have happened if I had gone after her to LA all
those years ago, when she left after high school. As much as I wanted to say we would end up right where we were today, I knew I couldn’t be sure. Rainey had been different then: self-conscious, shy, and about to face the biggest challenge of her life, her leukemia. Everything I loved about her was due to the fact that she had changed over the years; she’d grown up. Who could say that we would have stayed together if we had gotten together back then?

For now, though, I was grateful for every second I had with her. And I couldn’t wait to see her tonight.
It hadn’t even been a full day and I missed her like crazy. I was, in every sense, addicted to Rainey. She had so quickly become my whole reason for being. I lived to make her happy.

I stepped out into the hallway to make a call before Luke and Wolfe got up. I wanted to surprise Rainey with something that was sure to make her even happier.

***

When the guys finally woke up, we dragged ourselves out of the hotel and got some breakfast. The diner was a favorite of mine, and I ordered an extra-large cup of coffee.

Luke requested water and toast, his signature hangover meal, and I was amazed by Wolfe’s appetite. He ordered eggs, bacon, pancakes, fried potatoes
,
and a tall glass of milk. Luke almost gagged when the waitress brought us our food.

“How can you eat that much?” I asked Wolfe, who dug in to his meal with fervor.

“What do you mean? This isn’t a lot
.
”
H
e frowned.

My eyes went wide. I could put away some food, but even on a sober day I couldn’t eat a meal that hearty. And he was claiming it wasn’t a lot?

“I’m a growing boy,” he mumbled
with a pat on his stomach and then washed down a forkful of pancake with milk.

Luke, I noticed, kept his head down and munched on his toast silently. Either he didn’t want to hurt Wolfe’s feelings or he didn’t want to be nauseated by the sheer volume of food Wolfe ate. Once we had all finished, we left a hefty tip for our server and went out to the truck.

“I’ve got to get a tux,” I explained to them.

“Sure. There’s a shop downtown that should be able to get you one on short notice,”
Luke said as he climbed in the driver’s seat.

I pulled open the door behind his and jumped in. “Sounds good.”

Wolfe grunted his approval from the passenger seat and we were off.

I found a sleek black tux that wouldn’t need any alterations. The vest was a faded pink color, which was similar to one of the colors Rainey mentioned she wanted to be our
wedding colors
. If it didn’t match the way she wanted, I would just not wear it, I decided. It was in really good shape and the shop didn’t want much money for it
, so it wouldn’t be a huge loss if I had to ditch
the vest
for the day
.

Luke and Wolfe found cheap tuxes that were the same deep black as mine and rented theirs. I could have rented mine, too, but I really wanted to keep the tux as a reminder of my marriage to Rainey. The shop owner suggested they each wear a plain black vest, so they didn’t have any conflicting color schemes. He also threw in a white vest and tie for me, just in case the salmon-colored vest didn’t work out.

We thanked him and then drove out of Portland to the small town of Casper that I had called home for my entire life. The scenic drive was filled with lots of green from the pine trees and shrubbery. As we came down the hill into downtown Casper, I had to smile at the freshly planted flowers that lined Main Street. It made the town look all the more picturesque and perfect.

My life until that point had been filled with little appreciation for the people and places around me, but as we passed the dozen or so shops, I gave up a silent thanks for everything this town had taught me over the years. Small
-
town life wasn’t for everyone, and I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to stay here, but I knew that wherever Rainey wanted to spend her last days, that’s where we would be. She had the final say, since she was the one who would eventually be on a deathbed.

When we pulled into the driveway of the house Luke and Mallory
shared
, the girls were nowhere to be found. I knew they wouldn’t be back for a while yet, either. Behind us and right on time, a delivery truck pulled into the drive.

“What’s this?” Luke asked, staring at the vehicle with apprehension.

“I ordered something special for Rainey,” I explained. I went over to the truck and
told
the driver what I wanted done in the backyard. He and another guy started unloading dozens of flowers from the truck. “I’ve got to run over to the hardware store and get a few things. Can you guys supervise the delivery?”

Luke looked at me. “Of course. Where are all these flowers going?”

“Just have them set up around the outer edges of the space. The guys delivering the chairs should be along shortly. We want six chairs on either side of a wide aisle. All the chairs should face the back edge of the yard and leave a space big enough in front of the chairs to accommodate a ten
-
by
-
ten alter,” I directed them.

“Got it,” Wolfe called as he followed one of the delivery guys around to the back of the house.

“Anything else?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, actually. I’m going to need some help to build an arch. It’s another surprise for Rainey. You up for the job?”

“You know it
.
”
H
e pounded my outstretched fist and we parted ways.

I jumped in his truck and kicked it in gear, turning out of the driveway and heading toward the hardware store. Rainey wanted a perfect wedding and I was going to make damn sure she got it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Rainey

On the drive back to town, after I’d been thoroughly pampered and beautified,
we dropped Ember off at home. She still had several days of school left, and I didn’t want her to miss any more days. She would come over Friday night to be at the wedding Saturday.

Mallory’s cell rang
when we were just a few miles out of Casper.

“Hello?” she answered, balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder as she drove. She glanced warily at me. “Umm, yeah, I can do that. No, it’s no problem. I’ll see you tonight. Bye
.
”
S
he pressed end and dropped her phone in the cup holder.

“What was that about?” Gabby asked from the backseat.

“Change of plans. We are staying at Wolfe’s house now and the guys are staying at my place.”

“Why?” I asked, mildly curious.

“I’m not sure. Something about they wanted to make sure things are set up pr
operly or something. Domineering men
.
”
S
he rolled her eyes.