Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“And tada. The vacation was a smash hit. After that, they basically forced me to be the vacation planner. And that evolved into planning birthdays, anniversaries, and so on. When mom and dad wanted to get remarried in their fifties, I was twenty-two, and they asked me to plan it. At that point, I was working as a wedding photographer. I’d already been taking notes upon notes about what made weddings perfect, and I knew exactly how I wanted to make their day amazing.”
I sucked on my drink, eyes lingering on the straw as I jabbed at the ice in my cup. “I think some part of me used to believe you could set the stage for a happily ever after if you just got the details right. The perfect wedding was like the perfect foundation. Part of me believed I was helping bring more love into the world, and that… I guess it mattered to me. It made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile."
His expression softened. "Emma—"
"What about your family?" I cut in. "You mentioned a brother and a sister..."
James hesitated. He looked like he wanted to say more—maybe even to make an excuse or apologize for the role he might have played in the way my views had changed. But he finally sighed, then nodded with a tight jaw. “Just a brother. I made the sister up for that story. But, yeah, I used to be close with my family. My dad is a structural engineer who works on bridges and things like that. As a kid, we used to take trips sometimes to drive across bridges he worked on when they were finished. Mom would joke that we were putting our lives in his hands, and he’d tell us how mathematically impossible it was for the bridge to fail.”
James’ expression went distant as he stared at his plate, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. “He had this thing he used to say. ‘That’s the thing about bridges, Son. You build them from materials with known stress ratings and known tension strengths. It’s just a numbers game. If you do your job, get the numbers right, and take your time, they’ll never surprise you. People are the ones who surprise you, which is why I avoid them whenever I can.’ When things with Katie went south, I found myself thinking about that a lot. How much simpler life is if you stick to predictable things. Known quantities…”
“But not all surprises are bad. Sometimes, people surprise you in good ways.”
James lifted his eyes to meet mine. He nodded in a way that made warm things flutter all around in my chest.
“So, um,” I said, feeling suddenly uncomfortable, as if we had accidentally stumbled into another full-fledged date night. “You said you used to be close to your family. You’re not now?”
The glow of warmth from James vanished in an instant, replaced by pure ice. “My brother, Chase… He was the younger brother, and the golden child. He never lived up to their expectations, and they took my success almost as an insult, like I was rubbing in how wrong they were to think the world of him. And when my wedding imploded, I think they almost enjoyed it on some level. Everything had gone so well for me before that, and then Katie didn’t just cheat on me, she cheated with my brother. A few months later, Chase got engaged to her.”
I choked on my sip of lemonade, leaning forward. “What?”
“Yeah,” James said with a twist of his lips. “Needless to say, I wasn’t too pleased. I had no feelings for Katie at that point. None at all. But I thought I was patching things up with him, and then he dropped that nugget. We had some heated discussions, and my parents ended up taking sides. They thought I should be happy for him and move on. They thought family was family, and I shouldn’t hold a grudge. Anyway, they were married two months before they got divorced. In a shocking turn of events, Katie was cheating on him.”
I put my palm over my mouth. “God. What’s wrong with that woman?”
“A lot,” he said. “Last I heard, my brother is still sleeping with her, but she’s married to someone else now.” He took a long drink of his soda. “Makes it hard to believe in happy endings.”
"Do you ever..." I hesitated, heart pounding. "Do you ever think maybe some relationships are worth fighting for? Even with obstacles?" I thought about how impossible it would be for a “wedding wrecker” to ever stay in a successful relationship with a wedding planner. But every time I was with him, even back in Ireland, I felt… good. When he was around, it was almost like he carried some part of me I didn’t know I was missing—like I was only really complete when I was with him, and every time he was away, he took that piece of me with him.