Page 136 of Summer with the Single Dad

“No,” Bennett said. “Tad talked to her yesterday and I’m worried he fucked with her head.”

Clint sipped his coffee. “I am very glad I’m on kid-duty and don’t have to deal with those fuckers. Dom was fit to be tied last night.”

“I know.”

“Text her.”

He pulled out his phone and nodded as he headed back to his own house, and shot off a quick message to Justine.

I hate how we left things last night. Let’s talk, please. I wish you’d told me you ran into Tad. I’m so sorry if he said things to upset you. I really do want to talk.

He didn’t expect an answer. She was probably in downward dog, or tree pose, or something. But hopefully, she checked her messages between yoga and the spa. He wanted to know that she was okay.

That they were okay.

She still had a few weeks left on the island. That was plenty of time for them to figure things out. For them to make a plan and for her to discover a new passion. Even if that passion wasn’t medicine.

But his bigger fear was if she realized it also wasn’t him.

As he figured, the day blew by.

Dom, Wyatt, Jagger, and Bennett were run off their feet getting everything ready for the wedding. Guests began to arrive around two, which meant the first round of appetizers needed to start circulating.

Jagger and Bennett were dressed up in black slacks and black button-ups. They looked like waitstaff, but whatever. Neither of them had very many dressy clothes. So they wore what was clean and formal-ish.

Unfortunately, the sun also decided to try to roast the earth—or at least just the Pacific Northwest that day—so Bennett was sweating through his fucking shirt by one.

“I need to change,” he murmured to Jagger who had sweat droplets on his mustache.

“Me too. But we can’t leave. The ceremony is about to start soon.”

They took turns standing in front of a fan in the back of the kitchen as Wyatt and his staff zoomed around getting more appetizers on trays for the waitstaff to take out.

A server poked her head into the kitchen. “Bennett, the groom has asked to speak with you.”

“Thanks, Gabby.” He stood for one more second in front of the fan before leaving it to Jagger and following Gabby out to the front of the bar where a cummerbund-wearing Tad stood waiting for him beside the bar. The man was in all off-white, and his tuxedo jacket even had tails. He looked stupid. He looked pompous. He looked like a right idiot and it took a lot of effort on Bennett’s part to not smirk when he greeted the man. “How can I help you, Mr. DuPonte?”

“It’s Dr. DuPonte,” Tad corrected, sipping from the lowball tumbler of some amber liquid he held in his probably million-dollar hand. “And, I’m just wondering what we can do about the heat.”

“About the heat?”

“Yes, it’s sweltering. Do you not have air-conditioning?”

Bennett gnashed his molars together until he thought they might chip. “We do. But the bride wanted all the sliding doors to be opened so that the patio and restaurant became one big, open-concept room. If we close the doors, we can turn on the air-conditioning. But to put on the air-conditioning with the doors open is kind of redundant.”

“Well, do you not have fans or something then?” Beads of sweat danced along Tad’s hairline and his cheeks were a rosy pink.

“We don’t typically need them because we have air-conditioning.”

Tad’s nostrils flared. “So we just have to cook, then?”

“After the ceremony, we can ask the bride what she would like. But for now, I’d rather we go with her wishes and keep everything open. There is a very nice breeze outside coming off the water. And the ceremony will be down on the beach, where it will be cooler.”

Tad merely grunted, sipped his drink, and then drained it. He snagged Dom’s attention behind the bar and ordered another one, walking away from Bennett without even giving him a second glance.

Think of the money. You’re doing this for the money. Their deposit paid for the restoration. Think of the money.

Once Dom refilled the groom’s drink, Bennett sidled up and his brother plunked an icy club soda with a lime in front of him. “May they live a long and miserable life together,” Dom said.

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