Page 42 of Keeping Kaitlyn

TWENTY-THREE

KAITLYN

Instead of going backto Went’s penthouse, Dakota and I head back to the suite he booked for me so we could get ready for the wedding.

Wedding.

This is happening.

It’s really happening.

I still don’t know when or even where.

All I know is that Went said today and that after we finished getting primped and pampered at the spa, he texted Dakota and told her to take me to the suite we shopped under to get ready and wait. Since my hair and make-up were done by a team of professionals, all I have to do is wait.

Sitting on the edge of a leather wingchair that probably cost more than a new car, I listen while Dakota calls room service and orders a bottle of champagne, along with a fruit and cheese plate to pass the time. Within fifteen minutes, the cork is popped and I’m nibbling on crostini smeared with goat cheese and blackberry jam while trying to quell the roiling jumble of nerves in my belly.

I’m getting married.

“So…” Dakota pours us both a glass of champagne, offering me one before she sits back in her seat. “What’s the plan after this?”

I blink at her like I don’t know what the word means. “Plan?”

“Yeah—plan,” Dakota repeats back while she drops a fresh strawberry into her champagne flute. “Will the two of you go back to California when this Lexi Chase bullshit is finally over or will you move to New York?” She says it like it’s a foregone conclusion that staying in Montana is out of the question.

“I don’t know…” Shaking my head, I take a bite of my crostini, trying to give myself time to think. Swallowing hard, I give her a faint smile. “We haven’t really talked about it. To be honest, this is all happening so fast, I don’t think either of us has given it much thought.”

“Fair enough...” Taking a sip from her glass, she gives me a nod while she lowers it. “But what do youwantto do?”

I find it fitting that the second person to ever ask me that is Went’s sister.

“I want to finish this semester and transfer to nursing school,” I tell her, feeling more sure of myself now that the subject of want isn’t focused on the confusing predicament I find myself in with her brother because despite what’s happening between Went and I, those wants haven’t changed.

“Nursing?” Dakota says, her tone tinged with both surprise and respect. “What sort of nurse?”

“I’d like to work with veterans.” Polishing off my crostini, I reach for my champagne glass. Taking a small, testing sip, I wish I had my notebook with me so I can adddrink champagneto my bucket list, just so I could cross it off. “My brother was in the military and I think maybe if I worked with men and women who served it might make me miss him less.”

“Damien told me what happened,” Dakota says with a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry.” Before we both get lost in the mood, her smile brightens. “He also told me about your younger sister, Abbey. How is she taking all this?”

How is Abbey taking all this?

Probably not well.

“I’m sure she’s mad at me for leaving on somegrand adventurewhile she’s stuck in Barrett.” I roll my eyes. “I’m not worried. One thing about Abs—if she wants something, she’ll find a way to get it.”

Dakota lifts her glass on a laugh. “I’ll drink to that.” Draining her glass, Dakota gives me a wicked grin. “Even though, apparently, what she wants is my brother.”

Again, for a second, all I can do is blink at her. I know Abbey has a crush on Damien. What I didn’t know was that he was aware of how she felt. Whenever I bring it up, Damien’s only response isshe’s barely eighteen, Kaityorshe’s a Barrett.Both of those statements mean the same thing.

As far as Damien is concerned, Abbey is off limits.

“I wasn’t aware that Damien knew how she felt,” I say, holding out my glass when Dakota offers me a refill. “Whenever I try to talk to him about it, he always shuts me down.”

She gives me another smile but this one is guarded. Harder to read. “It’s a hard thing, wanting what you can’t have.” Before I can ask her what she means by it, Dakota stands. “Come on—” cocking her head at the bedroom where we dumped all my bags and hung up our dresses. “let’s go get dressed and get you married.”

There’sa knock at the door just as Dakota is touching up her lipstick.

“Can you get that?” she asks while she leans into the mirror above the bathroom sink to smear another coat of lip color over her already perfectly painted mouth.

---