Page 15 of Christmas Promises

“Are you okay?” Nolan asked. “For real?”

“I am. That’s the weird thing. The more time that goes by since it happened, the less sure I am that I even wanted to marry him. Isn’t that an awful thing to admit? The thing with Josh and me—our families knew each other—on paper we seemed like the perfect match. I think I got wrapped up in that idea. It all made sense, the two of us. He must have thought so too. Until he fell in love with my best friend.”

“How did you happen to see the text exchange?” He’d wanted to ask before but wasn’t sure if it would be all right to bring it up. However, his curiosity was too great. He wanted to know the details.

“The morning of the wedding, I was all dressed, ready to go. In my gown and everything—perfect makeup, perfect hair. At some point, I realized I’d taken his phone by mistake and picked it up to text him a message to my phone, hoping he would see it.”

Nolan drank his wine, listening.

“But I never had the chance to write it because I immediately saw a text had come in for him from Dahlia. You know how you can see the preview pop-up?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“I thought it was strange that she was texting him. They didn’t like each other. Or so I thought. So, I opened it. I knew his password—it was my birthday. I always thought that was so romantic…until I read the messages. I went kind of numb, and then that awful sinking feeling came over me. At first, I couldn’t even understand what I was seeing.” She paused, taking in a deep breath. “You know how your mind can’t quite catch up to reality?”

“I do,” Nolan said softly.

“The messages went back months and months. The more I read, the more I realized how serious it was between them. They weren’t just fooling around. It was love. They actually loved each other. Present tense. They still do.”

“That must have hurt so much,” Nolan said.

“It did.” She laughed, a bitter, dried-up kind of sound. “In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been surprised. When we were teenagers, if I liked a boy suddenly, she did too. I learned to keep my crushes to myself. It was impossible to keep Josh from her, though.”

“Who does that to their best friend?”

“Dahlia’s not exactly ruled by a moral compass. Her parents got divorced when we were teenagers, and she uses that as an excuse to act terrible. Still, she was my friend. Almost like a family member. The cousin nobody likes but has to tolerate.” Laney chuckled. “Or something like that.”

“Heck of a family member,” Nolan said, growing more disgusted by the minute.

“The jealous, manipulative sister no one wants.” She laughed before taking another sip of her wine.

“So, you’re in your little bride room, looking like an angel, I’m sure, and you’re reading these texts and then what?”

“My parents found me that way. Or my mom did. And she sent for my dad. He had to go down and tell all the guests the wedding was off. Josh came up to see me after that.”

“Good Lord. The guests were already there?”

“Oh, yes. Josh was literally waiting downstairs. The guests were seated. All the wedding party in place. My father was ready to walk me down the aisle in five minutes.” She shook her head, her voice tightening. “The moment Josh walked in, he knew I’d seen everything.”

“What did he have to say for himself?”

“He told me he couldn’t stand the thought of hurting me, so he just kept pretending. Which, in hindsight, is ridiculous—that hurt worse. And he hurt Dahlia too. She was supposed to stand there and watch him marry me? How cruel is that?”

“How long had it been going on?”

“Six months. Six entire months, most of which we were planning the wedding. Think about that.”

He shook his head, speechless.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been wondering—maybe I’m partly to blame,” Laney said.

Nolan frowned. “How could it be your fault? They’re the ones who cheated.”

“I know. But maybe I should have paid better attention. Been more suspicious and aware. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been thinking about how asleep I’ve been—just going through the motions, doing what everyone wanted me to do. All my life I’ve been that way. I could figure out what people wanted and needed and then become that for them. Now I have no one to figure out. No one to please but myself. And that’s terrifying.”

“What did your parents think about all this?”

“Well. My father was, you know, sympathetic and upset. He’s always been such a teddy bear. Mom was more mad than anything. She felt as betrayed as I did, I suppose. She liked Josh. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t now. My mother’s not the most cuddly woman in the world, but she loves me and always chooses my side, despite her prickliness.”

---