Page 40 of Lost Lyrics

“Me.” Charlotte bounded off the castle remains and clutched Cole’s hand.

Josh scrambled to his feet and took hold of Cole’s other hand. “Yeah.”

It still did my head in how much Cole loved being a father. I loved he was happy. That Charlotte, Ava, and Josh gave him purpose and the love he deserved.

I’d leave them to enjoy their swim.

“On that note, I’d better go up to the house.” I eased to my feet. “Sutt will be back from shopping soon, and we’re cooking dinner.”

“You got it bad.” Lewis shook his head, grabbed the bucket, and filled it with pebbly sand, no doubt to rebuild the castle.

“No, man...I’ve got it good.” I picked up my towel and shook off the tiny stones. I slapped Slip on the shoulder. “It’s good to be here. This place is awesome.”

“Yeah.” Slip nodded. “It certainly is.”

I waved farewell to the girls still ambling along the beach. I looked forward to a quiet night, hanging out with everyone, and hopefully playing a few tunes. But as I walked inside the ground floor of the house and strolled along the hallway to my bedroom, noises made me falter.Sobs? Cries?I opened the door to my room and found Sutton curled into a ball on the bed. Tears streamed down her face. Her bundle of wedding magazines and folders were scattered across the navy quilt.

Change of plan.

My stomach flooded with nausea and hit the floor. I hated seeing her upset.

“Sutt?” I tossed my towel onto the chair, rushed to her side, and squatted. “Babe? What’s wrong? What’s happened?” I smoothed my hand over her soft hair, wiped her tears away with my thumb.

“There’s been a fire. Romans. It...it burned down. There’s nothing left. Not a thing. No one was hurt. But...we’ve lost our wedding venue.”

Shit.That wasn’t a part of our plans.

Fuck.

Now what the hell were we going to do?

Chapter 11

FLINT

Romans has burned down?Fuck!I’d really liked that place. “Will it be rebuilt in time?”

“No.” A fresh waterfall of tears cascaded down Sutton’s face. Blotches of red covered her cheeks and shone on the end of her nose. She tossed her used tissue next to the other ones scrunched in a pile on the nightstand. “Quill called twenty minutes ago. Supposedly faulty wiring sparked during the renovations. The whole venue is destroyed. There’s nothing to rebuild. We had so much trouble securing a place a couple months ago. What are we going to do now?”

“Hey. It’s okay.” I leaned forward and kissed her forehead.Shit. We need a miracle.“We’ll find somewhere. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where we get married as long as we get married.”

“Yes...but no,” she sobbed. “That was the perfect place. In the perfect location. With the perfect view over the beach.”

Yeah. It was.“Hey?” I rubbed the back of her head. “Let me grab us a wine, and we’ll come up with another plan. You want red or white?”Stay calm. We’ll find somewhere. Fuck! But where?

“White.” She sniffed and sat upright. “How come you always know what I need?”

“Because I love you.” I pulled a fresh tissue out of the box on the nightstand and handed it to her. “So dry those tears. I’ll get us a drink.”

“Thank you.” She dabbed her eyes and wiped her cheeks.

I dashed upstairs, grabbed a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from the wine fridge, and poured two big glasses. My head throbbed.Wedding venue? Think.I’d held enough big parties in my time. Surely, I could come up with ideas for our wedding.

So much for having a break from nuptial discussions.

But I’d promised the guys I’d suck it up and be involved. Time to grow a set and help.

I returned to our bedroom, closed the door behind me, I took a seat next to her, and handed her a wine. “Okay, so Romans is out. Did Quill offer any new alternatives?”

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