Page 47 of The Wedding Crush

“If you need advice or want to vent, say as little or as much as you’re comfortable sharing,” he urges me.

We both know that means hold nothing back.

But since I suspect that sharing nothing will only lead to Dylan pushing harder, I bend.

Reclining in my desk chair, I clasp my hands behind my head.

“Carina looks happier than I’ve seen her in years. And after everything we’ve been through, losing Dad and Nono, then two babies… She deserves every ounce of joy.”

“Yeah, man.” Dylan pauses briefly, and I sense the other shoe about to drop. “And you, how are you doing?”

A calendar alert darts out from the edge of my computer screen, reminding me of my 1:30 appointment with Dante, Morgan, and Avery. Immediately, my mind drifts back to the vineyard. Back to Ace and his mom, who, by her bare ring finger, might understand divorce firsthand.

“Me? I’m uh…”

I blow out a long breath, staring at my calendar.

The entire time chatting with Ace, I got this eerie, déjà vu feeling. Like I knew him despite never having met. Then, I turned the corner off the path, spotting Morgan and Avery, and it clicked.

The same bright, sparkly brown eyes and golden-brown skin. The tiny round nose. The endless questions cued and ready to fire.

As much as I was struck by their resemblance, though, I was blindsided by how little I know about Avery Ellis.

How could this woman look at the world with rose-colored glasses when Ace himself claimed he didn’t have a dad? Which means, not only has she surrounded herself with reasons to celebrate life, but she’s also doing it with the weight of shaping a tiny human being squarely on her shoulders.

How could I complain when I only have to take care of me?

Even still, she could stand there, having overheard me talking with her son, and look at me with kind eyes? She could thank me for selfishly shooting the fan about cars with a kid because I never got the chance with my son?

I was wholly unnerved.

She was lowering her guards for me, absolving me of a guilt I rightly deserved to feel, and I was greedily softening to her.

“I’m not going to lie: divorce is for the birds.” I laugh. “But all in all, I’m finding silver linings here and there.”

“Oh yeah?”

Briefly, I wonder if Avery listened to all the podcasts that she recommended to find her silver linings. Did she need the reminders to forgive and physically take care of herself? Is that how her friends became family? How she reclaimed her own identity? Dove into event planning?

I shove the questions aside, circling back.

“Believe it or not, I’m actually calling to see if you and the family have any plans to visit your dad this September?”

Dylan huffs a little laugh. “That’s really specific. Is there a reason that we should?”

By the time I bring him up to speed on Dante’s shotgun wedding to a woman they didn’t know existed before now, they’ve booked flights, a stay at one of our lodging partner’s small B&Bs, opted in for all the yet-to-be-determined wedding festivities, and volunteered his four-year-old daughter, Danielle, as the flower girl.

Because my guy is hell-bent on circling back to my “well-being,” he waits until Paula leaves the room before he whispers, “All right, she’s gone. Now, hurry up and spill because that long-ass pause when I asked how you were doing spoke volumes.”

I bark out a laugh.

“How long have we known each other?” Dylan asks. “You hesitated, and as far as I’m concerned, the way you were in college… Shoot, you might be back to your player ways.”

“I’m glad you have so much confidence in me.” I chuckle. “But I’ve just been listening to some great self-help podcasts and wrapping my mind around moving on when my divorce was finalized last month, you know? There’s not really anyone.”

Just because a woman who’s previously made it known that she loathes me is suddenly nice, it doesn’t mean there’s more to it.

Dylan huffs an amused laugh.

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