Page 24 of June Bride
That was the last thing Sunny wanted ponder as she stewed in how badly she messed up the night before.Brandy must be so embarrassed. She won’t talk to me.To think, Brandelyn had come all that way to personally apologize and make a few of Sunny’s dreams come true. That was how she was repaid? With rumors aboutherO face spread around town?”It’s all my fault. Jesus. What kind of monster am I?
A veritable monster.
Sunny was on the verge of tears as she faced reality. Brandy was out there somewhere, right now, shrugging off the hell her fiancée had shoved into her face.She had come to apologize to me. Her! Apologizing! To me!While it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibilities, Brandelyn was a proud woman who didn’t like to admit she was wrong. Everyone had their faults, of course. So happened Sunny was willing to overlook that personal fault because the good things about Brandy made up for that.She overcame that flaw for two seconds to actually apologize, and that’s how I respond?
In the drunken heat of the moment, Sunny had lashed out the only way she knew how. Sober sunny, however, looked in the mirror and decided she didn’t like what she saw. Or what she saw beyond her own reflection.
Brandy wasn’t simply somewhere stewing in her embarrassment. She was hurt. The thought thatSunnywas the one to hurt her only made it worse. It wasn’t supposed to be like her. Her! Sunny Croker! The woman everyone said was as bright as her name and the friendliest gal around town. (When she bothered to go into town, anyway.) When Brandelyn and Sunny announced their engagement, it was to sage comments about how compatible they were. Two sides of the same coin. Opposites attracting, instead of reacting. Sunny would help mellow Brandelyn out, and Brandy would bring Sunny out of her shell. Instead, the stress of the wedding had completely thrown them out of whack. Brandy was sounmellow that the whole town felt those powerful reverberations, and Sunny had become more of a shadow than a ray of light.
Brandy was right. This wedding would simply be one forgettable day in most people’s lives. The marriage itself was more important than awedding.The wedding was simply a means to an end! Who cared if they got married in the woods or in a church? On the beach or in city hall? All that mattered was making the commitment to build a home together and bringing out the best in each other.
The offered olive branch was inadvertently snapped in half, and Sunny had no one but herself to blame. It was up to her to somehow make it right. Immediately. Because the wedding was in a few days, and she would bedamnedif she was the reason it went up in flames.
“Hand me my phone,” she said, renewed purpose crowning her voice. “I’ve got a call to make.”
Anita stared down the look in Sunny’s eyes. Only when she received confirmation that Sunny wasn’t going to call Brandy – and make things worse, of course – did she slide the phone over and fold her hands upon the table.
There was one emergency contact in Sunny’s phone that she was about to call for the first time ever. A contact that had been placed there in case something unfortunate ever happened to Brandelyn Meyer… and her mother had to know.
Chapter 15
BRANDELYN
“Would you turn that frown upside down?” Cathy scoffed in her daughter’s direction. “It’s your bachelorette party. You’re notallowedto frown.”
Brandy supposed one could call this a bachelorette party, although it looked nothing like Sunny’s drunken revelry at the local watering hole. There were no uninvited guests joining in and throwing breast-shaped erasers at the stage. No tacky, colorful drinks with naked lady straws. No hooting, no hollering, and definitely nodrunks.
Just how Brandy supposedly liked it.
Her mother and sister surprised her with a trip to the coast, where they had the balcony of an upscale lunch spot to themselves. Freshly caught seafood sizzled on grills, spritzed with lemons and garnished with fresh herbs. Home fries cooked to perfection accompanied seasonal fruits. Every glass was filled with a respectable cocktail, although Cathy was already on her second mimosa. So was Brandelyn, though. The more she thought about her wedding, the more likely she was to indulge in a little champagne.
She hadn’t spoken to Sunny in three days. Well, nothing more than a few short, snippy sentences. The wedding was still on, supposedly, but the rift between them only continued to grow. Brandelyn had been scandalized by the gossip around town. While nobody said it was abouther,specifically, she knew the truth. The “wet fish” on everyone’s lips was Brandelyn Meyer, the woman who was scheduled to have the wedding of the year in Paradise Valley. Oh, but one shouldn’t expect too much from the wedding night. Poor Sunny! She would be doing all of the work! Good thing Brandelyn was nice to look at, huh? Because that’s all Sunny got.
Her mother assured her it would pass. Honestly, Cathy was much more lackadaisical about the affair than Brandy anticipated.I was so embarrassed to tell her why I was upset with Sunny.Cathy had raised a minor stink when her daughter came home Saturday night on the verge of tears. Hadn’t she gone out there to apologize to Sunny? Why was she crying like she had been stood up at prom? Gosh, did she have to makeeverythingabout her?
Not until Brandelyn gathered the courage to confess did her mother finally understand. To a point.“All right, Bran, it’s been two days. Go talk to her, already. I plan on attending a real wedding next weekend. Make it happen!”Yet Brandelyn didn’t have the heart to return Sunny’s calls, much like Sunny hadn’t returned her calls when the situation went the other way around.Now I know how it feels. Guess we can all go home now.
She had been looking forward to her bachelorette party surprise ever since her family arrived from New York. Her mother claimed to have looked online for “the best spot for what I have in mind,” which naturally translated to“I really want to go to the coast, so we’re going to the coast.”Brandelyn loved the idea, though. Just her, family, and a few close friends who could make it? It should’ve been paradise. The day was clear and warm. The ocean was calm at that time of day. The few people on the beach behind them kept to themselves, with only a few dog barks to take them out of the moment.
Yet Brandelyn could hardly look some of her friends in the eye. Mayor Karen Rath did everything in her power to avoid talking about what happened at Sunny’s bachelorette party. Oh, no, she hadn’t been there, of course, but she heard all about it Monday morning when she came into her office at city hall. When she saw Brandelyn that day, she offered a demure smile and said, “I’m sure everything will blow over soon.”
The party was more akin to a wedding shower than a bachelorette party, but with the focus on Brandelyn, she could pretend that Sunny had no part in it. Even when she unwrapped the new place settings she had been asking for ever since she last perused a Macy’s. The bright yellow and green Fiestaware sets would look adorable in Sunny’s cottage, a place Brandelyn had been considering spending more time during the beautiful summer months.That’s how it should be. I’ll stay there during the summer, she’ll stay with me during the winter… we were going to figure it out, eventually.Sunny had conceded to change her address to Brandelyn’s house because it was bigger and more practical. (Although she would now have to pay city taxes, since at the moment she lived outside of Paradise Valley’s limits.) Except what would Brandy do in return?
She loved that little cottage. It was where they first made love… and where they last made love.Was that what she was thinking about when she made those horrible comments at her party?Brandelyn hid her sniffing behind the box of bright green Fiestaware. Everyone who noticed politely looked away.
“I just… really love it, Mom. Thank you.”
“Aww.” Cathy held her hand to her chest and offered her daughter a kiss to the cheek. “Look at my little girl. Making a home for herself and her future family.” That kind smile soon turned into a frown of disdain at herotherdaughter.
“Yes, yes, Ma!” Lizzie tossed her napkin down onto her empty plate. “City hall! Shotgun wedding! I know!”
“Well, I know a thing or two about that myself,” Karen said, because she always loved to overshare about her marriage when she had a mimosa in her.That’s all right. She bought Sunny and me a spa day here on the coast.“Wasn’t city hall, but let me tell you, my mother gave me some dire looks when my ex-husband and I had to have a flash wedding at the American Legion Hall. Ah, well. My son is in college now! So, it wasn’t all bad.”
“Your daughter is an honor student at the high school, yes?” Brandelyn welcomed the change in topic that took the focus off her. “Was Anita Tichenor one of her teachers?”
Karen instantly realized where Brandy was going with this. That was the only explanation for the fake smile through gritted teeth and an extra clench to her mimosa. “Yes. English. Christina really loves her.”
Of course. Everyone loves Sunny and her best friend.Brandelyn didn’t hold anything against Anita, who had done her best to damage control an unfortunate situation. Yet anyone who was a best friend of Sunny’s right now wasn’t necessarily on Brandy’s side.I can’t believe there are sides right now… what are we doing?
