Page 6 of The Note
Chapter One
~Present Day~
~ Tyler~
“You know,Tyler, for a tiny, backwater town, O’Leary’s got decent eats.” Grandma Berry waggled her eyebrows as she speared a giant scallop with her fork and stuffed the whole thing in her red-lipsticked mouth.
She leaned closer, until her peach-colored, perfectly-styled hair was nearly brushing my chin and confided in a whisper loud enough to be heard in Syracuse, “Almost makes all this destination-Valentine’s-Day-wedding bullshit worthwhile, eh? What’s wrong with a beach wedding in July, I wanna know? But when the almighty Senator Marcus Turnbull decides it’d be better for his image to have a dog and pony show on theicy tundraof Upstate New York inFebruary, I guess we all jump, hmm?”
She leaned back, rolled her eyes and popped another scallop in her mouth, then licked her lips approvingly. “At least the Fletchers didn’t cheap out on the rehearsal dinner food. I won’t be ashamed to have Alex as my grandson-in-law.” She winked.
I tried to smile back, because it was hardnotto be amused by Grandma Berry, who was possibly my favorite person out of the bushel of new relatives I’d gained when my father remarried — well, after Marissa, of course — but I was pretty sure I hadn’t quite achieved it.
The wedding I’d spent a year planning was happening the day after tomorrow, I was stressed beyond belief, and I was realizing that the pangs and misgivings I’d been ignoring since Alex’s proposal fourteen months ago hadn’t gone awayat all.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying the food,” I told her. “Marissa put a lot of effort into organizing this weekend so everyone would have a great time.”
For that matter, so had I, since I was the “Man of Honor” to the bride for this event and I took my role seriously.
Oh, yes, I said I was the Man of Honor for the wedding.
Me, Tyler D. Turnbull.
The bride’s stepbrother.
The groom’s ex-boyfriend.
And if you didn’t foreseethathappening, then join the club. I’d been in the room, a year ago Christmas when they got engaged, and I wasstillshocked.
Grandma Berry chewed thoughtfully, looking towards the smallest of the circular tables, where the happy couple were seated with their parents. “I doubt Marissa and Alex even know we’re here, kiddo, let alone what kind of time we’re having.She’sgot cartoon hearts in her eyes, andhe’slooking at her like I’m looking at my dinner.” She bit into her next scallop with gusto. “Rawr!”
Oh.God. I might never touch shellfish again.
Grandma Berry jerked a thumb in the direction I’d been studiously avoiding for the entire hour and thirty-seven minutes we’d been at this rehearsal dinner, like she was daring me to check the truth of her words.
Don’t look. Don’t look, don’t look, don’t…
Gah.
Too late.
And, of course, once I looked, I couldn’t look away.
I swallowed hard.
Marissa Corcoran was a beauty, no doubt about it. Long, waving auburn hair that had been a carroty puff of Hermione-Granger-frizz when I first met her and was now Emma-Watson-sleek, green eyes that glowed with intelligence, and a broad pink smile that looked kind and generous and genuine because itwas. Once I’d stopped thinking of her as astepsister, a usurper, and started seeing that she was as much a victim of our parents’ marriage as I was, we’d become close. Really close. And while there were lots of things I’d never be reconciled to about my father’s choices in his career and marriages, bringing Marissa into my life made up for a lot of it.
Her eyes found mine, like she could sense me looking at her, and her smile broadened as she shook her head.Can you believe this shit?that look said.
And, no.Nope. I couldn’t. But I grinned back at her anyway.
She was wearing an elegant, dark green dress that brought out her eyes and highlighted her figure. It also happened to be Alex’s favorite color, which I’d pointed out to her when I’d helped her choose it.
Because, you know, Man of Honor, right?
Fuck my life.
Pale fingers stroked across the shoulder of Marissa’s dress and toyed with the fabric at the edge of the plunging v-neck, drawing Marissa’s attention away from me and back where it belonged, and the look on her face made me swallow hard.
