Page 44 of The Best Friend's Billionaire Brother
Shortcake? That was his favorite cake in the world. Well, it was both of theirs, but he’d never envisioned it to be the cake served at his wedding. Not that he’d spent a lot of time thinking about it, but now that she’d brought it up, it was perfect. “Why am I not surprised about the cake?”
“I think if you’re going to have a cake, it may as well be something that you enjoy. It may not be the most traditional, but it sure would be tasty.”
“I have to agree with you there.”
She turned her head to look at him. “Have you ever thought about your wedding? I mean, when you proposed to Lori, I suspect you guys talked about it a little.”
One of his worst mistakes. He couldn’t even remember why he’d done it. He’d brought Lori home to introduce her to their families at one of their family dinners, he’d heard Gabby talking about moving to Charleston, and the next thing he remembered was proposing to Lori. It had been so strange. To this day, he had no idea why he’d done it.
“Not really. It didn’t last very long.”
Gabby twisted in her seat. “Why? I mean, I know you guys were off and on, but I figured that would be over once you asked her to marry you.”
“I did too, but…” He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “She cheated on me.”
“What?”
Glancing at Gabby, he nodded. “Yep, I was on tour with the rodeo. I came back as a surprise for her birthday and caught her on a date with someone she worked with. There was no more on and off for me. It was just over.”
“I can’t believe she did that.” She leaned across the cab and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
He covered her hand with his. “Things happen for a reason, but thank you.”
“That’s true.” Wyatt half expected her to pull her hand away, but she didn’t. “I’m just sorry you had to go through that.”
“Me too, but the thing I had with Lori had to stop. I don’t even know why I let it go on as long as I did. We weren’t right for each other. We didn’t want the same things.”
“Like what?” This time, Gabby did pull her hand away, and Wyatt hated it. Twice now, she’d offered comfort, and both times, he’d felt an emptiness when she moved away.
Resisting the urge to pull her close, Wyatt said, “She wanted to move to a big city, and I didn’t. She didn’t want children.” He glanced at Gabby. “And I did. She wanted all these grand things when what I wanted was the simple stuff.”
Gabby smiled. “She didn’t want to run an orchard or anything like that.”
“She especially didn’t want to do that. You should have seen her face when I told her about it. There was no way that was happening.” He chewed the inside of his cheek. “What’s really sad is that after I found out she was cheating, I was relieved.”
“I never understood why you kept getting back together with her.”
“I don’t have a good reason.” He sure wished he did. How many times did they break up? Each time, he promised himself there wouldn’t be a next time, and Lori would find a way to change his mind. “In a way, I think I was glad she cheated. No matter what she said or how much she tried, after that, I was officially done.”
“I guess it was better to find out before you married her than after.”
With a chuckle, he nodded. “Boy, ain’t that the truth. I can’t even picture being married to her.” He shivered with the thought. “I think I would have been miserable.”
Gabby laughed with him. “Then it’s a really good thing you didn’t marry her.”
“I feel like that accident made me grow up. Until then, I’d always seen myself as a kid. I loved riding bulls. It was fun, and that’s all I wanted. After, I had a lot of time to think. I want more than fun; I want purpose.” That was the first time he’d said it out loud. Before this conversation, he didn’t have the words. He just had feelings he couldn’t explain.
Being with Gabby always loosened his tongue and made his brain work. She’d always had that effect on him. That was the reason he always went to her. She made him…function better. What would it be like if Wyatt no longer had her? If she got serious with Bandit, everything would change. Just the thought made his chest constrict.
The last five years had been a taste of what it would be like to not have her in his life. He didn’t like that at all, especially now that he realized his life was empty without her. If she married someone, there’d be no more Wyatt and Gabby. He’d have to let her go completely. How was he supposed to do that?
She nodded. “I guess it would make you think, but you can have purpose doing what you love.”
Wyatt shrugged. “I guess. Hadn’t thought about it like that.”
“I think sometimes we have this idea of what purpose looks like. It’s so entrenched in us that we can’t see another way. Most often, a big event pulls us out and makes us reevaluate things.” She sighed.
Glancing at her, he asked, “How about you?”
