Page 3 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
Of course he did. I gave my brother a smile, glad that I would be there to share that moment with him.
I hadn't made it to Dean's wedding, and though I pretended like that didn't bother me, it did. I hadn't been a very good brother to any of my siblings after leaving for college and meeting Jeremiah.
Nick took a sip of his hot chocolate and then grinned at me over the rim of his mug. “I was thinking you could be my best man.”
I stared at my twin. Had he really just asked me to be his best man?
“You don't have to look so shocked!” he said, putting his mug down. “Who else would I ask?”
My teeth sank into my lower lip, shame twisting my guts like a snake trying to suffocate its prey.
“How can you make me your best man at your wedding when I didn't even invite you to mine?”
Nick blinked, as if this was something he hadn't even considered. Of course not. I should have known.
He wasn't one to hold grudges. Whenever we fought as children, he forgot all about it by the next morning. I never forgot, but when he moved on, I took my cues from him. I was always looking to him to figure out how to act around people. He was so much better at it. He was a social butterfly and I was one of those animals that played dead when they sensed predators nearby. Maybe an opossum.
Yeah, an opossum, that's what I was. I got better at it over the years, but I would never be as comfortable around people as Nick was. It had been a miracle to me that anyone wanted to date me at all. Maybe that was why I got so mad when my twin disapproved of my choice of partner.
In hindsight, I really should have listened.
“Can we put all of that behind us?” Nick asked, softly. “I'm just glad you're here now and I want to make the best of it. You'll just make me your best man at your next wedding, okay?”
An unamused huff escaped my lips before I could stop myself. My next wedding? “I'm not gonna get married again any time soon.” My divorce wasn't even final yet.
“No, I guess there's no reason to rush into anything.” Nick frowned, as if there was something more he wanted to say, but he wasn't sure how. From the chair next to him, our nephew grabbed for Nick's hot chocolate. Nick pretended like he didn't notice. Or maybe he truly didn't. Something was definitely on his mind. I recognized the way his brows drew together.
“What is it?” I prompted him.
“Zander and I were wondering about when to have the wedding... we need to do some planning, you see? Actually, we're thinking about hiring a wedding planner and all since, you know, if Zander plans it, it'll be boring and if I do, it'll be a disaster but...”
“But what?” Why was he dancing around the topic like this? That wasn't like him, which made me nervous, because it meanthewas nervous.
Nick sought my eyes. “The thing is, if you're going to be my best man, the date we'll pick has to suit you too and Dean... he's mentioned that you still throw up in the morning.”
So the cat was out the bag. My shoulders slumped. I thought I'd hidden my sickness well from Dean and Griffin, but they must have noticed after all. “I'm sure it's nothing.”
“Is that really what you think?”
I didn't know what to say.
Nick spoke on. “You know if you find out now, you can probably still—”
“Don't even say that,” I stopped him. Bastian looked curiously between the two of us, obviously wondering what the adults were going on about. “Why don't you go fetch your new toy to show Uncle Nick?” I asked him.
Excited, he nodded and jumped from his chair. Good kid.
“You're going to keep it?” Nick asked as soon as he was gone.
“There is no it!”
“Are you sure about that? Were you being honest when you told me there was no chance you were pregnant?”
“It's highly unlikely that I'm pregnant,” I insisted. After all, three months ago wasn't the first time I'd had unprotected sex with my husband that didn't result in anything.
“But it's not impossible,” Nick concluded. His face took on an expression of regret, with maybe a hint of fear in his eyes.
“Please don't worry.”
