Page 7 of Chasing I Do
And now looking at Clay’s smile, one that was identical to Kyle’s in every way, any lingering excitement Gage had left was snuffed out by the heavy weight that came whenever he thought about Kyle. About how their team was one man short.
Then he thought about his mom, and what she’d do if she found Darcy at Rhett’s wedding, and he downed his mug of beer.
“How set is Stephanie on having the wedding at Belle Mont?” he asked.
“I’d say things are pretty set. She’s picked out the dress, the …” He paused to cover Littleshit’s ears with his hands. “The ring is on hold. Why?” Rhett studied Gage for a long intense moment, then his face went hard. “Is that why you called us here? To talk about the wedding? Shit, that’s all I hear about from Mom. I don’t want to talk about it here.”
“I called you here to give you back your damn dog,” Gage said. And when his brothers sent unconvinced looks his way, he added, “And to see if she’d be open to other venues.”
“No. She would not. I would not. We are not open. And according to you, there is no reason for us to be open.Belle Mont isn’t a problem,” Rhett said, in what was supposed to be his best Gage impersonation. “It’s as good as a done deal, you said.Everyone is excited and on board.”
“It is a done deal, and everyone is on board.”
Rhett eyed him. “Good, because Steph ordered five hundred wedding invitations for our wedding, which will be held at Belle Mont House. So unless you want to be the one to inform her there’s a problem, then you’d better pray there isn’t.”
No way was Gage calling Rhett’s fiancée. Stephanie Stone was a fashion consultant who’d created a media empire out of teaching people how to, “Look runway ready with red-tag prices.” Even her dog had an agent, and over a million Instagram followers. The woman was savvy, smart, and ruthless as hell.
The same three traits Darcy possessed when she’d told him, in no uncertain terms, where he and his client could stick their outside help, before handing him a bill to cover the damage left behind by his rat on a leash.
Gage picked up the pitcher and refilled his mug. “There’s a problem.”
“Shit.” Rhett rested his head on the bar top. “I can’t deal with another problem. My manager booked an appearance while I’m on my honeymoon, my label wants me to meet their foreign markets guy, and Stephanie still has no idea that our honeymoon is a week shorter than planned. Which is why I pay you to handle my problems.”
“You couldn’t pay me enough to handle this on my own,” Gage said.
“Yeah well, when you cash your part of the advance we just got from the record label, I’ll remind you of that,” Rhett said, leaning back in his chair, and Gage felt for the guy.
Rhett could barely hold his head up, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was a few pounds lighter than normal. Between playing gigs, recording his new album, and doing the media circuit, his brother barely had time to sleep for more than three hours in a row, let alone plan a wedding.
His career was on the verge of taking off, everyone knew it, including Rhett, who was working non-stop to make sure nothing hindered him from taking it all the way. From Stout to stadiums was the band’s motto. And they were almost there.
So when he asked Gage to fix the problem, Gage wanted to be the guy to fix it. The guy to make all of the shit in their lives disappear. Make it so whenever they saw each other it didn’t feel like there was a gaping hole in their world.
But Gage hadn’t only felt the void of Kyle these last few years, he’d felt the loss of Darcy as well. And seeing her today, a little battered but determined, had messed with his head. So he’d called his brothers. Josh, the oldest, was out of town on business, but the others had dropped what they were doing and come right over.
“Belle Mont House comes with its own wedding planner.” Gage leveled with his brothers. “Darcy bought Belle Mont house a few years back.”
“Holy hell,” Rhett said, his face the same degree ofwhat-the-fuckerythat had taken Gage three hours to come to terms with.
“Wait. Kyle’s Darcy?” Owen asked.
Gage wanted to point out that she wasn’t his anymore; she wasn’t any of theirs, but knew that they needed time to process. Hell, he was still processing.
He watched as the reality of Darcy being back in their lives began to sink in. Watched as his brothers’ expressions went from dumbfounded to anger, and finally sadness. Gage remembered what Darcy had said earlier, that they weren’t the only ones who had lost out, and found himself wondering who she’d leaned on.
“Does Mom know?” Clay asked, bringing Gage back to reality, back to the only person who really mattered.
“If she doesn’t, she will,” Gage said. “Darcy is adamant that no outside planner can be brought in.” Knowing how his mom would react if she learned Darcy owned the house, he didn’t blame her. “So, unless Stephanie wants to consider some other options…”
“It isn’t just Steph,” Rhett said. “Mom was with her when she got the call fromWeddingMagazine. They’ve both been clipping out wedding pictures and talking nonstop about it. I haven’t seen Mom this excited in years. Hell, she’s so excited that we’re getting married here instead of LA, she even made a Pinterest board with ideas that she updates hourly.”
“What if we offer her an out-of-network vendor fee or something,” Owen said. “I do it all the time here when someone wants to book the bar for an event but bring in their own caterer.”
“I don’t think a few extra grand is going to sway her.” After his ill-thought threat, he didn’t think anything shy of a public apology from every member of his family would sway her. “Plus, money doesn’t motivate her.”
“How do you know?” Owen said, crossing his arms in challenge. “She seemed to change her mind the second Kyle’s finances took a turn.”
Gage never agreed with his family’s consensus that Kyle’s financial status had a role in her decision to skip the wedding. Darcy was never looking for a hand-out. She was looking for a partner. Someone to love, who would love her back. “I just know.”
