Page 100 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“Of course, Miss.” He offered me a tight-lipped smile before turning his attention back to his book.
Lily was sitting at the dining room table with binders, invitation samples, and wedding magazines spread all over it. William was making eggs, and Joel was sitting in one of the high chairs, drinking a cup of coffee and watching William cook. Naomi was nowhere to be seen.
“Good morning.” I ran my arms around his waist and clung to him.
“God morgon, älskling.” William kissed the top of my head after I buried my nose in his chest and took in his usual scent of citrus and spices.
“Lily said you had a nightmare.”
I nodded against his chest, unwilling to let go. He broke the embrace for two seconds to turn off the stove and went back to hugging me. “I’m right here.”
“I know.” I looked up at him and jerked my chin at the huge pan with scrambled eggs. “That smells good.”
“Yousmell good.” He pressed a soft kiss on my lips. “Let me get the plates. There’s fresh coffee in the pot, too.”
“Thanks.” I grabbed a mug and poured myself some much-needed morning fuel. “Joel?”
“Ibuprofen?” He guessed.
“Yup.” I pressed my lips together.
“I’ll get you the bottle.” He offered me a warm smile.
“Thanks.”
Joel’s hair was dyed a bit lighter than his usual brown for a role. Lily hated it, but he’d be done filming before the wedding. The color wasn’t as fair as William’s, but it made their resemblance even more prominent. It was a bit creepy how much they looked alike.
Lily made space for William and me to sit down to eat. When William offered her a plate of eggs, she refused.
“Lily, you need to eat,” I reminded her. Stress is expected when planning a wedding, and she’d been insisting on how stress in general made her lose her appetite. She’d barely touched her dinner last night. But her wedding dress looked beautiful in the previous fitting, so I hoped she made an effort to maintain a healthy weight before the wedding.
Joel placed the ibuprofen bottle next to my plate. Memories of that summer night I spent here and having breakfast thefollowing day with a terrible hangover flooded my mind. It felt like it’d been a million years ago. So much had happened since that day.
“You hungry, babe?” Joel asked Lily as he served some eggs on a plate.
She sighed. “Um, sure.” She closed her binders and put all her stuff to the side in a neat pile to make room for her plate. “I’m so overwhelmed,” she said to no one in particular, a heavy tone of defeat coating her voice. “There is still so much to do, and I swear I can’t think anymore.” She braced her elbows on the table and dragged her fingers through her long caramel hair.
“Isn’t that what the wedding planner’s for?” Joel asked naïvely, bringing two plates to the table and setting one in front of Lily. She drilled him with the meanest side eye. “What?” He sat and picked up his fork with a chuckle. “We’re paying that woman a fortune! You shouldn’t be stressed when it’s her job to do all these things.”
“She can’t decide everything on her own,” Lily snapped at him. “She sends me to-do lists of all the thingsIneed to decide. It’s not like this”—she pointed at the stack beside her with her fork—“is all there needs to be done for the wedding. There are a thousand details and intricacies! Not that you would know since you rarely get involved.”
I lifted my mug and sipped on my coffee. Then, I settled it back on the table and kept to my eggs. The tension was palpable and rising.
“You know I’ve been busy with work and traveling like crazy. It’s not that I don’t care,” Joel retorted. “Besides, the only time you asked for my opinion, it didn’t go well. You’re better than me at all of this. So I’d rather we keep the peace and let you handle the decision-making.”
“I can’t do everything on my own!” Lily dropped her fork,and it clanked on the plate, making me wince. “I’ve been declining job offers left and right because I’m so fucking overwhelmed about everything! I’m afraid the agency might drop me because of it.”
Joel’s jaw flexed as he dragged a rough hand through his hair. “Well, you were the one who insisted on the big wedding.” He stabbed some of the scrambled eggs and took them to his mouth. “You wouldn’t be as stressed if we’d opted for the smaller venue and more intimate guest list.”
Lily’s eyes watered, and her lower lip started trembling. She was staring at Joel with equal parts disappointment and a strong desire to bite his head off. I’d never seen them fighting like this before.
“Wedecided the type of wedding we wantedtogether,” she reminded him, waving a hand between them. “I asked you a thousand times if you were okay with a bigger wedding, and on all occasions, you said yes, so don’t put this all on me.”
Joel wiped his mouth with a napkin and parted his lips to speak, but William interrupted him. “Joel.” William blinked slowly at him and said something in Swedish while he shook his head disapprovingly. Joel replied in Swedish in a somewhat heated tone.
“That’s it.” Lily stood, and tears fell down her cheeks as she stared down at Joel. “I fucking hate you sometimes.” She accidentally knocked the binders and magazines off the table, causing them to fall to the floor with a racket. Then, she stormed off toward the stairs.
“Shit… Babe?” Joel pushed back his chair and went after Lily while William and I helped pick up Lily’s stuff from the floor. I didn’t blame her for reacting the way she did. She really was under a lot of stress, and feeling like you don’t have your partner’s support must be frustrating.
