“Except you won’t be happy.”
“I haven’t been happy for years, little sister. What’s a few more.”
“It’s a lifetime,” she cried. Tears pooled and rolled down her cheeks, which she carelessly smeared on my jacket. “And I’m only younger by twelve minutes.”
“It’s necessary.”
“No, it isn’t. Dad isn’t being fair. He—”
“Hey, hey,” I soothed and grabbed the handkerchief in my pocket to clean her tears. “Stop that. It’s your wedding day. My problems aren’t important today.”
I waited patiently for her sniffles to subside, and when she was stable, I let her go. I thought I might make a clean escape before my own emotions rose to the surface, but her trembling voice stopped me.
“Dash?”
“Yeah, sis?”
“I never thanked you.”
“For what? I just wanted you to stop slobbering all over my suit,” I tried to joke.
“As ugly as you are, the ladies won’t mind, I’m sure. I just wanted to thank you for still being my big brother. You say you’re fine, but something is changing you. I just hope you won’t let whatever it is consume you.”
“Come on now… have I ever let you down?”
“I wouldn’t have minded you kicking Keenan’s ass a few more times.” She giggled.
“It would have been my pleasure if I thought it was actually warranted. He has his flaws, but I always knew it would work out. He’s open for you. For someone like him who has lost what he’s lost, it should have never happened, but it did. He let you in because he trusts you. He trusts you because he loves you. You make him vulnerable, but he relies on you to keep him whole. It’s love, and I would never have let him take it away from you.”
“So, shouldn’t I do the same for you?”
I took a deep breath and released it again. I was beginning to think she might never let the idea of Willow and me go.
Would I?
“It’s done.” My jaw clenched. I released the tension by adding, “I’m fine with it.”
“But won’t be happy.”
“Has it ever occurred to you that happily-ever-after isn’t meant for everyone?”
“Has it ever occurred to you that it can be if you would pull your head out of your ass?”
“Sorry, sis. My head is a permanent part of my ass. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I turned for the door, but she stopped again.
“So where is she?”
“Who?”
“Your fiancée,” she answered impatiently.
“I had her wait in the car.”
Her shriek of laughter pierced my ears. “Could you be any more of a dick?”
“I wanted to make sure of your answer before bringing her inside.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “And if I’d said no?”
“I would have sent her away.”
“Aww, you would do that for me?”
“Don’t be a smartass.”
“Sorry, one of us had to be the smart one.”
“You know what that means, right?”
“What?”
“It means I got the looks.”
I closed the door just in time to miss the missile thrown at my head and made my way downstairs, which was completely empty now. Lake and my mother must have stopped arguing long enough to ensure all the guests were now seated in the garden.
I peeked out one of the windows facing the garden to see a smaller party than I would have guessed for a Chambers. My dad had luckily only invited his closest friends and business partners. After all, it was only his daughter getting married and to someone he didn’t approve of. If he had his way, he would have married her off to the son of a partner for a more lucrative deal.
My father wasn’t the worst parent, but he wasn’t the most supportive, either. I told myself it could have been worse when I caught sight of Keiran standing just inside the french doors.
He could have tried to kill us for money.