“Thanks, Braxo.”
Braxo. Somehow, the nickname has become mildly less annoying.
Cora and Ray find each other and share a small, sweet kiss. Ray doesn’t let her out of his arms the whole while. Despite myself, my chest grows warm. The bride and groom are back together. That’s the way it should be.
The apology note. I remember it quickly, and without interrupting the now-happy couple, I slip past them and quickly scale the stairs. I go down the hall and into Cora’s room. It’s exactly as I left it, the note still perched in the middle of her bed.
Good. I have time to get rid of the evidence before Ray sees it. I quickly pluck the note off the bed, fold it into a small square, and stuff it in my back pocket to get rid of it later.
“Still protecting her?” I glance up to see Susie standing in the doorway, a knowing smile on her lips.
“A protective older brother’s job is never done.”
“You’re going to be a protective uncle soon,” she says and steps closer. “How does that feel?”
“Bizarre.”
“I think you’ll be a good uncle. You’ll be the distant, scholarly, cool uncle.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Scholarly?”
“Yeah. Because of your glasses.” She pinches them between my eyes. “They look good on you, by the way. You should wear them around more often.”
“Wouldn’t want anyone mistaking me for a scholar.”
She’s close again, in the danger zone that makes me lose all common sense around her. She’s so playful, adorable, and I don’t know yet if she realizes quite the effect she has on me.
“I need to see if Thom needs help getting everything ready for the wedding tomorrow,” she sighs. “I’m burning daylight.”
“Do you need a ride?” I ask.
She nods. “Sure. That’d be nice. I’m going to jump in the shower…meet me downstairs?”
“All right.”
Susie pushes herself up on her tiptoes and pecks a quick kiss to my lips before charging out of the room again.
If there’s any part of me that’s supposed to get used to that, it’s not happening.
I leave Cora’s room to head downstairs. I nearly run into Ray on the way there.
“Hey, Braxo, you got a moment?”
I pause at that and nod. “Sure.”
“Listen…Mama wants to take us out and buy us a round. Cora gets seltzer water, of course, but I figured you and I could bury the hatchet over a couple of drinks.”
I consider it. Dingy bar, thick smoke, Roxanne and Lena fawning over baby names. It sounds like a great time—for them. I know myself well enough to know I’d be a chokehold on their party.
“There’s nothing to bury,” I tell him sincerely. I extend a hand. “Enjoy your night. Take care of my sister.”
Ray looks slack-jawed for a moment. Then that big, stupid grin spreads across his face. “C’mere,” he says and abandons my handshake for a full, bone-crushing hug. “I’m the damn luckiest guy around to have a brother-in-law like you.”
I wheeze. Christ, don’t make me regret liking you. I pat his back awkwardly.
Eventually, Ray drops me from his grip and squeezes my shoulder. He grins. “You’re a good man. Thanks. For everything.”
“Don’t mention it,” I tell him.
“Can’t wait for you to hand me that ring tomorrow.” He pats my chest once before heading into his room. Meanwhile, my blood goes cold.
Well, crap. The ring.
I go to Susie’s door and knock rapidly, over and over, until she answers. She blinks at me with startled doe eyes, her blonde hair wet.
“What is it?” she asks.
“We have to leave. Now.”
30
Susie
Braxton doesn’t explain his rush to me, not even once the two of us have left the house and piled into Ray’s car. I mean, I’m glad he’s both feet into the wedding now, but does he have to be so pushy about it?
Braxton drives down the road, but he looks distracted, his eyes constantly flickering over to the side of the road.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I ask. I pull my hair back into a ponytail; it’s still damp from my quick shower.
“I need to find a place to pull over.”
I let out a breath of a laugh. “Feel frisky? I’m flattered, but we really have too much to do and zero time to waste…”
There’s a small dusty clearing in the woods by the side of the road, and Braxton pulls into it. I pull my lips into a tight line. “What are you doing?”
“I lost the wedding ring.” That’s all he says before he gets out of the car and closes the door behind him.
“What?” I jump out of the passenger side and step around the car. Braxton is knee-deep in the bushes on the side of the road.
“He gave me Cora’s wedding band to take care of,” Braxton explains as he shoves around the tall weeds. “I was mad at him, so I threw it in the bushes.”
I groan. “You have to be kidding me.” I carefully step over the busted cans and roadside debris to waddle through the tall grass. “Do you know where you threw it?”
“Somewhere around here.”
“Great. That’s helpful.”
“Just keep looking.”
I do. We walk in slow circles, cornering off bushes and sifting through the greenery. In the silent lull, I feel a thought nagging at the back of my head.
“Since…we have a second. There’s something I should probably tell you.”
Braxton glances up to stare at me. “Don’t tell me you’re pregnant too.”
“No! At least, I don’t think so.” Braxton gives me a sharp look. I sigh and flip over something shiny in the dirt, only to find a bottle cap. “Just…in full transparency…Ace followed me down here and—”
“Ace? Your ex-fiancé, Ace?”
“Yeah. Apparently, he called Thom and…it’s a long story.” Pat, pat, pat. “We had coffee.”
“Coffee.” He says it like an accusation.
“Yes. And we talked.”
“About what?”
“What he was doing now. Why he left.”
“There’s no excuse for what he did to you. None.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
“What does that mean?”
Braxton’s eyes flicker up to meet mine before they find the ground again. “You’re right. It’s not my business.”
We lapse into a small tense silence. I nudge a tin can with the toe of my sandals.
“Look, it was good,” I say.
“Good?” Now Braxton looks like he might pop a vein.
“Not like that. I just mean…seeing him made me realize that I didn’t need him…or that…in my life.”
“Ace doesn’t make you feel like I do.”
I shake my head and look up into his eyes. “No.”
“He doesn’t fuck you like I do.”
That escalated quickly. My mouth goes dry, and it takes a moment for me to find my words. “I…”