It killed him to help out with the weddings day after day with Anna so close, but so far. He was civil, he’d nod his head, and then he’d get the hell out of there.
The more he wasn’t around her and the more he focused on something else, the better it was. Or at least, the more he could cope.
Today’s wedding was only two hours away now, though, and he knew he couldn’t avoid her forever. Unless he went home during the reception and came back after it was over. Commitments could kiss his ass. The last thing he wanted was to make it worse, and being around Anna was worse.
Unfortunately, he’d already promised Jillian he’d help out clearing tables and cleaning up afterward and he couldn’t go back on his word.
When he walked to the front of the barn to make sure the parking lot was cleared and ready for guests, he spotted Eli with his camera.
“Aren’t you supposed to be taking pictures of the bride?” Beckett asked him.
“She’s almost ready. I thought I’d get a few shots of the front and the inside before the guests get here.” Eli lowered the camera. “You don’t look good, man.”
“Thanks.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t want to see you hurting like this. You know Anna’s not getting back together with Tom. I still can’t believe she let him into her apartment, but she’s not getting back together with him.”
Beckett shrugged like it didn’t matter. But he knew she wasn’t. Once he’d had time to calm down, he’d come to the same conclusion. Anna was through with Tom. But then what was he doing in her apartment? And why was she trying to hide it like she’d done something wrong?
“You know she isn’t,” Eli tried again.
“Then why hasn’t she come and told me that herself?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she’s still trying to sort through her feelings, too.”
Beckett swallowed and turned for the barn. Eli followed. Anna had been right about one thing. It was awkward. When things weren’t working between them, it affected his relationship with the whole family.
Inside, Jillian instructed the caterers and adjusted flowers on the tables. Poppy walked by, giving him an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry about the mess.”
He shrugged again.
“Really, Beckett,” she said. “I didn’t want any of this to happen. You guys are great for each other and I ruined it.”
“No, you didn’t,” he said. “It’s a misunderstanding.”
“And you’re caught in the middle.”
“Isn’t that where I should be?” He fiddled with a vase on the edge of the table. “It was my choice to pursue this and it’s my life.”
She dipped her head with a nod. “You’re right. I just…I feel bad.”
“There’s nothing you can do about it right now,” Jillian said, breezing by and taking the vase from Beckett’s hands. “We have to do our jobs.”
“There is something I can do,” Poppy said. “Talk to her.”
Jillian shook her head. “Bad idea. You know Anna likes her space.”
Poppy frowned. “She’s had enough space. I’ve been waiting for weeks for her to talk with me, giving her space like she said she wanted, and she hasn’t said a word. It’s time for an intervention.”
“I think you’ve done enough,” Beckett said, but it didn’t get through to Poppy.
“I’m doing this. And you’re going to help me.”
Jillian closed her eyes briefly. “Please don’t mess up this wedding. Do your intervention somewhere else, and keep quiet about it.”
“I’m not getting involved in this,” Beckett said. “No more conspiring, no more secrets. If Anna wants to talk to me, she will.”
Poppy nudged him with her elbow. “You just leave that to me.”
He watched her walk away with a brick in the pit of his stomach. “Someone needs to lock her up.”
Jillian smirked. “Maybe this time she’ll actually fix things.”
Beckett tried to be reassured by that, but it didn’t help. Especially not when he saw Anna enter the barn through the back. She wore a long dress the color of emeralds, and her hair was twisted up high in a bun at the top of her head.
His throat dried. She looked so good—and so worn down. He just wanted to go to her and fold her against him and fix it for her.
But Anna wouldn’t want that. She wanted to deal with everything herself, so this once, he’d let her.
Her gaze swept in his direction but just as their eyes met, she looked away.
Screw it. He had work to do.
{}{}{}
The cake was extravagant. Three tiers with elaborate swirls and loops done in pink. Crystals hung from each loop, making it sparkle, and she’d added edible shimmer to the entire thing.
This cake had saved her. It had given her something to focus on these past several days. Without the cake, she probably would have gone crazy.
Every time she went to call Beckett or talk to him, she stopped herself. If he wanted to talk to her, he would have called. He would have stopped by. He wouldn’t be avoiding her.
She checked the cake one more time before Jillian arrived in the kitchen, holding her tablet and nodding. She spoke into an earpiece connected to an attendant at the entrance to the barn and Summer in the back house where the bride was touching up her makeup.
“Twenty minutes until they cut the cake,” Jillian said to her, looking it over with a smile. “It looks really good, Anna. Eli got pictures?”
Anna nodded, adding another stack of plates to the counter.
“Leah’s still here, right?” Jillian asked.
Anna glanced up. “Sure. We don’t really need her, but she said she’d stay and help when we cut the cake.”
“Good.” Jillian looked at her tablet and then murmured, “I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”
“What?”
Jillian flashed her a smile, though it looked forced. “Nothing.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.” Then she frowned and pulled the earpiece from her ear. “That’s strange. It stopped working.”
“Your earpiece?”
“Having problems all night.” Jillian smiled at her, clearly unruffled. “Do you think you could go get Summer for me since I can’t call her on this thing?”
Anna checked her watch. She had time. They were covered. “Okay. Sure.” She wiped her hands on a towel and turned for the back house. “I’ll be back.”
“Thanks.”
Anna strolled through the short hallway, breathing in the outside air from the open windows. It was still warm, with a soft breeze blowing. She could see the moon low in the sky, full and glowing gold. She took another slow breath and felt the stress sliding from her shoulders.
Now that she’d settled things with Tom and figured out France, she should feel better. She had a purpose. But nothing was settled with Beckett and that still weighed heavily on her.
The guesthouse was quiet. Anna stepped in, confused. Hadn’t Jillian said Summer was in here? Maybe they’d already left.
Just to be sure, she walked back to the dressing room, reaching to retrieve a ribbon someone had dropped on the ground. “Summer?”
All the lights were on, but she didn’t hear anything. She stepped into the dressing room and slapped a hand to her chest when she saw Poppy.
“What the hell, Poppy? What are you doing here?”
Poppy hurried to the door and shut it, leaning against it like she was guarding the exit.
“What are you doing?” Anna asked.
“An intervention.”
“A—what?”
Poppy waved her hands in the air like she was erasing her words. “Okay, not an intervention, but I need to talk to you and this was the only way I could do it.”
“We’re in the middle of the wedding and—” Anna broke off, her eyes wide. “You got Jillian to help you! Damn it, Poppy.”
“I wanted to talk to you and this way you can’t run away.”
“I haven’t been running away from you—”
“Bad choice of words.”
“You’ve been keeping your distance just as much as I have.”
“I know.” Poppy nodded, her face going serious. “Trust me. I thought—you know, first I thought I was giving you space and then…”
Anna checked her watch. “The cake, Poppy. We don’t have time for this.”
“Leah is helping with the cake and they don’t need me in there right now.”
“Seriously? Right in the middle of a wedding? A big wedding?”
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Poppy burst out. “Please, this is killing me. We used to talk every day. Several times a day. Now we act like we barely know each other.”
Anna sank into the chair at the vanity, twisting the ribbon through her fingers. “I don’t want to do this anymore either.”
“So I can stop blocking the door?” Poppy asked, hopeful.
Anna released a low laugh and nodded. “Yes, you can stop blocking the door. I’m not going to try to escape.”
“Good. Because my feet are killing me.” Poppy dropped into the nearest chair.
“That’s why I always tell you not to wear those shoes.”
“But they’re so cute. It’s worth the pain.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “If you say so.”
“Seriously, though, I don’t want us to fight anymore. Or ignore each other or whatever it is we’re doing. I was…” She stared at her shoes before looking at Anna again. “I was surprised you were seriously thinking of going to France and I—I didn’t want you to go. I said things I shouldn’t have.”
“And I should have talked to you—or at least brought up the topic. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you, but I’m sure it looked like I was.”
Poppy met her eyes. “Are you going, then? To France?”
Anna nodded.
“Really?”
“Just to visit.” Anna flashed a smile. “I have no idea when, though.”
Poppy got up. “Really? Just a visit? Not permanent?”
“Not right now. I—”
“Good!” Poppy nearly knocked her over with a hug. “You’re my roommate. You can’t leave. Summer doesn’t understand me like you do and Jillian tries to organize how many times a minute I breathe. I need a little spontaneity in my life.”
Anna chuckled and pressed her cheek into Poppy’s shoulder. “I do, too. Just not secret spontaneity.”
Poppy pulled back, already lifting her hands in explanation. “I swear, it was not how it looked. Beckett is so in love with you and—” Her eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth before saying, “Please tell me I didn’t give anything away. I didn’t—”
“He already told me.”
“He did? Anna, this is huge.”
“I know.”
“What did you say?”
Anna swallowed and looked away. “I didn’t know what to say. I was surprised and confused and conflicted.”
“All that?” Poppy’s eyes narrowed. “Because of Tom, huh? I swear that guy needs a good kick in the balls. What was he thinking?”
“He wasn’t. He just…it doesn’t matter.” They’d resolved it and Tom knew where she stood. She hadn’t heard from him since he came to her apartment except for one brief text saying thanks. “Tom and I settled things. We’re good.”
“I still want to know the whole story, but that’s not why I trapped you in here.”
“I thought you trapped me in here to apologize.”
Poppy wrinkled her nose. “Well, yeah, there is that. But it was also to explain the situation with Beckett. Jillian and I—”
“Jillian too? Poppy, was everyone involved?”
“No. I mean, not directly.” She returned to her seat, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s not Beckett’s fault. All he wanted was advice on how to get closer to you since the timing always seemed off. I mean, there was Tom, obviously, and before that, Lewis—or was it the guy with the Porsche—”
“It was a Corvette, and it was a mistake.”
“But you were with him for eight months and then barely got over him before you got together with Tom, and then after that, we knew you needed time to get over him and…it just wasn’t a good time. Beckett didn’t want to push you—especially since you guys were friends. It was…new territory.”
New territory. Scary territory. Which was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to tell her family.
“Beckett said you told him he was a good friend,” Poppy continued. “On the day, uh, you know the day you were supposed to get married.”
Anna tried to think back. She remembered making the cake on the same day that was supposed to be her wedding day. She remembered her dress and talking with Beckett in the barn. “Shit…I remember. I did. I said he was a good friend. And he kept looking at me weird and he wouldn’t tell me why. That’s why he did this?”
“He didn’t want to be your friend, he wanted something more, but he didn’t know if it was the right time.”
“But he didn’t want to miss his chance,” Anna surmised.
Poppy nodded, her eyes going compassionate. “He loves you, Anna. I’m the one who made it into this big secret plan, but it was really just advice on how he could spend more time with you. Kind of ease you into a relationship. Hopefully.”
Anna’s heart ached, and she stood to pace across the room and back. “How come I never saw it before?”
“You had other things going on.”
“I know, but…”
Poppy stood next to her and took her hand. “There’s nothing you can do about the past. But if you care about him, you guys have a chance.”
Anna swallowed emotion, but it bubbled over anyway.
“No, don’t cry.” Poppy put her arms around Anna. “This isn’t a bad thing. It could be a really good thing.”
“Beckett’s mad at me.”
“No, I don’t think he is. He’s just dealing with things—same as you were. It’ll work out.”
“I need to fix this,” Anna said, easing back and finding a tissue to wipe her eyes.
“I agree. I’ll help.”
Anna looked over. “Really?”
“As long as it doesn’t involve keeping any secrets.”
Anna narrowed her eyes.
Poppy laughed. “Okay, just not keeping them for long.”