I didn’t have a clue what we were doing at the church at ten in the morning when the wedding didn’t start until four this afternoon. The guys had been separated from the girls, so with no ability to talk to Masyn, I was left wondering what she was doing—not that this was the place to try to have a conversation. I wasn’t the only one who’d consumed too much last night. Everyone in this room looked rough, except Beau—because he wasn’t here. And I wasn’t the only one grumbling about the arrival time and wondering where the groom was.

Braden and Bodie were both present, and Beau was staying at his parents’ house. “Braden, where’s Beau?”

“Probably getting drunk. He and Felicity kept the neighbors up half the night.”

The other guys in the room hooted like the couple had had an orgy with the Chastains down the hall.

I, however, got the message loud and clear. “Any idea what they fought about?”

“Hell no. Bodie and I went down to Sadler’s after the rehearsal dinner. They were still bickering on the porch when we got home.” Figured they went to the only place open and still serving alcohol that late at night. Any other time, I would have been with them.

“Where was your mom?”

“In the living room listening to it.”

I’d had enough. I wasn’t in the best of moods as it was, but I’d be damned if I was going to sit here with a dozen jackasses I didn’t know while Beau cried in his cornflakes at his parents’ kitchen table. I left my tuxedo jacket on the back of the chair I’d been sitting in and pushed through the other groomsmen to get out the door.

I finally found Mrs. Chastain near the sanctuary quietly talking to the wedding coordinator, but they stopped whispering once I got close enough to hear their conversation. Just before I reached Beau’s mom, she patted the girl on the arm and gave her a smile I’d seen countless times in my youth. It was the one that assured you everything would be okay—it was plastic, and I knew from experience it meant shit was about to get real.

She drew me in for a hug and kissed my cheek before stepping back. “Good morning, Lee.”

“Hey.” I wasn’t sure how to start this conversation. “Can we talk for a minute?” It was a step in the right direction. Hopefully the words would come.

“Certainly, dear. What’s on your mind?” She clasped her hands in front of her and tilted her head to wait.

I guided her into the sanctuary, thinking we wouldn’t be disturbed, only to find people milling about, arranging flowers and rolling out a satin carpet down the center aisle. There was nowhere the two of us could go where we wouldn’t be overheard. At this point, I no longer cared.

“What’s going on with Beau?” I attempted to keep my voice low, so we didn’t draw attention.

Her lips flattened into a thin line before lifting into a prim smile. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, stopping at the crown to grip handfuls and hoping it would release a little of the tension running through me. “There’s something wrong. We both know it. Why is he marrying this girl?” My voice carried, and heads turned in my direction.

Mrs. Chastain straightened her spine and pulled her shoulders back. She’d gone stiff as a board and didn’t even attempt to maintain a happy expression. “He’s made a commitment that he intends to see through.” She swallowed hard as though the words nearly choked her.

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, Mrs. Chastain, but if he has doubts before he makes a legal commitment, shouldn’t he reconsider?”

“Sometimes our actions prevent us from walking away from our obligations, Lee.”

I couldn’t stand when people talked in riddles. “What could he possibly have done that would sentence him to a life of unhappiness?”

“Now, now. Don’t be melodramatic. Weddings are stressful. I’m sure everything will be fine tomorrow.”

“And if it’s not?”

Her eyes filled with tears she fought not to let fall. “I don’t know.” She tried to hide her anguish, and finally gave in like she was confessing a holy secret. “I wish he’d talk to you.”

“You can tell me what happened. I’ll do what I can to fix it. But without information, he’s a sitting duck and Felicity’s got the rifle.”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “It’s not for me to tell. I tried to get him to come home earlier…alone.” Her delicate fingers swiped at the stream now trailing her cheeks. “At this point, I doubt anyone can change his mind.”

I could sure as hell try. “Where is he?”

“Still at the house.”

“And Felicity?”

“I’m not sure, dear. She wasn’t there when I left, but I haven’t seen her here, either. Maybe you could ask her sister. She’s down the hall with the other girls.”

“Any details you can give me would help a lot. If I don’t know what I’m arguing for or against, I’m fighting a lost cause.”

“Go talk to him, Lee. If anyone can get through to him, it would be you.” So that’s how we were going to play this. She was going to let me take the rap for unraveling whatever he’d gotten himself into. “If I hadn’t promised to keep his secret, you’d be the first person I would tell.”

My head was pounding, and grinding my teeth didn’t help. I couldn’t yell at her or shake her until she gave up the dirt. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“You’re a good boy. He’s lucky to have you.”

“We’ll see if he thinks so.”

I didn’t waste any more time trying to pry information from Beau’s mother and took off in the direction of the dressing room the girls occupied. When I reached the door, I jerked it open, not realizing there might be women changing six hours before the actual event.

“Close the door!” someone shouted.

“Shit.” I spun around so my back was to the room. “Where’s Peyton?” I called out. I couldn’t make out the voices of anyone behind me. I only knew two of these girls, and neither of them spoke. I almost turned around until I remembered I wasn’t supposed to be in here anyhow.

“Want to step into the hall?” Peyton’s voice came over my shoulder.

I cracked the door and slipped through to keep from exposing anyone else to passersby, and Peyton followed. Once I heard the click of the latch behind me, I faced her. She really was beautiful in a high-society sort of way. I hadn’t noticed how full her lips were or how the color of her eyes glowed a deep blue. Now I had a hard time diverting my attention away from her to focus on why I was here. Peyton waited for me to speak, and my heart calmed and my anxiety ebbed with her patience.

“Do you know where your sister is?” I finally formed words, but I wasn’t able to hide the bite behind them. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to snap.” This wasn’t Peyton’s fault any more than it was mine.

“She’s at the hotel. My mom said she stayed out with Beau and was sleeping later than planned.” Her proper façade slipped, and she struggled to keep from rolling her eyes. In the process, her lids fluttered, and her upper lip tipped slightly.

“Any idea what they were talking about?”

“We talked about this last night.”

I vaguely remembered that. “Refresh my memory.”

“No one has let me in on whatever happened. I quit asking because all I was doing was making Felicity and my mother angry. Whatever it is, it’s not good.”

At least I knew the bride wouldn’t be at the Chastains’ when I got there. One less person to deal with.

Peyton grabbed my hand when I attempted to leave. “Where are you going?”

“To try to save my best friend from making the worst mistake of his life.”

“Take me with you.” Her eyes begged me to give in.

“I can’t. There’s no way he’ll talk if you’re there.”

She appeared disappointed, although she nodded her head in agreement. “I understand.” She held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”

“What?”

“Let me put my cell number in it. Then if you need reinforcement, you’ll be able to reach me.” Her fingers wiggled and waited, palm up.

I pulled the phone from my pocket and handed it to her. She quickly entered her information and then opened the camera app and took a selfie. I wasn’t sure why she felt the need to attach a picture of her face to her contact card—it wasn’t like I’d forget who she was. I watched as she sent herself a text, taking my number without having to ask for it. Then she handed my cellphone to me and sashayed back into the room we’d just left.

***

“Beau?” I called out from the foyer after letting myself in. Without a reply, I started toward the stairs, hollering his name louder this time. “Beau!”

“I’m upstairs. Stop yelling.” He sounded as hungover as I felt.

As I took the steps two at a time, I heard him pad down the hall toward his old bedroom. By the time I reached the landing, he’d disappeared. I’d spent so much time in this house, I could navigate it blindfolded. And I knew exactly where he’d be. On his back on the bed with a forearm covering his eyes and his knees hanging over the side—just as I suspected.

I took a seat in the lounge chair in the corner. His bedroom was the size of my living room and kitchen combined.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Not particularly.”

“Do it anyhow.”

He groaned and sat up, dropping his arm to his side and his hands into his lap. “There’s nothing to tell.”

“The hell there’s not. You’ve done nothing other than fight with Felicity since both of you pulled into town. Your mother’s in tears. You’re pissy. The neighbors apparently know more about what’s going on than your best friends. So don’t tell me there’s nothing to share, or I’ll walk next door and ask the Corkles.”

By the time Beau finally met my stare, the color had drained from his face…including the splotchy red he was notorious for. His eyes were puffy, although I doubted he’d been crying—likely just hadn’t slept. Overall, the dude looked like shit. Not even a penguin suit and an expensive pair of shoes were going to pretty up this pig.

“Have you ever made a mistake so big there was no coming back from it?”

I’d made tons of mistakes that defined my life—Masyn and tenth grade ranking high on the list—but it was the life I was destined to lead. I didn’t believe in regrets. No one expected the kinds of things from me that they did from Beau. “I don’t guess so. But I don’t think there’s anything you could have done that your parents can’t fix.”

He stood and started pacing. “Yeah, well…they can’t fix this one.” He dragged his hands through his hair and scrubbed his face like he might find an answer if he were able to molt.

“Still don’t have a clue what we’re talking about here, man.”

“You and Masyn were right. I never should have proposed.”

I didn’t need that confession to know it was the truth. “Okay…so you made a mistake. You haven’t said, ‘I do,’ so don’t.” It seemed a rather simple solution to me. “Divorce will be far harder than telling a bunch of people that you don’t give a shit about anyhow that you’re not getting married.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“The fuck it’s not. If it’s that hard, just don’t show up. I’ll tell them you aren’t coming.” I had no qualms about taking one for the team.

“My trust fund is at stake.”

Back to riddles. “And?” Jesus, join the real world who have to work for a living and put that college education to good use.

“I signed a prenup.”

If he wanted to play puzzle games, he should have started talking the moment he arrived in town, not hours before he was set to walk down the aisle. “English, Beau. We don’t have all day.” God, I needed aspirin.

“She’s pregnant.”

I couldn’t have heard that right because if I had, that would mean Beau was a moron who hadn’t wrapped his pecker. I leaned forward in the chair and put my elbows on my knees. “Come again?”

“You heard me.”

“Why the fuck would you get her pregnant if you had doubts about marrying her? That’s what condoms are for.”

“We used them. Every time.”

I was missing large pieces to be able to complete this picture. “Okay, so you knocked her up. That doesn’t mean you have to marry her.”

“You don’t get it.”

Well, duh!

My patience was wearing thin. “Spell it out for me.”

“I realized a couple of months ago I’d made a mistake. I tried to be mature about it and talk to her. Needless to say, it wasn’t well received.”

“Yeah, chicks don’t dig being dumped.”

“I wasn’t trying to break up with her. Just postpone the wedding for a while.”

“So why was that a problem?”

“It wasn’t as monumental then as it is now.”

At this rate, he’d be married with kids by the time I figured out the heart of the matter. “Beau, could you tell me what you’re up against so we can figure out how to get you out of it?”

“I lose my trust fund if I get a girl pregnant that I’m not married to.” Well, shit, that complicated things. “I could deal with that part, even though it would suck. But when we started planning the wedding, her parents insisted on a prenup.” He let out a heavy sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. “In that contract—and it’s definitely a legally binding contract—I agreed to pay for any expenses incurred for the wedding if it didn’t take place through any fault of my own.”

That couldn’t be cheap. “How much are you talking about?”

“At this point, roughly a quarter of a million dollars.”

If I’d had anything in my mouth, I would have spat it all over the floor. “For a wedding?”

“Her dress was more than my first car, Lee.”

I couldn’t fathom that kind of wasteful spending. “Okay. Is that it? When did you find out about the baby? Is that why you decided to wait?”

“She didn’t tell me she was pregnant until I told her I wanted to call things off.”

“Are you even sure there is a baby?” I hated shady bitches. They’d lie when the truth would do better.

“Why would she lie about being pregnant?”

There was no possible way Beau was that naïve. “Umm…does she know about your trust fund?”

“Of course. That’s why we always used condoms in addition to her being on the Pill.”

“And you don’t think there’s something a tad off about a girl being dumped and suddenly turning up pregnant, knowing what kind of impact it would have on you…forever?”

“She’s not like that, Lee.”

“Open your eyes, dude. She’s trying to trap you. Birth control and condoms? That’s like a bazillion-to-one odds, and your association with her alone says you’re not that lucky. Who knows about all this?”

“Just my mom.”

“And she’s just standing by while it happens?” Miffed. I was totally miffed. “Why haven’t you told your dad?”

“My mom took the prenup to her lawyer to see if there were any loopholes. She didn’t think we should tell my dad since I’d lose my trust fund. Even if I end up marrying her, my grandfather wrote it to prevent his grandsons from making stupid decisions that might derail their lives. If anyone finds out she’s pregnant, it’s gone.”

“So your dad doesn’t know?”

He shook his head.

“What did the lawyer say?”

“To marry her and file for divorce a year later.” He had resigned himself to this fate.

I’d be puking my guts up in the bathroom facing the fact that I’d just lost millions to get laid. There was no way in hell I’d take it lying down, and I didn’t care what it cost me, I’d kick her ass to the curb.

“That was his advice? What kind of quack tells a guy to get married with plans to divorce a year later?”

“Josten White.” There was part of the problem. “It covers all the bases and prevents me from paying alimony. I don’t even want to consider what child support would be.” He finally made eye contact—I’d never seen shame on Beau’s face, and I hoped like hell I never did again. “If we get married without anyone finding out about the baby, then my trust fund stays intact. After a year, I’m no longer obligated to repay the wedding expenses. We won’t have been married long enough for her to get any type of spousal support or access to my grandfather’s money, but I’m pretty sure she’ll take the baby and move back to New Jersey to be near her family.”

“Have you shared this plan with her?”

He eyed me like I was crazy for asking. “Hell no.”

“Beau, a year is a long time to spend with someone you resent and will eventually hate.”

We sat in silence for longer than I cared to admit. The air was thick with tension, making it hard to breathe. I loosened the bowtie threatening to strangle me and tried to think through this. “What if there’s no baby?”

“I’ve seen the pregnancy test, Lee. She’s pregnant.”

“Did you actually see her take it?”

“No, of course not. Felicity showed it to me when she came to my apartment to tell me.”

“You said you were only obligated to repay the wedding costs if the wedding didn’t take place because of you, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“I think you could argue that lying about pregnancy to continue the wedding planning would be her fault. Not yours. I’m no lawyer, but I couldn’t imagine any court forcing you to pay for a wedding you tried to stop before the expenses got out of hand.”

“There’s no way to prove it. Plus, what if she is pregnant and it’s not mine. Then I’m still on the hook.”

This place was like a sauna. “Do you care if I open the window?”

Beau shook his head with a confused look as if to say, “Like I give a fuck about the window right now.” He also didn’t have on seventeen layers of polyester in fucking June in Georgia.

“Make her take a pregnancy test. We can stop by the drugstore on the way to the church. If she’s not pregnant, you and your mom can have a heart to heart with her and her parents. I don’t see Ryland taking this one sitting down.” Ryland was Beau’s dad. He could be a hard-nosed son of a bitch when he needed to be.

“I can’t just show up at the church, force her into a bathroom stall, make her flip her fucking Cinderella dress up into her painted face, and take a leak on a stick. Come on, Lee. Think this through.”

“I am. I’m doing what you should have done months ago when this shitstorm started brewing. What do you have to lose? You don’t want to marry her, anyhow, so who cares if you piss her off before the wedding? Worst-case scenario, you still have to marry her and spend the next twelve months in exile or hiding out in a bar.”

“You’re a dick. No wonder you’ve never had a girlfriend.”

“Whatever. I’ve never had anyone corner my ass into marrying them, either.” I was a smug prick, but I didn’t give a shit. Someone needed to set this straight. Either Beau could do it, or I would do it for him.

He licked his lips, ran his fingers through his hair, and the red spots on his cheeks and neck lightened. Beau was coming back to life—hopefully, to fight.

“Just know, if this goes south, I’m moving in with you.”

“You’ll have to share a bed with Masyn. I’m not giving up my room.”

Out of nowhere, he smiled.