Pretenders (Firsts and Forever 3)

“Kids always love me. I think it’s the lavender hair. I’m practically a cartoon character.”

“It’s more than that. You seem like a nice person, Ash,” she said. “My family can be a bit standoffish, but just so you know, I’m glad you’re here.”

“I appreciate that, I really do. But you know who needs your support this week? Wes. Can you even imagine what this must be like for him?”

“It has to be painful. I love Jack, but the way he handled the breakup was just cold. Also, it’s time for my mother to forgive Wesley, because all that tension and animosity isn’t doing anyone any good.”

“Hold up. Forgive Wes? For what?”

“His temper tantrum. It was terrible. When Jack ended their engagement, Wesley started shouting and throwing things. I know he was upset, but he took it too far and smashed some of Mother’s highly valuable eighteenth century china, which—”

I fixed her with a sharp stare and cut her off with, “I like you, Camille. I can tell you’re good people, but listen to yourself. Your kid brother had his heart ripped out by the only man he’d ever loved, in a heartless and very public way, and you’re talkin’ about some damn plates. I’m sure they were lovely and very expensive, but I honestly don’t care if they were worth a million dollars apiece and Marie Antoinette herself ate cake off of ’em. The only thing that matters is how badly Wes was hurt. Period. End of sentence.”

To her credit, she seemed embarrassed. “I must sound so callous. His reaction just took everyone by surprise, and none of us knew how to react.”

“Yeah, you know who else was taken by surprise? Wes, who’d just gotten blindsided six days before his wedding. Can you imagine if Beau had done that to you, in front of all your relatives? If ever there was a time to hurl a fucking plate, sis, that’d be it.”

“Beau would never—”

“Not the point.”

“You’re right.”

Wes returned just then and said, “False alarm on the vomiting.”

I got up and went over to him as I asked, “Are you ready to do this?”

“I will be, in one more minute.” He reached for me, and I grabbed him in an embrace.

Camille said, “I’ll give you two some privacy. See you in a bit,” and took off.

As we held onto each other, he murmured, “I’ve been dreading this moment for such a long time. I just don’t know what’ll happen when I see them, if it’ll stir up all that anger again, or all that pain. I thought I’d put the worst of it behind me, but what if I’m wrong?”

“If seeing them brings it all back, then you’ll just keep working on healing and moving forward. That’s it.”

He leaned back so he could meet my gaze. “You’re right, and I’m definitely overthinking this. Thanks for being the voice of reason.”

“Whatever you need from me to get through this, I’m down for it. If you want me to smile and be polite, no problem. If you decide you want to start a fight, I’m ready to throw down. I might not look like it, but I’m great in a brawl because I play dirty. I’ll absolutely yell ‘look over there’ and then kick them in the nuts when their head is turned.”

Wes smiled at me and said, “That’s good to know. I don’t think your fighting skills will be required today, but I’ll file that information away for future reference.”

“Okay. If you change your mind at any point, just let me know. I can turn on a dime. Let’s have a secret code. If you suddenly decide your ex and your brother need punching, just yell ‘Steven Segal’ and I’ll jump on ’em like a spider monkey.” I struck a ridiculous pose, bouncing on one leg while waving both arms over my head, and accomplished what I’d set out to do—I made him laugh.

He stepped back and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with. How do I look?”

“Gorgeous. How about me?”

He grinned and finger-combed my hair as he explained, “Millie did a number on you.” Then he took my hand and said, “Let’s do this.”

As we left the courtyard, I had butterflies in my stomach. After a moment, he said, “I heard part of your conversation with Camille. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole story about how I reacted when Jack dumped me. I’m just really embarrassed about the way I acted.”

“I’m glad you flipped out.” When he glanced at me, I said, “I’m totally serious. It was the right response to the way you were betrayed and blindsided. I get that your family is all about bottling shit up and hiding behind a façade, but trust me, it’s way better to let things out.”

“While I agree with you in principle, I overdid it. I know that, and everyone else does, too. They all watched me lose control, and now they don’t know what to make of me.”