The Wedding Date Disaster (Harbor City 4)

Hadley laughed. The mental image was too funny not to. “I’d recommend against the Elvis part, but if that makes you happy, then yes, do that.”

Adalyn’s smile faltered and then disappeared. “What if I’m not sure what makes me happy?”

“Does Derek?” her mom asked as she sat down on the couch with her daughters.

“When we’re together, yes.” Adalyn let out a heavy breath before her chin went all trembly. “But when it’s like some kind of missed connections personal ad for the guy who is my fiancé? Not as much. It’s probably just wedding nerves.”

Her strained chuckle did nothing to lessen the impact of her words.

“Are you sure?” Hadley asked.

Adalyn shrugged. “Maybe.”

“You know we’ll support you no matter what,” Knox said. “It’s the Donavan-Martinez code.”

Gabe nodded. “That it is.”

After a group hug during which she may or may not have cracked a rib—Weston still acted like he was the younger brother from hell sometimes—her brothers left with Adalyn to raid the fridge and inhale the leftover casserole. Judging by the stay-right-here-a-minute look her mom sent her way, Hadley was not invited to join in on the gluttony.

“So what are you going to do now?” her mom asked.

“I don’t know.” Hadley sank back against the couch and let her head drop to her mom’s shoulder. She hadn’t sat like this in forever and had forgotten just how nice it was to let down her guard around her family. “Fiona—who, surprise, isn’t just my friend but also my roommate—says it’s a sign that I should finally start my own company, but I don’t know.”

“You don’t think you’re ready?” Gabe asked as he took Weston’s spot, sitting on the corner of the desk.

“I am.” Okay, so she hadn’t said those words out loud before, but it was true. She was ready for this. Mentally, at least. “It’s just, there are a lot of logistical and financial hurdles.”

“Adalyn does have an accounting degree, you know. She can help with your books,” her mom said. “And Knox’s business degree doesn’t just apply to running a ranch.”

“And we can lend you some seed money,” Gabe added.

For a second, there was nothing in Hadley’s head but white noise, blocking out everything as she tried to wrap her brain around what they were saying. Money. Expertise. Support. All of it had been right there all along, if she’d only looked past her own pride and seen the people she loved for who they were. Instead, she’d spent too long projecting her version of an interfering family because that’s what she’d needed to believe because of how she was treating them. God, she’d been so dense.

“And I don’t want to hear a word about you thinking you’re taking advantage of us,” Gabe said, his voice low and hard. “If anyone in your family needed help, would you step up?”

She didn’t need to think about her answer. “Yeah.”

“Well, it isn’t any different if it’s us helping you,” her mom said.

Hadley mashed her lips together and blinked really fast to keep the tears at bay. All this time she’d wasted because she was afraid and, yes, too full of herself to be vulnerable and honest with the people she cared about.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said once she finally could say something.

“Say you’re done pretending the world isn’t hard on you.” Gabe pulled her up from the couch and into a huge bear hug. “It is. It’s hard on all of us, but together is how we make it through. We’re your family and we love you just the way you are.”

“I love you, too,” she said, her voice muffled by Gabe’s shoulder.

Her mom stood up and joined in their hug, and they all stood there for a second cementing what had been there the whole time. Strength. Support. Love.

“Okay,” her mom said as the hug broke up. “We better get into that kitchen before we miss out on all the leftovers.”

“If Will isn’t with them already, you should invite him back to the house,” Gabe said. “I’m pretty sure you’re wrong about how he feels about you.”

Hearing his name was like having someone turn on a light in a dark room. Suddenly, she saw things differently. If she’d been so wrong about her family, could she have been wrong about him, too? What if everything that had been happening between them wasn’t just because of them having to team up to survive a trip to the sticks? What if they’d both been fighting something bigger and it was past time to hang up the gloves?

“I gotta go.”

She gave her parents another quick hug, then hustled out of the house and all but sprinted back to the cabin.