Kendra elbows him gently. “Brayden, Carson and I are…”
“Formerly engaged,” he finishes Kendra’s awkward incomplete sentence.
“That’s true, but maybe a better description is that he’s become a friend.”
Now that we’re not being forced to marry? “I like that. Yes.”
Brayden scowls but accepts her proclamation in silence.
“Thanks for having the courage to end this,” she says. “I should have months ago, instead of pretending to be so vapid. I kept living up to my father’s unenlightened characterization of me, hoping you’d want out. I’m sorry. I should have simply refused.” She curls her hand around Brayden’s arm and glances up at him with a starry expression I’ve never seen her wear. “I guess it took finding the right person to make me realize I had to stop trying to please my father, start pleasing myself, and do the right thing.”
Hold up. Her insipid antics were an act? “You’re not a boy-crazy, dancing-topless-at-a-frat-house type?”
Kendra grimaces. “No. I made that up. I was getting desperate.”
“I’ll be damned. I did not see that coming.”
She laughs. “It seems I had everyone fooled, except Brayden.”
When she squeezes her fiancé’s arm, I notice she’s wearing a new engagement ring. The stone is a mere pinprick compared to the rock I’d previously given her, but this gem makes her far happier, I can tell.
I smile. “I’ll say. So…what about all the losers your dad said you dated in the past? Were those strictly to annoy him?”
“I had to get my teenage rebellion in somehow,” she quips. “By the way, Ella is beautiful. It was lovely to meet her at the benefit. Y’all look good together. I hope you two will be happy.”
“Thanks. I hope you’ll be happy, too. Speaking of…” I glance pointedly at her not-so-naked finger. “Do you have good news to share?”
Kendra flashes her new engagement ring, looking so proud and excited. “Yes. We’re getting married!”
And I hear the squeal of an excited bride that I never heard from her when her father forced us together.
“That’s fantastic. Have you set a date yet?”
The pair exchanges a glance, and Kendra pets his arm as if to silently ask for his trust. That piques my curiosity.
“We’re on our way to the airport now,” Brayden finally admits. “We’re eloping to Vegas.”
This is a conversation full of surprises. I’m stunned on multiple levels. “Congratulations.” I think. “Didn’t you meet less than two weeks ago?”
“I know it’s fast,” she rushes to assure me. “But…I looked at him and I knew. I’m sure you’ll tell me that’s crazy. Or you’ll think I really am that flighty sorority girl my father foisted off on you. But it’s not like that. I’m finally serious about life because I have a reason to be.”
She turns her blue eyes up to Brayden, whose stoic expression finally breaks to reveal utter adoration. I don’t know what shocks me more: that she might actually be in love or that this straightforward man with a military mentality is equally willing to reveal his love after less than two weeks.
“That’s fantastic, Kendra. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. Here.” She digs into her purse and fishes around before she withdraws a red velvet box. She opens it to reveal the familiar cushion-cut solitaire with pavé diamonds set in rose gold.
I snap it shut and take the box back, then deposit it in a desk drawer—still blocking Brayden from viewing my screen. “I appreciate you returning it.”
Kendra shrugs. “If I didn’t want it because I didn’t want to marry you, it didn’t seem right for me to keep it.”
Fair enough. “So…I take it your father doesn’t know your weekend plans?”
She shakes her head. “I told him we were going camping in the Smokies and we might not have any cell service.”
I nearly choke. “You, camping? No offense, but you’re a princess who likes her creature comforts. Did he believe your cover story?”
“I don’t know. I left him a voicemail and promptly turned off my phone. I’ll call him on Sunday, after we’re married. Then…I’ll let the chips fall.”
“He’s already threatened to block you from your trust. What if he cuts you out of Dulce Lama altogether?”
She shrugs and looks at Brayden again, as if reaffirming the answer they’ve already discussed. “We’ll survive. We may not have a lot of money. As soon as we graduate from college, my husband—oh, I love the sound of that—will be going to officer candidate school in Rhode Island. Then we’ll be living wherever the military takes him. And that’s perfect by me.”
I frown and glance Brayden’s way. “You don’t have any interest in Dulce Lama, either?”
“I’ve known from the time I was four that I wanted to join the navy. My father was an enlisted man, and I sometimes tease him that I intend to outrank him someday. But corporate America isn’t for me. I know nothing about making candy or running a multimillion-dollar organization.” Brayden scowls, and for the first time, I see something on his face that tells me he’s thought this through. “Money doesn’t motivate me the way duty, honor, and country do. I already know Mr. Shaw will have a difficult time believing that, so Kendra and I drafted a legal document. We both signed it and had it witnessed. I can’t ever touch a dime of her trust and I can’t ever become involved in any part of her father’s company should he leave it to her. Mr. Shaw may never accept me as a son-in-law and he may even think I’m marrying Kendra for a paycheck. After all, I came from nowhere anyone could find on a map, and the only thing my family has an abundance of is love. That’s fine. He’ll learn sooner or later that I’m marrying her because my world revolves around her. I intend to spend the rest of my life with her.”
Weirdly, I actually believe them. Even weirder, I hope they make it.
I walk away from my frozen computer—it doesn’t seem as if it matters if they see anything on my screen—and approach them. I shake Brayden’s hand and drop a kiss on Kendra’s cheek. “Good luck to both of you. Enjoy your wedding.”
“What about you and Ella?” she asks. “Dad said that you two are going to use the ceremony I’d previously planned for us.”
“More or less. You did a great job. We don’t have time to change much since we’re also in the midst of buying a house, but Ella and I talked to the wedding planner and made a few changes to the flowers and tablecloths to accommodate a more muted color scheme.”
“Muted? You’re so diplomatic. You mean Ella didn’t want Barbie-pink?” Kendra laughs.
As she does, the truth dawns on me. “You did that on purpose?”
“I did. Every time I mentioned it, I noticed you either winced or tuned me out.” She elbows me with a grin. “I’d really hoped the accent fabric with hearts and bows everywhere would be the perfect touch.”
“Um…” I pull at the back of my neck with a wry grin. “I think when the planner sent the samples to Ella, her comment was something along the lines of ‘everything’s vomiting a six-year-old girl’s fantasy.’”
“When I chose the material, Vasha tried so hard to talk me out of it,” Kendra says of the wedding planner. “Glad to know she and Ella both are getting their way.”
“Yes. We’re going with a classic black-and-white theme.”
“That sounds a lot more elegant and far more like you. But the venue is beautiful.”
“We’re seeing it in a couple of hours.” And I hope when we do, my “fiancée” will be inspired to get married for real.
“Fantastic. Did Ella find a dress?”
“Actually, her middle sister almost got married a couple of years ago and still has the gown she bought. Eryn is going to bring it for Ella since we’re on such a short timeframe.”
Kendra nods. “If it will fit, that’s handy.”
“What about you? Wearing the one you already picked out?”
“No. I found a simple lacy white sundress on clearance at Neima
n’s that’s exactly what I want and—”