Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

Smiling, I replied, “Of course! And I’ll even give you a BFF discount.”

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun, planning this wedding!” Addie said as my mother nodded in agreement.

“Should I pull out our wedding scrapbook?” I asked, and Hailey looked at me with a shocked expression.

“You still have it?”

I chuckled. “Of course I do! How do you think I became so interested in wedding planning?”

Conversation over dinner was mainly about Hailey and Mike and the upcoming wedding. When did they think they wanted to get married? Where did they want to do it? Who was going to be in it? From the sounds of it, Hailey and Mike wanted a big wedding, which wasn’t a surprise. Hailey was always a bit more over the top than I was. If it were me, I’d want a small, intimate wedding.

“You’ll be my maid of honor, right?” Hailey asked as she reached across the table and grabbed my hand.

Tears filled my eyes, and all I could do was nod. I was so overwhelmingly happy for Hailey. She was like a sister to me. Yet, at the same time, a sadness swept over me, and I couldn’t understand why.

I hated to admit that my heart sank when she mentioned getting married on the ranch. I had always sort of thought I would be the one who got married first. And that I’d get married here on the ranch. It wasn’t like I was jealous…or was I?

Reaching for my glass of wine, I took a long drink. For Pete’s sake, what was going on with me today? I was having strange feelings toward Landon, and I was jealous that one of my oldest and dearest friends had found happiness and was getting married. Why in the world was I feeling so out of sorts?

From the corner of my eye, I saw Landon glance at his phone. He smiled and typed a reply back. When he looked up and caught my gaze, I smiled. “Hot date later?”

He laughed. “Hardly. A few of the guys from the shop want to go out tonight.”

“You should go and have fun. Dad can give me a ride back home,” I said, regretting the words the moment they were out of my mouth.

What I really wanted to say was that he should come back to my place and hang out with me. That way, I wouldn’t have a self-imposed pity party because one of my best friends was getting married and, once again, I was a bridesmaid and not the bride.

Here I was, planning weddings for everyone else while still looking for that one person who made my heart sing with utter happiness. The one man who made my knees weak when he looked at me, or had my stomach fluttering with a simple brush of his fingers over my skin.

Suddenly, I remembered being in Landon’s arms earlier. The feel of his hands when he placed them on my hips before gently pushing me back.

Oh. My. God. My knees had gone weak. My stomach had dropped at his touch. And I had longed to feel his lips against mine…

Holy shit. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

With a noncommittal shrug, Landon replied, “Maybe. It’s been a while.”

Before I could even stop myself, I blurted out, “Or we could do movie night up on my roof deck.”

It was like Landon didn’t even need to think twice about it. He quickly replied, “I’m down for that.”

And just like that, the melancholy slipped away as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by excited butterflies in my stomach.

Landon

“THAT IS SO not a cactus!” Emmerson said on a laugh as we lay side by side and stared up at the stars in the night sky from her rooftop.

“Are you blind? Look, follow my finger, and I’ll trace it.”

She moved in closer, and when her body leaned into mine, I had to suppress a groan.

With a giggle, Emmerson said, “Okay, maybe I see a cactus. I still think it looks like a cat.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed her away, needing the space between us before I rolled on top of her and kissed her. We lay there in silence for a few moments before she spoke.

“Can you believe Hailey is getting married?”

“I’m not surprised, are you? With Mike moving to Dallas later this year and all, I figured it was coming.”

She sighed. “Who will help run the vineyard and orchard once Hailey joins Mike in Dallas? What about the marketing for the bed and breakfast?”

“My mom told me Laura has been doing an amazing job as the receptionist. They’re thinking of promoting her and having Hailey train her on some of the more in-depth things.”

Emmerson rolled over to face me and rested her head on her hand. “Laura, huh?”

I nodded as I kept looking up.