Broken (Broken 1)

Anna wasn’t even in my wedding party, so I had no idea why she’d stayed with us last night.

“I’m not sure. ” I got up and turned to walk inside.

“Whitley, are you okay? You seem…upset,” she said with a fake-ass smile.

“Do you believe in Karma, Anna?” I asked.

She just stared at me as the smile disappeared from her face.

“He loves her, and you and I both know it. If they’re meant to be together, there is nothing you can do. No amount of lying on your part is going to keep them away from that love. You and I both know that Reed did not ask you to move in nor did he ask you to marry him. I hope to God Karma comes back and bites you in the ass. ”

I turned and walked away from her. I had a wedding in a few hours, and the last thing I needed was this bitch’s drama, but I made a mental note to let Reed know about Anna’s little bit of good news that she’d shared with us.

“Holy hell, Whitley. Girl, can you plan a wedding or what?” Courtney said as we walked around the reception area.

Two large white tents were set up in the backyard of Layton’s house. I walked along the tables to make sure everything was just as I wanted. Each round table had a silver satin tablecloth on it with a centerpiece of white roses and silver candles. Every few feet, there were silver candlestick holders holding small bouquets of white roses and carnations.

They look perfect.

The plastic plates were all clear with a silver beaded accent around the rim. The fake silverware looked so real. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought it was all real and not plastic. I smiled as I looked up and saw all the clear bulbs hanging down from the top of the tent.

The food table was reclaimed wood doors being held up by old wine barrels. Huge glass vases with greenery were on each one.

It’s perfect—beyond what I pictured it would look like.

I smiled as I looked around. “Once all these candles get lit, the light will reflect off of the clear bulbs and light it up even more in here. ” I glanced over toward the dance floor.

Between the two tents was a large dance floor. Small round tables were set up all around outside the tents and were also draped in the same silver satin cloth. Each one held a small votive candle placed in a small mason jar. Some of the trees had white and silver chandeliers hanging down from them. I couldn’t wait to see what they looked like when all the lights hit them.

I walked up to the cake table. The cakes had already been delivered, but they were in the house. Layton had picked out a Texas A&M cake, of course. The bride’s cake was a four-tier cake that a sweet girl in Llano had made. She was trying to start her business, and our wedding was her first wedding. The bottom tier was square followed by a round tier, then another square tier, and a round tier to finish it off. Layton and I had decided to go with a silver letter M for the top of the cake. The small silver accents on the cake added just the right amount of elegance, but it wasn’t over the top.

“How did the gazebo look, Whitley?” Jen asked as she walked up to me.

Jen had been helping me with my event-planning business since Courtney had been swamped with books to edit. I loved working with Jen, and I was shocked at how much we both envisioned the same thing.

I smiled as I winked at her. “It was perfect. I loved the silver carpet, and the candles lined up along each row of chairs were genius. Thank you for using LEDs. The last thing I want is for someone to knock a candle over!”

Jen smiled at me and nodded. “I’ll have them lit ahead of time, so as the sun starts to set, they will light the area. ”

“I can’t believe this is really happening!” I said as I looked at Courtney.

“Well, believe it, baby girl. I just happened to see your very nervous husband-to-be earlier, looking out the back window at you walking around out here,” Courtney said with a laugh.

I spun around and searched every window.

“I already called Reed’s cell phone and told him to stop fucking up his best-man duties by letting Layton get a peek of you. ”

I looked back at Courtney and laughed.

“Okay, Whitley, you need to go in and get ready,” Jen said as she looked at her watch.

My heart started pounding as I made my way back to the house. Layton was upstairs in Mike’s room with Reed, Mitch, Kevin, and a few other friends.

As I walked through the kitchen, Kevin came running down. He opened up the freezer and grabbed ice. He took one look at me and smiled. My hair was already pulled up and curled to tame my natural curls.

“Holy shit, Whitley. You look beautiful. ” He looked me up and down.

I looked at what I was wearing—sweatpants from Victoria’s Secret and one of Layton’s A&M shirts.