Bound to Be His ( The Archer Family 2)

"The pair of you," Logan said. "Slave drivers." Still, he smiled and grabbed a small gym bag from the corner of the room. Swinging it over his shoulder, he said, "I'll be back." And then he disappeared through the sliding glass doors.

"You have big plans today?" Andy asked.

"Only if you do. I've missed you." A little twinge of guilt coiled through her at the words. It was true; she had missed Andy's company in the few days since she'd been on the island, but not as much as she might have hoped. Even with Andy so preoccupied by Logan and the wedding, Shay had found herself more than distracted enough to keep her busy. Then, of course, there was the fact that Matt kept her busy enough for two people on top of that.

"I'm glad to hear it," Andy said. "I've got wedding favors to make, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather have helping me."

Andy stood from the couch, stretched her arms over her head in a yawn, and started back toward the pantry. From one of the shelves, she pulled a crate of tiny wine bottles.

"Jeez, the booze." Shay blinked. She'd never seen so much alcohol in her life. And she had been in a sorority in college.

"Yeah, I went a little overboard. What can I say? I want to have a fun wedding." Andy plopped the crate down on the table. "We're just putting stickers over the labels. Nothing too complicated.”

Joining her at the table, Shay watched as Andy showed her what to do, and then followed suit as her friend worked on one bottle after the next, like an assembly line in her precision.

"So what else is going on?" Shay asked, ignoring the second pang of guilt. "I've barely seen you. How is Derrick?"

Andy grinned at the mention of her brother. "He's good old Derrick. I think he's having some trouble adjusting to life outside of combat, but other than that." Andy shrugged. "Same old Derrick."

Shay accidentally sighed, and then tried to disguise it as a yawn. Apparently getting Andy to come clean about her mother was going to be harder than she'd expected. Hell, for all Shay knew, Andy could have forgotten the whole thing by now. After all, she hardly ever spoke about her childhood except to mention all the wonderful things her father had done. It wasn't like discussing her mother would have been normal.

"How are the wedding guests doing?" Shay tried, her cheeks aching against the strain of her smile.

Andy sighed. "Good for the most part. I think everyone loves the island. I'm surprised by how many people came, really. I thought the wedding would mostly be the four of us." Andy sipped her coffee and then looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is odd, though. Seeing my mom and dad's families in one place. That's never really happened before that I can remember."

Shay's heart flipped over. "No?"

"No. I mean, my dad was always really good about making sure we got to know my mom's family. It's just..." Andy let out a long breath and then leaned over in the seat to glance down the hallway. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Can you keep a secret?"

"With the best of them," Shay breathed.

"Only one of my mom's relatives came. My aunt Judy. She's a very sweet old woman, and she was my gran's best friend when she was still alive."

"Okay." Shay nodded.

"So, Aunt Judy feels really strongly about something, and she's sort of giving me a hard time about it."

The beat of Shay's heart thundered in her ears. "What is it?"

"You promise you can—"

"Yes, yes," Shay cut her off.

Andy frowned. "Okay. Well, as it happens, my mother is on this island somewhere."

"What?" Shay did her best to feign surprise, but it was a high-school-play-worthy performance at best. Still, Andy didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah. She's got this whole new family. She's even got a new set of twins, if you can believe it."

"So what's the problem?" Shay asked.

"Aunt Judy wants me to invite my mother to the wedding. She says my gran would have wanted it and that it's a show of good faith."

"And you don't want her there?" Shay asked.

"It's not so much that." Andy sipped her coffee again and then stared down at the mug for a long moment. "I don't want my wedding to be a day about seeing her again."

"That's understandable," Shay said.