“And I don’t care that you’re my best friend—what happens in our bedroom, stays in our bedroom.” She picked up her purse from the console in the entrance, and when she turned back to Charli, she wore a cheeky grin as she whispered, “Whether handcuffs are involved or not.”
Charli laughed out loud as they walked to her car and was glad to know that maybe not all hope was lost for her friend, after all.
* * *
“You’re kidding me. A pub?” Charli passed a hand over her eyes and let out a sigh as the small group of girls walked into a sea-themed, dimly lit pub with fishing nets hanging from the ceiling and a fake, slightly disturbing, shark’s head on the wall just above the toilet doors. The place had probably been open since the eighties and nobody had informed the owner that the world had stepped into a new century. The rock music coming from the speakers proved her point.
Lauren linked her arm through hers and chuckled. “Why, this is the hangout in Spring. Everyone loves The Shark’s Tail.”
Yeah, probably because they’ve never been to a city pub.
It had been a nice day. The mall just twenty minutes out of town had exceeded Charli’s expectations, and she’d even shopped for herself. They’d had a nice lunch in one of the cafés, then shopped some more, before coming back to Spring and heading out to dinner at Mamma Maria a bit later. Ellie had been right—the food at the family-operated restaurant beat that of the best Italian ones in San Francisco. Now that Sophie was with Adam’s mother, Charli had thought they’d go out and do something wild for Ellie’s last night of freedom, but since she didn’t know the town, she’d let Lauren and Adam’s cousins pick the place. And they’d ended up here. Great.
“I can’t let my best friend have her hen party in a pub. I have my reputation to think about.” And this wedding was turning out to be the biggest challenge of her career. If she pulled it off, she should be named president of her own company.
Ellie came up on her other side and linked an arm through hers. “Aw, come on. Don’t be snobby now. We’re gonna have a great time!”
“Are you trying to make things hard for me?” Charli glowered. “First you ask me to organize a wedding in a little more than a month, then for your hen party you drag me to a place that smells of fries and where I can barely hear my thoughts. Next you’re going to tell me you want to get married on the beach in the pouring rain.”
“It would be romantic, though a bit chilly. Perhaps if we’d gotten married in the summer…”
“Hey, ladies!”
Charli cringed at the familiar voice coming from her left. She didn’t need to turn to know Adam’s brother was standing next to her, which could only mean the stag party was being held here, too. It was official—this wedding was going to send her to an asylum. Sooner rather than later.
“Guys, I thought you were going to spend the night in Gold Beach?” Lauren’s tone didn’t seem annoyed, the way Charli’s would have been if she’d said the words herself. She actually sounded happy. These town folks were weird.
Charli turned her head toward the group of eight and smiled at Ethan, who waved at her.
“We were. But then Spoilsport here,” Kean nodded at Adam, who rolled his eyes, “didn’t want to be away from his girls too long and thought we should make it an early night.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Adam said. “Besides, I’m getting married tomorrow and I didn’t exactly ask for a stag night.”
A chorus of “Spoilsport” over fake coughs followed Adam’s comment. Ellie chuckled and left Charli’s arm to reach for her soon-to-be husband’s.
“You didn’t have to worry about us. Sophie’s happy to stay at your parents’ and I have my bodyguards looking after me.”
“But now we’re here, so why don’t we all hang out?” Kean said, hip-checking his brother so that he was standing in front of Charli. He waggled his eyebrows and grinned. “Unless the wedding planner has something against it.”
“I do, actually.” She crossed her arms and lifted her chin defiantly. “The bride and the groom shouldn’t spend the night before the wedding together—everybody knows it’s bad luck. And most importantly, having a joint stag and hen party is unheard of.”
“You’re a bit stuck up for a wedding planner. You’ve gotta chill, lady. You aren’t organizing a royal wedding, so nobody’s going to blame you if things don’t go as you planned them in your notebook.” Kean smirked and poked her in the shoulder. “This is how we like to celebrate our folks. It’s the small-town charm—we all come together for big events. And just so you know, we’ve never had a wedding planner before, and all the weddings have gone smoothly. But since you’re the bride’s friend and you’re already in the wedding party…”
She honestly couldn’t wait for this wedding to be through so she could leave this stupid town and never have to be around this annoying guy ever again. She didn’t know why, but he struck a nerve with every comment, stare or grin—and not in a good way.
“You know what? I don’t care.” She looked at Ellie and raised her hands in defeat. There was no point trying to be professional when everyone around her seemed to enjoy doing the opposite of what she suggested. “I’m taking a step back from the organization of tonight’s party, seeing as you’ve already decided you aren’t going to follow my recommendations. I’m not taking the blame if your marriage falls apart because you wanted to break the rules and defy luck.”
Ellie chuckled and wrapped her arms around her. “You’ve already done an incredible job, in such a short time. I’m sure having fun with the guys tonight isn’t going to lead to an unlucky marriage.” She turned to stare at Adam, and Charli could swear her friend’s eyes glowed with love. “We’re going to be very happy. And we won’t be spending the night together when we go home, so that counts for tradition and luck being on our side, I guess.”
Charli shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Great. So now we’ve got the wedding planner’s stamp of approval, let’s get a table and order some drinks.” Kean high-fived his cousin, then wrapped an arm around his brother and pulled him in for a guy hug. “We’re gonna get you smashed, little brother.”
Charli rolled her eyes and shook her head. A chorus of laughter and good-natured teasing erupted around her as they took their seats at the tables Kean and his cousin had moved side by side.
“Why don’t you guys play something? Myles’ choice of soundtrack tonight is making my eyelids droop,” Lauren said ten minutes later, elbowing the geek-looking blond-haired guy sitting next to her. He’d introduced himself to Charli earlier as Jared, the town journalist and creative writing teacher. Lauren’s firefighter boyfriend had a night shift, so Jared had appointed himself as her guardian as soon as they’d decided to mix the two parties and spend the evening together. Not that she would need one anyway. Charli was pretty sure that, with the everyone-knows-everyone rule in town, nobody would dare make a move on Lauren, knowing her boyfriend would hear about it before the night was through.
“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve heard you play, bro. Come on, go up and woo us all.” Kyle, the youngest Cavanagh brother, raised his bottle in a toast before bringing it to his lips. A fleeting cloud of what looked like sadness—or maybe regret?—washed over his face. Then his gaze slid briefly over Lauren and turned even more lost. Charli couldn’t help wondering about the reason behind that look.
“Myles, cut off the music—the guys want to play!” Lauren stood up and waved her hand in the air to catch the bartender, and owner’s, attention. Myles nodded and smiled, as if he’d been waiting for this moment all night.
Kean, his firefighter cousin Cayden, Jared, and the other two guys sitting at the table, Scott and Shane, all pushed their chairs back and stood up.
“They’re in a band?”
Kean nodded, even though her comment had been meant for Lauren. “Yep. We’re The Rocking Springs.”
Huh?
“Who came up with such a cheesy name?”
&
nbsp; Jared patted Kean’s back. “He did. After a couple of beers too many.”
“Why am I not surprised,” she mumbled under her breath as she rolled her eyes.
“It was that or The Rocking Stones,” Jared continued, oblivious to Charli’s reaction. “We all thought Springs would make more sense.”
“Yeah, ’cause we totally rock Spring,” Cayden said, raising his hands in a rock on gesture. Everybody laughed, and the five guys walked away. Charli watched them go to a small stage where different instruments were sitting on their stands.
“Good thing they have their instruments at hand all the time. It makes for a great impromptu jamming session whenever the crowd asks for it,” Lauren said, staring at the stage.
“You mean they leave the instruments unattended on the stage at all times?” Charli’s eyebrows shot up. She’d thought they’d planned the show and brought their guitars, bass, keyboard, and drum set in earlier that day. Well, they had to really trust their fellow townsfolk.
Ellie chuckled. “In case you didn’t notice, this isn’t San Francisco, Charli. Nobody would dare touch those instruments, let alone steal them. And not just because Myles is worse than a cop when it comes to his pub, but because this is what small-town life is all about. You don’t lock your car, you don’t lock your doors, and if you need help, half the town will be there before you even dial 911.”
Well, wow. Perhaps there were some tiny perks of small-town life, after all—but not enough to bring her to the dark side, so to speak. She was a city girl and nobody would ever convince her that amenities weren’t what life was all about, because… Her brain went blank as she raised her eyes to the stage and they settled on Kean, who was currently busy tuning his mahogany and black electric guitar. She’d always found something extremely sexy in men who played the guitar. Whether it was the way their big fingers seemed to be so agile as they expertly plucked the strings and slid back and forth on the fretboard, or the way their bodies seemed to melt and become one with their guitar, handsome guitarists had never failed to make her drool. She’d had a not-so-secret crush on Bon Jovi’s guitarist when she was a teenager, which had made her the favorite target of her brothers’ teasing back then.
Yes, Kean was annoying, and he made her want to kick him in the shins whenever they interacted, but she couldn’t deny he was handsome. A rugged kind of beauty, with the ever-present five o’clock shadow, those unruly dark curls, and his apparent love for jeans and sweatshirts—all things that she was sure had women falling at his feet more often than not. And maybe he took advantage of it, too. She’d bet he had women sneaking out of his room at the crack of dawn every other day.
“Hi, guys,” Scott spoke into the microphone, and the buzz of chat and laughter died down. Charli forced her stare away from Kean, before he caught her ogling, and focused on the blond-haired guy with the friendly smile and deep voice. “I know it’s not Saturday, so we shouldn’t hog the stage, but as you know, our deputy is getting married to our lovely teacher tomorrow, and we wanted to celebrate with some good music. What do you say?”
A chorus of yes, hell yeah, and hollers erupted in the room. Ellie chuckled, and Adam pulled her in for a quick kiss, earning some more woot-woots from the people closest to their table. Okay, so it wasn’t a fancy nightclub, but Charli was starting to enjoy the camaraderie and the laid-back vibe that permeated the air.
Kean played a powerful downstroke that reverberated through the pub, and Cayden followed with a sequence of fast drum rolls. Then he beat the drumsticks one against the other with a “Two, three, four” and Kean opened the song with another downstroke. As the notes of ‘Born To Be My Baby’ by Bon Jovi echoed in the room, she stared slightly transfixed at the handsome guitarist on stage, his fingers moving on the fretboard, his sneakered foot tapping the rhythm, and his body swaying.
Charli reached for a napkin and wiped her lips, pretty sure she’d been drooling just a moment ago. He was annoying but, holy guacamole, was he sexy with a guitar hanging off his neck.
Maybe the night hadn’t been such a disaster, after all.
Chapter 6
“Don’t you dare cry. You’re going to ruin your makeup, and I’m going to start crying too, and then we’ll look like pandas.” Charli shook Ellie by the shoulders, making everyone in the room laugh. Nicole, the hairdresser and beauty therapist who owned the local salon, had done a great job on Ellie and the other bridesmaids, but if Ellie started crying, Charli wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears. And it would be a mess.
Ellie chuckled as she fanned her face and blinked rapidly to fight back the traitorous tears. Once the disaster was averted Charli went back to being in charge of the three bridesmaids, Adam’s cousins Erin and Kacey, who’d earned their spots on the bridesmaid team since they were like sisters to the Cavanagh brothers, and Lauren. The three girls, wearing beautiful burgundy gowns with long, lace sleeves, all flitted about Ellie’s small cottage following Charli’s orders.
“Ladies, are you ready?” Ethan called from outside the room, his tone slightly nervous—exactly the way the father of the bride’s would be. “I know it’s probably trendy for the bride to show up late but—”
“We’re ready.” Charli opened the door and smiled at the handsome guy in a dark grey suit. He took a step forward, then froze when his eyes landed on his sister.
“You’re… wow, Els.”
Ellie smiled as her cheeks pinked a little. “You’re just saying that because you’re my brother.”
He took her hand while his other brushed the veil off her shoulder. “No. I’m saying it because I mean it. You look gorgeous, and I do hope Cavanagh knows how lucky he is.”
“I’m the lucky one.” Ellie’s eyes took on that dreamy expression Charli had witnessed every time her friend had looked at her fiancé over the last week. The look of real happiness and pure bliss. The look of true love. She had a feeling she’d never get to experience those feelings herself, and the thought stung.
“Yeah, okay, you’re both very lucky. Now let’s go, before your groom thinks he’s been jilted.” Charli interrupted the emotional moment out of wedding planner’s efficiency—and maybe the sting of tears behind her eyelids had given her a shove and shaken her from her pity fest.
The wedding party got into the car Lauren had borrowed from her mother, while Ethan got behind the wheel of a rented black Mercedes, smiling from ear to ear as excited as a kid in a toy shop. Guys and their love for cars—Charli would never understand that.
While Lauren followed Ethan, Charli went through her last-minute checklist from the passenger seat. She dialed Enya’s number to check everything was okay on their end. Once she’d made sure that the groom was already there, pacing nervously in a circle while trying to convince his daughter to keep the petals in her wicker basket, and that the best man and the rest of the groomsmen had all shown up on time, she relaxed against the seat, knowing these would be the last ten minutes of peace before the craziness of the day took over. She could only hope that, since Ellie had insisted on a small ceremony without too much fanfare, there would be no major glitches.
At the church, Charli got back into efficient wedding planner mode, smoothing gowns, fluffing hair, and interrogating Sophie to make sure she knew what she had to do. The little girl had been ultra-excited about her role as flower girl. She’d given Charli a headache by insisting Meatball should walk down the aisle with her, and Adam and Ellie had asked Charli to figure out a way to let the dog take part in the wedding.
So now Meatball was wagging her tail beside Sophie, waiting for their turn to walk down the aisle. Charli could only hope the dog wouldn’t need a toilet break until the ceremony was over, or she’d have a breakdown.
To say Ellie was nervous would be an understatement. Her hands hadn’t stopped shaking since she got out of bed. She’d barely managed to drink a glass of orange juice and eat the slice of buttered toast that Charli had all but forced down her throat, and she’d gotten teary-eyed over the silliest t
hings. Charli knew that the major reason for Ellie’s emotion was because of the two missing guests—her mom and dad. And Charli hated knowing that even though she was the best event planner on the West Coast, she’d never be able to make her best friend’s wedding perfect. Too bad they didn’t teach you how to bring back the dead in Wedding Planning 101.
“Okay, girls, get in line. We’re up in sixty seconds.”
A chorus of “Yes, boss” answered as the three bridesmaids took their places. She smiled. Kacey, the youngest of Cayden’s siblings, was at the front of the line, followed by her older sister Erin, and lastly by Lauren, who nodded at Charli to remind her she was supposed to get in line too.
“Oops, sorry. I’ve never been a guest at a wedding I planned.” Charli lifted a shoulder, then checked that Ellie was ready and not seconds away from bawling. When her friend smiled brightly, she turned back to the bridesmaids and nodded. “Let’s do it.”
As the girls started their march down the aisle, Charli couldn’t stop her wedding planner’s mind from working overtime and checking everything was as it was supposed to be. When she eventually looked up toward the group of Cavanagh men standing next to Adam, which included his brothers, and his cousins Cayden and Ryley, she had to admit they were quite a sight to behold.
Kean had been Adam’s best man at his first wedding, so Adam had wanted his younger brother Kyle to be his best man today. Which had turned out to be a good idea; at least she wouldn’t have to feel awkward pairing Kyle with Lauren, who, she’d learned from Ellie last night, had been his high-school sweetheart. According to Ellie, neither had ever really gotten over their breakup, although they were both adamant that they had. And she had to agree with Ellie when, the moment Kyle’s blue eyes landed on Lauren, his jaw nearly hit the floor.
Bonus point, thanks to Kyle being the best man, she wouldn’t have to walk side by side with Kean, and risk biting each other’s heads off before they exited the church.
Unplanned Love Page 5
