by Trish Morey
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TRISH always fancied herself a writer, but she dutifully picked gherkins and washed dishes in a Chinese restaurant on her way to earning herself an economics degree and a qualification as a chartered accountant instead. Work took her to Canberra where she promptly fell in love with a tall, dark and handsome hero who cut computer code, and marriage and four daughters followed, which gave Trish the chance to step back from her career and think about what she’d really like to do.
Writing romantic fiction was at the top of the list, so Trish made a choice and followed her heart. It was the right choice. Since then, she’s sold more than thirty titles to Harlequin with sales in excess of seven million globally, with her books printed in more than thirty languages in forty countries worldwide.
Four times nominated and two times winner of Romance Writers of Australia’s RuBY Award for Romantic Book of the Year, Trish was also a 2012 RITA finalist in the US.
You can find out more about Trish and her upcoming books at www.trishmorey.com and you can email her at [email protected]. Trish loves to hear from her readers.
The Trouble with Choices
Trish Morey
www.harlequinbooks.com.au
To Gavin,
Happy 30th anniversary to my favourite hero.
Thank you for our four gorgeous girls, the laughs along the way,
and for being there through thick and thin.
All my love,
Trish xxx
CONTENTS
About the Author
Chapter 1: Sophie
Chapter 2: Beth
Chapter 3: Hannah
Chapter 4: Sophie
Chapter 5: Hannah
Chapter 6: Beth
Chapter 7: Sophie
Chapter 8: Beth
Chapter 9: Hannah
Chapter 10: Nick
Chapter 11: Beth
Chapter 12: Hannah
Chapter 13: Hannah
Chapter 14: Beth
Chapter 15: Hannah
Chapter 16: Sophie
Chapter 17: Nick
Chapter 18: Sophie
Chapter 19: Nick
Chapter 20: Hannah
Chapter 21: Sophie
Chapter 22: Beth
Chapter 23: Sophie
Chapter 24: Nick
Chapter 25: Sophie
Chapter 26: Hannah
Chapter 27: Sophie
Chapter 28: Nick
Chapter 29: Hannah
Chapter 30: Beth
Chapter 31: Nick
Chapter 32: Sophie
Chapter 33: Hannah
Chapter 34: Nick
Chapter 35: Beth
Chapter 36: Sophie
Chapter 37: Hannah
Chapter 38: Sophie
Chapter 39: Beth
Chapter 40: Hannah
Chapter 41: Sophie
Chapter 42: Hannah
Chapter 43: Beth
Chapter 44: Sophie
Chapter 45: Beth
Chapter 46: Sophie
Chapter 47: Nick
Chapter 48: Beth
Chapter 49: Sophie
Chapter 50: Hannah
Chapter 51: Sophie
Chapter 52: Nick
Chapter 53: Beth
Chapter 54: Sophie
Chapter 55: Hannah
Chapter 56: Sophie
Chapter 57: Sophie
Chapter 58: Hannah
Chapter 59: Sophie
Chapter 60: Beth
Chapter 61: Hannah
Chapter 62: Nick
Chapter 63: Sophie
Chapter 64: Hannah
Chapter 65: Nick
Chapter 66: Sophie
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
1
Sophie
Nan started playing ‘Here Comes the Bride’ on the organ up front, while the words going around and around in Sophie Faraday’s head marched to a different tune.
I’m just not that into you.
Sophie swallowed against the lump in her throat. A fine time for Jason to realise that little fact, the night before her brother got hitched. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, but she wouldn’t cry, not now, not when she was about to walk down the aisle at Dan and Lucy’s wedding. Even if she had blown five hundred dollars on a spa suite at Mount Lofty House, where she’d now be spending the night alone.
Five hundred dollars!
She lifted her face to the blue sky and breathed deeply. Oh God, don’t cry! If she started now, she’d never stop.
She blinked hard as Siena started down the red carpet, barely registering the oohs and aahs over how grown up her ten-year-old niece looked today in her lilac-coloured junior bridesmaid gown. A gentle puff of spring breeze, the air sweetly scented, sent white cherry blossom drifting over the congregation, their petals landing on shoulders and in hair.
And even from the depths of her own personal hell, Sophie had to hand it to Dan and Lucy. It was genius to get married in the orchard in springtime. It was the perfect venue for a wedding. So beautiful. So utterly romantic.
So unlike Jason.
Sniff.
What had he told her when she’d asked him why? That she was too demanding. Too needy.
Of course she’d been needy!
She’d needed him to get on that plane and arrive back in Adelaide from his fly-in-fly-out job like they’d arranged. She’d needed him to be her sexy, loving partner today, to pull her against him and tell her how much he’d missed her these last three weeks they’d been apart. She’d needed him to smile down at her and laugh at her jokes like she was the only woman alive.
Most of all, she’d needed not to be dumped the night before her own brother’s wedding.
And that somehow meant she had a problem?
Siena reached the front and peeled off to the left, and Beth was the next to follow her daughter down the aisle. The organ kept right on pumping out the notes and Sophie watched her sister as if on autopilot.
Three months they’d been together. Three months and four days to be exact since Jason had seen her profile on the dating site, HEA.com, and messaged her, wanting to meet up on his next break. The start of a beautiful relationship, he’d told her as he’d gazed into her eyes the very first time they’d met, he was sure of it. And she’d believed it was, meeting every break since, bar one, until that beautiful relationship had crunched to a sudden halt less than twenty-four hours ago.
So much for happy-ever-after-dot-com. More like happy never after, the way her luck was going.
She gripped the posy in her hands that much tighter, imagining her fingers wrapped around Jason’s throat right now. He might have waited until after the wedding. Could have left his ‘I’m just not that into you’ speech for another time. Surely he could have pretended to be into her for just one more day, not to mention one more very expensive night?
Five hundred dollars!
‘Sophie!’ her older sister Hannah hissed behind her. ‘Get going!’
She snapped to with a start, saw Beth already at the front and everyone looking expectantly her way. Even Nan missed a couple of notes because she was looking over her shoulder. Crap!
She took off too fast and wobbled on her heels. Whoa, she thought, clutching onto her posy like a lifeline and using all of the pause before the next step to steady herself. Maybe she shouldn’t have downed that last glass of champagne. Or the one before it, for that matter. But then, it was a day for celebrating.
Not to mention a day for drowning her sorrows.
Still, it wouldn’t be a good look if she fell flat on her face during the bridal procession. She almost snorted at that, though snorting would hardly be a good loo
k, either. But at least now she didn’t have to force a smile. The mental image of herself face-planting into the red carpet during the wedding march saw to that.
Wagner’s famous processional sounded through the valley, and the soft air rippled the silk of her gown and sent another sprinkle of cherry blossom raining down onto the proceedings, as Sophie methodically—meticulously—put one foot in front of the other, and slowly made her way forward. By the time she got near the front without disgracing herself, her confidence was building and she was grinning in triumph. Dan was frowning a little, but that was no surprise—he was her older brother after all, and he’d have found something to be annoyed about—probably Nan missing those notes. She sent him a wink, and only then noticed the best man standing beside him, almost missing her next step. Because Nick Pasquale, she couldn’t help but notice, had scrubbed up well for the occasion, so well she almost hadn’t recognised him. She added a few more watts to her smile and aimed it in his direction in appreciation.
There was definitely something sexy about a man all gussied up for a wedding.
Hello …
The lightbulb smacked her right between the eyes, her realisation sparking a new resolution.
Stuff Jason!
Because this was a wedding and there had to be lots of eligible men here, and all of them dressed up for the occasion. Not Nick, of course—he’d always treated her like a little sister, and she had a spa suite going begging and wasn’t planning on being treated like anyone’s little sister tonight—but it was a wedding and she’d dropped four kilos in the last month, and she was a pretty hot-looking bridesmaid if she did say so herself. And if she couldn’t get a shag at a wedding when she was a bridesmaid and looked this good, she really was hopeless.
Fired up with her new resolve, she winked at Beth as she took her place alongside, but her sister was staring into space, lost in her thoughts, Siena in front of her busy plucking at her unfamiliar skirts.
So when Hannah arrived, Sophie grinned at her instead. Now there was only Kate, Lucy’s friend and matron of honour, to walk down the aisle before the bride made her entrance. Before long, the formalities would be over with and Sophie could get stuck into the serious business of finding herself a suitable candidate for the night.
She caught Hannah peering strangely at her before glancing back over her shoulder down the aisle. Leaning closer, she whispered, ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yup,’ Sophie said, ‘never better,’ and Hannah was already straightening, seemingly convinced, except Sophie hiccuped and Hannah must have caught a whiff of alcohol because her eyes opened wide in disbelief.
‘Oh God. Please tell me you’re not drunk!’
This time she did snort, just a little, because the idea was so ridiculous. Of course she wasn’t drunk. A little tipsy maybe …
‘How could you be so stupid?’ her sister hissed.
‘What’s wrong?’ whispered Beth, who’d suddenly decided to pay attention.
‘Sophie’s drunk.’
It was Beth’s turn to look appalled. ‘What?’
In front of them, Siena turned, her big brown eyes blinking up at the three sisters. ‘What are you all whispering about? Who’s drunk?’
‘Shhhh,’ Sophie said, putting a finger to her lips, loving how it would be damn near impossible for anyone to tell if she was slurring that, while her twin sisters either side glowered at her. Then, Kate took her place at the front, and Sophie welcomed the new arrival with another grin and shrugged at the question in the other woman’s eyes, as if she didn’t know what was going on. Meanwhile, the collective gasp behind them told her that the bride was on her way.
Saved by the bride, Sophie thought, thoroughly amused by her own wit. What was Hannah’s problem? Clearly, she couldn’t be that drunk. She turned to watch the woman who would soon be their sister-in-law, and swayed a little as she did, earning herself another glare from Hannah in the process. She raised her eyebrows and grinned back, before the approaching bride snagged her attention.
Because wow, what a bride. Lucy looked amazing as she walked down the aisle on the arm of her mother. Dressed in a cream-coloured lace sheath over a miniskirt, and with cherry blossom artfully woven into a circle on her head, Lucy had never looked happier or more gorgeous. The bridesmaids had all helped Lucy get dressed and played fetch for the hairdresser and makeup artists, who had arrived early in the morning, but none of them could take one shred of credit for how radiant she looked right now. It was all down to Lucy herself, and the love that shone from her eyes and radiated from her smile.
The love she felt for Dan.
Sophie sighed wistfully. And to think her crazy brother had let Lucy walk away when last cherry season was finished and risked losing the love of his life forever.
Sophie glanced over at her big brother, saw his eyes similarly full of admiration and love, and wanted to hug him right then and there for putting this right. Getting Lucy back had been like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, and now marrying her—well, that was no cheap trick. That was pure magic.
The pair reached the front, and if the look Lucy and Dan exchanged wasn’t enough to melt the most cynical of hearts, it sure was enough to peel back the fog of alcohol and let back in the pain of Jason’s betrayal. Sophie choked on a sob, once again fighting back the tears. Was it so unreasonable to want the same kind of love for herself? Was it so unreasonable not to want to wait until she was a crusty thirty-seven years old like her brother to find that special someone to share her life with?
No, it damned well wasn’t.
The organ music faded away and Nan took her seat next to Pop in the row behind. It was birdsong that played the accompaniment while the celebrant welcomed everyone. A simple service, Lucy and Dan had planned. Short and to the point, with just the important bits included to share with family and friends.
It wouldn’t take long and then Sophie could get stuck into the serious business of man hunting. She needed to mingle and check out who else was on the guest list she’d paid only lip service to before today.
And then she felt a familiar pressure and found another reason for hoping the ceremony wouldn’t take too long. She crossed her legs under her gown and pressed her thighs together as inconspicuously as possible. Because all that champagne was doing more than just kicking in.
Right now, she really needed to pee.
2
Beth
Beth Faraday watched Lucy take her place by Dan’s side, and swallowed back a lump in her throat. Lucy looked utterly stunning in her gorgeous lace wedding dress. Every girl should wear a wedding dress once in her life, she remembered her mother telling her, through lips loaded with half a dozen dress-making pins, her hands busy pinning seams in the ivory satin, while Beth had held up her arms, feeling like a fraud.
And, as it turned out, Beth had worn that wedding gown once, to the church where she and Joe were to be married. She’d been determined to wear the dress by then, although she’d dispensed with the veil and added a black sash around her expanding waist.
It wouldn’t have been right to have worn a veil to a funeral.
She blinked away the scratchiness in her eyes, never more grateful that Dan and Lucy had decided to get married here, in the orchard, rather than the little church on the top of the hill where generations of locals had been christened and married and, ultimately, farewelled.
Where Joe had been farewelled.
The celebrant’s words washed over her, words of love and union and what it meant to be married, words that once would have been spoken for her.
A movement right in front distracted her—Siena, tugging at the side seam of her bodice. She smiled softly at her daughter, whose dark-brown eyes would never let her forget Joe, even though Siena would never know him, and not for the first time, she thought how unfair it was. Siena should have a father. She and Joe should be bringing her up together. Instead, Siena was stuck with just her, and both Joe and their daughter had missed out on so much.
> Too much.
‘I do,’ said Dan, and Beth blinked dewy eyes to attention, as it was Lucy’s turn next to answer the big question.
‘I do,’ the bride repeated a few moments later, as a puff of breeze sent another flurry of petals scattering over them all.
God, so very beautiful, and the lump in Beth’s throat grew so large it squeezed tears from her eyes. Bittersweet tears, both happy and sad, for the things that were and for the things that could have been.
Siena pulled at her bodice again, where the seam bit into her waist, and Beth cursed herself that she wasn’t half the dressmaker her mum was. Siena was growing up so fast, she should have known to allow an extra centimetre each side.
A neatly manicured hand flashed out, fingers applying a firm rap against the girl’s shoulder, and her daughter stilled and turned rigid. Beth stiffened with it. Bloody Hannah! Beth peered beyond an oblivious Sophie, who looked like she was in some kind of pain, to her older-by-ten-minutes sister, who was now smiling smugly, her focus one hundred per cent on the words of the vows being exchanged.
Oh yeah, Beth thought, Hannah would be hearing some more words later, too. She just hoped she might pay them the same attention.
3
Hannah
The celebrant looked to the best man. ‘May I have the rings, please?’
Hannah Faraday smiled. Such a lovely service, in spite of her stupid sister getting herself tanked—what was that about?—and her niece jiggling around like a tea bag in a cup. It was lucky she was there to keep this wedding on track.
The celebrant coughed into his curled hand. ‘The rings,’ he prompted, leaning closer, ‘please?’
Nick Pasquale came to with a jolt, and started flapping at his pockets. Hannah rolled her eyes. God, was nobody else paying attention to this ceremony? She looked sideways at her sisters, to see if they shared her frustration, only to see Sophie looking like she was gritting her teeth, and Beth for some reason scowling right at her, and thought, apparently not.
The rings were retrieved, and the wedding got back on track, and Dan and Lucy made their vows to share their lives and to love each other as long as they both shall live.
