The (Not So) Perfect Day: Falling in Friar Hollow #1 Read online

The very word conjured up one image in his mind’s eye—Ellie. But soon he wouldn’t have her to come home to, would he? Or at least, it wouldn’t be the same. She wouldn’t be his. And he wouldn’t be hers.

  He shook off the thought, letting out a huff of cynical laughter at his sentimental thoughts.

  Even if her marriage changed things between them, they would still be friends. That was what really mattered, that they always had one another to lean on. Surely he was overreacting. It would all be fine. Ellie’s engagement was a good thing—probably.

  Most likely.

  Reaching for his bag, he readied himself for the journey ahead and tried to get his head on straight. He’d go home and he’d stand by Ellie no matter what, because he was her best friend and that’s what best friends did. But while he was at it? He’d make sure this Marcus Finlay was a stand-up guy. Marcus would never be worthy of Ellie Thatcher—no one would be good enough for her in Ian’s eyes—but he could make sure that she wasn’t about to get hurt.

  That was the least he could do for his very best friend.

  * * *

  Ellie clasped her hands in front of her chest, adopted her best wide-eyed look of innocence, and blurted it out. “Maybe we should postpone the wedding.”

  Her reflection stared back at her, entirely unimpressed by that pitch, just as it had been for the last few rehearsals.

  She shook her head, her blonde waves bouncing around her face as she took a deep, fortifying breath and turned away from that judgmental reflection to face the bathroom door leading to the foyer of the adorable little lodge where the wedding would be held in two weeks’ time.

  Her reflection was right to judge. Two weeks! It was far too late to postpone. The wedding guest list was small but Marcus’s family had made arrangements to come from out of state and they both had friends coming from out of town. They couldn’t go and postpone the wedding just because she was missing her best friend.

  But honestly, where was he already?

  She rubbed the tip of her upturned nose, a nervous habit she’d adopted in childhood, probably as a vain attempt to hide her least favorite appendage. Ian called it cute, she called it a pug nose. Either way, it added to the overall uppity image she couldn’t quite shake.

  She might have wealth, but she was no spoiled brat. Though, try telling the catering company that.

  She tilted her head back with a groan. In a frenzied fit, she’d gone and fired the catering company that had agreed to cater her wedding at the last minute. She shouldn’t have expected miracles from any catering company that had an opening at such short notice, but was it too much to ask that she be able to swallow the sample platters she and Marcus had been subjected to a few days ago at the tasting?

  She didn’t think so. But now… She squelched another moan of misery. Now she had to find another catering company. Like, right this second. A company that was not only decent but that had an opening in two weeks’ time, that wasn’t totally unreasonable on the budget, and who could manage to juggle all the dietary needs of Marcus’s impressively finicky family.

  Voices coming from the lobby on the other side of the door had her tensing. Marcus should be here at any moment and there was no time to waste. It was too late to postpone, which meant decisions had to be made.

  She pasted a smile on her face and stepped out of the bathroom, only to run smack into Marcus. He started for a moment before reaching out to steady her. “Hello, beautiful.” He greeted her with that fabulous smile she loved so much and she felt some of her nerves calm.

  It wasn’t like she was in this alone. She had Marcus. Handsome, reliable, thoughtful Marcus. Even if it wasn’t the middle of a weekday, the fact that he was wearing a dark suit and tie clued her in to the fact that he had come from work. Linking her arm through his, she let him lead her toward the main foyer of the lodge. “Thank you for meeting me,” she said. “I know you have a busy day filled with meetings.”

  He waved away her concerns. “Nothing more pressing than this.”

  Good answer. She took a deep, fortifying breath. “I know my canceling the caterers seemed a little rash, but I think we’ll both be happy I did in the long run.”

  He nodded, his gaze scanning the room as she spoke. The lodge, while local, still felt like a dream come true to Ellie. It wasn’t a fine hotel or a luxurious spa, but it had a sort of homey feel to it that she’d known at once was what she wanted for her guests. Tucked back in the woods, with its log walls, vaulted ceilings, and large fireplaces, it was the sort of place that made her want to curl up with a book and a glass of wine on one of those overstuffed leather couches by the fire. Good weather or bad, this place had the feel of a true escape into nature.

  At this moment the lodge was quite possibly the only part of this wedding she still felt good about. “You do agree, don’t you?” she asked. Canceling the caterers had seemed like the right move at the time, but this wedding was for the two of them and a little reassurance would have been welcome.

  He looked down at her, his brown eyes still crinkled up in a smile as he patted her hand. “Whatever you want, princess. This is your big day.”

  That had been his answer every time she posed a wedding-related dilemma to him. Roses or daisies? Pink bridesmaid dresses or yellow? Every question was met with the same answer. Whatever you want. Whatever makes you happy. Always some variation of that same theme.

  Most of the time she enjoyed the fact that he trusted her opinion, but today it was not the reassurance she needed. Normally his calm nature would help to relax her, but at this particular moment it had the opposite effect. She let out a little huff of exasperation. “Well, actually, it’s our big day and—”

  “Ah, there she is.” He interrupted her with a broad smile aimed at someone over her shoulder before she could remind him that she hated being called princess. It was silly, really. She ought to let it go. But they were getting ready to spend the rest of their lives together and she couldn’t bear the thought of spending the remainder of her life being referred to by a nickname that evoked images of spoiled heiresses or diamond-collared poodles.

  She wasn’t embarrassed by her wealth, but it wasn’t as though she’d been raised as some trust fund child. If she could give back all of her money for one more day with her parents, she would. But as that hadn’t been an option, she’d taken the inheritance and turned it into a small fortune—one that she tried to honor her parents with by donating to charities in their name.

  She strove awfully hard to not be the sort of self-indulgent, entitled person one might call a princess.

  However, now was not the time to remind Marcus of this. He was still smiling at a brunette who was heading in their direction with a cat-like smile, a slick hairstyle, and a form-fitting purple dress that managed to still look classy while leaving little to the imagination regarding the exact dimensions of her figure.

  “Cherise,” he said as she drew close enough for him to take her outstretched hand. “How good to see you again.” He pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek that had Ellie blinking in surprise.

  They both turned their smiling faces in her direction and she recovered in time.

  “Darling,” Marcus said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’d like you to meet Cherise Richmond, a friend of my sister Evangeline.”

  “Oh.” Any awkward sensations she’d felt watching her fiancé kiss another woman faded quickly and were replaced by rueful amusement at the uncharacteristic surge of jealousy. She’d never been the jealous type before. Then again, she’d never been engaged before. Maybe it went with the territory.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Cherise.” She reached for the other woman’s hand to shake it but found a cold, limp fish where a hand ought to be. At least, that was what it felt like. Ellie turned her gaze upward with a questioning look for Marcus and he was quick to explain. “Cherise is a prominent wedding planner in the city, princess.”

  She stiffened at the nickname. They’d really have to have a talk about that…later. For now, she was trying to understand what was going on here. It seemed Marcus was done talking so she turned her expectant gaze to the other woman. “Are you planning a wedding here at the lodge as well?”

  This was a hilarious joke, apparently. A hilarious unintentional joke. Both Marcus and Cherise let out a gusty laugh and she squirmed like a child in the face of their patronizing smiles.

  “I’ve hired Cherise for our wedding, darling,” Marcus said.

  She blinked. “Excuse me?”

  Ellie thought she caught a flicker of annoyance in his eyes but it was gone before she could be sure. He leaned in a little closer and lowered his voice, “Cherise has kindly agreed to work on our wedding.”

  His smile prompted hers. It seemed to say ‘don’t be rude in front of my friend’ and it snapped Ellie out of her stunned state. “How lovely.”

  Marcus’s grin was that of a proud father whose daughter just recited a poem from start to finish with only the slightest bit of prompting.

  She gave her head a little shake, and shook off the uncharitable thought along with it. She’d been too hard on Marcus lately, and she knew it. Things between them had been going so well until this wedding business came up. Now it seemed they were forever misunderstanding one another. Like right now, for example. He was regaling her with Cherise’s star-studded clientele as the other woman ducked her head with false modesty and tucked some nonexistent stray hairs behind her ears.

  “But—” The protest just sort of slipped out before she could stop it.

  He stopped talking and suddenly two sets of eyes were fixed on her and both were filled with question.

  “But, uh…” She lowered her voice and spoke directly to Marcus. “I thought we agreed that I’d be planning our wedding.” She flashed a quick smile at the other woman. “No offense, of course. Obviously, we’d be lucky to have someone with your expertise but—”

  “Cherise is doing this as a kindness to my family, princess,” Marcus said slowly, his voice filled with warning. It seemed they were having a conversation in subtext, the kind that one could read through frozen smiles and gritted teeth. Don’t embarrass me. She’s doing us a favor.

  “Marcus’s sister has been my dear friend since high school,” Cherise said to Ellie. “And Marcus has always been so good to me. It would be my pleasure to help you both.”

  Marcus tightened his arm around her shoulder, almost as though he could feel another protest brewing. “Darling, I thought this would make you happy. You’ve been so stressed about the wedding details lately and it seemed like you could use some help.”

  You could have asked! Or, better yet, you could’ve helped! She swallowed back both responses because neither seemed appropriate before a stranger. Instead she smiled up at him and said quietly, “Angela has been helping me. In fact, she’s on her way here right now.”

  “Wonderful,” Marcus said. “You and your friend can take a much deserved day off while Cherise and I run through the budget and other logistics you don’t need to worry about.”

  She opened her mouth and closed it again. Yes, there was a little part of her that felt a touch ruffled by his high-handed approach, not to mention the way he made it sound as though the budget were none of her business when they’d agreed to split all the costs of the wedding down the middle just like they’d be doing from here on out.

  But before she could get too irritated, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was overreacting. Hadn’t she wanted him to take more of an interest in their wedding day? Now he was and she was irritated about it.

  She really was losing it these days. It wasn’t like her to be so fickle, nor so emotionally scattered. Maybe Marcus was right, maybe a little relaxation time was exactly what she needed.

  “Hey there, wedding peeps.” Angela’s voice behind her brought with it a wave of relief.

  Ellie brightened as she turned to see her friend heading in their direction with her cheerful smile. “Hi, I’m Angela,” she said, thrusting her hand out in Cherise’s direction as soon as she reached Ellie’s side, not pausing to wait to be introduced.

  Cherise hesitated for a moment, clearly taken by surprise by the new addition, but soon enough she was smiling that same professional smile and shaking the proffered hand.

  Ellie quickly stepped in and explained to Cherise that Angela was the maid of honor who’d also been helping her organize the wedding. To Angela she explained how Cherise was planning to take them on as her newest clients.

  Angela’s gaze bore into hers as Ellie spoke but she refused to acknowledge the questions there. She held her breath for a moment when she was done speaking, afraid that Angela would come right out and say what she was thinking. Ellie didn’t know exactly what that was, but she could guess. She was likely just as confused as Ellie about this sudden and unexpected change of plans.

  However, Angela appeared to understand the friend ESP going on because she kept her mouth shut, merely smiling and nodding as though this were always part of the plan. As if Ellie and Marcus had always intended to have some bigshot New York City event planner organize their intimate ceremony.

  “Marcus is right, Ellie,” Cherise said, evidently picking up the conversation as though Angela had never interrupted. “You’ve handled the bulk of the work, and you must be exhausted.”

  Ellie didn’t respond. She wouldn’t say exhausted, but she definitely felt fried.

  Cherise rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t you and your friend take the day off. Marcus and I can take it from here, can’t we, Marky Mark?”

  Marky Mark? Ellie blinked in surprise but Marcus—who she’d only ever heard referred to as Marcus, even by his family—took the casual nickname in stride. “Marky Mark,” he repeated with a chuckle. “No one’s called me that in ages.” To Ellie, he added, “That’s what my sister used to call me when we were kids.”

  Ellie smiled. “How cute.”

  Marcus’s smile faded and his eyes clouded with concern. “But Cherise is right. I’ve let you handle this all on your own for too long—”

  “I didn’t mind.”

  He didn’t seem to notice her interruption. “You two go have fun. Leave the rest to us.”

  Ellie opened her mouth and shut it as she looked between Marcus and Cherise. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Cherise; she just didn’t know her. And Marcus…well, she was almost certain he didn’t realize just how many decisions still needed to be made.

  Still, she could see how much it meant to Marcus to help, and that alone had her snapping her mouth shut. She’d been so sure his ‘whatever you want’ responses had meant he didn’t care about the details of this wedding, but maybe she’d had it all wrong. Who was she to begrudge him a say in their nuptials?

  She was already half convinced that she should leave them to it, and Angela sealed the deal by slipping her arm through Ellie’s and tugging her in the direction of the back lawn. “Come on, El,” she said. “Let’s go explore the fun perks. You know, you’re not going to have time to relax on your actual wedding day.”

  Ellie laughed because it was the truth. She’d likely be busy from morning until night on the big day. While she wanted her guests to enjoy their surroundings, she should be able to enjoy it as well. In fact, she’d been thinking about renting some rooms at the lodge for the entire week leading up to the ceremony so she, Marcus, and her friends could enjoy the location at their leisure, but she’d been so busy dealing with the wedding planning she hadn’t had a chance to make the reservations. If they dealt with the wedding, she could plan their leisure time leading up to it.

  Feeling more satisfied now that she had a plan, Ellie allowed herself to be dragged away by Angela. “Let me know if you need my help,” she called back over her shoulder. But she needn’t have bothered. Her fiancé and the new wedding planner were already huddled in toward one another as Cherise called up something on her phone to show him.

  He was clearly in good hands, which meant that she could finally relax and enjoy herself.

  Without Ian.

  She stifled a sigh at the sad thought. Her friends had been right last week when they’d pointed out that he often fell off the radar for weeks at a time—it was all a part of his job. But this silence felt longer than most. Of course, she’d never tried to send her best friend a wedding invite before. Maybe his silence just felt extra long because she was anxiously awaiting his return.

  Still, every time he was silent she worried, and this time the worry had grown to outright fear. What if he’d fallen ill? What if he was hurt somewhere? What if he desperately wanted to RSVP but couldn’t for some reason?

  Ian was just working, that was the only reason she hadn’t heard from him. They’d agreed long ago that she wasn’t allowed to worry about him when he was gone. He wouldn’t want her to. He could take care of himself and when he eventually surfaced, which he would—he always did—they’d have a good laugh about how silly she’d been to worry.

  She shook off the paranoid thoughts that threatened to creep in and ruin what looked to be a perfect day. Angela led her outside to the large green lawn that was edged by a picturesque river and long row of weeping willow trees.

  She took a deep breath of the fresh spring air and forced her shoulders to relax as she listened to Angela talk about the different ways in which the chairs could be arranged. “If you face the lodge, the sun will be setting over there.” She pointed west with a sigh. “It’s going to be perfect, Ellie.”

  Perfect. Ellie smiled. Her friend was right; it would be perfect. The place was perfect, the cake would be perfect, and all the other millions of other details would all be perfect as well, thanks to her thoughtful fiancé.

  It would truly be the perfect day…

  But only if Ian was there.

  Chapter Four

  Griff’s expression when he pulled up at the curb of the local airport gave Ian a pretty good idea of how much trouble he was in.