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“Knock, knock,” Daphne says, the hinges on the door squeaking. “I thought you might like a little surprise since you’re getting married in a couple hours.”
“Thanks, but I think I just need a little bit of time alone, please.”
“Not going to happen,” a familiar voice says.
Turning, I squeal when I see Gabby standing there with her. “How did you get past security?”
“Daphne snuck me up.” Gabby grins and pulls me into a tight hug. “The other girls are getting ready in our suite.”
“I’m so glad you’re here.” I look over her shoulder to Daphne. “Thank you for doing this for me.”
Daphne nods. “I’m going to grab a few more things, and then we’re going to get you ready to walk down the aisle, okay?”
I nod, my stomach twisting.
I don’t know if I can do this. Especially not the part where I have to walk down the aisle in front of the people I care the most about and lie to them all.
Gabby pulls back as the door shuts behind Daphne. “All right, so you’re going to tell me why you’re crying, and you’re going to tell me right now.”
The familiar rush of guilt consumes me as I sit down on a lounger, looking at the pattern of the stone tiles. “What if I told you that all of this was fake and I’ve been lying to you for weeks because I didn’t know how to tell you the truth?”
She sits down beside me, taking my hand and holding it tight. “Then I would tell you that it’s okay. And whatever is going on here, we’re going to get through it together.”
“I never should’ve lied to you,” I say, voice shaking as I look over at her. “I know I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t know what else to do. It finally felt like things were working out for me for once and I was catching up to everyone else.”
“Why would you have to catch up to us?” Gabby leans closer to me, her shoulder butting against mine. “You’ve never needed to be in the same place as anyone.”
“I know, but it feels like you and the other girls are moving on with your lives and I’m stuck being the same failure that I’ve always been.”
She squeezes my hand tight. “Nobody has ever thought you’re a failure, Amy.”
“You might not have, but I felt like I was.” Laughing, I tilt my head back and look up at the sky. “Xander and I didn’t know each other before he found me on the beach when I couldn’t make it to your party.”
“Yeah, I kind of had a feeling that everything wasn’t quite like you said it was.”
“Not even a little bit. He and I got along well, and we’re attracted to each other, but there’s no love there. He needed a wife to make him look good to the public since he’s newly crowned witha bad reputation, and I wanted a bakery. It seemed like a no-brainer at the time.”
“Oh honey, was this about making your parents and your grandma proud?” Gabby wraps her arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to her. “I know you thought you had to do this for her, but she would’ve been happy just to know that you’re happy.”
“I don’t think I am.”
“Why not?”
I wipe some of my tears, sniffling and shaking my head to try and clear it. “I thought this was going to be a walk in the park. I was going to get married to a man I barely know, get everything I wanted, and at the end of two and a half years, it would all be over.”
“You’re a smart woman, Ames. There’s no way you thought it was going to be that easy.”
I sigh and shrug. “I guess I hoped that it would be.”
“You already sounded infatuated with Xander that morning you called me.”
“I know. I really do know, and I chalked that up to lust. I thought there was something good between us in bed, but I didn’t think we were going to develop feelings for each other. And then I didn’t try to. Back when we started this, I was sure I wouldn’t.”
“And now?”
“Now I love him, and I know he’s never going to love me, and I feel like an idiot for getting in this deep.”
“I can go tell him right now that this isn’t going to work and that I’m taking you home.”