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Twenty-Three

J ulia bit her freshly glossed lips. Okay, Carson must have asked his friend to push this daily affirmation out to the Positively Productive app.

I release worry and choose forgiveness and trust.

She’d never released worry in her life.

“Jules.” Alex thumped on the door. “I appreciate that you’re having a crisis, but I need to pee and Roberto’s on his way.”

“Be there in a second.”

She pulled the shallow zipper of her bridesmaid’s dress up to her waist. Hmm. Much as she hated to admit Carson was right…this dress was fire. The midnight blue deepened the brown of her eyes as it tastefully bared her body.

Julia tilted her head.

She’d never pick this for herself, but it worked. After flicking her loose blond curls over her shoulders, she opened the door.

“Just gorgeous, honey,” her mother said. The simple column of Mom’s pale blue wedding dress showed off her figure. “I knew that would suit you. Can you believe the next time we do this, it’ll be Alex at the altar?”

Alex’s snort contrasted with the elegant picture she made.

She wore her hair in an intricate network of braids that faded into curls.

Their mother had chosen the same midnight-blue shade for Alex’s dress, but the shape was more fitted, like she could hop into a kayak and paddle to Azul Caye if circumstances demanded it.

“Our wedding won’t be a fancy shindig.” Alex bit into a croissant that Julia had had delivered from Marandons’ Café this morning. “We’re not traditional.”

Julia couldn’t bring herself to eat.

“I’m aware,” their mother said. “Tradition isn’t always handed down. It can be something you make for yourself. When did you know Bo was the one for you?”

Alex’s eyes gleamed like smoky quartz. “It might have been the first time I saw him.”

“That’s the flechazo.” Mom peered in the standing mirror as she applied lipstick. “The women in our family fall fast and hard. It will find Julia someday, too, if it hasn’t already.”

Julia locked gazes with Alex.

Tell her , her sister mouthed.

She closed her eyes. Tell Mom? Mom loved to dissect every juicy detail about relationships, to languish, to wallow. Julia, however, preferred to make quick decisions on her own.

But this was too big.

If she didn’t confide in Mom, she’d be keeping her at arm’s length about a huge chunk of her life. They’d managed to bridge so much over the last two weeks. Like the dress, maybe this sharing style suited her more than she knew.

Quietly, Julia said, “It has.”

“What was that, sweetheart?” Mom fluffed her shoulder-length curls. “I didn’t hear you.”

Dammit. Julia cleared her throat. “I said it has. Found me. The flechazo.”

“Oh?” Mom pivoted from the mirror. “Who’s the lucky person?”

Oh God. Deep breath. There was no taking it back if she said it out loud, but she had to tell her. Her mother wanted to know what was happening in her life.

I release worry and choose to trust.

“Carson.” Julia braced herself.

Her mother blinked. “Carson?”

“I tried to stop it because we’re stepsiblings, but I couldn’t, and Christmas will be hella awkward every year, but don’t worry because it’s already over, and I’m sorry if this makes your wedding day super weird.”

Mom slid an arm around her shoulders. “Julia, dear, take a breath.”

She did as ordered, then took another one. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be silly.” Mom squeezed her shoulder. “I thought this might happen.”

“You—” She clutched her phone. “What?”

“Carson went to your high school, didn’t he? I recognized his name as soon as I met him. You covered him extensively in your diaries.”

Alex snickered. “I told you journaling was trouble.”

“Mom.” Julia’s cheeks heated. She’d written everything in those journals. Roberto…edibles…how much she hated coming back to LA… Her mother must have been devastated. “Those were private. And hidden in my closet.”

“Oh, privacy .” Her mother shooed away the concept.

“If you wanted to hide them you wouldn’t have stored them in a box marked Journals .

It was obvious that you adored Carson. Even if the words are unkind, no one spills that much ink on a young man unless they have a crush.

When I found your yearbook and found his photo, I could see why. ”

Julia worried the tattoos of her forearm. Huh, Carson was right—she did that when she was anxious. “Setting aside your disregard for boundaries, did he know you knew who he was?”

“It didn’t come up, but I spent time with him as Jim and I got more serious. I couldn’t bring him back into your orbit unless he’d changed. I’m happy to report he has.”

That was Julia’s opinion, too. At least, it had been.

“Why didn’t you warn me before the party?”

Her mother released her. “If I told you he’d be there and Jim was his father, would you have come?”

“ Mom. You’ve got to stop manipulating me!” Julia put distance between she and her mother. “Adults don’t do this to each other.”

Her mother shrugged. “Am I so terrible? You two obviously hit it off.”

“Ms. Stone?” Holly called as she rapped against their door. “I have unfortunate news. I tried calling.”

Julia flung the door open. “Is everything okay?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” Holly’s eyes were wide and shining.

This must’ve been serious. Please, please, please not Carson.

With a pounding heart, Julia opened the door. “What is it?”

“Sargassum. It’s back. This is so unusual. We may be able to clear it, but the odor…”

Oh thank God. It wasn’t anything serious.

Holly froze, waiting for her reaction.

What, like she’d rain hell on her for not controlling nature and stopping rotten seaweed from beaching itself?

A small giggle bubbled from her, became a river, then an ocean of laughter.

She might’ve a week ago, when she was wound tighter than a fishing line that hooked a marlin.

But now? After a week in the most beautiful home on Earth?

She doubled over, bracing her hands on her knees as she quaked.

“Julia?” Alex palmed her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Never better.” She rose and thumbed tears from her eyes. “The benefit of dealing with lifelong anxiety is I’m weirdly calm when a legitimate crisis hits. How’s my makeup?”

“Intact,” Holly said.

“Hooray for waterproof mascara.” She hesitated, then fired off a text to Carson.

Sargassum has landed. Activate Plan B. I’ll arrange transportation and text Roberto. Holly’s handling flowers. You inform the string trio and the groom’s side, I’ll do the bride’s.

Immediate response. Got it. Thanks for forcing us to have a Plan B ready to go.

“What’ll we do?” her mother moaned. “Our wedding can’t smell like rotten eggs.”

Julia texted Esperanza, who’d agreed, after some choice words, to be on standby with Stone Adventures’ vans to provide transportation if they needed to go with Plan B.

“Already handled, Mom. Instead of the beach, you’ll exchange vows on a pyramid.”

“Just like that?” Mom dropped her shoulders.

Alex grinned. “That’s impressive.”

“Thank you.” She savored the moment.

For her mother and sister to recognize she knew what she was doing was a rare treat. But she couldn’t dawdle. Too much to convey before they decamped to the ruins.

Julia invited the events manager inside. “Holly, let’s huddle.”

* * *

Three dozen people gathered on these ancient ruins for the bride to make her appearance, but Carson’s eyes were hungry for Julia. He, Uncle Bill, and Danny lined up behind Dad as the string trio kicked off the song Michelle picked for their entrance—Fleetwood Mac’s “You Make Loving Fun.”

“Thanks for making me see sense,” Dad said.

Carson clapped a hand to his shoulder. “No problem.”

Sweat prickled his back. They’d busted their asses to help park staff set up chairs and the wedding arch he’d swiped from the stinking beach. Luckily, he’d had enough forethought to order the groomsmen to strip off their blue Oxfords to prevent sweat stains and wrinkles.

Bedraggled was not the best aesthetic for the wedding photos.

A giant smile split Dad’s face. “There they are.”

The bridesmaids emerged from the ancient pyramid’s tunnel to the platform.

Carson sucked in a breath. Julia was stunning.

The setting sun’s golden beams loaned her an angelic glow, and the dress—the one she’d said was not her style—caressed her curves the way he’d like to every day for the rest of his life.

He had to fix this.

Whatever it took, whatever she demanded, he’d do it.

The past eighteen hours of radio silence were miserable.

He’d finally learned the lesson life had been trying to teach him for years: It didn’t matter how well-intentioned his half-truths and lies were or how scared he was that someone he loved might abandon him. Honesty was the only way.

People didn’t always love the truth, but they fucking hated lies.

Julia most of all.

“This is better than the beach,” Dad said.

Mary led the way down the makeshift aisle. Julia and Alex flanked their mother and escorted her toward his dad. The simple smile Dad and Michelle shared was deep with meaning.

“Shall we?” Dad offered her his hand.

“Yes, please,” Michelle said.

Carson paid zero attention to the ceremony, almost flubbing the handover of the rings. He tried to catch Julia’s eye over her mother’s shoulder.

And failed.

Now, during the bridal party pictures, as guests climbed aboard the vans to return to the resort for cocktail hour, Julia refused to stand next to him. He almost admired the gymnastic shuffling she did to avoid him.

Almost.

“Best man?” Roberto had elevated his style today. Instead of flip-flops, he wore slip-on sneakers. “Maids of honor and best man?”

Alex stepped away from the group. “I was Mom’s maid of honor last time, so this one’s just Julia.”

Hope sparked inside Carson. If the sisters hated him, Alex would’ve shanked him with the pocketknife she always carried.

“Hi,” he murmured.

Nothing.

“Julia.”

She glanced up at him, and the sunset caught on her helix earring. It didn’t hold a candle to the anger flashing in her eyes.