Page 27 of The Love Ambush (The Sullivans #1)

Levi looks at me, his eyes sparkling. “A free wedding, babe. It is tempting.”

The warm glow in my chest at him calling me babe almost overshadows my annoyance. “I’m eating my breakfast and taking Emily to visit the reindeer. There will be no more talk of me and Levi getting married.”

“That’s okay,” Emily says. “Liza’s bringing Eden and Ivy over to see the reindeer, too. You don’t have to come with us. You and Levi should go see the town together.”

“It’s really romantic,” Sophie says. “There’s all these really cute shops and a park where you can have a picnic.”

I stare at my sisters, utterly confused. “You two want me and Levi to spend more time together. Why?”

“We just want you to be happy, Gentry,” Emily says, her smile cheesy and over-the-top.

I look back and forth between them, then at Levi. “Do you know what they’re up to?”

Levi mouths sorry to the girls before looking back at me. “They figure if you’re dating me, you’ll be less inclined to meddle, their word, in their affairs.”

“Levi! You traitor,” Emily yells.

“No more yelling this morning,” Josephine says as she steps into the dining room. “What do you all want for breakfast? I’ve got eggs, bacon, and hash browns.”

I stare at my sisters and Levi, everything that happened after we got off the plane making so much more sense.

“That all sounds delicious,” Levi says. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

“No time,” Brodie says. “You two need to try on your stuff for the wedding, and we’re meeting with the priest for lunch to discuss the ceremony.”

“Don’t we do that at the rehearsal?” I ask. I’m happy for my brother, but I’d much rather spend the morning with my sisters and the reindeer, or, if I’m being honest, with Levi, than trying on a dress and having lunch with strangers.

“We’re going over last-minute details. There are a few things we still need to decide.”

“Sorry, Josephine,” I say. “It’s just the kids for breakfast.”

“When will Liza and her girls be here?” I ask Sophie.

“In about an hour,” Sophie says. “We’ll behave while you’re gone.”

“They’ll be fine here,” Josephine says. “I’ll put them to work helping me with the reindeer.”

Sophie’s sixteen. She’s fully capable of watching out for Emily, and Josephine seems like a trustworthy adult, but I still feel like I’m shirking my duty leaving them when I promised Emily I’d be with her to see the reindeer.

“It’s okay,” Sophie says. “Go have fun.”

“We need to go now,” Brodie says. “Daphne’s already at the dress shop and waiting for us.”

I take a last swig of my orange juice and grab my bagel to eat on the way.

“Text me if you need anything,” I tell Sophie.

“We will,” Sophie says.

“Come on.” Brodie puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me forward. “I told Daphne about you and Levi, and she says there’s still time to look at wedding dresses if you want. She’s fully on board with this double wedding idea.”

I roll my eyes, but walk out of the house with him. “Levi and I are not getting married. And if you keep this up, he’s going to run screaming.”

“Don’t worry,” Levi says from behind us. “I’m not going anywhere.”

I look back at him, expecting to see a teasing glint in his eyes or at least to share an eye roll about Brodie, but he meets my gaze with a warm smile like there’s nothing I or my brother can do that’ll scare him away.

Shockingly, that doesn’t worry me at all. In fact, I really, really like it.

***

“So, Brodie says you and Levi might like to make our wedding a double,” Daphne says. I'd been expecting it all morning, but she waited until Liza and her mother left after getting fitted for their dresses.

I was last because I arrived a bit late, and now it’s just me and Daphne.

“Brodie’s not serious,” I say. “Levi and I literally just decided to try dating yesterday.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Seriously? I thought this was a brother’s-best-friend situation.”

I stare at her, thoroughly confused. “A what?”

She smiles sheepishly. “You don’t read romance books, do you?”

“I don’t have time to read anything.” I used to love to read, mostly fantasy, and I miss it.

“Right. Well, in romance books, a common trope is when the female main character, the FMC, is dating her brother’s best friend. They don’t want to tell the brother, because he would hate the idea of them dating.”

“That sounds fun,” I say, although it sounds kind of awful. “But we haven’t been keeping our relationship a secret. We really are new.”

She shakes her head, brow furrowed. “I don’t know why Brodie would be pushing you two to get married. I know he loves Levi like family, he talks about him almost as much as he talks about you and Sophie and Emily, but—”

“He talks about us?” I always assumed Brodie stopped thinking about us as soon as he sent the check every month. And this line of questioning is also the only way I can come up with to avoid having to tell her about what my brother walked in on this morning.

She smiles. “Brodie is so much more sentimental and caring than he lets anyone see. He worries about you and everything you’ve taken on with your sisters.” Her brows rise. “Oh. That’s why he wants you to get married.”

She doesn’t even have to explain it. As soon as she says it, it all makes sense. This isn’t really about preserving my honor at all. “He wants Levi to help me.”

She points at me. “Yep. He’s been up nights stressing that he can’t send you all money anymore. It’s been worrying him so much, I thought his panic attacks might come back.”

“Panic attacks?” I thought I knew my brother so well, but I didn’t know he had panic attacks. He should have told me. I tell him all my problems on a regular basis, but he probably doesn’t want to admit any problems. So typical. “Wait, what do you mean he can’t send us money anymore?”

She winces. “I was hoping he’d tell you himself.” She worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “You deserve to know the whole story, and he’ll never admit it.”

I’m literally on the edge of my seat.

“Found it,” the shop assistant carries the lavender dress into the small fitting room. “I’m sorry that took so long.”

I can’t exactly ask the shop assistant to go away and come back after we’ve finished our conversation. So, I get up and carry the dress into the fitting room. I change quickly and step into the center of the room.

Daphne’s eyes glisten when she looks at me. “I just knew it would be the perfect color for you. Thank you so much for coming all this way to be in my wedding.”

“Of course,” I say. “I’m happy to be here.”

“Step onto the platform, please,” the shop assistant says.

I do as I’m asked, and Daphne talks to me about the plan for her wedding day and where she and Brodie are planning to live after they’re married and how they decided to take a honeymoon close to home to save money.

I’m glad to learn all of it, but I’m dying to know what Brodie’s been keeping from me. The shop assistant is taking forever to pin up the dress.

As soon as we’re finished and in Daphne’s truck, I ask the question on the tip of my tongue. “What’s the whole story?”

Daphne sighs and glances over at me. “You cannot tell your brother I told you this, okay?”

“Okay.”

She nods and returns her attention to the street as she pulls out onto it.

“Your brother is in a lot of debt, Gentry. When he got to Denver with a fancy new job, he overestimated what he could do on his salary and got himself into a mortgage and a car payment that ate up most of his income every month. He figured he’d get a promotion and a raise soon, and started living on his credit card. ”

“I had no idea.”

“I didn’t think you did. He doesn’t want you to worry. He did get the promotion and the raise, but it took about a couple of years longer than he’d expected. It’s going to take him a while to pay off the debt he’s accumulated, and it’s not like I make a lot of money at my job.”

“How has he been sending me money? How did he pay for us to come to the wedding?”

“My parents were happy to cover that,” she says.

“They’re paying for the wedding. And Brodie’s been sending you money by going deeper into debt.

He wants so badly to keep sending you money, but he needs to get his finances in order.

The debt is weighing so heavily on him. He said you have a good job. ”

“I do.” Suddenly, Sophie’s gymnastics class and Emily’s new soccer shoes seem less important. “I feel so awful. I had no idea.”

“There’s no reason for you to feel bad at all. He should have been open with you about his finances.”

“But Brodie doesn’t know how to admit a weakness or ask for help.”

She laughs softly. “He’s nearly perfect otherwise. But yeah, it’s something we’re working on together.”

“I gave him a really hard time about the money.” I rest my head against the seat. “He really worries about us?”

“Of course he does,” she says. “He’s even thought about moving back east to help you out, but he’d have trouble finding work out there.”

“Yeah, he would.” My mind is reeling. I can’t believe how much I’ve misjudged my brother. I mean, obviously it was partly his fault, because he didn’t communicate to me what was going on, but I can’t help feeling like I should have noticed.

Daphne parks the car and pats my shoulder. “I didn’t tell you to make you feel bad. You’ve done nothing wrong, and what you’re doing for your sisters is amazing. I just want you to understand, because you mean a lot to Brodie, and I want you to have the relationship with him you both deserve.”

“I really appreciate that,” I say. “I’m glad Brodie has someone like you.”

She grins. “He is pretty lucky, isn’t he?”

Inside the restaurant, we find Daphne’s family in a small room that’s closed off from the rest of the guests.

I’d expected to see everyone there, but it’s just Daphne’s parents, grandparents, Brodie, Levi, Daphne’s two best friends, two of her brothers, and me.

It’s a large group, but not as huge as I’d been expecting.