Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 92734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
But then, she had shot and killed his older brother. That kind of made it hard to stand on a pedestal.
He ducked under the shower spray, as if something as simple as water could wash away all his sins. Going to Teague’s wedding was asking for trouble—trouble he couldn’t afford. The peace between the three families was precarious at best, and doing something that might jeopardize it was the height of stupidity.
If he had a brain in his head, he’d leave town tomorrow and avoid the temptation the whole fiasco offered. James shut off the water, knowing damn well that he wasn’t going to do it. He craved the sight of Carrigan, and adding more distance between them, even for a limited time, wasn’t a goddamn option.
Fuck. Looked like he was going to a wedding tomorrow.
* * *
Carrigan didn’t cry. Especially at weddings. Especially at weddings whose planning had been a giant pain in her ass for the last few months and had been arranged by her parents.
But the second Callie started down the aisle in her gorgeous white dress, its train like something out of a fairy tale, and Teague’s eyes shone, Carrigan damn near lost it. He’s so happy. That’s all I ever wanted for him. None of her problems mattered today. They could wait. Teague and Callie’s happiness took priority, and she was more than content to temporarily shelve her own baggage for a while.
She clutched her miniature bouquet while Callie’s father handed her off to Teague and the priest began to talk about love and Christ and marriage. It couldn’t be more obvious that neither of the two people at the altar gave two fucks about his words. They only had eyes for each other.
Even Carrigan could admit that the wedding was gorgeous. Her mother had gone all out, and all the headaches and badgering had resulted in a picture-perfect ceremony. The bridesmaids all wore long blue gowns the same color as Callie’s eyes, and they all had lily bouquets instead of the traditional roses, which complemented Callie’s lily and rose bouquet. All Carrigan’s remaining brothers were there, polished within an inch of their lives, and they all looked genuinely happy for the first time in longer than she cared to remember.
It seemed like she wasn’t the only one putting aside her baggage for Teague’s big day.
Teague and Callie exchanged their vows and were announced as Mr. and Mrs. Teague O’Malley. No one seemed to care that they’d already been married for several months—including them. And then they were down the aisle and disappearing through the huge doors, and Aiden was there, offering his arm to Carrigan. “You managed to be on time, I see.”
“Don’t be a dick.” She spoke through teeth clenched into a smile. Aiden’s attitude might stem from legitimate worry about her, but that didn’t mean she was going to roll over and play dead for him. He wasn’t the one being forced into a marriage he didn’t want. Oh, she knew their father had his eye on several candidates for her older brother, but the sad truth was that ultimately it’d be Aiden’s decision on both the time and the person. Carrigan didn’t have that luxury. I’m not worrying about it today.
Easier said than done.
They made it to the end of the aisle, and Carrigan walked over to hug Teague. “I’m so happy for you. For both of you.”
“Thank you.”
And then their mother was there, ushering them all out of the church and into the waiting limo. It was a squeeze with all of them, but they managed. Carrigan ended up sandwiched between Keira and Aiden. He frowned at their younger sister. “Have you been drinking?”
“It’s called celebrating.” She reached around to grab a bottle of champagne that had been stashed in the bucket of ice in the corner, and took a swig. “We’re at a wedding, after all.”
From the look of her, she’d been celebrating for a while before they got to the ceremony. Aiden must have come to the same conclusion. “Keira, we’re going to talk about this.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sure thing, Dad. I’ll get right on that.”
For the first time, Carrigan wondered if maybe this was more than their sister just working her way through grief over Devlin’s death. She tried to remember the last time she saw Keira sober and came up blank. It could be chalked up to her being busy with her own drama… but what if that wasn’t it at all? She exchanged a look with Aiden, their earlier bickering falling away in the face of what might be a real problem. Carrigan shook her head. Not today. Not on Teague’s wedding day.
Aiden nodded and sat back, causing the tension among the three of them to decrease dramatically. Across from them, Teague and Callie were lost in their own world, and Cillian and Sloan were talking quietly. No one had heard or paid attention to their exchange with Keira. It was probably for the best. If Teague knew something might be wrong, he’d set aside everything except for solving the problem. They’d put it on the back burner so that he could be happy without strings attached today.