From This Day Forward (The Wedding Belles 0.5)(25)

“I know, and I’m taking care of myself, I am, it’s just—”

“It’s just that you want your big white wedding,” he said.

Maya grinned in relief. “I have been planning it forever.”

Seth smiled back. “You forget that I was there for some of those early planning stages. I’m still not sure I forgive you for making Tinkerbell the groom while I was relegated to usher.”

“Head usher. And it wasn’t your fault you didn’t look as cute in a bow tie as an overweight pug. Besides, I’m happy to give you a promotion to maid of honor for the real deal,” she teased.

“We both know that Tori would kill me if I took the top spot away from her,” Seth said, referring to Maya’s longtime best friend. “Plus, teal’s not my color.” Seth knew his sister loved anything that emphasized her blue eyes and could already see the aqua-themed cornucopia that would be her wedding. He got a headache just thinking about it.

“Oh, please. You can pull off just about any color you want,” Maya said. “I hate that you got Mom’s olive complexion while I got Dad’s pasty shade of pale.”

“Buttering me up before you drop the cost of this blessed event?”

Maya pulled her bottom lip between her teeth nervously before scooting toward the edge of her chair. “It’s just, well, I have some money of my own, of course, but then Neil pointed out that if Daddy were alive—”

Seth stiffened. Neil pointed out, did he? Seth was liking his sister’s husband-to-be less and less.

Still, Maya brought up an undeniable point. Though Hank Tyler had left Maya plenty of money, the monthly allotment wouldn’t be enough to plan a decent cocktail party in their social set, much less a wedding.

But that wasn’t the real reason Seth felt himself caving.

He knew that if their father were alive, Hank would have spared no expense for his only daughter’s wedding.

And though Seth knew that no fancy flower arrangement or imported champagne could make up for the fact that their parents wouldn’t be there to walk Maya down the aisle, Seth was determined to give his sister the wedding she’d always wanted.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said gruffly. “You know I will.”

Maya made a happy squealing noise, but Seth held up a hand. “But just so we’re clear. How much are we talking?”

“Oh gosh, I don’t know yet,” Maya said. “There are so many variables. The venue, the photographer, the caterer, and the dress, of course—”

Of course.

“—but I’m sure I’ll have a better idea after this Friday.”

“What happens Friday?” Seth asked, somehow fairly certain he wasn’t going to like the answer.

Maya did another one of those happy hand claps. “Oh, I didn’t tell you! The Wedding Belles have an opening.”

Seth stared at his sister blankly.

Maya rolled her eyes. “Come on. The Wedding Belles?”

He shook his head. “Is that, like, a fancy dress shop, or something?”

“Um, try the premiere wedding-planning company in the city. Maybe the country. They have access to all the best venues, the top designers, and they never do the same wedding twice. Everything is custom, original, perfectly tailored to the bride’s needs. One of a kind.”

That, Seth could translate: expensive.

Still, if their father were alive . . .

“They’re super exclusive,” Maya said. “You have to book them, like, years in advance, but I called, and they had something open up!”

“That’s great,” Seth said, rubbing a hand down his face. He knew full well that the convenient opening had likely been a result of Maya’s very recognizable last name.

“So anyway, Friday is just a consultation. They want to hear what I’m looking for and my timeline—”

“What is your timeline?” Seth interrupted.

In other words, how long do I have to figure out whether Neil’s the gold digger I think he is?

“Well, I’ve always liked the idea of being a June bride,” Maya said, “but that’s less than six months away, so we all know that’s not going to happen . . .”

Seth blinked. It wasn’t? Six months seemed like a hell of a long time to him, but then he wasn’t the one who’d been marrying off the family dog when he was six. What did he know?

“So I’m thinking maybe a Christmas wedding,” she said. “It’s so festive, with the red and green, or I could go metallic, or even blue—you know what that does with my eyes . . .”

Seth tuned his sister out as she ran through possible color schemes.

Christmas. That gave Seth eleven whole months. Plenty of time to get to know his future brother-in-law, and then find a way to get rid of the bastard if he didn’t pass muster.

But if Seth was going to make this work—if he was going to have a shot at getting to know the real Neil—it meant he’d have to spend some time with the money-grabbing bastard. He had to be there when the man inevitably slipped up.

“What time?” Seth interrupted.

Maya paused mid-description of the pros and cons of flocked Christmas trees. “What time for what?”

“Your meeting on Friday with the Wedding Chimes. What time is it?”