You Were Mine (Rosemary Beach #9)(27)

I glanced back at Tripp to make sure he saw Woods. “I think the best man is being summoned,” I told him.

Tripp had a similar frown directed at Woods. “Yeah, I see that. I’ll be right back,” he said as he walked over to the bridal table.

Seeing Tripp standing by Woods at the rehearsal had been somewhat difficult. That would have been Jace standing there. Woods and Jace had been best friends since childhood. But Jace was gone, and Tripp was his stand-in. He symbolized the cousin who couldn’t be here.

“An Betty!” called a familiar voice. I looked down just as Nate ran up to me and clambered into the chair beside me. “I sit by you,” he informed me matter-of-factly.

“It’s the only way we could get him to give the drummer his sticks back,” Blaire said with an exasperated look.

“I got the bastard the gig. Least he could do was give my boy the damn sticks,” Dean Finlay complained as he sauntered up to the table beside Rush.

“He tried to give him his extras,” Blaire told Dean. I was beginning to think her exasperation came from dealing with her father-in-law and not her toddler.

“Stingy f*cker,” Dean muttered, pulling out the chair on the other side of Rush.

“Yeah, futter.” Nate mimicked his grandfather. Blaire looked horrified.

“Dad. Language,” Rush warned, then leaned over his wife and snapped his fingers at Nate to get his attention. “Remember what I told you about Papa’s words. Mommy gets upset when you say them. We don’t like upsetting Mommy, do we?”

Nate looked guilty and shook his head no.

“Apologize to Mommy and Aunt Bethy. Men don’t say those words around ladies,” Rush instructed him.

I had to bite back a smile. I’d heard Rush Finlay say a lot worse around women in my life. Hearing him tell his son not to was just too funny.

“I sowwy, Mommy,” Nate mumbled, looking truly upset. Then he turned his daddy’s silver eyes to me and repeated his apology.

“I didn’t raise you to be a pus—”

“Dad.” Rush cut his father off before he could finish his sentence. “You’re upsetting Blaire. Stop it.”

Dean chuckled and leaned back in his chair with an amused expression. “Good thing I like the pretty girl you married. I’ll be good for her.”

Rush leaned over to say something to Blaire, and she squeezed his arm to assure him that she was fine.

She looked at me and sighed heavily, then let out a soft laugh. “Life with a rock star as your kid’s grandfather. Always interesting.”

The chair beside me was pulled out, and I turned, expecting to see Tripp, but Thad’s perfect white smile flashed at me. “What’s up?” he said, giving us all a nod. “There’s some really nice servers around this place,” he said as he scooted his chair in. The lipstick mark on his neck made me giggle. I reached for a napkin.

“I can see that. She left some of her friendliness on your neck in candy-apple red. Come here.”

A crooked grin tugged at his lips as he leaned over so I could wipe his neck clean. “You should see the friendliness I left on her,” he whispered. At least he was observant of Nate’s little ears.

“Was it the blonde or the brunette with the tight curls and big ti—”

“Dad!” Rush snarled, stopping Dean before he could finish that sentence, too.

Thad’s grin only got bigger. “The blonde,” he clarified.

Dean gave him a smirk. “Try the brunette next. She leaves her friendliness in much better places.”

Gross. So not what I wanted to know.

“I swear to God, if you don’t shut the hell up, I’m going to throw your old ass out of here,” Rush warned his father.

Dean laughed and gave a shrug that had this badass rocker casualness to it. “Easy, boy,” he told Rush, and patted his leg.

“OK, you two. Let’s have fun,” Blaire told them as Nate climbed into her lap.

Unable to help myself, I glanced over at the table Tripp was now seated at. He was talking to some female sitting beside him whom I didn’t know. She hadn’t been at the rehearsal, and she wasn’t in the wedding party. The woman laughed at something Tripp said, and something in my stomach tightened up.

I would not acknowledge the feeling. I had no reason to care that Tripp was making some woman laugh. Even if she had really fabulous hair. It was golden and hung in long waves down her back. Who was she?

“Guess you haven’t met Braden’s cousin Charity,” Blaire said, snapping me out of my obvious staring.

“No, I haven’t,” I said, forcing a smile.

“Charity just went through an ugly divorce last year, and Braden wanted to bring her to get her away from things. Thad and you were matched up for the dinners and the wedding. To make things even, Della thought it would be nice to have someone for Tripp so he wasn’t the odd one out.”

A wedding date. Della had supplied Tripp with a wedding date. That wasn’t my business. I didn’t care. Really. I didn’t.

“Sweet,” Thad said, putting his arm on the back of my chair and leaning back as he rested his ankle on his knee. “Bethy’s my wedding date. Why didn’t someone tell me? I’d never have run off with the blonde.”

Rolling my eyes, I glanced back at Thad. “Because I’m not that friendly.”