Faking Forever (First Wives #4)(3)

More tape, she wrote on her notepad.

“Where is he?” Corrie removed her phone from her purse.

“Don’t bug him, darling. If he can’t make it, we’ll plan this without him.”

Mrs. Harkin placed a hand over Corrie’s phone to keep her from texting her fiancé.

“Ideally, I like to take pictures of you and your bridesmaids while you’re getting ready, if you’re open to it. Then once you’re all perfect, we’ll take several preceremony pictures to avoid making your guests wait for hours after the ceremony and before the reception.”

“We’re having a cocktail hour set up for pictures,” Mrs. Harkin told her. “Corrie’s fiancé and the groomsmen are all staying at the neighboring resort so there won’t be a threat of him seeing Corrie before she walks down the aisle.”

“Did you nail down a guest count?”

Corrie opened her mouth to answer, and her mother cut her off. “A hundred and twenty-six. So many people weren’t willing to fly to Mexico for a wedding.”

“Which is what we wanted. A small wedding.” Corrie offered a strangled smile.

For several minutes, Mrs. Harkin expressed her great knowledge as to why larger weddings were better. Corrie sat back and listened. Nearly twenty minutes later, Corrie’s cell phone rang, and she excused herself to answer it.

“Where are you? Did you forget?” Shannon heard the tightness in the bride’s voice.

Mrs. Harkin directed Shannon’s attention back to her. “We’re so pleased you could squeeze us into your busy schedule. I hope it’s not too inconvenient to fly all the way to Tulum for us.”

“It’s my pleasure. I plan on taking a couple more days while I’m there to soak up some local color.” Not to mention fine-tuning her flirting skills with eligible bartenders.

“I’d be happy to extend your days at your resort.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ve already booked another location after the wedding.” If she did find a baby daddy, the last thing she needed was the Harkin family getting in the way of being anonymous.

“He’s not coming,” Corrie announced when she sat back down. Moisture gathered in the corners of her eyes. “He’s stuck in a meeting and asked me to handle this.”

“You’re marrying a wealthy man, Corrie. He didn’t get that way talking to photographers.” Mrs. Harkin stopped herself, smiled. “No offense.”

“None taken.”

“I’m sure he has every confidence in your ability to manage the wedding.”

Considering Corrie was all of twenty-five years old and still lived with her parents, Shannon doubted her ability to plan much of anything.

“We’re just about done here, anyway,” Shannon told them.

Corrie blinked several times without comment.

Shannon asked a few more questions, which Mrs. Harkin answered, and then drew their meeting to a close. When Mrs. Harkin excused herself to the restroom, Shannon took the opportunity to talk quietly to Corrie.

“My mother was a lot like yours when I was your age,” Shannon said under her breath.

Corrie tightened her jaw. “It’s unbearable. She steamrolls over everything. I don’t have a chance to think, let alone make any decisions on my own. I don’t know a third of the people coming to the wedding.”

“That happens sometimes,” Shannon said, trying to be optimistic.

“You would think she’s the bride and not me. I’m not even sure I want to get married.”

That was not what Shannon thought she’d hear. “So why are you?”

“Oh, I don’t know . . . because I won’t do any better?” Corrie shook her head. “Never mind. I’m tired. Pissed off my fiancé can’t be bothered to show up. Angry that my mom is making this all about her.”

Mrs. Harkin walked back into the room.

Corrie closed her mouth and faked a smile. “Normal bride nerves . . . right?”

Nope. Not right at all.

Mrs. Harkin pushed her purse up to the middle of her forearm and held her hands together like the queen. “We will see you in three weeks.”

Shannon couldn’t help but think the wedding would be called off before she had a chance to board a plane.





Chapter Two

Shannon checked her phone one last time before switching it over to airplane mode and slipping into her first-class seat. The flight attendant offered a preflight cocktail while the other passengers boarded.

Shannon happily sipped a mimosa and leaned back for the five-hour flight into Cancun. From there she would take an hour and a half drive to her resort destination in Tulum.

The weather in LA had been unusually wet all winter, even the spring managed to get off to a damp start, so the white sand and sunshine were calling her name. She’d work for all of two days, barely making back what she would spend on her upgraded plane ticket and the postwedding accommodations. Her accountant would scoff at her again this year. She didn’t photograph weddings because she needed the money. No, her divorce from Paul had set her up with six million in the bank. All of which she bundled in investments that trickled out a sum of well over twenty thousand a month. Plenty to live her life, especially considering her home was paid for free and clear. Even the taxes on the home were taken care of by her ex for as long as she lived there.