Mandy walked over to her. She took Summer’s hand in hers and gave her a squeeze. “I don’t mean to be a downer about all this, but—don’t rush into anything, okay?”

  Summer frowned. “I wouldn’t call four years rushing.”

  “You know what I mean. If it doesn’t work out, or something happens—”

  “Why wouldn’t it work out? I love them, Mandy. I’m pretty sure they love me, too.”

  Her best friend smiled. “Just…take it slow. For me.”

  Summer pulled her hands away. “I don’t remember you taking it slow with Richard. You moved in with him after what, a month?”

  “That’s different. I’ve known him my whole life. He was at my house every day growing up. Playing basketball with Ian. Goofing off in the backyard. It’d been years.”

  “I’ve known Blake and Devin for years, too.”

  “They weren’t your brother’s closest friend.”

  “No. But they used to be mine.”

  “Four years is a long time, Sum. It changes people.”

  She frowned and walked over to the window. Peeking around the gauze curtain, she watched wedding guests piling out of cars and walking toward the chapel. Mandy would be married soon. Why did she care if Summer rushed into anything?

  It didn’t make any sense. First Mandy was hiding the fact that they were in her wedding and basically throwing them all together. Now she was cautioning Summer against moving too fast. She shook her head. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you were trying to get me to break it off with them.”

  “Summer—”

  She spun around. “Are you? Is that what this is all about? Do you think getting back together’s a bad idea?”

  “No. You know that’s not true. I was the one pushing you to go out with them in the first place. I just don’t want to see anyone get hurt again. Last time—” Mandy bit her lip.

  “What?”

  “When you left a lot of people suffered.”

  Summer crossed her arms. “You mean Blake and Devin.”

  Mandy shrugged. “Me too. I missed you. I don’t want to get my best friend back in town to only lose her all over again.”

  Oh! Summer rushed forward and wrapped Mandy in a gigantic hug. In the whirlwind of the last few days, she’d almost forgotten about how much stress Mandy was under.

  The rehearsal, all the guests, the wedding. She didn’t need her best friend running in and talking crazy the morning of her big day. Summer pulled back and gave Mandy an apologetic smile.

  “I’m sorry, Mandy. I know last time I just up and disappeared. But I promise, even if it all goes to hell, I won’t give up on us.”

  “You mean it?”

  “Mm-hmm. Besides, New York is only a plane ride away, right?”

  Mandy pulled out of Summer’s arms and nodded. “Right.”

  Summer needed to put away all of her worries. Focus on the beautiful bride and the ceremony. “Okay. Enough about me. You’re about to get married!” Summer reached for Mandy’s bouquet. “You have emergency tissues?”

  Mandy pointed at her bust line. “You bet.”

  “Veil is set?”

  Mandy touched the clip holding it in place. “Yep. Just need to flip it over before I walk out.”

  Summer smiled. Her best friend had it all together. “Then we should go. I’m sure your mom is freaking out because you’re not in the waiting area already.”

  Mandy checked the clock and jumped in alarm. “Oh, crap! I told her five minutes! We are so late.”

  She threw open the door and Summer rushed after her. She picked up the bride-to-be’s train and inhaled. Showtime. It might not be her wedding and she might not know what the future held, but Summer knew one thing. She couldn’t wait to slip her arms in Blake and Devin’s and walk down the aisle.

  * * *

  BLAKE

  “This is it, boys. In an hour, I’ll be a married man.” Richard adjusted his bow tie and turned around. “Any last minute advice?”

  Devin smoothed down his mop of dark hair. “Don’t fuck it up?”

  “Funny. Really funny. No, I’m serious. This is—big.”

  Blake clapped Richard on the back. “Hey, don’t stress out. Mandy’s the best thing that ever happened to you.”

  “I know, I know.” Richard shook out his arms and smoothed his lapels. “Ceremonies just scare the crap out of me. All those recitals as a kid, I guess. I still have flashbacks to forgetting the second half of Greensleeves.”

  Devin cringed. “Don’t remind me. I’ve still got marks from the ruler Ms. Fishburn used when I made a mistake.”

  “Thank God she’s retired. No kid of mine is learning the piano from her.” Richard walked over to the mirror and took one last look.

  Blake joined him and straightened his own tie. “Remember—we’ll be up there with you. If you start to get cold feet, we’ll pin you down until you say I do. I bet Ian will even lend a hand.”

  The groom let out a laugh and his tense shoulders eased. “Thanks. I think. Meet you out there?”

  “Yep. Be there in five.”

  Richard walked out the door and Devin scrubbed his face with his hand.

  “What is it?”

  “Are all grooms like that?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Because if marriage does that to every guy, I’m sure as hell never going through with it.”

  Blake snorted.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I bet the right woman would change your mind.”

  “You mean Summer?”

  Blake nodded. “Wouldn’t you go through all this to be with her?”

  Devin glanced at his reflection in the mirror. “You think she’d even want that? With two men?” He tugged on his lapels and turned to the side.

  “If she did, I’d be game. You?”

  “I suppose.” Devin buttoned his tux jacket as Blake fixed his cuffs.

  He thought about a wedding with Summer. Her in a white dress walking down the aisle. Both Blake and Devin standing at the altar. Maybe they’d do it right there at the Inn. Richard would let them.

  Blake took one last look at the pair of them—two potential grooms in all their finery. It wasn’t conventional to say the least. But he couldn’t imagine life without Summer. There was only one nagging worry he couldn’t shake.

  He looked up at Devin. “We need to tell her, Dev.”

  “No.”

  “You know how she reacted over Ivy. This would be a million times worse.” If they were even going to think about a future, all the cards had to be on the table. Even the ones Devin would rather keep hidden. “We shouldn’t wait.”

  “Not today. Let’s just hold off until after the wedding. She’s got to go back to New York and deal with the exhibit. Her mom. When the time is right—then we can talk.”

  Blake ground his teeth together. They weren’t lying exactly, but his gut told him it was a mistake. Keeping secrets about the past. Not telling her everything from the start. She needed to know—from them personally—about their mistakes. “It’s a horrible idea.”

  “It’s the only idea. Come on, we don’t want to be late.”

  With a frown, Blake followed Devin out of the dressing room. The beginning notes of a harp filtered down the hall and Blake picked up the pace. Were they late? Shit. Mandy would kill them.

  He made it to the open door a step ahead of Devin and froze. Oh, wow. Summer stood in the vestibule.

  Hair piled up in curls on top of her head. Silk dress in the colors of the ocean draped just right. It hugged her breasts and skimmed her hips and floated into a diaphanous finish at her feet. Her toes poked out from the bottom and Blake wanted to fall to the floor and kiss each one.

  They didn’t deserve her.

  Devin nudged him forward and they both stumbled into her line of sight. She smiled and her eyes sparkled like Midnight Cove in full sun.

  “It’s about time you two showed up.”

  Blake nodded. “Sorry. We kind of lost track of time.” He stepped up to her and kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thanks.” Summer switched her bouquet to the other hand and Devin leaned in for a hug. “Blake’s right. That dress is stunning.”

  Her cheeks colored and she smiled. “Ready? I think they’re waiting for us.”

  Devin stepped to the side and held out his right arm. Summer slipped hers through and turned to Blake.

  God. Seeing her like that. Arm-in-arm with Devin at a wedding. All dressed up. Flowers in her hand. He wanted it to be their future. Not just Mandy and Richard’s. He swallowed and held out his arm and she slipped her other through.

  They’d walk down the aisle, listen to the ceremony, and then the night was theirs. Blake was damn sure by the end of it, Summer’d know just how much he loved her. He glanced up at Devin. How much they both did.

  * * *

  SUMMER

  One foot in front of the other. You can do this. Summer gripped Blake and Devin’s arms tight and plastered on a smile. Five minutes ago she was excited. Ready to walk down the aisle and show off her two men. But now? With all those people turned around and staring? Wedding nerves had arrived in full force.

  What if she fell? Caused a scene? The thought of ruining Mandy’s day had her sweating despite the air conditioning and maximum-strength deodorant, double application.

  Blake leaned close as they turned onto the carpeted aisle. “Relax.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one about to faint.”

  He smiled. “Just don’t lock your knees. Remember to breathe.”

  She nodded. Breathe, right. They all three walked arm-in-arm until they reached the front. Blake and Devin let her go and she took her place. I can do this. She smoothed the front of her dress and looked up at Richard. He stood wooden and stiff. The man needed a good scotch.

  Damn. Guess she wasn’t the only nervous one. She gave him a thumbs up sign behind her bouquet and as Richard stifled a laugh, the wedding processional music kicked in. Here we go.

  Summer exhaled and turned toward the entrance. Oh. Her mouth fell open and she rushed to clamp it shut. Mandy stood at the start of the aisle, cream silk billowing around her, veil dotted with crystals in front of her face. Blond curls pinned to the nape of her neck. Beautiful. Bridal.

  A rush of emotions swelled in Summer and she fought for composure. Her heart could have burst with happiness for Mandy. And as her best friend started forward, want hit Summer square in the chest.

  The desire to take Mandy’s place and make that walk to her future beat in time to the music inside her. She never knew until that moment how much belonging to someone mattered.

  Summer swallowed and glanced to her left. Blake was watching her. Their gazes locked and for an instant, Summer forgot it wasn’t her wedding. All she could see was a man she loved and his tux jacket and boutonnière and Devin right behind looking the same.

  Could they have this? Her and Blake and Devin? As Mandy stepped up to the front, Blake winked and Devin flashed her a smile.

  As she tried to smile back, a bouquet of flowers broke her line of sight. Oh! Right! She grabbed Mandy’s bouquet and her best friend sniffed back tears as she turned to Richard.

  He smiled at his bride-to-be and the love Summer saw on his face had her digging out a hidden tissue. Richard lifted the veil and draped it behind Mandy’s head. So happy. So in love. Summer glanced out at the crowd. Mandy’s mom. Her brother Ian and that nasty woman, Ivy. Summer’s mom.

  As she recognized more and more people in the crowd, her hope and want turned to dread. She’d forgotten what a wedding meant.

  How could she ever think she could have this? A wedding to two men? With family and friends as witnesses? It’d never happen. As if she were voicing her own disapproval, her mother sat in the front row, a perpetual scowl on her face.

  Summer bit her lip. Maybe she didn’t need her. Maybe coming back to Midnight Cove, falling back into Blake and Devin’s arms—maybe it was all a sign. Telling her to break whatever hold her mother had on her. Be her own person. Live her own life.

  She smiled at her mom and turned toward the minister. He was knee-deep in a sermon about love and honesty. Virtue and hard work. She could do those things. Be that person.

  “Marriage is more than unconditional love. Marriage is about honesty. Self-sacrifice. It is only when you sacrifice your own selfishness that you will be happy.” The minister reached out and took Mandy and Richard’s hands. “Seek to lift your spouse up. To make each other happy. For it is in the happiness of your spouse that you will find true happiness.”

  Summer glanced up at Blake. He was focused on Mandy and Richard’s hands—staring as the minister kept talking. Was he thinking it, too? Did he want this, too? Summer tried to keep her attention on the bride and groom as they exchanged vows, but she couldn’t.

  All she could think about was her own future. Her life in New York. What she’d found back in Midnight Cove. She didn’t want to go back to the city. To her empty, cold apartment with her soulless art and nasty neighbors. Back where she was living for everyone but herself.

  The minister’s voice rang out and Summer jumped. “You may now kiss the bride!”

  Richard leaned in and Mandy rose up on her tiptoes and it was over. The ceremony had whooshed by in a sea of tumbled thoughts and dreams and Summer was smiling as flash bulbs went off. Mandy grabbed her bouquet and before she knew it, Summer’d hooked her arms back in Blake and Devin’s and was walking out.

  Past Ian and Ivy. Past her mother. On out into the reception hall. The band struck up a happy song, the servers appeared with trays of champagne and Summer couldn’t wait to celebrate. Forget her mother. New York. Everything but what she’d found right there in Midnight Cove.

  She squeezed Devin’s arm and smiled. “That was great, didn’t you think?”

  “Yeah, if you like that sort of thing.”

  “Oh, come on. I saw that smile on your face. Admit it. You like weddings.”

  He leaned close. “I like staring at beautiful women in bridesmaid’s gowns, does that count?”

  Summer let go of both men and spun around. “I guess it’ll have to. Now.” She clapped her hands together and glanced at both men. “How about you score us some champagne while I help Mandy get set up for photos? I want to do this party right.”

  Blake opened his mouth to speak, but Devin cut in. “Of course. That’s what dates are for, right?” He stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist as he nuzzled her ear. “I’ve heard bridesmaids are a sure thing.”

  Summer blushed. “Then I guess you’ll just have to take one home and find out.”

  “Can’t wait.”

  Summer pulled away from Devin and glanced up at Blake. He smiled at her, but she swore just before he’d been scowling—at Devin.

  Chapter Twelve

  SUMMER

  The oversized ball of calla lilies and delphinium sailed through the air and Summer reached out. A sea of eligible bachelorettes crowded around her and—plop! The bouquet landed smack in her arms.

  No way! She held it up like a trophy as Mandy spun around. Her best friend squealed and ran over.

  “I can’t believe it! You caught it. You know what that means!” Mandy nudged her and Summer blushed.

  According to the old wives’ tale, she’d be the next woman married. She glanced up at Blake and Devin. They stood at the bar, chatting with Ian and sipping beers. Tux jackets off, sleeves rolled up. Mmm. She loved that look.

  Just as she was about to slip into a very naughty daydream, Mandy squeezed her arm. “I’ve got to make the rounds, but you’re gonna dance with us, right? I’ve got the band all set to play some doozies later.”

  Summer turned to her best friend. “Don’t tell me.”

  Mandy beamed.

  Oh no. “Just so long as it’s not that one you made me do last time in New York. I am not sticking my ass out and shimmying with my mother watching.”

  Mandy pouted. “You’re my maid of honor. Aren’t you supposed to embarrass yourself for me?”

  Summer raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh, come on. I’m just giving you a hard time. With my mom here? She thinks the hokey pokey’s risqué. All that shake it all about—totally indecent.”

  Summer laughed and Mandy headed across the ballroom to her new husband. He grabbed her around the waist and twirled her around with a massive grin on his face. So sweet. Romantic.

  Maybe someday. She turned toward the head table to drop off the bouquet when she heard her name. What?

  Summer slowed down to listen.

  “…shows back up and look what happens. Hogging the spotlight.”

  She frowned and leaned into the bouquet, sniffing each flower as she listened. The conversation was hushed, but she couldn’t miss the source—a small group of women who’d been elbowing her for the bouquet. All four of them coifed and primped and thinner than a toothpick. Wearing cocktail dresses meant to show off all their assets.

  They clustered at the edge of the dance floor, heads bent together, eyes occasionally darting up to zero in on her.

  Summer pretended not to notice. The flowers were fascinating.

  “You know what I heard? She’s shacked back up with the surf boys. Both of them!”

  “No way!”

  “Uh-huh. I overheard it at the spa. It has to be true.”

  Summer rolled her eyes. She had half a mind to march up to them and tell the lot of them just what she thought. But it was Mandy’s wedding. For all she knew those women might be her closest friends in town.

  Let it go, Summer. Just let it go.

  “I don’t know what they see in her. With a butt like that? Did you see her arms when she reached for the bouquet? Talk about jiggle.”

  The gaggle collectively tsk’ed and Summer had heard enough. She didn’t need their negative energy.

  She brushed past them, head held high, bouquet front and center. Eat it up, girls. She set the flowers on her seat and reached for her clutch when a hand slid around her waist.