Page 69 of With This Ring
“Hud!” Layla raced down the front steps dressed in light-blue scrubs decorated with Disney characters. “I was hoping to see you.”
Shane sauntered down the steps behind her with a sour expression—one his aunt would’ve described as “looking like he’d been sucking on lemons.”
Aunt Trudy picked up a grocery bag and started toward the house.
Shane intercepted her and reached for the bag. “Let me carry that for you.”
“You’re such a sweet young man.” She handed off the sack and continued toward the house.
Shane shot Hudson a sneer before following Aunt Trudy inside the house. “Let me get the door for you too.”
Hudson shook his head. If Shane wanted to hold a grudge against him, that was his choice.
Layla chose a few bags from the truck. “Thank you again for bringing those cufflinks to me. I’m going to surprise Shane with them at the rehearsal dinner.”
“No problem.”
Layla grinned and then scooted toward the house with an armload of grocery bags.
Hudson sighed as he stared after her. She seemed to live in an alternate universe—one incompatible with reality. According to her,everything was going to be easy, including her marriage to Shane. With such a rosy, unrealistic outlook on the future, how would Layla ever figure out she was about to make a huge mistake?
***
Skye stood in the doorway to the workroom at the back of the store Friday night. “Auntie, it’s time to close up.”
Dakota looked up from the table where she sat trying to fix the beading on Layla’s gown. She’d been working on it every night this week, and it still didn’t look right to her. Something was off.
“Would you please lock up for me?” she asked her niece, then turned her attention back to the gown.
When she didn’t hear the sound of Skye leaving, she looked back over her shoulder and found her niece watching her. “What’s up?”
“You’ve worked late every night this week.”
“I know, I know.”
Skye sat down beside her at the sewing table. “And you’re staying late tonight too?”
“Probably.” Dakota sighed.
“Don’t you have to teach at the rink?”
“I need to get this gown done before Layla’s next fitting, and I’m running out of time. I texted Kayleigh earlier, and Brice is going to handle my class.” But the gown wasn’t her only problem. She’d been turned down for the refinancing of her mortgage, and she needed to figure out another way to save her house and her store. After she worked on the gown for a while, she was going to hit her books.
“Auntie, I’m worried about you.”
The waver in Skye’s voice took Dakota by surprise and tugged at her heartstrings. She touched her niece’s arm. “Sweetie, I’m fine. I’m just having a fit with this gown, and I don’t normally struggle this much.”
“Mr. Bryant said he hasn’t seen you in two weeks, and he’s worried about you too.”
Guilt pricked her. She’d been blowing off Parker’s messages about setting up another date, using every excuse she could think of. She’d been leading him on, which wasn’t fair. It was beyond time to have an honest conversation with him.
But she didn’t have the bandwidth for that right now. She hadn’t seen her family in weeks either.
“He really likes you,” Skye added.
Dakota gave her a solemn nod. “I know. He’s a nice man.”
“Then—”