Her Best Friend's Wedding

“Trey?” Meg called. “Can you come here?”

“Kyle, how about I leave these hot dogs with you?” Trey asked Sadie’s brother. After a ceremonial fist bump and handover of the tongs—barbecues were a major ritual around here—he took his beer and joined the others.

“Save me from these two, please.” Meg waved at Daniel and Sadie. “They’re trying to baffle me with science and it’s depressingly easy.”

Daniel ran a finger across her shoulder. “Sweetheart, we’re just warming up.” He winked at Sadie.

Meg groaned.

“We’re talking about whether Sadie’s work with new wheat strains for the developing world could help diabetes-prone kids here in the U.S.A.,” Daniel explained to Trey.

“I’ve heard wheat can cause diabetes in some people,” Trey said. He’d read something about it in New Scientist.

Sadie squinted at him, as if she’d had no idea he spoke Science. “That’s type 1 diabetes,” she said dismissively. She turned to Daniel. “In theory, if you raised the protein level, thus lowering the glycemic index, wheat-based foods would pose a lower risk to type 2 diabetes patients.”

“Which would make life much easier for low-income families who can’t afford a low-wheat diet,” Daniel said.

He and Sadie grinned at each other.

Then Sadie reached behind her to lift her hair off her neck, a cooling-down gesture that lifted her breasts. Daniel lowered his gaze to her cleavage. And left it there a second longer than reflex dictated.

What the—? Trey accepted the other man’s dropped gaze was an instinctive response to Sadie’s movement, but the guy shouldn’t linger, not when he was dating Trey’s sister.

Trey stepped in front of Sadie to block Daniel’s view.

“Can’t we talk about books?” Meg asked. “English was my best subject. I wiped science from my brain after I dropped it in tenth grade.” She held up a hand. “When I say books, I don’t mean that Russian stuff you two read.”

“I’m enjoying that book of yours,” Daniel told Meg. “The Politics of Poverty. Brilliant.”

“Hey, that’s mine.” Sadie edged around Trey to get back in the conversation. “I lent it to Meg.”

“Oops.” Meg faked a guilty look, and Daniel laughed.

“You should read it. You’d enjoy it, Meg.” Unconsciously Sadie fingered a lock of her hair. It had been mousy-brown when she was younger, Trey remembered. Today it had gleaming gold highlights.

As if he was mirroring her, Daniel stroked Meg’s dark hair.

Immediately Sadie’s hand dropped to her stomach, as if she felt nauseated. Her eyes on Daniel were wide and unhappy.

Trey’s sister-protection sensors went on high alert. He tried to shut them off—Meg’s expectation that other people would fix her problems irritated him like nothing else—but old habits died hard.

Sadie likes Daniel. That was why she’d been sneaking around his mom’s place last night.

It couldn’t be true…could it?

As Meg leaned into Daniel and they began a murmured conversation of what sounded like mutual, breathless compliments, Sadie blinked suspiciously fast.

Dammit!

Trey leaned into her. “Get a grip,” he muttered.

She started, which at least pulled her attention off the doc. “Excuse me?”

His hand closed around her elbow; he turned her so she couldn’t see Meg. “Quit looking as if you’re about to commit suttee on the grill because my sister’s boyfriend touched her.”

She tugged, but he didn’t release her. “That’s ridiculous,” she hissed.

“Exactly. You’re making a fool of yourself.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Meg asked.

They froze. Sadie turned beet-red to the roots of her hair.

“Sadie’s telling me about her exciting life as a future Nobel laureate,” Trey said. Meg’s gaze traveled to the hold he had on her friend’s elbow, so he let go. “You must have some interesting colleagues at that lab of yours, Sadie.”

“Uh…” she said.

“Intelligent guys on a decent income,” he clarified. “Have you dated anyone there?” As in, go find your own man. Leave Meg’s alone.

“You’re being weird, Trey,” Meg said.

“Are those your criteria, Sadie?” Daniel teased. “I didn’t know you were looking.”

Sadie’s brother Jesse approached, bearing a bowl of chips. “No ordinary guy will do for Sadie,” he said, butting in to the conversation. “He’ll need to be a genius, the noble do-gooder type, willing to treat her with the awe she’s used to.”

Sadie took a couple of chips with one hand and punched Jesse’s shoulder with the other. “Shut up.”

“Those are some high standards, Sadiebug.” Daniel took a handful of chips but his gaze remained on Sadie. His expression held fondness and…was that regret? And what was with the Sadiebug?

“She deserves the best,” Meg said loyally. “Whereas I definitely don’t need a genius—my guy has to be dumb enough to love me despite my flaws.” She grinned. “A platinum AmEx would come in handy, too.”

Daniel laughed. “Sorry, sweetheart, I may be the boss at the clinic, but I’ll never earn millions. The best you can hope for is that I’ll be able to support you in the manner to which you’re accustomed.”

Support Meg? That sounded serious.

Meg and Daniel were too busy gazing into each other’s eyes to notice the strangled sound from Sadie. As Trey watched, her face turned red.

To think he’d grown up next door to her and had never known she was a psycho.

Grasping her arm again, he swung her away from the group. “Breathe,” he ordered in her ear.

Sadie stared at him, mouth open, eyes glazing over.

“If you don’t breathe, I’ll sit you down and shove your head between your knees until everyone knows what a nutcase you are.”

She dragged in a great gulp of air, wheezing like an asthmatic.

“Now out,” Trey ordered.

She let the air out again.

“Am I going to have to instruct you through every breath for the entire weekend?” he demanded.

“I— No.” She coughed.

“Are you okay, Sadie?” Meg asked.

They’d attracted the attention of the entire company. Sadie closed her eyes, as if people wouldn’t be able to see her if she couldn’t see them. It was an oddly defenseless reaction.

“She was choking on a chip,” Trey explained, bailing her out. “All clear now, Sadie?”

“Absolutely.” She smiled shakily.

“Better add ‘able to perform the Heimlich maneuver’ to the checklist for your perfect man,” Jesse said. “Too bad your doctor boyfriend dumped you.”

Trey felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

“What doctor boyfriend?” Meg and Daniel asked simultaneously.

“I have no idea what he means,” Sadie said.

She’d had a major breakup, and she hadn’t told her best friend?

Her mom overheard. “Honey, I’m sorry. When you mentioned you were bringing a boy home—” Mary-Beth made her sound sixteen again, and Sadie was clearly unthrilled “—I told a couple of people.”

Trey figured everyone here had heard that at last Sadie had a boyfriend who might stick. The surrounding faces were studies in loving pity. All except—

“What boyfriend?” Meg asked again. “How come I never heard about him?”

Uh-oh. Suddenly Trey figured it out.

Meg turned to Daniel. “Did you know—” She stopped, then whirled back to Sadie, her eyes wide. “Tell me it wasn’t—” Just in time, she clamped her mouth shut.

Jesse, who’d always been quick-witted, picked up on the unspoken question. Unfortunately, he’d also always been a loudmouth. “No way, Sadie,” he hooted. “Was Daniel your boyfriend?”

CHAPTER FOUR

NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME for the world to end, Sadie decided. One minute ago would have been even better.

Her mother made a protective, worried sound, like a lioness about to maul Meg, or Daniel, or both. Jesse let out a low whistle. Brothers. Who needed them?

Sadie did the only thing she could—she laughed.

It came out squeaky.

“Of course Daniel wasn’t my boyfriend,” she said. Shrilly.

Varying degrees of mortification and sympathy showed on everyone’s faces. No one believed her. Behind her, a hot dog spat on the grill; the smell of charring beef made Sadie feel sick. She couldn’t bear it if Daniel realized how she felt about him.

She had to do something.

Her brain, the one that commanded a hefty six-figure salary, sputtered and died.

Her mother wrapped an arm around her, a loving tentacle. Any moment now Mom would drag her into the kitchen for a dose of cod-liver oil and a cup of hot cocoa.

“Mom.” She pulled away, and this time the laugh was better—more incredulous, less hysterical. “I told you, it wasn’t Daniel.”

“Then who was it?” Jesse, the idiot who’d dropped her in this mess.

“It was Wesley,” Trey announced.

Every head in the place swiveled to him.

“Wesley?” Meg darted a confused look at Sadie.

“She met him before she even knew Daniel,” Trey explained.

“Why didn’t I know about him?” Meg said skeptically.

Sadie found her voice. “I met, uh, Wesley—” and didn’t he sound like a hottie, with a name like that? “—when you were in Paris, covering for the European staff on strike. We weren’t together long, just a few weeks. We broke up right before I met Daniel. Which—” she widened her mouth into a smile “—was why it was so great to meet a guy who was just a friend.”

She prayed her mom wouldn’t add up the timing of her phone call and correct her.

“Wouldn’t that have been a coincidence, both of you dating doctors?” Mary-Beth said.

Bad timing, Mom. The suspicion that had been lifting settled back onto the faces around Sadie.

“He’s a vet,” Trey said firmly. “Dr. Wesley Burns, veterinarian.”

What the heck?

“How do you know all this, Trey?” Meg asked.

“Sadie told me about him last night,” Trey said. “She came over and we sat on the porch awhile.”

The interest in everyone’s eyes was better than pity. And at least Trey hadn’t mentioned she was in her pajamas or stealing flowers or peering in the window. Ugh, I really was a mess.

“She thought I might know Wes,” he elaborated. “That we might have been in the same dorm at Duke.”

“But they weren’t,” Sadie said quickly.

“No,” Trey agreed. “But Wes and I worked in the same bar on Friday nights.”

A headache drilled into Sadie’s temples. She would kill Trey. Just as soon as this barbecue was over and their families had accepted the fabrication about Dr. Wesley Burns, she would kill Trey and take great pleasure in doing so.

Trey grinned at her. He’d always been too damn cocky. How was it that he was one step ahead of everyone, including her?

But his stupid story was her only hope.

“So…what’s Wes like?” Sadie’s mom asked wistfully, entranced by the thought of the veterinarian son-in-law she’d almost had.

Meg was still looking suspicious.

“Great guy,” Trey said. “You’d love him.”

Sadie choked on her wine, and Trey patted her back solicitously. Time to steer this fantasy in a direction more flattering to herself.

“Unfortunately,” Sadie said, “Wes is a traditionalist—he envisaged me staying at home having babies. But of course, my work is too important to me. I couldn’t contemplate giving it up, so I had to break up with him.”

Uh-oh, Trey had a dangerous gleam in his eyes. She should have remembered that the few times he’d engaged enough to tease her when they were kids, he’d effortlessly come out on top.

“Wes would make a great dad, judging by his talent with animals,” he said. “Dogs, cats, rabbits…and does he have a way with hamsters.”

Sadie almost growled. Not only had he given her a boyfriend with the uninspiring name of Wes, a vet when she would have preferred a cardiologist, but now he was consigning Wes to the bottom rung of the pet ladder.

“But his main client is the Memphis Zoo,” she said.

“You mean he works on lions and stuff?” The breathless inquiry came from one of the twins. Sadie was too flustered to identify which one.

“Lions, tigers, elephants,” she confirmed.

“Which is his favorite?” the other twin asked.

“The, uh, leopard.” She realized the girls wanted more. “Because it’s so noble and intelligent and sensitive. Just like Wes himself.”

A snort from Trey.

“Oh, honey, he sounds incredible.” Yikes, Sadie’s mom was just about in tears at the thought of the man her daughter had loved and lost.

“Mom, I’m over it, really,” she assured her. “Wes was a great guy—he fit the dream, you know. But it wouldn’t have worked.”

“I heard he was never the same after that camel bit him,” Trey said.

Sadie began to mentally run through ways of killing him. She discarded them all on the grounds they wouldn’t inflict sufficient pain.

“I wish you’d told me,” Meg said, hurt. “I would have been there for you.”

“I know, sweetie, but by the time you arrived back stateside, I’d been having fun hanging out with Daniel, and my number-one focus was introducing you two to each other.” Not quite true, but at least she was talking about real people.

“You’re something else, Sadie,” Daniel said admiringly.

“She sure is,” Trey agreed.

That something else was likely a poached egg—Sadie felt as if she didn’t have a bone left in her body. “Dad, I’m starving. Is dinner ready?”

“Coming right up.” Her father brandished his tongs. “Don’t worry, honey, my pork chops will take your mind off that leopard-loving loser.”

Trey let out a burst of laughter that lit up his face and reminded Sadie he really was a great-looking guy. Shame about the personality.

“What I don’t understand…” Jesse began.

“If you all don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about Wes,” she announced bravely.

Jesse’s wife, Diane, smacked him upside the head for his insensitivity, which gave Sadie some satisfaction, while the rest of her family agreed immediately to a ban on talking about Wes. At least in front of her. Sadie had no doubt that after she returned to Memphis their sympathetic discussions of her failed love life would be a bonding experience.

Meg hugged her, and Daniel planted one of those kisses on Sadie’s hair. Much to Trey’s irritation, Sadie noted with satisfaction.

Still, his nutty story had taken the heat off her. As people headed toward the food, she murmured a grudging “Thanks. Sort of.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said with unaccustomed grace. Then, “Now, how about you do me a favor?”

She gritted her teeth. “I already did. I let you live.”

Humor flashed in his eyes, then disappeared. “Stay away from my sister’s boyfriend.”

Typical. For as long as Sadie could remember, Trey had moaned about Meg’s inability to “stand on her own two feet.” But he could never resist butting in when he thought his sister needed help.

As if Meg needed protection from her best friend!

Before she could tell Trey to mind his own business, her father handed her a plate piled with food. Then Daniel arrived back with his meal. “This looks great.” He sounded his normal self, not as if he believed she was secretly in love with him.

“Dad’s the best barbecue chef, so long as you don’t count the calories.” Sadie struck a casual, friendly tone, aware of Trey’s close scrutiny. Did he expect her to obey him?

“Want to go for a run in the morning?” she asked Daniel. “That way I get two helpings of dessert. You should come too, Meg.” Smart strategy, she congratulated herself. By acting natural and casual with Daniel, she would deflect any lingering suspicion of past feelings for him. Trey’s sharp, disapproving intake of breath was icing on the cake.

“You guys go for it,” Meg said. She hated running, and when she wasn’t flying liked to sleep in until nine. “I’ll catch up on some z’s.”

“So, 7:00 a.m.?” Sadie asked Daniel. “That’ll give us time for a decent run before the day gets busy.”

Daniel picked up a piece of garlic bread. “You’re on.”

Sadie smiled at him. And ignored Trey’s thunderous expression.

SADIE STEPPED OUT ONTO her parents’ porch at six fifty-five on Sunday morning and took a deep breath of fresh air scented with grass, her mom’s lemon trees and Nancy’s gardenias. In the jacaranda tree that grew on the Kincaid side of the fence but spread most of its shade over the Beechams’ yard, a mockingbird had burst out with its early-morning song. As she laced up her running shoes, it moved from a series of whistles to smoochy, kissing sounds.

Sadie stood on one leg to begin her quad stretches. Or what she hoped were quad stretches. When she’d fallen in love with Daniel practically at first sight and he’d asked if she ran, she’d said yes. Which was the right thing to do because he’d asked her to go running with him, and hadn’t minded that she was a beginner. And that was the start of their…friendship.

“This’ll be good for you,” she reminded her reluctant left quad. Her stomach growled, but she’d learned the hard way that if she ate now she wouldn’t be able to run more than a hundred yards without developing a stitch.

As the Kincaids’ front door opened she hopped a little, pulling her left foot closer to her butt to lengthen the stretch.

Trey stepped onto the next-door porch.

Wearing shorts and a T-shirt. And running shoes.

He waved. “Morning.”

Sadie’s foot thudded to the floorboards. “What are you doing here?”

“I stayed the night—didn’t want to drive after all that drinking.”

As she recalled, he’d had maybe two beers over four hours. Nowhere near the limit. Not that she’d been watching.

He strolled down the steps to the sidewalk. “Thought I’d join you on your run.” He patted his flat stomach. “Anything to counter the effects of age.”

She didn’t give him the satisfaction of admiring his physique. “I guess it’s a free country—I can’t stop you running with us.” She jogged to the sidewalk, trying to look fit.

“Us?” His forehead creased. “Did I forget to say Daniel’s not coming?”

“Excuse me?”

“I told him I’d turn a blind eye if he wanted to sneak coffee into Meg’s room,” he said smugly.

Sadie banished the image from her mind.

“But Daniel was worried about you having no one to run with,” Trey continued, “so I offered to stand in.”

She clenched her fists at her sides. “I don’t want to run with you.” She might as well go back to bed with a bowl of granola.

“Like you said, you need to work off last night’s calories,” he said. She sucked in her stomach out of reflex, and glared when he chuckled. “Don’t you think it’ll look suspicious if you cancel out because Daniel’s not coming?” he continued.

“I’ll be canceling because I don’t want to run with you.” But he had a point, dammit.

And he knew it. “Where are we going?” he asked.

Sadie looked past him. “I’m heading down Arlington and around the reserve.”

“Works for me,” he said. “Maybe we should come back along the Parkway.”

That would add another twenty minutes; she’d be unlikely to survive. “I don’t have time. Mom has me down to peel about a thousand potatoes for the potato salad.” She clasped her hands behind her head and twisted from side to side.

“Okay, Arlington is fine by me. It overlooks the lagoon and I like a nice view when I run.” His gaze took in her curves, accentuated by the exercise.

“Don’t you have stretches to do?” she snapped.

“I’m stretching my imagination.” He lingered on her legs.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll take your suggestive remarks too seriously? I seem to recall you warning me off you.”

“I’m not worried after last night,” he said. “It’s obvious I’m not the one you’re interested in.”

Her face on fire, she bent to adjust her shoelace. Then without another word, she started running. A purely symbolic gesture, since Trey caught her up in a few easy strides.

Her burst of speed lasted all of a hundred yards.

“Something wrong?” he asked when she slowed.

“You go on ahead. I’m taking it easy today.”

He matched her pace. “I can do easy.” As they passed a wrought-iron fence, he pointed at the lawn beyond. “One of my teams laid that a few weeks ago.”

“Very nice,” she panted insincerely.

“Not the best time for sowing grass, but the Colberts were adamant they want the best lawn on the street for the Fourth. Of course, so were the McIntoshes down the way. Who am I to deny anyone the lawn of their dreams?”

“You’re…a prince,” she managed to say.

He turned around and jogged backward while he surveyed her. “Pooped already?”

She shook her head.

He shrugged and turned the right way around. “I’d better call Mrs. Colbert this morning, tell her to get some water on that grass,” he mused, his tone as even and unhurried as if he was standing still.

“Why are you being so chatty?” Sadie snatched a breath before she continued. “You haven’t said this much to me ever.”

“I’m lulling you into a false sense of security before I start grilling you about Daniel.”

She grunted and put on a spurt of speed.

Trey waited until Sadie slowed down again—about half a minute—before he launched into the conversation he really wanted to have.

“So, you were dating the doctor.”

She stared straight ahead, mouth grim, cheeks flushed pink with exertion. They’d been running—if you could call it that—for about three minutes.

She shook her head, then nodded, then shook it again. “I thought we were dating,” she said. “Turns out we were just seeing each other.”

He scratched his head. “I’ve never understood how women can get that so wrong.”

She glared at him.

“Did you sleep with him?” Trey asked.

Sadie stopped running. “As if I would sleep with some one I wasn’t even dating.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to make that mistake.”

Her chest heaved. He couldn’t tell if it was emotion or exhaustion. Either way, it drew his attention to her figure, which, he admitted to himself for the tenth time since she’d arrived on Friday, was sensational from top to toe.

“You still like him,” Trey said, “even though he’s dating Meg.” He almost wished Daniel was here now, to see Sadie bright red, dripping perspiration.

“Of course I like him,” she said. “He’s intelligent, funny, charming, sensitive—”

He stuck a hand over her mouth, and whatever accolade she intended next came out a muffled “umph.”

“You like him too much,” he said calmly.

He felt a puff of breath against his palm. He dropped his hand.

“Meg’s with Daniel right now. I accept that,” she said.

“So you don’t plan to come between them?”

“Of course not.”

But he’d seen a flash of guilt in her eyes. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me,” he demanded.

“Stop ordering me around. I’m not your sister.”

“Tell me, please,” he said. “Put my mind at rest, so I don’t have to warn Meg to be on her guard.”

She paled, which at least reduced the redness of her face. Then she said, “If anyone’s going to get hurt, it’s Daniel. And you know it.”

“Meg seems as serious as he does.”

She blew out a breath that would have lifted her bangs if they hadn’t been plastered to her forehead. “History suggests that in a couple of weeks, Meg will have moved on.”

“Ah, I get it.” He adopted a high voice, in imitation of her. “I know you’re upset, Daniel, but I’m here for you.” Caught up in his role-playing, he grabbed her hand and looked deeply, soulfully, into her eyes. She had nice fingers, even when they were sweaty. Nice eyes, too. The light hue reminded him of blue delphiniums.

She wrested her hand away. “Don’t be such a jerk.”

“Daniel dumps you for Meg, and you’ll take him back when she’s done with him. Don’t you think that’s kind of pathetic?” he asked.

She stiffened. “Scarlett O’Hara spent her whole life pursuing a man who’d chosen someone else, and she’s one of the strongest women in literature.”