My Ex Hired Me to Ruin Her Sister's Wedding novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: The Saturday
The ranch gate stood open at three, and the gravel road shone white under the sun.
Cass was waiting at the end of it, in a linen shirt and sunglasses, with a clipboard that she had borrowed from a ranch hand.
"Twenty-two plates," she said, as the Bronco rolled up. "The caterer cried when I told him it was just us. I made him leave all of it."
"We'll give the rest to the staff."
"I've already told them. They've set up in the shed. I'm the wedding coordinator today, Jo. You're the guest."
I got out of the truck.
Priya came around the hood in the dress I had never seen.
It was not the ivory gown with forty buttons.
It was a plain sleeveless dress in soft cream cotton, to her knees.
With her hair loose and her grandmother's veil pinned at the crown, and her gold glasses, and no shoes.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi."
"Is it all right? I didn't want anything that took two women to zip."
I could not say anything.
I took her hand.
Cass walked us across the grass to the oldest tree on the ranch, a live oak with a branch like a bench.
She had spread a quilt under it, and set out a great many peonies in jars.
The peonies were the ones I had cancelled.
They were huge and pink and ridiculous, and the whole yard smelled of them.
"I thought you'd want them," Cass said. "Since you never got to ruin them."
"I did ruin them. I cancelled them."
"And I re-ordered them. We both have talents."
She cleared her throat, and put down the clipboard.
"Dearly beloved," she said.
"We are gathered here, all three of us, and one possum, to witness something that cost two Anand women twenty-seven thousand dollars and ended up costing nothing."
"Cass," Priya said.
"I've been told to be brief. I promised my mother I wouldn't cry. Priya, do you have anything to say?"
Priya turned to face me.
She took off her glasses, and put them in her pocket, and I saw all of her face.
"Jo," she said. "I hired you to take apart my life."
"I know."
"You did. You took apart the engagement and the lie and the part of me that said yes to everyone." Her voice wavered and steadied. "And then you stayed, and you didn't put anything back that I didn't ask for. I want to build the rest of it with you. Whatever it looks like. I'm yours, and I choose you, and I'm choosing it on purpose."
My eyes had gone hot.
I had written a speech in the Bronco.
It was gone entirely.
"I came to the ranch with a seam ripper to ruin a stranger's wedding," I said. "I found someone I'd have burned down a hundred weddings to meet. I love you. You can have everything I have, including the iron bed, and the Bronco, and the bad temper. I'm yours, and I'll stand next to you for as long as you want a person there."
Keep reading free with an account. Start My Ex Hired Me to Ruin Her Sister's Wedding from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend