There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Why would she do that?” my father said.

I really didn’t want to discuss their child’s love life with them but . . . “Because she’s sleeping with Jack Devlin. I have good reason to suspect that Jack is trying to use Vanessa to get to the inn. I was trying to make sure she didn’t get hurt. Not only wouldn’t she listen, she was insulting, and considering how insulting she’s been for the past few weeks, that, I’m afraid, was the last straw.”

“Should we come up there?” my dad asked. “Try and talk some sense into her?”

“Dad, I hate to say this because I don’t want to see her get hurt . . . but I think it would be best for her if she did.”

“What does that mean?” Mom asked, worried.

“Vanessa thinks that she can control people, men, with her looks. It’s dangerous to think that for many reasons. Maybe this is a lesson we need her to learn. She’ll find out soon enough Jack is using her, and hopefully it’ll make her grow up and see that she isn’t the center of the universe, and people will prey on her blind conceit.”

“A little humbling might do her a world of good, you mean?”

“Yes.”

My mom sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Stacy, I think Cherry is right. At least she’s there for Vanessa if everything blows up in her face.”

After a moment of silence my mom whispered, “Okay.”

We hung up, all of us unsettled by the prospect of Vanessa getting hurt, but knowing it was a lesson my hardheaded, selfish, egotistical baby sister needed to learn.

A little fall back to earth might just knock some sense into her.

TWENTY-TWO

Vaughn

The last thing he wanted to do was attend a wedding.

However, when that wedding was the wedding of his friend and the reception was being held in his own hotel it was a little difficult to avoid attendance.

Plus, Bailey would be there. And despite how horrifically gut wrenching the experience of telling someone you loved them and not having them say it back was, Vaughn was not giving up.

He was Vaughn Tremaine. He hadn’t created a hotel empire by giving up at the first or even the second or third hurdle. It was all about determination and perseverance.

There had to be a way to convince her to give him a shot without dredging up the past and things that didn’t even matter anymore. His plan was to give her a little time, but not a lot, and then seduce her. He’d do this by becoming a constant in her life. He’d keep throwing himself into town life if that would help win her over, and he’d just be there for her. Time would prove that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“How are things going in here?” Vaughn strolled into Cooper’s hotel room. He’d given his friend the room free of charge since Jessica wanted a traditional start to their marriage and had asked Cooper to stay somewhere else the night before their wedding.

Cooper was dressed in his tux. He was a totally different man in a suit. Very distinguished. But he also looked like he was chafing in it. His sister, Cat, and her son, Joey, were in the room along with Cooper’s reclusive chef Crosby.

Crosby seemed five million times more uncomfortable than Cooper in his suit. He sat on an armchair, chewing nervously at his nonexistent fingernails.

As for Cat she was smiling tenderly at her big brother and she looked stunning in a blue summer dress that matched her eyes. Her thick dark hair was pulled back from her face in some kind of messy bun thing, and it was the first time Vaughn really appreciated how beautiful Lawson’s sister was.

“Uncle Coop doesn’t like his tux. I don’t like mine, either.” Joey made a face.

Vaughn grinned at the little boy who was a miniature version of his uncle. Joey was Cooper’s best man. “Well, you look good.” He nodded at the boy’s mother. “You look beautiful, Cat.”

Surprise knocked the cockiness out of her smile, and there was an unexpected shyness to her response. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself, Tremaine.”

“None of that,” Cooper groaned. “First my pseudo sister, now my real sister. No, Vaughn. Just no.”

He chuckled. “Apparently a man is not allowed to compliment a woman without it being construed as lascivious.”

Cooper scowled at him. “When it’s you, yeah.”

“Well that’s insulting. I’m a perfect gentleman.”

“When a man has as many friends as you, other men start protecting their womenfolk from you.”

“Womenfolk. Really?” Vaughn smirked. Then he thought about how much Jessica seemed to want him and Bailey to work things out. And whatever Jessica wanted, Cooper wanted her to have. He cleared his throat, pushing past his aversion to discussing personal matters in public. “Well, if it makes you feel any better I have every intention of only having one friend from now on. I just need to convince her of that.”

“Bailey?”

He nodded.

That got him a shit-eating grin. “Good.” Cooper clapped him on the shoulder. “About time.”

“Yes, well, she’s not exactly amenable but . . . I’m working on it.”

Cat smirked at him. “I hope you have a lot of patience, Tremaine. I’ve known Bailey Hartwell my whole life and when she digs her heels in, man does she dig them in good and deep.”

“I’m aware. She decided I was a—” He stopped, considering Joey who was listening intently. “Not a very nice person a while ago, and hasn’t really changed her mind about that.”