“Do you want to go as my plus one?” Wes whirled around his expression confused. “You could go with me. It would give you a chance to talk to Melody in person.”
“Why would you do that?”
Someone should nominate me for sainthood.
She held his gaze so he would see her sincerity. “You are my friend. My best friend, really. If Melody marries this guy before you get a chance to say what you’ve always wanted to, you will never get over it.”
His eyebrows slanted. “You want me to be with Melody?”
“Yousay you want to be with Melody.” Cara set her glass down, ignoring his question. “I may not be completely convinced that love exists—though my brothers may have put a fairly big dent in my beliefs tonight. They made me realize I could do it differently than my parents did.” She chuckled when his forehead wrinkled, and she gave him a soft smile. “You deserve to have your chance, if that’s really what you want.”
She successfully hid the pain in her chest when he said, “It is.” His eyes were unfocused, lost deep in his thoughts. “Are you sure, Cara?”
Cara swallowed past the ache in her throat and forced her lips into a smile. “The wedding is a week from tomorrow, but I need to be there a day early.” She pushed away from the counter and walked towards her bedroom. Tears clouded her vision, and she clamped her mouth shut to prevent her from wailing.
“Cara,” he called behind her, and she paused. “Thank you.”
Not looking back, she gave one nod. Just before closing her door, she called back, keeping her voice bright, “You get to buy the plane tickets, though.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
The next twodays passed quickly as the production moved at a hectic pace to meet the next day’s completion deadline. Cara had her doubts. They’d been working eighteen-hour days, and it still seemed impossible. She hoped they would finish on time. Cara wanted to be there when the movie wrapped. This was her first proper job, and she was looking forward to the wrap party the night before she and Wes left for Italy.
The night she made the offer, Cara barely slept. Was she an idiot? Delivering Melody on a silver platter? Did she really want to be with someone who wanted someone else?
But Wes didn’t want Melody, not really. He had concocted a fantasy based on his childhood trauma. The only way for him to move past the issue was to confront it.
Or at least that’s what her brothers had said when she was younger. Then again, it had been their rationale for throwing her in the pool when she was afraid to swim, so maybe not the soundest of principles. It didn’t matter. She had offered, and she couldn’t go back on it now.
As Cara finally drifted off to sleep that night, an insidious voice in her head whispered what she secretly knew was the real reason she had offered. She wanted Wes for herself, but she worried Melody would always be a ghost between them.
“What are your plans after this? Have you started applying for jobs?” Skye whispered next to her. They were standing at the back of the soundstage, ready and waiting for whenever Stephen yelled “cut!”
“I haven’t.” Cara needed to, but with everything else going on…
“You’re going to Italy after we wrap, right? I’m so jealous.” Skye sounded wistful.
“Mm-hmm.”
Skye looked at Cara out of the corner of her eye. “Romantic. But you and Wes are just friends, right? Going to a family wedding in Tuscany. Yep, sounds totally platonic to me.”
Cara’s stomach rolled but some of her feelings must have shown because Skye’s eyes rounded. “Are you two together?”
Cara shook her head. Skye’s face fell. “I don’t get you two. I have never in my life seen two people so into each other.”
“We are going to the wedding because Melody will be there… long story.” She held up her hand to stop questions. “She’s engaged, and Wes never told her how he felt.”
“So, this is what? Supposed to give him closure?”
“Something like that.” The knot in Cara’s stomach twisted tighter.
“Why would you do something so stupid? Oh!” Skye scrunched her nose. “Have you told him you’re in love with him?” Cara opened her mouth to deny it, but a small sob escaped.
Skye glanced around, but thankfully the crew was busy and hadn’t heard Cara’s outburst. She patted Cara awkwardly on the back looking deeply uncomfortable.
One side of Cara’s mouth lifted. “I always thought falling in love was stupid. Honestly, if this is how it feels, I think I was right.” She sucked in a breath. “Can we not talk about this right now?”
“You should tell him… with actual words,” Skye said. Cara shook her head, and thankfully Skye didn’t argue. However, instead of making small talk as they typically would, she stood silently by Cara’s side until the final clapper of the day sounded.
