Page 110 of In Every Chapter

But white dresses, tulle, and rings always brought up fresh reminders I’d rather stay buried. Memories of a certain blonde with mesmerizing brown eyes and a sassy attitude. A girl who gave as good as she got.

The girl I was supposed to marry.

Noelle Shepherd was my first love. But some things weren’t made to last.

“Daddy, come dance with me!” Khia, my precocious almost five-year-old, begged, jumping up and down, her dark curls bouncing, blue eyes shining. Save for the eyes, which were definitely mine, she was the image of her mother.

I swallowed hard. Izzy had been gone for over four years. Our marriage had been a case of doing the right thing once we found out Khia was on the way. I had tried to love her, but we weren’t a good match. I wasn’t enough for her.

But Noelle . . .

Noelle. The girl who left me a month before the wedding when we were nineteen, leaving behind her engagement ring and a note before she vanished across the country.

It’d been almost thirteen years ago, but it still felt as fresh as yesterday.

“Daddy!” Khia tugged my hand, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Be right there, Lovebug. Let Uncle Grey and Auntie Paisley finish their first dance.” More like their second-first dance.

After Paisley lost seven years of her memories earlier in the summer, I’d watched my twin brother pursue his wife to help her fall in love with him a second time. They’d beaten the odds, and now were having a vow renewal since she couldn’t remember their first wedding.

I was happy for my brother, and Paisley was good for him. But a dark part of me wasn’t proud of how I envied Greyson for getting his second chance with the woman he loved.

What I wouldn’t have given for a second chance of my own.

“Cheer up.” A mason jar of sparkling juice was thrust unceremoniously into my hand by a curly blonde who came up to my shoulder.

“Ruby.” I sniffed the drink and wrinkled my nose. “Did you put salt in it?”

She placed a hand over her chest. “I would never.”

I huffed mirthlessly and took a sip. No salt. This time. “What do you want?”

“What makes you think I want anything?” Her brown eyes widened with innocence. “Can’t a girl do something nice for a friend?”

“You've got your ‘I Need a Favour and I Know Cal Will Cave Because He’s an Idiot’ face on.”

Ruby giggled delightedly. “I’ve got that face? Man, I’m good!”

Ruby Shepherd was Noelle’s baby sister and barely nineteen. She’d been a part of my life since, well, forever, because the Shepherds were my parents’ next-door neighbours. They had five girls, and there were five of us Satterfield boys, plus Juliet. While Ruby had been too young to hang with us back then, she was an unofficial little sister.

And I was the sucker who could never say no to her.

“Spit it out, Rubes.” I watched Greyson spin Paisley before dipping her in a kiss. My stomach burned—maybe Ruby had poisoned my drink. Because heartburn made more sense than longing. I didn’t want to get married again. I’d done it with disastrous results. And yet . . . seeing my grumpy twin so happy almost made me wish it were me.

Almost.

Ruby sighed dramatically. “Fine. I need you to do a couples’ photo shoot.”

I frowned and took a swig of my drink. “A photo shoot?”

“Yup.”

“For couples?”

She beamed. “Exactly.”

“You see any plus-one around here?”