Page 81 of The Wrong Groom

My sister’s shadow looms over so many parts of my life, but for the first time, I don’t feel crushed beneath its weight. Instead, I feel… grounded. Sure of myself.

Toward the end of the day, my phone vibrates with a text from Gabriel.

GABRIEL: Hey. I gave Margaret the evening off and I’m leaving work early to pick Peyton up from school. You want us to come pick you up too?

A smile creeps across my face as I read, and my heart races a little at the thought of seeing him earlier than I anticipated. I’ve been trying to keep my head on straight, but it’s been hard not to get too attached to Gabriel.

Appreciate this for what it is, I tell myself. It’s amazing, and it’s not going to last forever. Just enjoy it while you can.

I fire back a text.

ME: Sure, that sounds great.

Half an hour later, Gabriel pulls up out front in his four-door Maserati. Peyton is in the back, buckled into her car seat.

“Hi, Alexis!” she calls as I approach the car. She’s beaming from ear to ear.

“Hey, Peyton,” I reply, smiling as I slide into the passenger seat. “What’s got you so excited?”

“Daddy says we’re going to the bookstore today.”

“Oh?” I turn to Gabriel, who smiles serenely as he pulls away from the curb, his eyes fixed on the road. “Is that so?”

“I thought we’d drop in,” Gabriel says. “After all, I just finished the book I was reading.” He shoots me a wink, and I grin. I can’t believe he actually read that whole romance cover to cover. “So I need another one. Thought you might need a book haul too, since you go through multiple of those things in a week.”

I laugh. “Okay, that’s an exaggeration.”

“I don’t know about that.” He shrugs one shoulder, his eyes glimmering with amusement.

Gabriel takes us across town to a charming bookstore with an attached cafe. Its large bay windows are adorned with displays of hardcover novels, each propped up with tiny chalkboard signs that list handwritten staff recommendations. Twinkling fairy lights are strung around the frames.

The sign above the door reads Between the Pages, and as we step inside, the scent of coffee and freshly baked pastries mingles with that distinct, comforting smell of books.

Peyton immediately tugs on my hand. “Can we go to the kids’ section first?”

“Of course,” I say, letting her lead the way. Gabriel follows, a quiet smile on his face and his hands tucked into his pockets.

The kids’ section is tucked into a cozy corner of the store, complete with colorful beanbag chairs and a spinning rack full of hand puppets. Peyton sits cross-legged in front of the shelves, a pensive look on her face.

“You looking for something in particular?” I ask her, crouching down to her level.

“I need a book about kittens,” she says solemnly. Behind us, Gabriel lets out a sigh.

“What kind of book about kittens? A story, or⁠—”

“Something that will tell me how to take care of them.”

I shoot Gabriel a grin over my shoulder, then turn my attention back to Peyton. “Ah, I see,” I say, nodding thoughtfully. “Well, we’d better check the nonfiction section.”

It doesn’t take long to find books about cats for Peyton. She grabs a stack of three, and buries her nose in one of them as we wander out of the kids’ section.

“Get as many as you want,” Gabriel says to me as we enter the danger zone—the romance shelves. “Seriously. Don’t hold back.”

“You might regret that,” I say ruefully. “I have a problem.”

He shrugs, smirking. “Well, there’s plenty of room in the trunk.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I scan the shelves, pulling down books one by one as I skim the titles. Gabriel joins me, hovering at my shoulder to read the blurbs on the back covers.