“Good morning.” Her mother closed her in a tight hug, then pulled back to pat her eyes with a tissue. “Can you believe Christopher is getting married tonight? I’ve been crying since I woke up.”
Anna looked at Chris, but kept her eyes off Brett. She could pretend she didn’t care—she’d gotten the lead part in her high school play for a reason, thank you very much—but if he looked too close…he would see right through her act. “I know. It’s crazy. He looks so happy.”
“Because he is. Nina makes him happy. I’m so glad he responded to the car accident she was in, and not someone else.” Her mom sniffed and motioned at a tray of food. “Speaking of the bride…I’m about to take a tray up to Nina. She’s hiding in her room so she doesn’t see Chris. It’s bad luck before the wedding.”
Hiding away from the men?
That sounded absolutely perfect.
“I’m on it.” Anna grabbed her mom’s hand. “I’ll take it up to her. You should spend the rest of the morning with Chris.”
“Are you sure?” She looked over at her son, clearly wanting to go sit with him, but she bit down on her lip. “No. I’ll go up. You go sit with the boys and have fun.”
“No.” When her mother shot her a surprised look, Anna realized her refusal sounded more like a shout than a polite insistence. If she wasn’t mistaken, her cry got Brett’s attention. She could feel him watching her. “I mean, no thanks. You go. I’ll just throw a cup of coffee on here and a croissant, and then I’ll go up to her. I want to.”
“All right, dear. If you’re sure?”
“Absolutely positive,” Anna said, smiling to reassure her mother.
It almost cracked her cheeks.
“Hmm.” Her mom tilted her head, taking in Anna’s appearance. She was sporting some pretty rocking red eyes, along with some puffy eyelids, so it probably wasn’t hard for her mother to put two and two together. “You look like you had a rough night. I can come up, too. There’s nothing a mom can’t fix.”
Anna swallowed hard because there were things a mother couldn’t fix.
Like a broken heart.
“I’ll be fine. I just couldn’t sleep. You go spend time with Chris. I’ll go hang out with Nina. By the time I come back down, I’ll look more awake. I promise.”
“All right. But my offer still stands.” Her mother hugged her tight and then hurried across the room.
All of her brothers—and the man she wouldn’t look at—scooted over to make space for her. Anna tore her eyes away before she was tempted to look at him again, threw a few more things on the tray, and picked it up. Right before she hit the door, Wyatt stepped in front of her. “You okay, Squirt?”
Anna nodded, but didn’t lift her head from her eye level…which was approximately at his shoulders. “I’m fine. I’m just going up with Nina for the morning.”
“I thought Mom was doing that,” he said, his voice tinged with curiosity. “She said she would go up.”
“I offered to take her place.”
Wyatt stepped out of her way, but followed her to the stairs. “You’re upset. I knew you would be, but you seem more upset than I expected. Did you get my—?”
“Will you just let me go already?” Anna gripped the tray even tighter, not even wanting to talk to him right now. If he wanted to rub it in her face that she should have listened to him, then he would have to wait for another day. “I’m not in the mood for this right now. For any of this. I just want to go up to Nina, and ignore you, and every other man in that room, for a few hours. So let me.”
With wide eyes, Wyatt held his hands up and backed away from her. “All right. Jesus. Go ahead, then.”
She cleared past him, rushed up the stairs, balanced the tray on her hip, and knocked on Nina’s door. At the soft reply, Anna opened it and kicked it closed behind her. “Hey. You got me instead of Mom.”
Nina scooted into a sitting position and patted the bed beside her, her gaze running over Anna’s face intently. “Come. Sit. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Craaaapppp.
Her acting abilities were slipping.
“What makes you think something is wrong?” Anna smiled even brighter, trying to hide whatever it was that everyone kept seeing. “I’m just tired and excited and nervous—all in one.”
Nina eyed her. “Are you worrying about walking down the aisle without tripping again?”
“Yes.” Anna let out a sigh at the easy answer Nina supplied for her. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”