If he could have been anyone’s ‘the one’ it would have been Laurel’s, he realised. But he didn’t have that kind of faith in himself.
His father was waiting at the door, and he frowned at Dan as he climbed the steps to Morwen Hall. Suddenly, the Gothic exterior seemed all the more appropriate for the week Dan was having, and he spared a glance up at the architecture rather than meeting his father’s gaze.
‘Where have you been? Melissa will be here any second and Riley has been asking for you.’ Wendell grabbed him by the shoulder and led him off to a side room, near the hall where the ceremony was taking place.
‘Asking for me?’ Dan frowned. ‘For me? Why?’
He’d been trying to get his brother alone all week, and now he had him he didn’t have a clue what to say.
Don’t marry her...she’s the devil incarnate. But if you love her...if you think you can be what she needs and that she can be who you need...then take that chance. Jump and forget the safety net. Be a braver man than I am.
‘Damned if I know. He’s in here.’
And with that, Dan was cast into the side room, where his brother stood by a window, looking very much as if he’d like to climb through it and make a run for it.
‘Riley?’ Dan said, closing the door quietly behind him. He had a feeling this conversation would be best unobserved. ‘Everything okay?’
Riley spun to stare at him, eyes wide with panic. ‘Am I doing the right thing? Marrying Melissa?’
Dan closed his eyes. Everything he’d wanted to say to Riley had flown out of his head, pushed aside by the memory of Laurel’s face when he told her no.
‘How should I know?’ he said eventually.
It wasn’t as if he was the expert on all things romantic. Look at the mess he’d made with Laurel.
‘Because you’re my big brother!’ Riley ran a hand through his hair in despair. ‘Look, I’ve never asked you for anything before. I know you resented me coming along and ruining your only child status—’
‘I didn’t—’ Dan cut himself off. Had he? He’d always thought it was the other way—that Riley had stolen everything from him. But what if that wasn’t the whole story?
‘Yes, you did. But that doesn’t matter now. Because you’re my brother, and I need you, so you have to help me. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ Dan said, settling down into an armchair in the corner of the room. ‘What do you need?’
‘Thank you.’ Riley sank into the chair opposite him. ‘So, how do I know if I’m doing the right thing? Marrying Melissa?’
‘You remember that my only experience of marriage ended in divorce, right?’ Bitter, painful divorce.
‘Then I’ll learn from your mistakes,’ Riley said desperately. ‘Why was it a mistake to marry Cassie?’
‘Because I wasn’t enough for her.’ The words were automatic, the feeling ingrained. ‘She wanted more than just a stuntman. She wanted a star.’
Riley frowned. ‘That can’t be all of it. She wouldn’t have married you in the first place if that was all there was.’
‘I...’ Dan stalled. Was he right? What else had there been? He’d spent so long not thinking about Cassie, not wanting to examine what he’d lost. Had he missed something?
‘She said... Right before she left she said that I wouldn’t let her in. Wouldn’t let her be what I needed.’
He hadn’t known what she meant then, and he wasn’t sure he did now. But he knew what he needed, at last. He needed Laurel. And yet he couldn’t risk having her.
‘Well, that’s no help at all.’ Riley sighed. ‘Okay, well, what about Laurel? You two seem pretty close. How did you know that she was the one?’
‘Riley, you and Melissa were engaged before I even met Laurel. Besides...it’s not what it seems.’
‘What it seems?’ Riley raised his eyebrows. ‘What is it, then?’
‘We were...’ Now Melissa knew it meant Riley would also know soon enough—along with the rest of the world. He might as well tell his brother himself. ‘It was a prank, I guess. We’re not really together. We just thought we’d pretend this week, so neither of us had to come to the wedding alone.’
It sounded pathetic, put like that. And more like a lie than telling everyone they were together had, somehow.
Riley’s eyebrows were higher than ever now. ‘A fake relationship? Really?’ He shook his head. ‘Man, you’re a better actor than I gave you credit for. Because you two sure looked like the real thing to me.’
The real thing. Not an act...not a stand-in.
Could he have that? For real? He’d run when she’d suggested it, knowing he couldn’t live up to expectations and not wanting to disappoint her—or risk the pain when she realised the universal truth that Dan Black was Not Enough.
But what if he could be? What if he could have been for Cassie? For Riley? For his parents, even?
What if he could change his story? What if it wasn’t too late?
He shook his head. One epiphany at a time.
‘Yeah, well. Today’s not about me and Laurel. It’s about you and Melissa,’ Dan said, bringing the conversation back to the more urgent matter at hand.
The wedding was supposed to start... He checked his watch. Now. The wedding was supposed to be happening right now. He needed to sort out Riley’s head—and then maybe he could start on his own heart.
‘So...why did you ask her to marry you in the first place?’ he asked.
‘I didn’t really, I don’t think.’ Riley’s forehead was scrunched up a little, as if he was trying to remember. ‘It was more like we’d been dating for a while, you know, and it seemed like the logical next step. Well, that’s what Melissa said in her interview afterwards, anyway.’
‘Of course.’ Dan rubbed a hand over his forehead. ‘Okay, tell me this. What’s got you thinking all these second thoughts anyway?’
Riley sighed. ‘It’s this thing with Noah and Eloise. Melissa seems kind of...worked up about it. I think she might even have had something to do with it hitting the internet.’
‘I’m certain she did,’ Dan said evenly. ‘So? How does that make you feel?’
He was starting to sound like that therapist Cassie had wanted him to see. He’d gone once and refused ever to go back. Even in LA, not everyone needed to see a therapist.
‘A little uncomfortable, I guess. But...it’s kind of part of the job, right? The publicity and everything. I mean, we take it when we want it, so we have to put up with it when we don’t too.’
‘I suppose so.’ Another reason to be glad he was merely a very successful businessman and stuntman, rather than a star. He didn’t want anyone prying into his private business, thanks. ‘Okay, so, next question. Why do you want to marry Melissa?’
‘Have you seen her? She’s gorgeous. And she’s a rising star. Together, we can be a proper Hollywood power couple.’
‘And do you like her?’
Never mind love, Dan decided. That could be fickle as anything. But liking was important. Liking was what got you through the long days and the bad times. Having a friend at your side.
As he’d had Laurel this week.
Not thinking about Laurel.
‘You know, I really do,’ Riley said, smiling soppily. ‘I mean, I know she can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but when it’s just us...she’s funny, you know? Like, when she’s not being “Melissa Sommers, film goddess” she can just be Mel. And that’s nice.’
‘Sounds like you have your answer right there, then,’ Dan said.
‘Yeah. I guess I do.’ Riley looked over at him and frowned. ‘But what about you? There’s seriously nothing going on between you and Laurel? Because, honestly, I thought the two of you might spontaneously combust, the looks you were giving each other at the dinner table last night were so hot. I reckon
you could be in there if you wanted. You should give it a go, man.’ He clapped a hand on Dan’s shoulder and grinned. ‘Love’s great, you know?’
‘If you say so,’ Dan said, non-committal.
He knew how great it could be. Could sense even now how phenomenal he and Laurel could be together. But that only told him how much more it would hurt to lose it.
‘Come on. We need to get you married.’
Then he could get back to his regularly scheduled life. Without love, without Laurel, and without all these feelings that made his chest too tight.
* * *