The Best Friend's Billionaire Brother (Caprock Canyon Romance Book 1) Read online

  Standing, Gabby stretched her arms above her head. “Okay, then back to the drawing board. I know you had this idea of a dress, but so far, none of them have worked. How about me, Mom, Stephanie, and your mom each go pick out a dress we think will work. Something completely different?”

  Carrie Anne shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt. None of the empire-waist dresses have worked.”

  Gabby hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Okay, you’ve got fifteen minutes. Pick the first dress you think will work. No empire waist.” She smiled. “And…go!”

  With that, Gabby spun on her heels and went all the way to the back of the store to start her search. As she looked through the dresses, she thought about her own wedding. All of her life, she’d pictured it with Wyatt. Him in a tux, her walking up the aisle, and her dad giving her away.

  Over the years, her dream wedding had changed as she’d aged. At first, she’d wanted red roses everywhere. Then she’d wanted orchids because they smelled so great. The last time she’d thought about it, she’d wanted yellow roses as a symbol of their friendship.

  The meal would be simple, followed by strawberry shortcake since that was their favorite. Sure, they could have a traditional cake, but nothing beat a good shortcake. Countless hours were spent perfecting the whole day.

  Obviously, as she’d matured, she’d learned that there was no such thing as perfect. Something would go wrong, but as long as Wyatt was at the front of the church waiting on her, it would be the best day ever.

  “So, you’re dating Bandit?” Stephanie asked.

  Gabby jumped and held her stomach. “Wear a bell next time!”

  Her sister laughed as she walked a couple of feet and started looking at dresses. “Answer the question.”

  During the last week, Gabby had made extra effort to spend as much time near Bandit as possible. Again, part of phase one of being unavailable. A few times, she’d caught Wyatt looking their direction with an unreadable expression on his face. The rest of her family mostly left her alone about it.

  “Yes, I’m dating Bandit.”

  Her sister shot her a glance. “You’ve had a crush on Wyatt West since the day the earth was created. There is no way you’re dating Bandit. Now, if Carrie Anne concocted a scheme to make it appear that way to make Wyatt jealous, it would make sense.”

  Gabby froze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The last thing she wanted was for Stephanie Can’t-Keep-A-Secret Fredericks to know what she was doing.

  “Please. Do I look that stupid?” She pointed a finger at her face. “That’s rhetorical.”

  With a sigh, Gabby scooted closer to Stephanie. “Please don’t tell anyone. It was Carrie Anne’s idea.”

  “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I’ll never forget how heartbroken you were that night he asked Lori to marry him. You were crushed.”

  Gabby chewed her lip. It was a night she couldn’t forget either. “I know, and I don’t want that either.”

  “But it’s Wyatt.”

  Instead of answering Stephanie, Gabby looked down as she nodded. “Yeah.” There was so much more she wanted to say, but she held it back. Giving it voice, speaking it, would only make it worse if Wyatt never saw her as anything more than Carrie Anne’s best friend.

  Stephanie took her hand. “If he’s so blind that he can’t figure out you’re the best thing to ever come his way, it’ll be on him. I don’t know how this will work out, but I’m here for you if you need anything.”

  Gabby lifted her head and smiled. “You’re not going to talk me out of it?”

  “No,” Stephanie said with a smile. “But I am going to have fun with it.” She winked, spun around, and walked back to the dressing room area.

  Fun with it? What did that mean? Gabby groaned and mumbled to herself, “Great. Just what I needed. More fun.”

  After searching through a few more dresses, Gabby picked one she thought could be a good contender. It had a ball gown skirt with a scoop neck and long sleeves made of lace. It fit the time of year, it had that princess feel to it, and it was simple. Something Gabby was pretty sure Carrie Anne could pull off.

  With the dress in hand, she joined the rest of the women and gave it to the clerk helping Carrie Anne.

  “Everyone is back, dear,” the clerk said.

  The door opened, and Carrie Anne modeled the first dress.

  Stephanie grinned. “That’s my pick, but the heavy wedding satin doesn’t look good on you.”

  For a moment, Carrie Anne studied her reflection. “Yeah, I’m not comfortable in it. I like it. The full skirt is pretty, but it doesn’t have the feeling of being the one.”

  Mrs. West nodded. “Yeah, it was a good effort, though. But, no, that’s not it.”

  The next two dresses went much like the first. They looked okay, but they could tell by the look on Carrie Anne’s face that they weren’t it. Then it was Gabby’s pick. She was pretty sure she’d done well when she heard a gasp come from the dressing room.

  Carrie Anne stepped out, and her smile went all the way to her eyes. “It’s perfect.”

  “It’s beautiful.” Stephanie looked at Gabby. “Well, you two aren’t best friends for no reason.”

  Mrs. West joined Carrie Anne on the pedestal. “Oh, honey, it’s gorgeous.”

  “This is it. It’s comfortable. I love the sleeves. I thought the lace would be itchy, but it’s so soft, and I can move my arms just fine. The skirt flows exactly how I pictured it would.” Carrie Anne faced Gabby. “This is the one.” Her eyes filled with tears, and her hands covered her mouth. “I’m getting married.”

  Her mom hugged her. “Oh, sweetheart. You’re going to look stunning on your day.”

  Gabby smiled. It was perfect. Well, beyond perfect. It fit Carrie Anne’s personality. As much as she schemed and plotted, Carrie Anne was sweet all the way to the core. She always wanted to see people happy.

  “My friend is getting married.” Gabby approached her. “It really is perfect.”

  Carrie Anne pulled her into a hug. “Thank you.”

  Patting her on the back, Gabby took a deep breath. “I’m so happy for you.”

  They released each other as the clerk approached. “Now for the real work. Let’s get this dress fitting like a glove for your big day.”

  Gabby went back to her chair and sat down. Her mom sat in the chair beside her, leaving the clerk and Carrie Anne’s mom to talk fitting details.

  “That’s going to be you one day.” Her mom patted her hand.

  “Maybe.”

  Her mom waved her off. “Oh, don’t give me that. There’s a young man out there who will come along, know he’s got one of the best girls on earth, and never let you go. He may not even be that far away.”

  “What?” Gabby swallowed hard.

  “You heard me.”

  Did her mom know too? Geez, did she have a sign up or something?

  “Of course I mean Bandit.” Her mom gave her a smile and a side-eye. It was the kind that said, If you buy that, I’ve got beachfront property in Arizona for sale. Then she winked. Great. With that, her mom stood and joined Mrs. West.

  Gabby dropped her head against the back of the chair, squeezed her eyes closed, and sent up a silent prayer that…well, she didn’t know what to hope for. That had always been her problem. Hoping and then having the rug pulled from under her. Maybe what she needed most was the ability to accept no as an answer and then move on. Perhaps that’s what she needed to be hoping for. The ability to let it go. Better yet, to let Wyatt go.

  Chapter 17

  Glancing to his right, Wyatt tried to think of something to say to Gabby as they drove to Lubbock for the day. That hadn’t been the plan when they’d woken up, but Carrie Anne had mixed up her times, booking both her cake tasting in Lubbock and her final dress fitting appointment in Amarillo at the same time.

  At first, Bandit was supposed to go with her to Lubbock, but something had come up, and he couldn’t. So, at the last minute, Carrie Anne h
ad asked Wyatt so she didn’t have to go alone. With only a couple of weeks left and Christmas falling right in the middle of that, there was no time to reschedule things. Plus, as Carrie Anne had pointed out, Gabby was her best friend. If anyone could pick a cake flavor, it would be her.

  Wyatt didn’t mind taking her, but ever since their…date, he’d felt a little weird around her. That feeling grew every time Wyatt saw her with Bandit over the past week. The two of them just didn’t fit together, and Wyatt couldn’t decide if that was because he really believed it or because Carrie Anne’s little speech was getting to him.

  He turned his attention back to the road and tried to think of a topic that would be easy to discuss. Something that would make the weird feelings go away so she could get back to being family, the kind he didn’t want to hold and kiss. “Uh, you excited to taste cake?” It was lame, but it was all he could think of at the moment.

  She shrugged. “I guess. I mean, it’s cake. How bad could it be? Her favorite thing is chocolate, so I suspect if it’s good, that’ll be the flavor to pick.”

  “True.” He chuckled. If anything, his baby sister was rather predictable. “Have you ever wondered about your wedding? I have. Sort of. I’d want something simple.” Great. What line of questioning was this? Wedding equals a couple. Couple equals kissing. He was trying to put that out of his mind, not make it all he could think about.

  She kept her gaze out the side window. “Yeah, I always pictured it in the spring. When it’s not too hot or cold. I’ve always thought an outdoor wedding would be nice. Yellow roses, family and friends, and strawberry shortcake.”

  Shortcake? That was his favorite cake in the world. Well, it was both of theirs, but he’d never envisioned it to be the cake served at his wedding. Not that he’d spent a lot of time thinking about it, but now that she’d brought it up, it was perfect. “Why am I not surprised about the cake?”

  “I think if you’re going to have a cake, it may as well be something that you enjoy. It may not be the most traditional, but it sure would be tasty.”

  “I have to agree with you there.”

  She turned her head to look at him. “Have you ever thought about your wedding? I mean, when you proposed to Lori, I suspect you guys talked about it a little.”

  One of his worst mistakes. He couldn’t even remember why he’d done it. He’d brought Lori home to introduce her to their families at one of their family dinners, he’d heard Gabby talking about moving to Charleston, and the next thing he remembered was proposing to Lori. It had been so strange. To this day, he had no idea why he’d done it.

  “Not really. It didn’t last very long.”

  Gabby twisted in her seat. “Why? I mean, I know you guys were off and on, but I figured that would be over once you asked her to marry you.”

  “I did too, but…” He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “She cheated on me.”

  “What?”

  Glancing at Gabby, he nodded. “Yep, I was on tour with the rodeo. I came back as a surprise for her birthday and caught her on a date with someone she worked with. There was no more on and off for me. It was just over.”

  “I can’t believe she did that.” She leaned across the cab and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

  He covered her hand with his. “Things happen for a reason, but thank you.”

  “That’s true.” Wyatt half expected her to pull her hand away, but she didn’t. “I’m just sorry you had to go through that.”

  “Me too, but the thing I had with Lori had to stop. I don’t even know why I let it go on as long as I did. We weren’t right for each other. We didn’t want the same things.”

  “Like what?” This time, Gabby did pull her hand away, and Wyatt hated it. Twice now, she’d offered comfort, and both times, he’d felt an emptiness when she moved away.

  Resisting the urge to pull her close, Wyatt said, “She wanted to move to a big city, and I didn’t. She didn’t want children.” He glanced at Gabby. “And I did. She wanted all these grand things when what I wanted was the simple stuff.”

  Gabby smiled. “She didn’t want to run an orchard or anything like that.”

  “She especially didn’t want to do that. You should have seen her face when I told her about it. There was no way that was happening.” He chewed the inside of his cheek. “What’s really sad is that after I found out she was cheating, I was relieved.”

  “I never understood why you kept getting back together with her.”

  “I don’t have a good reason.” He sure wished he did. How many times did they break up? Each time, he promised himself there wouldn’t be a next time, and Lori would find a way to change his mind. “In a way, I think I was glad she cheated. No matter what she said or how much she tried, after that, I was officially done.”

  “I guess it was better to find out before you married her than after.”

  With a chuckle, he nodded. “Boy, ain’t that the truth. I can’t even picture being married to her.” He shivered with the thought. “I think I would have been miserable.”

  Gabby laughed with him. “Then it’s a really good thing you didn’t marry her.”

  “I feel like that accident made me grow up. Until then, I’d always seen myself as a kid. I loved riding bulls. It was fun, and that’s all I wanted. After, I had a lot of time to think. I want more than fun; I want purpose.” That was the first time he’d said it out loud. Before this conversation, he didn’t have the words. He just had feelings he couldn’t explain.

  Being with Gabby always loosened his tongue and made his brain work. She’d always had that effect on him. That was the reason he always went to her. She made him…function better. What would it be like if Wyatt no longer had her? If she got serious with Bandit, everything would change. Just the thought made his chest constrict.

  The last five years had been a taste of what it would be like to not have her in his life. He didn’t like that at all, especially now that he realized his life was empty without her. If she married someone, there’d be no more Wyatt and Gabby. He’d have to let her go completely. How was he supposed to do that?

  She nodded. “I guess it would make you think, but you can have purpose doing what you love.”

  Wyatt shrugged. “I guess. Hadn’t thought about it like that.”

  “I think sometimes we have this idea of what purpose looks like. It’s so entrenched in us that we can’t see another way. Most often, a big event pulls us out and makes us reevaluate things.” She sighed.

  Glancing at her, he asked, “How about you?”

  “What? A big event?”

  “No, well, I guess it could be a big event, depending on what happened. But did you ever get serious with anyone?” For some unknown reason, he was especially interested in the answer.

  She shook her head. “No, I was too busy. First with college and interning at the paper, and then once I graduated, I was still busy. I kinda threw myself into my work.”

  “I know you said you didn’t date, but I really find that hard to believe.”

  Shrugging she said, “Well, believe it. I tried, but most of the time it was just dinner, and there never was a spark. What was the point in prolonging the inevitable? I wasn’t interested.”

  “Have you ever been interested in anyone, besides Bandit, that is?”

  Minute after minute ticked by as the silence in the cab grew until it was so thick he could touch it. What was taking her so long to answer? And why did it bother him that it was taking this long?

  Finally, she nodded. “Yeah, there’s been one, but it didn’t work out.”

  He should have felt bad for her, but instead, he felt relieved. It made him feel like a terrible person. Being glad she was miserable wasn’t right at all. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

  “I think if something’s meant to be, though, it’ll happen.” Hopefully, she wasn’t meant to be with Bandit. The second it flitted through his mi
nd, he felt like a jerk. Bandit was his friend, and so was Gabby. He wanted them both to be happy…just not with each other.

  “That’s true.” Her voice was so soft that he barely heard her.

  Reaching across the seat, he covered her hand with his. “Gabby, you are a beautiful woman. Smart, funny, easy to talk to. Kind and generous to a fault. If that guy can’t see what he’s missing, he’s an idiot.”

  The second it was out of his mouth, he nearly choked on his own words. Had Carrie Anne been right about Gabby having feelings for him? Had he just come out and asked? Nearly kissing her must have really messed with his head. Inwardly, he groaned. Why had his sister said anything? Everything was going great until she’d done that. He just needed to remember Gabby was family, and more than likely, she was talking about a guy in Charleston or something. The subject needed to go in a different direction before he did something stupid.

  Maybe he could convince her to stay in Caprock Canyon. If that guy was in South Carolina, getting her away from him might help her. Plus, the town would need a newspaper, and it would get bigger as more people moved back to town. “Are you still going back to Charleston after the wedding?”

  Her eyebrows drew together as she took a deep breath. “I don’t know. Part of me thinks it’s good for me to be out there and on my own. The other part has missed my home. It would be fun to maybe see about getting that newspaper running again. I do have a little savings. Not open-an-orchard kind of money, but maybe I could get a loan for the rest.”

  He scoffed. “You don’t need a loan. I’ve got plenty. More than plenty. If you want that paper, it’s yours.”

  “No, that’s not…I need to do it on my own.”

  Wyatt scowled. “I don’t understand. We win this money, and no one wants it. What can one person do with a billion dollars? What’s the point in having it if all the things you want to do involve people who refuse to take it?”

  She braced her hand against the seat and leaned over. “Wyatt, it’s not that people don’t want to take it. It’s that…we want to be able to say we did it. It’s not the same if someone just purchases something. How will a person know it’s a success if there’s no chance for failure?”