The Bridesmaid's Checklist: Natalie's
Wedding
(book 3)
by K.T. Castle
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
BLURB:
Kassandra
never thought she’d be in another committed relationship, but now she’s living
with her boyfriend Josh. Things can’t get any better. But they can get worse.
Natalie has dropped a
major bomb on her, confessing she believes her husband is having an affair.
Kassandra is always ready to help a friend, but accepting that one of their
marriages isn’t working goes against everything she believes about the people
she loves. Wanting to help their friend overcome this difficult situation and
provide Natalie the support she needs, Kassandra and the girls pull a lot of
strings to help Natalie uncover the truth. In the process, Kassandra discovers
remarkable similarities between Josh’s recent changes and those in Natalie’s
allegedly cheating husband. She’s always been an independent woman who prides
herself on her own success, and when she digs up one dirty secret after another,
she can’t help but wonder if her man’s womanizing days are really behind him.
Sometimes, love makes
us twist reality to avoid hurting those we hold closest to our hearts. Join
Kassandra and Natalie as they struggle to reconcile their fears in love with
the truth.
Excerpt:
Saturday morning, Josh headed out
for a photo shoot he expected to last all day. He didn’t usually work on
weekends, but it happened from time to time. It still bothered me a little that
his job involved being surrounded by beautiful young women so he could capture
that beauty, but whenever I dropped by for a visit, everyone knew who I was and
what I meant to him. That made it easier for me, and I knew it made it easier
for Josh. He loved working for himself and had grown JAG Modeling Agency from the
ground up.
Since I’d be on my own for the day,
I decided to take advantage of the situation and invite the girls over for a
chat with Natalie. She had asked me not to intervene in her situation with
Andrik, and while I respected her wish of me not talking to her husband, I knew
she needed support from her friends.
I’d asked them to be at my place
around nine and to leave the children at home with their fathers. We needed
some girl time alone. Then I tried to cover all my bases with breakfast—fresh
juice and fruit in case anyone was on a diet, spinach omelets without cheese
for those who avoided dairy, and pancakes just in case someone needed something
a little stronger. I also bought some high-quality steak cuts, potatoes,
onions, and corn, thinking that if our meeting ran too long, my friends’
husbands would show up and turn our breakfast meeting into a barbecue. Even
though all my friends had the space and furniture to throw these get-togethers
in their own homes, Josh and I had taken on the role of hosting them every week
since we’d moved in together a month ago. I wondered how much longer we’d be
able to keep up that kind of consistency.
Marisol and Laura showed up early,
and I gave them a small briefing on what the gathering was about. The news shocked
them, too, and they wanted to try to convince Natalie that it had to be
something else. While they helped me set up, I reminded them that we needed to
be delicate and careful not to overwhelm her.
Natalie arrived not much later,
looking far less than her normal, glamorous self. Her bleach-blonde hair was
now long enough to pull back into a messy ponytail, and I wasn’t sure the look
suited her; we were used to seeing her with a little more care given to her
appearance. She wore beige capris with a floral, short-sleeve shirt—something
much more suited to Marisol in her mommy role. The little changes Natalie made
now leaned more toward comfortable and away from posh, and I knew it was
because she was unhappy. She’d never let being a wife and a mother distract her
from presenting herself as if she were about to make her way down a catwalk.
She still looked good, but it wasn’t her.
We sat on my terrace around the
glass table Josh and I had added to the patio furniture. I was happy to see
that everyone seemed to enjoy the food, and the conversation was amicable. But
it didn’t flow or feel comfortable. I guess we were all waiting to see who
would bring up the elephant in the room first.
“I still can’t believe you let Josh
adopt a dog,” Marisol said as she crossed her legs in her chair, doing her best
to avoid the beautiful American Pitbull licking her toes.
“Let?” I asked. “This is his house.
How could I say no? Besides, have you looked at this guy? He’s gorgeous!” I
called the goofy mutt by offering him a piece of bread. Josh was adamant about
only feeding him the holistic dog food and healthy treats, but I couldn’t
resist. “Come here, Jagger.”
Josh and I had fallen in love with
him the day we stepped into Malibu’s Pet Shelter. Someone had found him in one
of the parks around our neighborhood, and we helped the people at the shelter
look for his owners; someone had to be missing him dearly. Sadly, no one
responded to the ads we posted on social media or the flyers we handed out at
the park, so we took him home. Jagger was perfect for us. His coloring was a
soft silver that reminded me of Josh’s eyes, and oddly enough, Josh had said
the dog’s blue eyes reminded him of mine. In that way, bringing Jagger home
meant we had officially started our own family. I never had any pets as a
child; Babushka never allowed it, even when I almost convinced Dzed to get me
one. I started out not knowing exactly how to take care of a dog, but I sure
was having fun learning. Josh adored animals, and his nephew Elliot wanted to
come live with us to spend as much time as possible with Jagger.
“No, dog. Go to Kassie... Shoo.”
Laura swatted at him after he went for her toes next. Surprisingly, she was
rather warm toward him, but she didn’t seem excited about all the drool.
As I went to get him some water,
Natalie called the pup to her and scratched him behind the ears. Jagger would
do about anything for a little love and affection. “How are you, big guy?” she
asked. “I’m bringing Ella to meet you soon. Yes, I will. Yes, I will.” She rubbed
his chin. “You better be nice to her.”
“Aren’t you worried she’ll be afraid
of him?” Marisol asked with a frown. “Michael thinks Micah would adore him, but
I think he’d scare Maya too much. He’s huge!”
“He’s not. He’s perfect.” I
corrected her. “He’s as gorgeous as Josh.”
“Don’t pass your fear on to your
children,” Natalie explained. “They’ll be just fine. And believe me, you’d
rather bring Micah and Maya to visit Kassie and Jagger than have a dog at home.
Think of it as practice.”
“Oh, no way! We’ll never have a
dog,” Marisol replied. I blamed Mama Tina for her reaction; no one in that
family had ever been allowed to bring home a pet. “Michael has two children.
That should suffice.”
“I’m sure he’ll find a way to
convince you, Sol,” Laura said. She’d said very much the same thing to me some
time ago, hinting that Josh had sexed me up perfectly to convince me to get a
dog. He had, although he didn’t have to try too hard.
As soon as Jagger saw me place his
water bowl on the floor, he ran to me. Then I laid out some of his toys to
distract him from my friends’ toes. This dog was the start of a completely new
adventure in my life with Josh, but talking about him only moved us further
away from the reason we were all here.
“Okay, I’ve had enough.” It didn’t surprise
any of us that Laura took the plunge. “We all know the food is good. Micah,
Maya, and Ella are doing great. We all look like freaking supermodels.” She
grabbed her glass and refilled it with orange juice. “And Kassie and Josh’s
house is homey and warm. None of us can believe Josh found a way of convincing
Kassie to have a dog, and we all think this means he’s a sex god...” As she
spoke, she waved her hands about in exasperation and splashed her drink all
over the deck. “But what the fuck did you mean when you told Kassandra you
think Andrik is having an affair?”
“God, Laura.” I took the glass from
her hand and placed it on the table. “We agreed we would take it easy.”
“Yeah, we did. But not talking about
it at all isn’t enough,” she said, raising an eyebrow and glancing at me. “I
can’t believe it, Natalie. Andrik is not that kind of man.”
“Why did you have to tell them?”
Natalie looked at me, hurt and disappointment overflowing in her eyes, and her
whole body tensed, her back growing rigid and protective. That look was exactly
why I’d asked the girls to take it easy. I should have opened a bottle of wine
for Laura.
“‘Cause she knows we’re your friends
and you need us right now,” Marisol interjected and grabbed Natalie’s hand.
Natalie sat with perfect posture
that reminded me of a ballet dancer—back straight, shoulders squared, head held
high, so very proper and untouchable. “I don’t think I’m ready to talk about
this.”
“Well, I’m not ready, either, but
that doesn’t change the fact that he’s cheating on you, does it?” Laura
countered, giving our friend exactly what she needed to confront her demons.
“I guess not.”
“So start speaking, Little Angel.”
Laura had been using this nickname for Natalie since they were roommates in
college. Neither of them had ever explained its origin, but Laura was the only
one to this day who ever used it.
“We just want to know how we can
help,” Marisol added.
“I don’t think there’s much you can
do about it. I just have this feeling in my gut that Andrik’s cheating on me.”
“So it’s just a feeling?” Laura
leaned forward, and I knew she’d take this on as her own side project. When
Laura decided to take matters into her own hands, there was no rest for the
wicked. Never thoughtful or delicate, she operated boldly and directly; she
could have been a Sergeant at times. And even if her tactics didn’t work for
the faint of heart, her aim was to help her friends no matter what.
“You haven’t talked to him yet?” I
asked, surprised after the conversation Josh and I had had with her.
“I tried to talk to him about it
when I left your house the other night, but I just couldn't find the words. How
could I even start?”
“You just grab him by the balls and
ask him what the fuck is going on,” Laura almost shouted. Marisol placed a hand
on Natalie’s knee the same time I did. Our friend needed the opportunity to
vent, and we all knew pushing her to do things with force never worked for her.
“Calm down, Laura,” Sol said gently.
“Not even you would do something like that.” I nodded.
“You’re right. But I wish I would,”
Laura replied, her fire dying down just a bit. Everyone remembered the time
Laura had found out an ex-boyfriend had been cheating on her when they were
dating. It had completely devastated her when she’d discovered that her
boyfriend had been sleeping around with the guy I was dating at the time.
Things had gotten really ugly. “That’s what I should have done with Julian.”
I patted Laura on the back to let
her know I understood exactly what she was talking about.
“It’s not as easy as you’d think,”
Natalie replied, rearranging her hair. “I have so many things in my mind that I
need to say. So many questions to ask. But when I’m alone with him, I can’t
think straight. I can’t find my voice to say what I have to say. I just want to
hug him and show him that I’m the one he should be with and not anyone else.”
She hugged herself, looking down at her lap, and even though her baby-blue eyes
were hidden, we could all see the tears falling from her face.
Marisol was the closest to her, and
she rapidly moved her chair and placed her arms around Nat. I reached out to
rub her thigh. Laura wasn’t close enough to offer physical comfort—maybe for
the best. She remained in her chair with a vicious grip on her orange juice.
Even Jagger offered his support, sniffing at Natalie’s toes and licking her
pink-painted nails.
Everyone was silent when Denise
arrived.
“Sorry I’m so late, you guys,” she
said as she dropped her purse on one of my deck chairs. “I just had an argument
with Clay this morning. Can you believe him?” Without realizing what was going
on, she sat next to Laura and angrily piled everything edible on a plate,
quickly throwing Jagger a small piece of pancake when he approached her to say
hi. Josh was so going to kill me. “He finally got a job offer. After years!
After five years of unemployment, he’s finally offered a job, and the idiot
tells them that the salary isn’t enough. It isn’t enough! What the fuck was he
thinking? Anything is better than nothing. Is he blind?”
Only Jagger looked up at her,
probably waiting for something else to eat. When she finally took in the sight
of us, she noticed Marisol holding Natalie in her arms and Natalie’s eyes
flooded with tears. Natalie seemed to be crying harder now, either in solidarity
with Denise’s story or relief that the topic had been changed, even if just a
little. I was unable to decide which friend to comfort—the one who was
apparently losing her husband or the one who was about to murder hers.
Finally, Denise asked, “What’s going
on?” Laura grabbed her hand surprising me with the sympathy in her eyes.
“Andrik’s cheating on me,” Natalie
said.
“Shut the fuck up.” Denise dropped
her fork, along with the piece of pancake she was about to eat. “What’s wrong
with men today?”
“Come on, Denise. I’ll tell you all
about it.” Without releasing her hand, Laura stood and took Denise with her
into the kitchen. “Kassie, I think we need a drink.” I couldn’t have agreed
more.
Jagger followed them inside the
house, and I hoped they’d remember to bring him back outside when they were
done. He didn’t like to stay on his own for long.
It took a few minutes for Natalie to
calm down, dry her tears, and start breathing normally again. When she was
feeling better, continuing the conversation felt a little safer, especially
with Laura and Denise out of the picture for the moment.
“So you aren’t sure?” Marisol asked.
“Right now, you just think he might be cheating on you.”
“Why is it so hard to believe that
he’d do that?”
“I told you before, Andrik seems so
completely in love with you,” I said. She needed to see it from our
perspective. It wasn’t hard to believe because we thought she was wrong; it was
hard to believe because we put so much faith in the kind of relationship they
had. “You’re the greatest couple. We all live by your example. It’s difficult
for any of us to think that of him. I wouldn’t believe it of Michael, either.
Would you believe Michael would cheat on Sol?”
“I guess I wouldn't,” Natalie
confessed.
“It would be completely different if
Laura suspected Edward of an affair…” Marisol said with a flippant wave of her
hand. It probably still amazed all of us that their relationship was so
functional despite their naughty quirks.
“I heard that, Sol. Not cool!” Laura
stepped out of my kitchen and onto the terrace, followed by Denise. They had
several bottles between them, one of which was vodka. My grandmother always
said everything could be cured with a little vodka. “My man is completely
satisfied, of that I’m sure.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend
you.” Marisol was just being herself, which meant being completely honest,
sometimes to a fault.
“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if
Clay was cheating on me,” Denise added. “He certainly has the time.”
“How can you say that?” Natalie asked.
“Clay absolutely adores you.” Clay had loved Denise since high school. His lack
of income had less to do with his faithfulness and more to do with him being a
lazy ass.
Denise just rolled her eyes and
drank whatever was in her glass.
“It’s so hard for any of us to
believe Andrik’s cheating on you. We all know how much he loves you,” I
repeated, trying to avoid derailing the conversation yet again.
“I wouldn’t be saying any of it if I
didn’t believe it.” Natalie seemed calmer now, but she still couldn’t make eye
contact with anyone. She tried to hide it and pretended she was focused on
playing with Jagger.
“Then what makes you think he is?”
Marisol asked.
“I’m not stupid.” Natalie’s eyes
flashed up to meet Marisol’s, her face flushing in anger. “It’s something you
just know.” Her words came out clipped and harsh. “Especially when he leaves
early in the morning to go to work. He doesn’t have time to come home for
lunch. Not even to text a complete sentence and let me know he isn’t coming
home to eat. And especially because he comes home late at night, takes a
shower, and falls asleep.”
We were all quiet; it didn’t sound
good now that she’d explained it. I said a little prayer for her and hoped I
never saw myself in the same situation.
“But that could just mean he’s super
busy at work, not that he’s cheating,” Marisol said. “Sometimes Michael has
loads of work and needs to stay long hours. He tells me about it, and it's
disappointing, but I just deal and wait till he’s done before we can spend some
time together.”
“We don’t spend any time together,”
Natalie replied.
“I believe she means sex, Nat,”
Laura bluntly explained.
“That’s what I meant, too.”
Silence fell all around us once
more. Now we knew he spent a lot of time out of the house, supposedly working,
and they didn’t have sex. Fuck. That didn’t look good at all.
“There must be more to it than
that,” Denise said, trying to sound reassuring. “Clay and I have been married
for almost ten years. And we’ve been through some dry spells in our marriage.
I’m sure that now that you have a baby, it isn’t as easy as it was to have sex.
Or am I wrong? Sol, are you and Michael getting at it all the time?”
“Well, we do have sex,” Sol
explained with a small, shy shrug. “When it was only Micah, it was a bit easier,
but now that we have Maya, it’s more complicated.”
“See, it’s not only about not having
sex,” I told her. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a baby and
try to maintain a healthy sex life, but I was grateful Sol was here to help
with that.
“I’m telling you, Nat, Andrik isn’t
cheating on you. When I was with Julian, there was more to it than just his
lack of interest in sex. He had mood swings, and he was secretive about some
parts of his life. Especially his finances. He was always hiding his phone and
computer, and when I asked him about it, he explained to no end why he was so
private about them. I should have known.”
“But Julian wasn’t just cheating on
you, Laura. He was also gay.” Yes, Denise was dealing with her own issues, but
she could have saved that comment.
“I remember clearly, Denise. I was
there,” Laura said with a pert shake of her head. I’d been there too, when she
and I walked in on her boyfriend sucking off my date at Marisol’s wedding.
“What I’m trying to say, Natalie, is to give Andrik the benefit of the doubt
until you find something that proves he’s cheating on you.”
“How am I going to do that?” Natalie
shyly asked.
“Find proof? Don’t worry, baby. I
got your back,” Laura said with a confident smile. “Leave it all to me.”
I just rolled my eyes at Laura’s
evil grin, finding it only too easy to imagine what was going through her mind.
“Talk to him, Natalie,” I reminded her. “There’s no better way to find out than
to ask him directly and see how he reacts.”
“I can be there if you want me to,”
Laura offered.
“So can I,” Marisol said quickly
behind her.
“Me too,” Denise added.
“We’re always here for you,” I
finally said. If Natalie needed her friends behind her, she certainly had us.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
K.T. Castle loves reading, writing, and
painting. She's on a quest to find the words, forms, and colors to materialize
the worlds and people of her imagination. She loves reading Romance, especially
Young Adult, New Adult, Contemporary, and Paranormal. She never saw herself as
an incurable romantic, but lately, that's what she finds herself musing about.
Love is found everywhere, regardless of whether it comes from a nice person or
an ass—mundane or even vampire.
When she's not busy with work, in front of a
computer placing many thoughts in order, she does her best to be creative or
relax with a good TV series and snacks. Some of her favorite characters are
Lucifer, Jace, Clary, Affton, Cable, Poppy, Zack, Maleficent, and Ariel.
Social media links:
Giveaway:
$10 Amazon or B/N GC
2 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
I'm so happy to be visiting again!!!
And in such an special day, the release of my third book.
Thank you so much for having me here today.
I'll be around in case anyone has questions for me :)
Later,
K
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