Page 42 of Worth the Risk

The day of the wedding was finally here, and with it came many things. Top of the list for me were excitement, stress, and my father.

Those last two were related.

“You know I really don’t understand why your brother would choose to get married here with just fifty friends and family members as his guests,” Dad said after the ceremony as we made our way from the beach to the resort’s ballroom for the reception.

“This place is beautiful,” I said, keeping my tone light, even though his complaining was starting to get on my nerves after two hours of listening to it.

Thank God he didn’t come earlier in the week.

Some people might have felt sorry for us because our dad didn’t care enough to spend any of this amazing week on the island with us, but we knew that we were better off that way. Well, Ryan and I knew it. Jake still held out hope that the man would change someday.

“Yes, yes. The ocean is always pretty,” he said dismissively. “But if he had it at a more high-profile location, like The Plaza in New York, I could’ve made a real event of it. Invited business associates to impress.”

I bit my tongue instead of telling him that this wedding wasn’t about impressing anyone. It was about Ryan and Leanne getting married because they loved each other and sharing it with people they cared about instead of our dad’s business associates.

Arguing with him was pointless.

It was just a shame that I was stuck dealing with his judgment and complaints. Of the three of us—Ryan, Jake, and me—I was the only one not in the wedding party, so keeping Dad occupied fell to me.

We stepped into the ballroom through French doors, and I smiled as I looked around. I hadn’t had a chance to see how it was decorated before now, and I was glad to wait to be surprised. It was beautiful.

Crisp white linens covered round tables with centerpieces of white orchids and pink hibiscus flowers. There were gold-rimmed plates at each place setting, and crystal chandeliers hung overhead.

Instrumental music was playing softly in the background, and there was a space for a dance floor that we could use later, after everyone had eaten.

The seating arrangement had me at a table with my father, Uncle Mac, Gordon, and Kirsten. I was still upset that she told Jake about my pregnancy last night, but this wasn’t the place to discuss it. Besides, I had enough going on with my father to deal with.

“Tell me, Zoey,” he started as he used his cloth napkin to wipe the perfectly clean silverware beside his plate, “what are your plans to find a husband? Any prospects?”

Danger! You’re walking into a minefield with that one.

“Not at the moment, no. I’m afraid I’ll need to take my time to be discerning about that. I wouldn’t want to end up with the wrong person.”

His face shifted from annoyance to anger, but it was gone so quickly that I almost thought I’d imagined it. I knew that I didn’t though. It was because what I said reminded him of my mother. After she left us in the dust, he often complained about how he’d chosen the wrong person and that he should’ve been more discerning to make sure he had a wife that could handle being married to such a powerful man.

“There’s plenty of time for all that,” I continued. “For now, I’m focused on my career.”

That was partially true, but what he didn’t know was that in about eight months, my priorities were going to shift big time. I still wouldn’t be worried about marrying someone my dad might approve of anytime soon.

He gave a derisive snort. “Your career. It’s simply ridiculous that you insist on doing that. And your brother with his firefighter nonsense. Putting his life at risk for complete strangers when he could really do the sensible thing and come work for the family company. At least Jake had the right idea, going into finance.”

Yeah, and Dad’s approval was probably the reason he did that. It was a shame that he still let our dad’s opinion influence him so much.

“I love my job.”

“You could live off your trust fund, and I’m sure you’d be perfectly happy. After all, you asked for an upgrade to a bungalow this week. That tells me you like the finer things more than you’d like to admit.”

I knew that asking him to pay for a bungalow was going to bite me in the ass.

But I wasn’t about to tell him the real reason I didn’t want to stay in my original room, so I said nothing. It was easier not to argue with him most of the time, anyway.

During dinner, he mostly talked business with Uncle Mac, and I was happy to tune out the conversation for the most part, but his words about my job and lack of a husband seemed to echo in my ears, bringing down my mood on what should have been a day filled with nothing but joy on behalf of Ryan.

Then, the dinner ended, dancing began, and Ford was suddenly standing in front of me. He held out his hand with one side of his mouth ticked up in a half smile. “Dance with me?”

I shouldn’t. Everyone will see, and it’ll just confuse your poor, battered heart.

I put my hand in his anyway. I needed to escape from my father’s side anyway, and what better place to go than into the arms of someone that I knew valued me.