The Wedding Truce - Love in Abbottsville Book 4

Jessa Landry’s best friend is getting married, making her the last single member of her friend group, the Solo Sisters. Now more than ever, she feels destined to end up alone like she always feared she would. But no matter how much she wishes things would stay the same, she wants Ellie to have the perfect wedding.

So, she’ll play nice, pretend like donning a pink bridesmaid dress doesn’t make her want to crawl out of her skin, and curb her tongue around Ethan, Ellie’s annoyingly cheerful brother. They might be famous for their bickering, but they agreed to keep the peace for the weekend.

As wedding festivities unfold, Jessa finds herself constantly paired with Ethan. The more time they’re together, the more she sees what’s really behind his jovial facade, and her grumpy shell begins to crack.

But Jessa’s issues with abandonment and betrayal could make it impossible for her to open her heart. Even to the man who might be exactly what she needs.

The Wedding Truce is a sweet, closed door (kissing only), reverse grumpy sunshine, opposites attract, small-town romcom with lots of sizzling tension and none of the spice.

CHAPTER ONE

Jessa

Headless mannequins dressed in yards of satin and lace surrounded me. I was supposed to be paying attention to Ellie, who was trying on wedding dresses, but I was distracted. Why didn’t they have heads? Why did I feel like one of them was suddenly going to come to life and chase me down like the Headless Horseman chasing Ichabod Crane?

The rows upon rows of frilly dresses made me twitch. Being around this much girly stuff was enough to send me running, even without a headless Vera Wang-wearing mannequin on my tail.

The changing room curtain slid back, and out walked my beautiful friend in a gown with a strapless top and fluffy, feathery skirt. Her long brown hair fell in curls over her shoulders, and she practically glowed.

Grandma June, Ellie’s soon-to-be mother-in-law Bonnie, Penny, Tally, and I were quiet as she stepped up onto the pedestal surrounded by mirrors.

Ellie stared at her reflection, and it was clear by the smile on her face that she adored this dress. Her eyes bounced between the five of us, a look of concern replacing her joyful expression.

“What? You don’t like it?” she asked.

“I think we’re speechless,” Grandma June said as she pulled a tissue out of her purse and blotted her tears. “I’ve never seen you look more beautiful.”

“Oh, Ellie.” Penny laid her hand over her heart.

“You look like a dream,” Tally told her.

“Stunning,” Bonnie said.

Ellie waved her hands in front of her face to keep from crying.

I had to admit, she looked radiant.

“Cooper’s going to flip when he sees you in that dress,” I said.

A grin spread across her face, and the happiness in her eyes could’ve lit the room. “You really think so?”

I nodded as her phone rang, and she pointed at her purse, sitting on a side table.

Penny grabbed it for her and glanced at the screen. “Speaking of …”

I didn’t think Ellie’s smile could get any bigger than it already was, but it did.

“Hey, you,” she answered. “Yeah, I tried on a bunch of dresses, but I’m pretty sure I just found the one.” She paused for Cooper to respond. “I can’t wait for you to see it.” Her cheeks turned a pretty pink shade at whatever he said, and she rotated away from us, but I could still see her reflection in the mirror as she whispered to the man she loved.

I couldn’t help the twinge of sadness that overcame me. I was happy for Ellie. I really was. Just as I was happy for Penny and Tally when they found love. None of them ended up with a loser, which was a relief. If they had, I would’ve been forced to intervene, and it wouldn’t have been pretty.

But I missed when it was just the four of us, the Solo Sisters—a nickname I came up with when we made a marriage pact after college and committed not to marry until we turned thirty. Some good that did. Our pact lasted five years before they started going off and falling in love. I wasn’t so delusional that I thought things would never change. It just happened a few years earlier than I hoped it would.

Now, Penny and Tally were both married, and Ellie was about to say, “I do.” And here I was. Still alone. And less than a year away from turning thirty. Being the lone single girl left in the group sucked.

I’d never admit it to them, but I was lonely sometimes. Seeing my friends with their significant others made me miss the feeling of a man’s arms around me. But ever since my breakup with Cody, the catalyst for the creation of the marriage pact, I’d sworn off men. Having my heart ripped out of my chest and casually tossed aside like a rotten tomato was devastating. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready to let someone in again. Once was enough for me.

And I wasn’t like the others. I wasn’t the sweet, girly type most guys looked for. Raised by my single dad and three older brothers, I was blunt, and sarcastic, and rough around the edges. I liked video games, action and sci-fi movies, and a good poker game. And I ran my own successful design company. Guys found me more intimidating than appealing, I think.

In a small town, there wasn’t much variety when it came to single guys anyway. So unless someone new came to town, I was pretty much resigned to my life as it was.

“I can’t wait to see you either.” Ellie’s face beamed with love as she told Cooper goodbye, then let out a contented sigh. “Gosh, I love him.”

“Awww,” Penny and Tally replied simultaneously.

“Wait, you love him? I didn’t realize,” I teased.

She smirked at me. “I think you should be the first one to try on bridesmaid dresses, Jessa.”

I gave her my blankest blank face.

“Come on.” She walked toward me in her frilly dress and reached for my hands. “Model for us.”

I frowned as I stepped out of her reach. “Red can go first.” Penny was the one anxious to try on dresses and the one who looked most like a model with her perfect porcelain skin and long red hair.

“As a member of my bridal party, you’re required to do whatever I ask.”

I cackled. “That’s not a thing.”

“Come on, Jess.” Tally nudged me in Ellie’s direction.

“Let’s see you in something really lacy.” Penny grinned.

Ellie gave her a disapproving look. “You’re not helping me convince her.”

“How about Penny and Tally try them on, and I’ll just watch?”

She turned her eyes on me again. “This is the last time you’ll have to do the whole bridesmaid thing, so let’s make it memorable.”

“Thank God for that,” I said.

She pressed her palms together as if in prayer, then held her hands out again, bending and extending her fingers repeatedly as if grabbing for something, like Mona-Lisa from Parks and Recreation when begging for cash. “Pleeease.” She stuck her lower lip out and gave me puppy dog eyes.

I blew out a breath. I could never deny dear Ellie anything. “It’s gonna cost you.”

She clapped excitedly, then the bridal consultant led us to a display of several different styles of bridesmaid dresses. Just the thought of putting any of them on made my skin itch.

“Maybe you could buck tradition and go casual with sweatshirts and leggings for us girls,” I suggested. “They could even be pink if that’s what you want.”

“You’re talkin’ gibberish.”

I followed behind them as Ellie grabbed several dresses and shoved them at me, and the woman led us to the changing rooms.

Before I even had my clothes all the way off, Ellie snuck behind the curtain to my room, still wearing her dream wedding dress.

I glanced down at my half-naked body. “Do you mind?”

“I’ve seen you in your underwear before.” She took the first dress off its hanger and unzipped the back.

“I’m a grown woman. I am capable of dressing myself.”

“I know, but I wanted to talk to you about something.”

I took the dress she handed me and stepped into it, and she motioned for me to rotate.

“I wanted to let you know you’ll be walking with Ethan in the ceremony.”

I looked back at her. “I thought I was walking with that Lloyd guy.”

“You were, but we decided to switch up the order a little.”

It wasn’t ideal, but it was Ellie’s wedding. “Whatever you want,” I told her.

“Good.” She straightened the dress on my shoulders. “Also, I need a favor.”

“Pretty sure you used up all your favors by making me wear this.” I smirked as I lifted the lacy skirt.

She shook her head and started zipping me up. “I need you to promise that you and Ethan will get along at the wedding.”

Get along with Ethan? Hmmm. That might be a challenge.

When I didn’t respond, she stopped the zipper halfway up. “Did you hear me?”

“I heard you. Your brother and I get along just fine.”

Ellie laughed. “This is you being funny, right?”

“Just zip me up so we can get this over with.”

“Not until you promise. I want this day to be wonderful and special, and I don’t want any of us to have to referee your little bickering contests.”

My mouth fell open as I looked at her over my shoulder again. “I didn’t realize I was such a problem for you.”

“You’re not a problem.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t be in the wedding if I’m going to ruin the whole thing.”

Ellie frowned. “You know that’s not what I’m saying. The two of you tend to get carried away sometimes, and you’ll be paired up a lot for all the pre-wedding events. I just want everything to go smoothly.”

I pursed my lips as an uneasy feeling settled over me. I didn’t know what it was about Ethan that constantly rubbed me the wrong way. Probably his eternal optimism and happy-go-lucky personality. Our verbal sparring matches had become a habit over the years, so Ellie wasn’t totally off with her request. And I felt awful for overreacting, which I tended to do.

“I promise,” I told her. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Ellie hugged me tightly, then turned me around to finish zipping up the dress. 

“So, I can’t tease him about wearing a monkey suit then?”

“Jessalyn Landry!” She tugged the zipper swiftly to the top.

My tendency to turn to humor when things felt too serious was obviously not appreciated.

“And what about him?” I turned to face her. “Did you tell him to be nice to me too? Because I’m pretty sure the second he sees me in a dress, he won’t be able to keep his mouth shut.”

She frowned.

“You know I’m right.”

Ellie nodded. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Good.” I faced the mirror, hating the way the top of the satin dress overlapped in the front. I leaned forward a little, and it gaped open, showing far too much of my chest. “I didn’t know your wedding would be so … revealing.”

She chuckled and tugged the dress at the shoulders. “It just needs a few alterations.”

“A few?”

She came around behind me and unzipped it, and our eyes met in the mirror.

“Thanks for doing this, Jess. And I hope you aren’t mad at me for pairing you with my brother.”

I gave her a little smile. I wasn’t exactly happy about it, but I would try my best with Ethan. I really would. Sometimes, when he looked at me a certain way or constantly smiled at me, I wanted to pummel him. I couldn’t understand how someone who’d lost his parents in such a sudden, tragic accident could still walk around with a big old grin on his face all the time. If I could figure out how to bottle his sunshine, maybe I wouldn’t wake up every day wondering why my mother abandoned us, why Cody left me, and why I was destined to be alone.