Small Town Pretender by Brighton Walsh

Nat had traveled around the world with only her camera as her one constant companion. She’d photographed landscapes and people alike, loving them both equally, but one thing she’d never done was a wedding. This month, she’d taken photos at two.

It was Will’s big day—t-minus forty-five minutes until her sister was going to walk down a petal-strewn aisle at an outdoor ceremony. Nat, along with her sisters and their momma and gran, as well as Will’s best friend, Avery, were holed up in the dressing room stationed in the upper loft of the barn they’d rented for the weekend.

Much like Havenbrook in general, this space had also changed drastically in the time she’d been gone, and she couldn’t believe the transformation.

“I still can’t get over the fact that they turned the Pritchetts’ old decrepit barn into this,” Nat said, a note of awe in her voice as she glanced around.

The loft dressing room was large and open, white couches and chairs scattered throughout and a vanity in the far corner, perfect for hair and makeup. On the east wall, French doors opened up to a balcony that overlooked the barn below, where rows of long wooden tables were set up for the reception later tonight and thousands of white lights were strung from the beams. It certainly was a far cry from the rubble she, Asher, and Nash used to wade through just to find someplace private to sneak a couple beers.

“Yeah, well, that’s Rory’s hard work for you,” Will said from where she was seated in front of the vanity, eyes closed as Avery swept eye shadow across her lids. “This was, what, your fifth job together?”

Rory nodded. “Something like that. It’s definitely the biggest one we’ve ever taken on. This place was a mess. Nash was mad as all get-out I’d even taken it on—always worried about me comin’ in here because of how dangerous it was. He started leavin’ hard hats everywhere, just in case I forgot mine.”

Nat huffed out a laugh and shook her head. The man Rory was in love with was a far cry from the troublemaker Nat had grown up with. The one who’d dared her to walk from one beam to another in this very barn, with nothing but air below her. “He never made me wear a hard hat when we came around.”

“Probably thought your head was hard enough,” Gran said.

“Probably,” Nat echoed. “Y’all remember when me and the guys used to sneak out here all the time?”

“I remember havin’ to drag your sorry butts home more than once,” Mac said with an eye roll. “The last time was the summer before I started college. You remember that? Hudson was with me ’cause Will bailed.”

“Hey,” Will said. “I just wanted to spend time with my friends before goin’ back to school.”

Mac shrugged. “Doesn’t change that you bailed.”

“Wait a minute,” Momma said, pinning Nat with a glare even as she fastened Will’s necklace. “I distinctly remember forbidding you from settin’ foot here sometime around Memorial Day that year.”

Rory snorted, smoothing a wayward strand of hair back from Will’s face. “Momma, since when has forbidding Nat from anything done any good?”

“She’s got a point,” Will said, even as Avery applied lipstick. “You probably only made it that much more enticin’ to her.”

“Rude.” Nat raised her camera to her face and captured her momma making sure Will’s necklace was sitting just so as Avery applied Will’s lipstick. “True, but rude.”

Her mom expelled a put-out sigh. “Honestly, Nat, is it any wonder your daddy’s got a head full of gray hair, all of ’em courtesy of you?”

Laughing, Nat adjusted her camera’s settings as she focused on Will’s dress hanging in the window, the light pouring in around it. “Sorry, Momma, but that’s why I left Havenbrook so quick. Me and rules don’t work so well together.”

“Speakin’ of leavin’…” Gran said from her perch on a love seat, her eyes on the crossword puzzle she’d been working through. “How’ve you been handlin’ bein’ here? Gotta say, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine you’d be back in Havenbrook.” She lifted her eyes, her gaze studying Nat. “And settlin’ down, no less.”

Settling down…right. God, she hated lying to everyone. Hated that she couldn’t just be honest with them. Though, really, what would that honesty look like now? The basis of her marriage with Asher may have been false, a means to an end, but the more time they spent in the same house…in the same bed…was starting to make things between them feel awfully damn real.

“It’s weird but good, Gran.”

“And how about Asher?” Momma asked. “It looks like he’s been handlin’ things all right, but is he really? This must be so stressful for him. Losin’ his sister and now fightin’ for those kids.”

“I’m sure Nat’s been helpin’ him take the edge off,” Gran said, winking.

“Gran!” Nat said on a laugh. “You perverted old woman. What’s the matter with you?”

Gran shrugged, completely unrepentant. “I was once a newlywed, too, you know.”

“Well, I’m not sure I need to hear all that,” Momma said. “From either of you. But I would like to hear how y’all’ve been doin’. How’re things?”

“They’re…” Nat trailed off, shaking her head. It felt wrong saying everything was fine when the custody was still up in the air, June was about to start therapy, and Asher still didn’t have a job. Not to mention their entire relationship was a farce. “Things are hard, but we’re figurin’ them out.”

“I have no doubt you two are.” Momma smiled and swept Nat’s hair behind her shoulder. “Y’all always were so good together. I know you and Nash have been friends longer, but you and Asher…” She shook her head. “Well, y’all just had a spark, you know? I’ve always thought so.”

“Me, too,” Gran said. “And that’s certainly something that can’t be faked.”

Nat snapped her gaze to Gran, where their eyes locked. She studied her grandma, trying to suss out if she was reading more into it than she should, because it’d felt an awful lot like her gran had picked those exact words for a reason.

“Me three,” Avery said, sorting through a makeup carrier that rivaled Nat’s camera bag. “I thought you guys were together for the longest time. Figured Will just wasn’t in on it when she told me it wasn’t true.”

Nat glanced down, busying herself with swapping out her lenses. “Yeah, well…”

Will cleared her throat. “I, um, I hope my askin’ him to play today didn’t add any stress.”

Relieved that she didn’t have to wade any further into that, Nat met her sister’s gaze and shook her head. “No, not at all. He’s playin’ y’all something new he just wrote.”

“Oh, he’s still been writin’?” Will asked, her brows raised.

“He’s been sneakin’ in a bit of it when he can. Why do you sound surprised?”

“I didn’t realize he was still doin’ that, is all.”

“’Course he is. Why wouldn’t he be?”

“Well, I just…” Will glanced at everyone else before meeting Nat’s gaze again. “I guess I just assumed with the kids and all that he’d have to find something a little more practical.”

Funny how it sounded so different coming from her sister’s mouth than it had coming from her daddy’s. Nat knew Will was just looking out for them. Experience told her her daddy was just trying to control them.

Ever since that day they’d gone to her parents’, the whole practicality thing had been weighing on Asher a hell of a lot, which meant it had been weighing on her. He loved music like she loved photography, and she couldn’t imagine what kind of life she’d have if she had to give it up. His guitar was as much an extension of himself as her camera was to her. But the facts didn’t look great for pursuing a music career in a town with a population a fraction of one of the stadiums Asher had played on tour.

Mac cleared her throat and tipped her chin toward the camera clutched in Nat’s hand. “You know we’ve got somebody to do that, right?”

She blinked and glanced down, snapping herself out of her thoughts and the worries that would most definitely still be there to greet her tomorrow. With a shrug, she said, “Somebody who’s not gonna do it as well as I am.”

Rory rolled her eyes. “Maybe instead of worryin’ about makin’ sure we’re gonna get the perfect pictures, you should focus on gettin’ dressed so you don’t walk down the aisle in that.”

Nat glanced down at herself and then met her sister’s gaze with a raised eyebrow. “What, you don’t like my shorts and tank top? Are they not appropriate wedding attire?”

“Why do you insist on bein’ such a pain in my butt all the time? Would it kill you to be ready early so you don’t get Will all anxious for nothing?”

“Seems to me Will isn’t the one gettin’ all worked up,” Nat said from the balcony, snapping an overhead shot of the reception site set up below. “And relax. All I need to do is slip the dress over my head. Considerin’ you still need to pull the stick out of your ass before you walk down the aisle, I figure I’ll be ready ahead of you anyway.”

Mac huffed a laugh at the same time their momma said, “Aurora and Natalie, that’s enough. As if your sister doesn’t have enough to worry about today, now she’s got you two squabblin’ in her ear.”

Will waved her off and met their gazes in the mirror. “Honestly, Momma, I’ve tuned them out…haven’t heard a word they’ve said.” She closed her eyes and blew out a slow breath. “Can’t focus on them when it feels like I’m gonna throw up.”

“Throw up? Are you pregnant?” Nat asked sarcastically, since every woman of a certain age—read fifteen to fifty—couldn’t say she wasn’t feeling well without being accused of pregnancy.

“Would you shut up?” Mac said, slapping Nat’s arm. “She’s not pregnant. She’s just nervous.”

“Actually,” Will said, her hands pressed to her stomach as she looked at each of them in turn. “I don’t know if it’s nerves or the pregnancy. It could be either.”

There was a moment of shocked silence before everyone erupted at once, swarming around Will where she still sat at the vanity. It was a chaos of hugs and happy tears, everyone working hard not to ruin the makeup they’d spent hours applying.

“You brat,” Rory said. “When Daddy asked Finn the other week at Sunday supper, he said y’all use protection!”

“Yeah, and condoms are only ninety-eight percent effective, genius.” Mac rolled her eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart, this is wonderful.” Their mom hugged Will from behind, her eyes shiny with tears.

“Gettin’ in a little good trouble, I see,” Gran said as she squeezed Will’s hand.

“Not intentionally,” Will said. “But maybe that’s the best kind.”

“What’d Finn say when you told him?” Mac asked.

Nat raised her brows. “Have you told him?”

“Yeah. He’s…” Will glanced down, a small smile on her face. “He’s already ordered onesies with The Willow Tree logo on them.”

Her sister was always beautiful, but right then, she was stunning. Especially with all the women in their family surrounding her…supporting her. Nat held up her camera, needing to document the moment, despite that she wasn’t in it. That was the whole reason she’d gotten into photography in the first place. Wanting to capture those pockets of time that slipped past all too quickly. Ones they could never get back.

She snapped several shots, feeling a little smug that if she hadn’t brought her camera, this wouldn’t have been captured, regardless of the other photographer on the payroll.

“Holy shit,” Avery said, shaking her head as she squeezed Will’s hand. “I can’t believe you’re gonna be a mom.”

Will breathed out a watery laugh, her eyes wet. “I know, right?”

“That’s enough of that now,” Rory said, blotting a tissue under Will’s eyes. “We don’t have time to redo makeup, so there’ll be no more tears.”

“You heard the sergeant.” Nat tucked her camera back in its bag. “No cryin’ allowed.”

“Well, this has been quite the month, hasn’t it?” Gran said. “Three of the Haven girls married, one pregnant, and one steppin’ right into a built-in family…”

The smile slipped from Nat’s lips as Gran’s words sank in. Yeah, she’d stepped into a built-in family, all right. One she wasn’t going to get to keep when this was all said and done. One she’d never wanted from her life in the first place.

So then, why did the thought of leaving when this was all over fill her with so much dread? Why did she miss them before she was even gone?

Nat shoved that thought down and cleared her throat. “It’s not quite a built-in family yet. We’ve gotta get custody first. The late nights and early mornings have been real, but it’s all just temporary for now.”

“Are y’all really worried about Asher gettin’ permanent custody?” her momma asked, shooting a concerned glance to Gran. “I thought you were just sparrin’ with your daddy when you mentioned it at our house.”

Nat lifted a single shoulder. “I don’t know if I should be, but, yeah. I am. The Haywards haven’t even called to check in on the kids, but they’ve got money. Connections. You know as well as I do exactly what that means.” Ironic that she was facing down the one thing she’d run away from her whole life.

“Well, surely Judge Seville will do what’s best for those kids,” Momma said.

“C’mon, Momma, Seville’s a good old boy, and he and Asher have bad blood. Hell, all three of us do, except Daddy got me out of that trouble, like he did everything else. I just hope it doesn’t affect the outcome.”

Because she didn’t know what she’d do if the Haywards were granted custody. She’d always liked June and Owen, having hung around them whenever she’d been home, but in the weeks she’d spent in their presence practically twenty-four seven, she’d come to love them. And Asher…losing them after his sister would be a blow she wasn’t sure he’d come back from.

There was a knock at the door before Daddy poked his head in and froze, his eyes meeting each of them in turn. He stepped into the room and cleared his throat. “Y’all just about ready? The minister says it’s time,” he said, his voice gruff.

“Just gotta get my dress on, Daddy,” Will said from her perch, still wrapped up in her silk robe. “And I guess Nat does, too.”

He stood there for a moment before nodding and then turning away. “Two receptions in one month is hard enough on the wallet. Sure hope I’m not payin’ by the minute for this,” he grumbled, shutting the door behind him.

“Stubborn ass can’t even say we look nice,” Nat said with an eye roll.

“Yeah, well, you don’t.” Mac shoved Nat’s garment bag at her. “Get dressed while we help Will, would you?”

“Still, he could’ve said something,” Nat said as she draped the dress over the back of a chair.

“You know Daddy complains about money when what he really means is I love you,” Rory said, unzipping Will’s dress as Avery held it up so it didn’t drag on the floor.

Momma hummed. “He may not have said the words, but it certainly wasn’t allergies makin’ his eyes wet.”

“She’s right, you know,” Gran said. “The fool doesn’t know how to tell y’all how much he loves you, but he does.”

Nat couldn’t attest to that. And she certainly wouldn’t hold her breath to hear it from the man, since she never had in all her twenty-six years. Probably some daddy issues to work through there, but her docket was already full to bursting, so she’d have to save it for another time.

She stripped down and tossed her shorts and tank into her oversized purse before slipping into her bridesmaid’s dress. “See? I’m ready, and y’all are still gettin’ Will situated.”

“Thanks for your help, by the way,” Mac said with an eye roll.

“Before we go out there,” Avery said, fixing Will’s veil, “I just wanna thank you for makin’ me maid of honor so I can walk down the aisle with Drew. I truly appreciate it.”

Will laughed. “You and I both know it’s not Finn’s twin your eye’s gonna be on.”

“Oh, really,” Nat asked. “And who might this other guy be?”

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Mhmm, sure you don’t,” Will said wryly before turning around to face them.

Momma pressed a hand to her mouth and shook her head. “You look so beautiful, sweetheart.”

Everyone else murmured their agreement as they stood around the bride. Will’s dress was off the shoulder with a sweetheart neckline, a fairy princess gown made of all tulle. Lace roses trailed down the skirt, petals scattered about.

Nat stepped in front of her sister and handed her the bridal bouquet. “You ready to do this?”

Will accepted the flowers with a smile. “Been ready for years.”