Between The Vows

Chapter Eleven

This chapter is dedicated to sampada_w Thank you for the reads and comments.❤

***

Liam came strolling in, with his golf bag thrown over his shoulder. He had on a white golf shirt tucked into blue trousers. His dark hair was slicked back and jelled to perfection. I had to say, golfing looked good on him.

A smile crept up on his face when he saw me from across the room. I got up from the table when he approached and handed him the coffee I picked up on the way.

"Thanks, James." He took a sip. "Just the way I like it." I sighed in relief. Thankfully, the baristas remembered Liam and knew how he took his coffee. It seems like I'm not the only girl in this town to recognize his devilish smile and witty charm.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Savannah nudge Anna on her side, motioning over to the exchange between Liam and me. They both giggled and focused their attention on us.

"You take good care of me." He winked for the audience and my cheeks flushed.

My father came over and shook hands with him and proceeded to give him all sorts of course management tips. They talked about their most recent scores and how difficult the greens were and at that point, I decided to tune out. Finally, they headed out and we ordered tea and scones. I grabbed my planner from my purse and clicked the pen, writing wedding day schedule in black ink.

"I know this sounds super high school, but I want to have a slumber party with the bridal party the night before." Anna clapped her hands together and shrieked.

Ellie stifled a laugh. "You can't be serious." Anna shot daggers at her and Ellie rolled her eyes.

What I envied most about Ellie was that she was never afraid to say what she and everyone else was thinking. Although, most of the time that got her in trouble, she never stopped being who she was. Ellie was troubled, with an eating disorder that the James family wanted to keep under wraps. There was a hurt deep inside Ellie that only I could see. My mother never spent much time with her and still to this day she keeps a distance from Ellie. The only reason I could come up with was her own guilt. How could you repair a relationship that had never quite existed?

My mother spent the most time with Anna. She was the shining star of the family, so why wouldn't she want to parade her around like a princess? Anna made the family proud by winning Miss North Carolina. She never made it to the finals of Miss USA, but that didn't matter to our family. Anna had made a name for herself in the public eye and that was good enough. My mother brought her on as a guest on her talk shows a handful of times. Ellie and I had never been, and even though we both openly deny any hurt it has caused us, deep down our hearts ached.

Anna didn't give into Ellie's bait. "I was just thinking that could be my bachelorette party." She turned and looked at me. I kept a poker face, trying to control the anger that bubbled up inside me. Anna handed me free reigns to do as I pleased for the bachelorette party and I had spent months searching destinations and planning, all for it all to be thrown out the window.

"I want it to be under-wraps." She continued. "All of this stress of the wedding is making me miss my girls." I smiled at her attempt to make us feel important.

"Well, there goes our plans." Savannah blurted. She squeezed my hand under the table, reassuring me that everything was going to be ok. Savannah knew what I was feeling before I did, and I was grateful for her. She knew how Anna could be, they were as close as we were. "I guess I will bring the wine." She offered.