Wish Upon a Wedding Read Online Free

and always had each other’s backs. Other than this secret, Avery usually confided in Zoe, so it really felt odd not to be able to talk about such a big disappointment in his life.
    But if Ashley came clean and told the truth, Zoe would be devastated and Avery knew theknowledge would put a damper on her wedding plans. Not only would Zoe most likely break off their friendship but his sister would have to find a maid of honor to take her best friend’s place. “Maid of
honor,
my sweet ass,” Avery mumbled. He ground his teeth together. “Ah what a damned mess you’ve caused, Ashley Montgomery.”
    After a moment Avery scrubbed a hand down his face. While he knew that Zoe couldn’t possibly understand his reluctance to go to dinner with them, her persistence was becoming increasingly frustrating.
    And Avery sure as hell didn’t have a clue how to remedy the sticky situation.
    When his phone pinged again he winced. “Ah, dammit!” He hated this. He loved his sister and missed Max. The four of them had been best friends since middle school, virtually inseparable all throughout high school and their early twenties. They’d created some really amazing memories together, but now, it all felt somehow . . . tainted. Avery still didn’t know what to do with the happy times still lingering in his brain. Plus, this whole avoidance thing put a big damper on his social life.
    He sighed. Zoe meant well but Avery finally felt as if he was moving past a difficult period in his life. Having his sister trying to drag him out for a night on the town and having to revisit the pain Ashley caused him wasn’t what he needed. To the world he might look like a hard-ass country boy, but Ashley had shattered his heart into a million pieces. Hanging out with her was at the bottom of the list of things he wanted to do.
    Fresh, unwanted anger at Ashley reared its ugly head and he took a few seconds to tamp it back down. Of course, part of the problem was the fact that he couldn’t vent to anyone. But not only had he given his word but letting her affair out of the bag was the kind of small-town gossip that would be talked about God knows how long. And Avery knew the news would cause Ashley’smom and dad pain as well. He’d spent countless hours in the Montgomery household and he didn’t want to be the bearer of that kind of news to people he still loved. So he was in a word . . . screwed.
    Blowing out a breath Avery typed:
Sorry, I have plans tomorrow.
Truth was he didn’t have a damned thing going on and now he’d have to come up with something because Zoe was sure to ask what he was doing. Keeping this secret was getting more and more difficult.
    Avery put his annoying phone on vibrate and started up his truck. An ice-cold beer never sounded so good. Motivated, he eased out onto Main Street hoping to catch green lights all the way to his house on Cherry Tree Lane.
    Five minutes later, he pulled into his driveway and hurried into his two-story brick house that he’d been restoring over the past few years . . . The house that he and Ashley were going to live in. He’d painted over colors she’d chosen and removed all of her possessions. Going down memory lane was the last place he wanted to travel but his sister had no way of knowing why. Most of what Avery had learned about repair and remodeling had come from his uncle, Easton, whom he’d followed around like a shadow when he was a little kid. He’d had his own toolbox by the age of five. When other kids were playing video games, Avery had been busy finding stuff to take apart or fix.
    When the family-owned Fisher Hardware store couldn’t keep up with the big warehouse chains, Uncle Easton closed up shop and decided to go into the repair business. When he’d asked Avery to come on board as a partner it was a no-brainer. Five years ago he and his uncle never dreamed Fisher and