Summary

All's Fair in Love and Blood - A Romantic Comedy Novel Read Free *************** Dedication To: My children. The best examples of how dreams really do come true. The Before What is The Before? The Before is the summer before my senior year of college. It’s the summer Kane Hudson changed my life. The summer I learned to love myself. And the summer I fell deeply in love. The Before impacted me in ways I never could have imagined. Just like Kane Hudson did. He taught me more about life than anyone. Then he stole my heart and never gave it back. It wasn’t all he was going to take, but we will get to that in “The After.” First, we must start at the beginning. The day Kane Hudson came crashing into my life. It all began at our parents’ wedding. The Wedding “Don’t fall. Don’t fall. Please don’t let me fall. What did that article say about walking in heels? It’s all about the posture? Am I standing tall?” “Excuse me?” Garrett—the groomsman I was clinging to—asked out of the side of his mouth. Did I say that out loud? “Nothing,” I squeaked. How long is this aisle, anyway? If only I could see. Or maybe I should be happy I’m nearsighted and stepmother number seven thought I would look better without my glasses. It’s not like I wouldn’t be going to another one of my father’s weddings in the near future. Besides they’d all looked about the same: hundreds of flowers in varying shades, depending on the season. Though for some reason my father, Augustus Armstrong—or Auggie, as I call him because he doesn’t want to be called Dad or Daddy like most southerners prefer—liked to get married in May. So, usually the flowers were pastel in nature as they were today. Then there were typically myriads of candles in all shapes and sizes, making it smell like there was a massive séance going on. If only. That would probably be more fun. This wife, Eva, wanted to add arches between the pews and Auggie was happy to oblige. He spared no expense when it came to his weddings. I was beginning to think my father needed a twelve-step program for wedding addiction. I had been a bridesmaid five times now and a flower girl twice. Perhaps Auggie did it so I would wear a dress at least every couple of years when he created a new future ex-wife. Regardless, I wasn’t sure I was going to survive this go-around. Tight core and land on the ball of your foot first, I reminded myself. Unfortunately, I had nothing close to a tight core, as I was still happily holding on to the freshman fifteen and had never worn heels so high or SPANX—another requirement from the latest woman trying to fill my momma’s shoes. Though I didn’t know if my momma had ever worn heels. In fact, I didn’t know much about her at all, except she had died when I was one. Other than that, I knew only what I’d seen in the single picture I had of her. She was beautiful, with her willowy figure, golden-blonde hair, and forest-green eyes like mine. She wouldn’t have required SPANX, and no one would have ever said something to h