Little Gray Dress Page 10

  Amelia nods in agreement before they start discussing the food.

  Leave it to Maggie to throw an accidental psychic reading into the conversation, even though before the party I begged her not to. The last thing I need is her proving to Amelia that I’m far from the normal girl she thinks she knows.

  “Have you seen the pile of gifts?” Lily saves me from having to chat about babies with Amelia and Maggie. “It’s insane. I didn’t even know people got these kinds of things at engagement parties.”

  “I’ve already had at least five people, whose names I couldn’t even tell you, hand me envelopes with checks in them. It’s crazy!”

  The ping of metal against glass grabs both our attention and when we turn I see Jack standing at the front of the room waving me up to him. “Gotta go.” I whisper to Lily and make my way through the crowd to him.

  “If you haven’t met her yet, this is Emi, my beautiful bride-to-be.” He smiles sweetly at me before turning back to the crowd. “I want to thank you all for celebrating our engagement with us. It means so much that you’re all here. I hope you’ll join me in toasting Emi and me in our journey towards the altar.” Jack turns to me taking my hand in his. “I want to thank you, Emi, for two things. The first is for saying yes, and the second, the most important, is for allowing me to experience what the saying All you need is Love really means. You’ve truly changed my world for the better and I can’t wait to become your husband.”

  A unanimous “Ah” fills the room and I quickly wipe the tears trying to escape from my eyes. Thankfully he knows just how bad at speeches I am, and he gives me no opportunity to talk through the kiss he’s planted on me in front of a room full of strangers clapping.

  Chapter Nine

  Present Day

  Downtown Portland, Oregon

  The Rehearsal

  “Is he coming tonight?” Lily corners me in the kitchen after everyone has finally disappeared to their rooms to get ready for the rehearsal dinner.

  “Yes, Liam is coming to everything wedding-related, as if he came here with me for that exact purpose. Is it weird?”

  “I don’t think so. As far as I know everyone else is a couple, so it would probably be weird for you if you didn’t have a date.”

  “Here’s the thing, though…” I glance around the doorway to make sure no one is within hearing distance. “He didn’t really even hesitate to say yes, is that weird?”

  “Maybe a little.” Lily shrugs her shoulders. “But that is exactly what you wanted, so I don’t know why you’re over-thinking it now?”

  “Right. I don’t know why, I’m just nervous I think.”

  “Maybe you’re nervous because since Jack you’ve only dated a handful of men and it’s never gone further than the first date.” Lily rolls her eyes.

  In my defense, I just haven’t found a guy I like. It’s not like I’m some undatable freak. I’ve been asked out on second dates, I just never really feel like going. Why waste my time on someone I know isn’t right?

  “What?!” Hannah appears from virtually nowhere and is staring at me through a shocked face. “You’ve not dated since Jack?” Her voice is all high-pitched again. Why does the only person that catches me in untruthful moments seem to always be Hannah?

  “No, that’s not what I—” Lily tries to save me from her accidental announcement but it’s too late.

  “I heard what you said. It’s been two years; how can you only have had a few first dates?” Her jaw drops open momentarily before she pulls her hand to her mouth with a gasp. “You still love him!”

  “No, Hannah, I don’t.”

  “Yes you do. That’s the only thing that would explain all this. You ran away from the barbecue the other night, you drank yourself sick at my bridal shower and you and Greta have been literally acting like jealous high-school girls ever since you found out she was engaged to Jack. You’re still in love with him.” She sighs, and paces between Lily and me. “Ems, this could change everything. Like, everything. You have to tell him.” She stops in front of me and grabs hold of both my shoulders. “Seriously, you need to tell him how you feel.”

  “I am not in love with your brother, Hannah. Did he leave an everlasting scar? Yes. Did he break my heart into pieces more than once? Yes. Do I still love him?” I stall with my answer, not intentionally. I just don’t have one yet. I’ve tried to work out my feelings and it’s not as easy as one might assume. I want to be over Jack, trust me, I do. I just… can’t. “No. No. I don’t, I just didn’t expect to get here and find him engaged to my arch-enemy.”

  They both give me an unsure stare. “What? I can have an arch-enemy, can’t I? She’s an absolute bitch. And you can’t tell me that you’ve never thought it too.” I point straight at Hannah, who frowns but doesn’t disagree. “I am not in love with Jack. In fact, I have a date tonight, and to the wedding.”

  “He said yes?” Hannah asks, like it surprises her. Really, though, it only surprises me. I forgot she knew about that. Otherwise I might not have called it a date. It’s more of an arrangement.

  “Of course, he said yes.” Lily defends me. “Look at her… She’s gorgeous.”

  “Enough kissing ass for the spot of best friend. I have to get ready to wow him.” I give Lily a playful, almost not serious, glare.

  “Which him, Em? The stand-in, or Jack?” Hannah purses her lips together, her face scrunched into a silent you can’t deny it look.

  She thinks she knows me so well. Damn it! I wish I was a faster thinker when I need to be. But of course I’m tongue-tied. Hannah’s question is the exact question even I’ve refused to answer for the last twenty-four hours. “I don’t know yet.”

  “Told you,” she snaps at me.

  “UUUGGHH,” I moan to Hannah with an eye roll. “I’ll be down when I’m ready,” I say, in my most irritated voice.

  “Wow! You are going to turn some heads.” Lily greets me in the hallway as I walk out of the wedding room carrying my dress that was sharing a bag with a few other options. “Isn’t that the dress?”

  It is, and she knows it enough that she didn’t even have to ask. Jack picked this dress out, we even got engaged while I was wearing this dress. He’s unzipped it and watched it drop to the floor more than once. “Maybe,” I respond, really not wanting to get into the whole reason of why I’m wearing it. “I just… Well, if he’s moved on and happy then I really don’t have any way of making him miserable. Unless I wear a dress that I know makes him swoon.”

  “Your grand plan now is to make him suffer by realizing he’s still attracted to you?”

  “Maybe.”

  I’m just glad I brought the dress. Nothing else has really worked out in my favor thus far.

  “OK. And how on earth is that ever gonna fit?”

  “Is that a subtle way to call me fat?” I glare at her.

  “That’s not what I’m saying and you know it,” she snaps back.

  “I may or may not have had it altered before we left. OK?”

  “Ok…” Lily says it slowly, “Now even I’m curious to know the answer to Hannah’s question.”

  “You and me both,” I say to Lily, wondering if my head and heart can ever just get along and agree.

  I wasn’t planning on trying to get to Jack by wearing the dress tonight. I wasn’t planning to wear it at all. It was one of those last-minute ideas I had and the reason I missed the original bridesmaid’s dress alteration. I went to have this dress altered, instead of the other. Thank God I did it early, because it took a few days for the woman to practically remake the entire dress to fit my new larger figure, without adding any super-cinching underwear underneath. I needed a secret weapon, just in case. I paid almost as much for the alterations as I did when I bought the dress.

  But, now that I’m in it, it was well worth it. Even though I’m thirty pounds heavier than the last time I wore it, it still looks incredible. Jack won’t know what hit him.

  “Hey, Em?” Lily calls to me from the bottom of th
e stairs.

  “I’m almost ready!” I call back, trying to do a few last-minute adjustments.

  The tap on my door a few minutes later reminds me that I can’t spend forever putting myself together. “Come on in Lil, I’m just about ready.”

  The door swings opened and my brother walks in. “You’ve been up here an hour…”

  “I know, sorry.”

  “Wow. I know my job is to make sure you are properly tormented as my sister but, you look great.”

  I smile at him, surprised he’s given me a true compliment as opposed to his normal back-handed ones. “Thank you, Ev. You look great yourself.” He’s wearing a suit, his hair is slicked back and he looks the complete opposite of my normal, casual, chuck-wearing brother.

  “I understand your friend agreed to…” His eyebrows narrow in confusion and he shrugs his shoulders at me. “I guess I don’t quite get why you need him, but he’s here.”

  “Because I’m the only without a date, and the only one who needs to at least look like I have my life together. I can’t keep showing up alone, it makes it seem like I’m not over Jack.” I grab my bag off the bed and pull on my shoes.

  “Right, and bringing a stranger to my wedding does that?”

  “It might.” I say, with one more glance in the mirror.

  “If it makes the next couple of days easier for you, I’m good with it.” He smiles at me, though I know he’s mad at me. I know these few sentences between us don’t seem like much, but we’re twins. There is an unspoken conversation here that says everything we haven’t said out loud. He’s not happy about me being so back and forth, but he’s willing to overlook it since he’s partially responsible for making my week miserable by asking Jack to be one of his groomsmen.

  “Thanks,” I say, as my way of saying apology accepted. “Let’s go and hope there are no more incidents you will need to write down.” I wink at him. Seriously though, please, please let there be no more incidents. I don’t know who’s in charge of that department. God? Or maybe Karma? But whoever it is, please give me some kind of break.

  As I get to the top of the stairs I hear Liam talking to Lily and Josh. I try to peek at him before he sees me, but I’m too short to see over the balcony for that. One more deep breath and I’ll be ready to go.

  “Come on, Emi.” Hannah exits her room at the end of the hall, her arm linked through Evan’s and the two of them looking completely ready to walk down the aisle. Even if it is only practice for tonight. “You look fabulous!” she says excitedly.

  “So do you, just gorgeous.” I return her compliment.

  “I know.” She does a small twirl before taking my brother’s arm once again. “Let’s go see your date.”

  I follow her to the top of the stairs, way more nervous than I had expected. Why am I nervous? This is basically a business deal. Favor for favor. Liam smiles up at me from where he’s standing.

  “Whoa,” he says, wide-eyed.

  He’s wearing a pair of black slacks, a nice gray shirt, and a tie. His normally ruffled hair is now slicked over to the side and I’m only just noticing the tattoos showing below his rolled-up sleeves. Which, I’ll admit, is a little bit of an unexpected turn-on.

  “Whoa to you too,” I say back to him, feeling more than awkward that everyone in the room is watching us. I haven’t felt this weird about a date since I went to prom in my senior year. If someone pulls out a camera I’ll just die.

  He approaches me and quickly kisses my cheek. “I don’t know if I can compete with you, though. You are gorgeous.” I hear Lily awe sarcastically behind me and shoot her a look of death.

  “Sounds good.” Evan claps his hands. “Looks like everyone, invited or not, is ready to go.” He ushers us all out of the front door and towards a black limo parked at the curb.

  Liam is so close behind me that I can feel my heart nervously drop a little further into my stomach with each step. “So, how are we playing this?” he breathes into my ear, making my brain momentarily stall with any rational or pure thoughts. “Am I boyfriend status, or just a random friend date status?”

  I step off the curb behind the limo and pull Liam with me. “Um… I’m not sure exactly what I’m expecting as an outcome quite yet, so I was hoping just random friend date status?”

  “Maybe we see what happens? Let’s feel out the situation and see how it goes before we make any solid decisions.”

  “Ok.” I nod my head and head towards the door.

  “What are you two doing?” Evan asks me as we crawl into the limo.

  “Whispering sweet nothings to each other?” Josh adds his two cents, getting a glare from me.

  “Nothing, I just… uh—”

  “I just wanted to tell her again how gorgeous she looked. My bad. So, introduce me to everyone.”

  “Right. So this is Evan and Hannah, the bride and groom.”

  Liam reaches out and shakes hands with both of them. “Congratulations to you both, and thank you for letting me escort the second most beautiful woman in the limo.” He nods to Hannah, who immediately projects her inner Southern Belle by blushing and fanning herself.

  “And this is my best friend Lily and her husband, Josh.”

  “Nice to meet you, Josh. You and Evan are both very lucky men.” He shakes both their hands with a smile before turning back to me, his eyes smiling with far too much enthusiasm.

  “What do you do, Liam?” Evan, of course, is the first one to pile on the questions.

  “I own Old Tex, the bar up the street. Just bought it about a month ago. It’s kind of a dive bar right now, but I’m hoping to turn it into something a little cooler than that.”

  “Ah… And why are you helping my sister?”

  “Evan!” I hiss at him, mortified that he’d act like a douche about this.

  “Your sister…” He glances over at me with a smile. “She’s a sweet girl, a damsel in distress, you could say. How could I say no?”

  “So, I guess I don’t understand the plan?” Evan asks. Clearly he was blowing smoke up my ass upstairs with the whole if it makes you happy line.

  “So, you all know our arrangement?” Liam looks at me for a little insight.

  “No,” I blurt out before noticing Evan’s eyebrows rise. “I mean yes, they know why you’re coming.” Please, Liam, don’t talk about how it’s in exchange for a favor though. Evan’s mind will go right to the gutter. I plead with him silently and hope he really is as good at reading people as he was the other night.

  “We just don’t really know, why. Why did you agree to it?” Hannah follows up.

  “Guys, this isn’t a Dateline interview. Can you give the guy a break? He’s here so maybe Jack, Greta and I can be a little more comfortable in the same room, that’s all.” I glare at Hannah and Evan who both shrug their shoulders.

  “So, tell me about you two.” Liam smoothly changes the subject “How did all this come to be?”

  It takes the entire ride to the wedding venue for Evan and Hannah to tell Liam their love story. Which gives me a chance to try and stop sweating from all the wrong areas.

  “He is actually cute!” Lily grabs my arm the moment I leave the limo and walks me into the building, with Josh, Evan and Liam all chatting behind us. “I think he might really like you.”

  “Stop it. This is just a favor, nothing more.”

  “We’ll see…”

  “Fabulous!” A woman with far too much botox in her face claps her hands the moment we walk out of the elevator. “We have wedding party members arriving, and right on time!”

  “Hi, Muffy!” Hannah greets Botox Lady with the dreaded air-kisses, while Lily and I mouth the name Muffy to each other and stifle back a giggle.

  “We are just waiting for a few more members of the wedding party,” she tells Hannah before they walk away from us inspecting the ongoing decorating. Evan’s phone starts breathing like Darth Vader, a ringtone only a fifteen-year-old would choose, and considering we are waiting for the rest of the wedding
party and have nothing else to do, we all watch him answer it.

  “She is?” he says. “Right, well I totally understand, don’t worry about it at all.” He taps his phone screen and glances around at us. “Shit. Lane’s wife’s gone into labor. He can’t make the wedding tomorrow.”

  From across the room, botoxed Muffy has somehow heard this and is marching our direction, her heels clacking loudly against the floor. “What is this? A rogue groomsman the day before the wedding?”

  “I guess so, yes.” Evan nods his head in her direction.

  “No, no, no, we can’t have uneven numbers.” She glances around at us and catches sight of Liam. “What about this handsome young man? I can arrange a tuxedo at short notice, I’ll just grab his measurements.” She walks over to him and inspects him too closely for his comfort.

  “Uh…” Liam backs away from Muffy’s groping hands.

  “I’m in a pinch. Is that something you would consider?” Evan asks him. “I know we don’t know each other, but you seem cool enough and my sister seems to like you.”

  Liam glances at me for approval and I shrug my shoulders. “If you want to I’m good with it.”

  “All right, I mean what the hell, I was going to be here tomorrow anyway right? Now I can walk you down the aisle.” He looks at me during the last sentence but our moment is interrupted by Muffy’s obnoxious clapping again.

  “Perfect! And here is the rest of our party now.”

  I turn to look at Hannah’s parents, a few of the bridesmaids and groomsmen from the barbecue the other night, and Jack and Greta. Greta glares at me, all the while hanging off Jack like a cancerous tumor. Jack's eyes meet mine almost immediately, before he looks me over with an almost awkward forced smile that never quite reaches his eyes. This is not the Jack I knew. He looks defeated. I’ve not really let myself spend a lot of time looking at him since I got here, and I wish I hadn’t right now either.

  Here I was, expecting him to swoon at the fact that I’m wearing his favorite dress, and his expression is more like he’s just looked into the open coffin of a friend who’s passed on. I force a small smile in his direction but he only looks away.