Chapter 9
Kate: and four crystal wine decanters???
Kate: and THESE???
Kate: [photo of floral bedsheets]
Kate: [photo of galaxy bedsheets]
Kate: [photo of waffle bedsheets]
Jane: We wanted you to have options
It takes me staring at the free hardware shop calendar on my fridge to realize I haven’t seen my sisters in two weeks.
Kate called off Sunday brunch last week because she and Jason were out of town on a couples getaway, and Charlie jumped at the chance to stay home with his wife.
But despite not particularly enjoying Sunday brunch every week, breaking the routine still feels like it left a hole in my chest.
Not that Kate was talking to me that much this week after the registry thing.
She was less than thrilled about the items Reid and I registered her for last weekend.
Understandably so, but I, for one, had a spectacular time.
Which was incredibly surprising considering it was just me and Reid in Walden’s, strolling through aisles and pointing out horrible lamps and massive brightly patterned shag rugs.
I don’t think we’ll come out of this wedding as best friends, but maybe he isn’t as terrible of a person as I initially thought.
Maybe I can survive this whole wedding. Financially it might be a different story, but at least I don’t think I’ll end up in jail for murdering the best man. At least not right now.
But where I’m the dependable Sinclair, Kate is the stubborn one, so I know that if I want to move on from her silent treatment, I need to be the one to apologize first. Even if she is the one who ditched me.
I grab my phone, scrolling through messages until I find Kate’s contact and call her. She picks up on the second ring.
“Hi, Jane!” Her voice is shockingly chipper for ignoring me all week.
“Hey, what are you up to right now? I was thinking maybe we could get coffee with Lydia and talk about wedding plans. Hang out. Maybe go shopping or something.”
Why am I pacing my kitchen nervously? These are my sisters, not some boy I’m trying to flirt with. It’s not like I dialed Reid.
Wait, why did his name pop into my head?
Lydia’s voice thankfully pulls me from the spiraling thoughts of deep blue eyes and an irritatingly addictive smile. “We are actually out for coffee already,” Kate says. My pacing stops, my heart sinks.
They’re already together. Without me. Again.
That shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. I should be used to it by now, but it’s really hard to get used to feeling like you’re not wanted by your own family.
“We just got to The Coffee Corner,” Lydia’s voice comes on the line. “You can meet us if you want to! We can take Kate shopping for bridal shower attire after!”
I know in my heart I should say no and let them do their thing, but instead I find myself blurting out, “Great. See you soon.”
And then the line goes dead. I stare at the screen for a moment, trying to decide my next move. I shouldn’t go. I know this was a pity invitation, otherwise they would’ve had the foresight to invite me in the first place. Do I really want to go and intrude on their time together?
But I love my sisters and I want to see them. Even if they have that twin thing going on in which I’m still not included. So I pack my purse, grab my keys, and start the short walk to the coffee shop.
When I walk in, I spot them immediately in the emerald green velvet chairs in the corner laughing with each other.
The bell chimes over the door and they both turn in my direction.
The smile dims slightly on Kate’s face—which I try not to take personally—but Lydia smiles wide and waves to me.
I wave back, place my order, and head to the empty chair next to them.
“Thanks for letting me tag along,” I offer as I sit.
“Yeah, of course,” Lydia says. “Sorry I didn’t call you too. I assumed you had plans with Lola.”
You could’ve asked.
The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t bring myself to say them. I know it would cause Lydia to recoil, Kate to roll her eyes, and awkwardness to fall over us. And despite feeling left out, I wanted to hang out with my sisters.
So instead I shove the feelings down, smile, and say, “It’s okay. I’m just happy I could be here.”
“I’m still mad at you for the registry fiasco though,” Kate says, a dramatic pout on her lips. “Do you know how much time it took me to fix that mess?”
I lift my coffee to my lips to hide the rueful smile playing there.
Kate still notices and narrows her eyes at me.
Fine, I feel slightly vindicated about the registry.
I briefly consider pulling out my phone and texting Reid about her reaction, but I can’t decide if he’d laugh and send another set of crazy bedsheets with a text that says “we should’ve added these too” or if he’d reply with a “why are you texting me?”
So I brush the urge aside.
“This feels like it could’ve all been avoided by just coming with me like you said you would,” I say nonchalantly.
Kate rolls her eyes. “See, this is why Lydia is my maid of honor. She wouldn’t have put six different sets of multicolored glass cups on the registry.”
“Well, then maybe Lydia should’ve come along too.”
“Don’t bring me into this,” Lydia says under her breath, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
Kate tucks her hair behind her ear and sits a little taller, like she’s the queen commandeering her court right now. “Don’t worry, Jane. We got it all fixed. Your silly little registry has been eliminated and the store helped me set up a new one with things on it we’ll actually like and use.”
“Thank god,” I mutter.
“Yeah, thank god for the store, not for you and Reid. How much time did the two of you waste there anyways? You registered for things I didn’t even know existed.”
My mind flits back to that morning when things took a surprising shift between us from enemies to shocking acquaintances. Somehow the memory of his smile puts me just a little bit at ease in this hot seat.
“Only a couple hours.”
Lydia’s eyebrows fly up in surprise. “You and Reid were under the same roof for a couple of hours without one of you harming the other?”
“I know, shocking,” I say. I feel Kate’s glare on me, burning me from across the table. I flick my gaze to her and find her narrowed eyes on me, her lips pursed as she leans back in her chair with crossed arms. “What?”
“What’s the deal with you two?” she finally asks.
“With who? Me and Reid?” She nods. I shake my head vigorously. “Not a thing.”
She leans forward suddenly, a new resolve sparking in her eyes. She rests her forearms on the table and leans into them like she’s preparing to interrogate me. “You seem like you’re always contemplating his murder.”
“I usually am.” The words come out surprisingly half-hearted.
Kate rests her forearms on the table and leans forward, a hardened expression like she’s our mom preparing to scold us.
“Are you two going to behave this summer?” I shrug in a “we’ll see” motion.
Kate draws in a deep breath. “Okay, well I need you to. Remember what I said on the phone last weekend?”
“When you bailed on me?” She ignores the jab, instead arching an eyebrow at me as she awaits my response. I sigh. “Time to start faking it.”
Kate smiles proudly. “That’s right. You don’t have to come out of this best friends, but just . . . get along. Be cordial.”
“Just be careful you don’t fall for his spell,” Lydia says, a teasing lilt in her voice.
I furrow my brow. “What spell?”
Kate laughs. “Oh come on, like you haven’t noticed how handsome he is.”
“And charming,” Lydia adds.
“And sweet.”
I scoff at the last one. “I’ve noticed that he is tall and has blue eyes and that he has an affinity for making people cry on their first day of work.”
Kate waves me off. “When you start being nicer to him, you’ll realize he’s really not so bad.”
My mind flits back to the department store, to our unspoken temporary truce as we walked around Walden’s. I caught glimpses of that sweet side of him, but I’m almost positive it was a one-off situation, so I’m not getting my hopes up.
“I’m just saying—you’re both in the wedding party. He’s Jason’s best man, for goodness’s sake. He’s obviously going to be around a lot, and it would be spectacular if you didn’t injure each other before the wedding.”
“I’ll do my best,” I say. I’m curious about what might’ve shifted between us last weekend, but I’m still not willing to make any promises to Kate about Reid’s well-being.