Chapter 26
Ithought I’d only have to have my sister dictate what I wore once this entire wedding process, but as it was now, she has chosen what I wore to her couple’s shower, her bachelorette party, and, apparently, the rehearsal dinner.
I haven’t spoken to her since the fight this morning, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to wear a different dress and risk yet another fight at her rehearsal dinner.
Which is fine by me because it at least is incredibly flattering.
I double check that the thick straps tied over my shoulders are tight enough that they won’t fall down, then run my hands down the pale blue fabric, admiring the subtle floral details on it.
I’d be worried about walking in the fitted dress, but a slit up the back stopping at the backs of my knees helps me feel like I won’t trip down the stone stairs of this gorgeous winery and embarrass myself.
This dress, paired with my favorite pink stilettos, makes me feel feminine. Beautiful. And I’m excited to see the look on Reid’s face when I walk out wearing the very color he told me I looked stunning in.
Once I’m done with this stupidly expensive cocktail dress, I’m wearing it everywhere. To work, to run errands, to exercise. It’s going to become a part of me.
The sun is starting to set on the horizon, casting a yellow glow on the water and the collection of colorful buildings on the cliff faces.
Despite the drama of the last few days, I stop and take a moment to breathe and take a mental picture of the most gorgeous sunset I’ve ever seen, letting the swirling of pinks and oranges in the sky settle something in my mind.
When I draw in a breath and refocus on my trek down the stairs, I notice a few eyes travel my way.
But the pair of blue ones are the only ones I care to see tonight.
Reid’s head turns in my direction, the words on his lips trailing off as he sees me. His gaze travels slowly down my body. He presses a hand to his chest, and I can’t hear the words out of his mouth, but it looks like he says “damn.”
I smile as I take the rest of the stairs down and immediately beeline toward him. Jessica mumbles something about “stealing Kate’s thunder” as I pass her, as if Kate didn’t send a link and color for a specific dress curated for each bridesmaid for tonight.
“I think maybe we should get out of here,” he suggests. I stop just a few steps away from him, but don’t dare come any closer. Kate may know about us now, but I’m not going to rub it in her face with a plethora of PDA at her rehearsal dinner.
“I just got here,” I say.
“I don’t care.”
“I’m pretty sure we are required to be here.”
Reid looks away from me for a moment, scanning the crowd surrounding us. He draws in a breath and runs his fingers through his dark hair like he’s contemplating whether or not he as the best man is actually required to be here.
“Hopefully it’s a quick night, because if I have to catch one more man staring at you tonight, I think I might throw the first punch I’ve ever thrown in my entire life.”
If other men were looking at me, I didn’t even notice. I was too busy looking at the only man that matters. But either way, I wouldn’t want him punching anybody tonight. He’s already done enough to make Kate mad today. I don’t want him to take the brunt of anything else.
“And we can’t have you do that—not on Kate’s big night,” I say.
He drags his gaze back to me, a fire in his eyes as he takes me in again. “She’ll simply have to forgive me.”
I shake my head. “She will never forgive that.”
“It would be worth it.”
The whispers around me start growing louder.
Then I feel the judgmental eyes on me. I peel my gaze away from Reid’s and find Jessica whispering to Lydia while staring between me and Reid.
I don’t want to shrink back from it, but I feel myself getting smaller, my shoulders rounding in as if that will make me become more invisible.
I take a small step back. Enough to put a little distance between us, but not so much that I lose the sense of comfort I get from being next to him.
“I think I need wine.”
“They don’t have any margaritas. I checked, and then I panicked because I didn’t know what you’d want. Offering the champagne felt wrong.”
A smile touches my lips. Before I can stop myself, I lean up on my toes and press a kiss to his cheek. “Thanks for trying,” I say quietly before walking toward the bar.
“Nice dress,” a voice says next to me. My body immediately tightens with tension at the sound of Jessica’s voice.
“Kate picked it out.”
“Of course she did.”
I raise a brow. “Didn’t she pick out everyone’s?”
“No, Jane. The rest of us have a sense of style.”
“You think that counts as style?” I pointedly look at her dress. It is a nice dress, but I’m done playing nice with her, especially after the way she coordinated with Kate to ambush me today.
Her eyes narrow, and a feeling of dread fills me. Before I can process what’s happening, she’s tipping her glass of wine and I watch in horror as the deep red liquid spills down the front of my dress.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she says with the air of someone who is, in fact, not sorry at all. She grabs a cocktail napkin off the counter and leans in, pretending to dab the stain. “That’s for making today about you.”
“How the hell did I do that?” I grit through my teeth.
“The dress. The shoes. The best man.” She looks over my shoulder and nods to where I assume Reid is standing. “Coming in here like you’re trying to walk off the runway and going straight to him of all people? Tacky, Jane.”
“Literally none of this is your business.”
She shrugs a delicate shoulder. “It’s Kate’s business, so it’s mine now too. One of us has to look out for her.”
“That’s all I do is look out for her!”
“Yeah? Like you looked out for her by bailing on dinner last night to do God knows what with Reid Matthews? Such a great sister.”
“You know, Jessica, this jealousy game is already getting incredibly old.”
She scoffs. “You think I’m jealous of Reid?”
“I do, yes.”
“Oh, Jane. Don’t come running to me when he breaks your heart. We’ve all warned you plenty of times.”
I don’t even have words left for this fight with her or with anyone else. They don’t know Reid like I do, and I’m getting incredibly tired of trying to defend something special between us, especially to Jessica of all damn people.
I snatch the crumpled, useless little napkin from her fingers and try dabbing at the stain simply for something else to do, something to look at besides all the eyes I can feel burning on me.
After what feels like an eternity but can likely only be a few seconds, I give up completely.
On the stain, on defending myself, on figuring out who Jessica thinks she is and what battle she thinks she’s fighting.
I clench my jaw and storm off, mentally calculating how to get Merlot out of the dress without leaving a water spot.
When I burst into the bathroom, I gripped the edges of the sink to collect my breath.
Water? Does water remove wine? I doubt it.
Hand soap? I grab the bottle and push the nozzle.
White foam scented like pears pumps out.
I mutter to myself, glaring at the aerated pile of uselessness in my hand.
I glance from it to my ruined dress. I mean, it’s not getting any worse, right?
What do I have to lose at this point, really?
I slather the soap onto my abdomen, desperately doing my best to rub it in. It only took my four seconds to realize this would not do the trick, but I already committed. It’s far too late now.
As I’m in the midst of this realization, the door opens. I freeze, my hand still splayed across my stomach.
Kate stands there hovering over the threshold, hand frozen on the open door as she takes me in. Her eyes slowly travel down my ruined dress, her lip curling in disgust the longer she stares.
“What the hell, Jane?”
“Do you not think it adds to the look?”
She gapes at me. “Are you serious?”
“Do you think I did this intentionally?” My anger is starting to bubble to the surface. I’m doing my best to push it down, but it’s getting harder and harder to keep doing that.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I wouldn’t put it past you, honestly.”
I shake the soap off my hands over the sink, grinding my teeth together so hard I may very well crack a molar. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Tears well in my eyes as I look at my sister.
I don’t even recognize her anymore. She’s spent so much time with Jessica that she has started to become her.
It breaks my heart, and it makes me incredibly angry, because this isn’t the sister I would do anything and everything for.
This is a clone of the girl who caused an unnecessary fight and spilled red wine on my dress five minutes into the rehearsal dinner.
I hear slow footfalls down the hall, echos getting louder as they make it closer to us. Now I’m determined to get out of here before anyone else has to see me like this.
She shakes her head, her eyes still locked on the soap-smothered stain. “You cannot go out there in this. It’s all anyone will talk about.”
“What am I supposed to do? Stay in there all night?”
“That or find a new outfit.”
“And where do you expect me to do that? The garbage cans?”
She lifts a shoulder and shrugs. “Beats me.” And with that, she turns on her pearl stilettos and stomps out.
I lean against the sink and sigh. This is why I didn’t want her to know about Reid until the wedding was over. More than over. I wanted her back from her honeymoon, wedding photos in her inbox, coming down from the high of being married before I even mentioned the idea.