Chapter Two
Chapter One
JESSA
H eadless mannequins dressed in yards of satin and lace surrounded me. I was supposed to be paying attention to Ellie, who was trying on wedding dresses, but I was distracted. Why didn’t they have heads? Why did I feel like one of them was suddenly going to come to life and chase me down like the Headless Horseman chasing Ichabod Crane?
The rows upon rows of frilly dresses made me twitch. Being around this much girly stuff was enough to send me running, even without a headless Vera Wang-wearing mannequin on my tail.
The changing room curtain slid back, and out walked my beautiful friend in a gown with a strapless top and fluffy, feathery skirt. Her long brown hair fell in curls over her shoulders, and she practically glowed.
Grandma June, Ellie’s soon-to-be mother-in-law Bonnie, Penny, Tally, and I were quiet as she stepped up onto the pedestal surrounded by mirrors.
Ellie stared at her reflection, and it was clear by the smile on her face that she adored this dress. Her eyes bounced between the five of us, a look of concern replacing her joyful expression.
“What? You don’t like it?” she asked.
“I think we’re speechless,” Grandma June said as she pulled a tissue out of her purse and blotted her tears. “I’ve never seen you look more beautiful.”
“Oh, Ellie.” Penny laid her hand over her heart.
“You look like a dream,” Tally told her.
“Stunning,” Bonnie said.
Ellie waved her hands in front of her face to keep from crying.
I had to admit, she looked radiant.
“Cooper’s going to flip when he sees you in that dress,” I said.
A grin spread across her face, and the happiness in her eyes could’ve lit the room. “You really think so?”
I nodded as her phone rang, and she pointed at her purse, sitting on a side table.
Penny grabbed it for her and glanced at the screen. “Speaking of …”
I didn’t think Ellie’s smile could get any bigger than it already was, but it did.
“Hey, you,” she answered. “Yeah, I tried on a bunch of dresses, but I’m pretty sure I just found the one.” She paused for Cooper to respond. “I can’t wait for you to see it.” Her cheeks turned a pretty pink shade at whatever he said, and she rotated away from us, but I could still see her reflection in the mirror as she whispered to the man she loved.
I couldn’t help the twinge of sadness that overcame me. I was happy for Ellie. I really was. Just as I was happy for Penny and Tally when they found love. None of them ended up with a loser, which was a relief. If they had, I would’ve been forced to intervene, and it wouldn’t have been pretty.
But I missed when it was just the four of us, the Solo Sisters—a nickname I came up with when we made a marriage pact after college and committed not to marry until we turned thirty. Some good that did. Our pact lasted five years before they started going off and falling in love. I wasn’t so delusional that I thought things would never change. It just happened a few years earlier than I hoped it would.
Now, Penny and Tally were both married, and Ellie was about to say, “I do.” And here I was. Still alone. And less than a year away from turning thirty. Being the lone single girl left in the group sucked.
I’d never admit it to them, but I was lonely sometimes. Seeing my friends with their significant others made me miss the feeling of a man’s arms around me. But ever since my breakup with Cody, the catalyst for the creation of the marriage pact, I’d sworn off men. Having my heart ripped out of my chest and casually tossed aside like a rotten tomato was devastating. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready to let someone in again. Once was enough for me.
And I wasn’t like the others. I wasn’t the sweet, girly type most guys looked for. Raised by my single dad and three older brothers, I was blunt, and sarcastic, and rough around the edges. I liked video games, action and sci-fi movies, and a good poker game. And I ran my own successful design company. Guys found me more intimidating than appealing, I think.
In a small town, there wasn’t much variety when it came to single guys anyway. So unless someone new came to town, I was pretty much resigned to my life as it was.
“I can’t wait to see you either.” Ellie’s face beamed with love as she told Cooper goodbye, then let out a contented sigh. “Gosh, I love him.”
“Awww,” Penny and Tally replied simultaneously.
“Wait, you love him? I didn’t realize,” I teased.
She smirked at me. “I think you should be the first one to try on bridesmaid dresses, Jessa.”
I gave her my blankest blank face.
“Come on.” She walked toward me in her frilly dress and reached for my hands. “Model for us.”
I frowned as I stepped out of her reach. “Red can go first.” Penny was the one anxious to try on dresses and the one who looked most like a model with her perfect porcelain skin and long red hair.
“As a member of my bridal party, you’re required to do whatever I ask.”
I cackled. “That’s not a thing.”
“Come on, Jess.” Tally nudged me in Ellie’s direction.
“Let’s see you in something really lacy.” Penny grinned.
Ellie gave her a disapproving look. “You’re not helping me convince her.”
“How about Penny and Tally try them on, and I’ll just watch?”
She turned her eyes on me again. “This is the last time you’ll have to do the whole bridesmaid thing, so let’s make it memorable.”
“Thank God for that,” I said.
She pressed her palms together as if in prayer, then held her hands out again, bending and extending her fingers repeatedly as if grabbing for something, like Mona-Lisa from Parks and Recreation when begging for cash. “Pleeease.” She stuck her lower lip out and gave me puppy dog eyes.
I blew out a breath. I could never deny dear Ellie anything. “It’s gonna cost you.”
She clapped excitedly, then the bridal consultant led us to a display of several different styles of bridesmaid dresses. Just the thought of putting any of them on made my skin itch.
“Maybe you could buck tradition and go casual with sweatshirts and leggings for us girls,” I suggested. “They could even be pink if that’s what you want.”
“You’re talkin’ gibberish.”
I followed behind them as Ellie grabbed several dresses and shoved them at me, and the woman led us to the changing rooms.
Before I even had my clothes all the way off, Ellie snuck behind the curtain to my room, still wearing her dream wedding dress.
I glanced down at my half-naked body. “Do you mind?”
“I’ve seen you in your underwear before.” She took the first dress off its hanger and unzipped the back.
“I’m a grown woman. I am capable of dressing myself.”
“I know, but I wanted to talk to you about something.”
I took the dress she handed me and stepped into it, and she motioned for me to rotate.
“I wanted to let you know you’ll be walking with Ethan in the ceremony.”
I looked back at her. “I thought I was walking with that Lloyd guy.”
“You were, but we decided to switch up the order a little.”
It wasn’t ideal, but it was Ellie’s wedding. “Whatever you want,” I told her.
“Good.” She straightened the dress on my shoulders. “Also, I need a favor.”
“Pretty sure you used up all your favors by making me wear this.” I smirked as I lifted the lacy skirt.
She shook her head and started zipping me up. “I need you to promise that you and Ethan will get along at the wedding.”
Get along with Ethan? Hmmm. That might be a challenge.
When I didn’t respond, she stopped the zipper halfway up. “Did you hear me?”
“I heard you. Your brother and I get along just fine.”
Ellie laughed. “This is you being funny, right?”
“Just zip me up so we can get this over with.”
“Not until you promise. I want this day to be wonderful and special, and I don’t want any of us to have to referee your little bickering contests.”
My mouth fell open as I looked at her over my shoulder again. “I didn’t realize I was such a problem for you.”
“You’re not a problem.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t be in the wedding if I’m going to ruin the whole thing.”
Ellie frowned. “You know that’s not what I’m saying. The two of you tend to get carried away sometimes, and you’ll be paired up a lot for all the pre-wedding events. I just want everything to go smoothly.”
I pursed my lips as an uneasy feeling settled over me. I didn’t know what it was about Ethan that constantly rubbed me the wrong way. Probably his eternal optimism and happy-go-lucky personality. Our verbal sparring matches had become a habit over the years, so Ellie wasn’t totally off with her request. And I felt awful for overreacting, which I tended to do.
“I promise,” I told her. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Ellie hugged me tightly, then turned me around to finish zipping up the dress.
“So, I can’t tease him about wearing a monkey suit then?”
“Jessalyn Landry!” She tugged the zipper swiftly to the top.
My tendency to turn to humor when things felt too serious was obviously not appreciated.
“And what about him?” I turned to face her. “Did you tell him to be nice to me too? Because I’m pretty sure the second he sees me in a dress, he won’t be able to keep his mouth shut.”
She frowned.
“You know I’m right.”
Ellie nodded. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Good.” I faced the mirror, hating the way the top of the satin dress overlapped in the front. I leaned forward a little, and it gaped open, showing far too much of my chest. “I didn’t know your wedding would be so … revealing.”
She chuckled and tugged the dress at the shoulders. “It just needs a few alterations.”
“A few?”
She came around behind me and unzipped it, and our eyes met in the mirror.
“Thanks for doing this, Jess. And I hope you aren’t mad at me for pairing you with my brother.”
I gave her a little smile. I wasn’t exactly happy about it, but I would try my best with Ethan. I really would. Sometimes, when he looked at me a certain way or constantly smiled at me, I wanted to pummel him. I couldn’t understand how someone who’d lost his parents in such a sudden, tragic accident could still walk around with a big old grin on his face all the time. If I could figure out how to bottle his sunshine, maybe I wouldn’t wake up every day wondering why my mother abandoned us, why Cody left me, and why I was destined to be alone.
ETHAN
When I pulled into our snowy driveway after work, I spotted Cooper’s car. Ellie was in town this weekend to go wedding dress shopping in Grand Rapids with the girls, and I was excited to see my sister. Ever since she moved from our little town of Abbottsville to Nashville to be closer to Cooper, there was an empty spot in my life. Before they got together, I’d encouraged her to take the tour manager job when Cooper offered it, but I never expected a five-month stint to turn into forever. Ellie was more than my sister. She was my best friend. We’d been through so much together, and lately, without her, I felt a little like a boat drifting away without an anchor.
I was happy for her, though, and excited to have Cooper, Mr. Famous Country Singer, as my brother-in-law. But I wondered when it would be my turn to find someone. I’d casually dated a few girls over the years, but none had really been what I was looking for. Still, I tried to keep a positive attitude. Just because it hadn’t happened for me didn’t mean it never would. It wasn’t my turn to find someone … yet. And I was mostly okay with that.
There was a spring in my step as I walked through the slush into the house and found Cooper and Ellie sitting at the kitchen table with Gram.
“If you don’t pare down this list a little, we’ll have to get married in the high school auditorium.” Cooper pointed to Ellie’s guest list. “You can’t invite the entire town to our wedding.”
Ellie tilted her head at him. “Not the entire town, just a lot of them.”
I clapped a hand down on Cooper’s shoulder. “Hey, man.”
He looked up at me and lifted a hand to give mine a shake. “Hey, Ethan! How’s it going?”
“Can’t complain. How about this weather, huh?”
“Yeah, we had to drive in it,” Ellie frowned. “I thought I would slide through the intersection coming into town. It’s supposed to be spring.”
“Have you forgotten how long Michigan winters can last already? You haven’t been in Nashville that long.”
Ellie smirked. “But we’re not supposed to have snow in MAY.”
“It’s an anomaly,” Gram said. “What a weird weather year with the ice storm this winter and now this. What’s next? A hundred degrees in December?”
“I love the snow,” I said. “We should go sledding before it melts.”
Ellie chuckled. “You’re such a kid.”
“A kid at heart. Forever and always,” I replied.
“I would go with you, but I don’t want to push my new hip too far,” Gram said.
I leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “I know you would.”
“Do we have to invite the head of your record label?” Ellie pointed her pen at his name on the guest list. “What if his daughter decides to show up?”
Cooper shook his head. “She won’t do that.”
“Are you sure about that?” Ellie bit her bottom lip.
“Is this the ex you’re talking about?” I asked.
“Unfortunately,” Cooper frowned.
“What if she comes and breaks up the wedding during the whole ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ thing?” I asked.
“Ethan!” The shock on Ellie’s face made me laugh.
“I wouldn’t put that past her.” Cooper gave me a sly look, then glanced at Ellie.
“She probably thinks you guys are on a break,” I joked.
We both laughed, and Gram shook her head at us.
“You guys are the worst!” Ellie dropped her pen on the table with a clatter and started to stand, but Cooper took hold of her arm and tugged her toward him, causing her to fall into his lap.
“We’re teasing, Ell. She’s not going to show. And who still uses the ‘speak now’ line in weddings anyway?”
Ellie shrugged as she snuggled against his chest. “Nobody.”
“Right. Besides, no one could break up our wedding even if they tried. I’m marrying you, Eleanor June, and that’s all there is to it.”
Cooper lifted Ellie’s chin and leaned in, and I looked away as they kissed. I was happy for my sister but I didn’t need to see all that.
“Did you find a wedding dress?” I asked.
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded, and her face lit up with joy.
“Cool.”
“And we looked at bridesmaids’ dresses too.”
“Who’s we?”
“Me, Gram, Cooper’s mom, and the girls.”
“ All the girls?
“Yeah.” Ellie raised an eyebrow at me.
“Even Jessa?”
“Of course, Jessa was there. She’s one of my bridesmaids.”
“I know, but I can’t picture her in a bridal shop. All those frills didn’t give her an allergic reaction?”
Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “She even tried on some of the dresses for me.”
My mind recalled Jessa in the long black gown at the Founders Ball a couple of years ago, and my heart skipped a beat. The sight of her that night, all dressed up and looking fine, had done something to me. I’d probably seen her in a dress less than five times in my life, but that one took the cake.
Jessa was definitely my type. She was tall, athletic, and strong. She was a computer genius and loved Star Wars and a good video game. Her wit and sarcasm always drew me in, and teasing her was my favorite pastime. We could keep up the banter for hours if we had to. We were pros at it by now.
On top of that, she was breathtakingly beautiful in the most natural way. Her long, sandy blonde hair was usually in a messy bun, French braid, or ponytail. Some days, I wanted to tug that ponytail like a kid on an elementary school playground so she might figure out I liked her. I liked her so much it was bordering on more than like for me. But I’d never told her how I felt because I knew what her reaction would be.
“And speaking of Jessa,” Ellie said. “I wanted to talk to you about the wedding.”
My pulse quickened as my brain put the words Jessa and wedding together, and I envisioned her walking down the aisle to me. “What about the wedding?”
“We switched the wedding party order around a little.”
Cooper screwed up his face at her. “We did?”
She and Gram exchanged looks and she nodded. “Yes, we did. Ethan and Jessa will be walking together in the ceremony now.”
I hadn’t expected that, but I was on board. “Is that so?”
“Yes, and I need you to promise you’ll keep the bickering at bay, please.”
I chuckled. “You should talk to her about this. She’s always the one who starts it.”
“It takes two, Ethan,” she said, “and I already talked to her.”
“You did? What did she say?” I tried not to sound too eager, but whenever anyone mentioned Jessa, I hung on their every word. It was hard to get her to open up, so I was always anxious to know what was going on in that head of hers.
“She said she’d be on her best behavior, so you better be too.”
“Of course I will. It’s your wedding.”
“You promise?”
“Absolutely.” I held up my fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“You weren’t a Boy Scout.”
I shrugged. “But that’s a solemn oath they make, so now you know how serious I am about it.”
“Good.” Ellie’s shoulders relaxed. “I don’t want you two disrupting any of the weekend events.”
“What are all these events you keep talking about?”
“Since a bunch of people will be coming from out of town, we thought it would be fun to make a long weekend of it. Some guests will be arriving on Wednesday, so I might need you to help pick people up from the airport and get them to their hotels.”
“You got it.”
“We’re still working out all the details, but we’ll have a movie night here for anyone who wants to come on Wednesday, then on Thursday, a lake day if the weather’s nice. Not sure about that night. Maybe some music by the fire.” She looked over at Cooper and smiled. “Friday is the rehearsal, Saturday’s the wedding, Sunday brunch for family, wedding party, and close friends, and maybe we’ll open gifts before we head off on our honeymoon.”
I wasn’t surprised she had so many of the wedding details all planned out. She was the former community event coordinator for our small town after all.
“You and Jessa will probably be paired up a lot for this stuff, which is why I brought it up. I just want everyone to get along so we can have a really special weekend together.”
“I get it, Ell. Say no more.”
She hopped off Cooper’s lap, walked over, and wrapped me up in a tight hug. “Thank you, E.”
I squeezed her hard. “I’ve missed you.”
“Same.” She let go and smiled up at me. “Want to have a fire tonight and catch up? Just you and me.”
I held my fist out to her in answer. “I love fires in the winter.”
“It’s spring.” She grinned as we proceeded to perform the secret handshake we’d made up when we were kids.
Ellie giggled as she returned to the table. “Okay, back to the wedding list.”
I poured myself a glass of water and headed upstairs to shower. Long days running the press in the factory left me feeling sweaty and grimy. Making car parts wasn’t exactly what I thought I’d be doing at this point in my life, but I never made it through college after our parents’ accident, and I had to make some kind of living. Sometimes, I thought about going back to school or taking classes. I’d always been into computers and had started on a path to a computer science degree before dropping out. Last spring, Jessa had been looking for people to work for her doing website design, and I had almost asked her what she thought about me working for her. But then we started bickering about something or other, and I realized working together would’ve been a disaster, so I never brought it up.
The hot water of the shower felt heavenly. I let all worries over my lack of career swirl down the drain with my coconut sandalwood body wash, and I turned my mind to better things.
Being paired up with Jessa for the wedding was not at all an unpleasant thought. If you asked her, she’d adamantly disagree. But spending any and all time with her was something I looked forward to. I’d never say that to her face, of course, or I’d probably end up with a black eye.