21. Chapter 21
Chapter 21
J ane woke up back in her room, first slowly, then with a start, memories from the night before knocking into each other like dominoes.
Ashley got engaged.
Luke kissed me.
Haley’s getting married today.
Haley, sensing Jane’s thoughts careening through the air like a runaway train, tossed a pillow over at her. “Are you awake?”
“I am now,” Jane said, ducking way, way too late.
“You already were,” Haley said. “Hey. Guess what.”
“What?”
“I’m getting married today.”
Jane’s eyes widened in excitement with her. “You’re getting married today!”
They started squealing, throwing pillows back and forth at each other like they were back in fourth grade again. Haley grabbed one and rested her elbows on top of it.
“My mom is already freaking out,” she said. “She’s texted me like three times. I’m surprised she hasn’t started pounding on the door yet.”
“She’s freaking out?” Jane repeated. “Why?”
“I don’t know, something about the food for when we’re getting ready. I think they were out of something for the charcuterie.” Haley shrugged. “Seems minor.”
“How are you feeling?” Jane said.
“Good,” she said. “I mean, I barely slept, but good.” Jane tried to hide a smile, but not before Haley picked up on it. “What?”
“You did sleep,” she said. “At least some.”
Haley’s eyes narrowed. “And how would you know that?”
“Um …”
“ What ?”
Jane sat up, hugging a pillow to herself. “I hung out with Luke last night.”
“What do you mean, you hung out with Luke last night?” she said. “When all of us were together?”
“No,” Jane said. “After.”
“After what ? I literally saw you in your bed right before I fell asleep.”
“After that.”
“AFTER that?” Her jaw dropped. “Stop,” she said. “ STOP . You pulled an Ashley?”
“No,” Jane said, semi-offended. “I did not pull an Ashley.”
Haley gave her an appraising look. “Are you engaged?” she said. “Oh, gosh. Don’t tell me you’re engaged, too.”
“No, I’m not engaged!” she exclaimed. “It’s only been a few days.”
Haley raised her eyebrows, like THAT’s the part you’re reacting to ? “Well, that never stopped anyone.”
Jane set the pillow aside. “Did we ever establish how long Ashley and Cody have even known each other?”
“No,” she said. “It’s on the post-wedding to-do list.” She paused. “But I mean, technically it hasn’t been a few days with Luke. It’s been eight-plus years and a few days.”
“I don’t think you’re using the word technically correctly there,” Jane said.
“Close enough.” Haley tilted her head, still giving Jane a once-over. “So you like him, huh?”
Jane felt herself blush like she was a middle schooler who’d just been busted for having a crush. “Um …”
Haley’s mouth dropped open in realization. “He kissed you, didn’t he?” she said. She pumped a fist in the air without waiting for Jane’s answer. “ Yes . He has been dying to kiss you.”
Jane rolled her eyes, even as she was sort of delighting in the whole thing. “He has not.”
“He has too.”
“Since when?”
“Since the minute he laid eyes on you again,” she said. “And probably before that, too.”
“Nooo …” Jane said, even though deep down, a part of her wanted to think it was true.
“I feel like he did always have a soft spot for you,” Haley mused, like she was looking back at things through a different lens now, too. Jane wondered how many different ways there were to see something, and how much was projection, and how you knew which one was real. She wondered if she would even want to know, or if it was better to have life surprise you.
“Oh, Jane,” Haley said, bringing her hands up under her chin. “The day’s barely started and there’s already so much excitement.”
Jane arched her eyebrows. “Do you know what the most exciting part of all is?”
Haley knew, but she let Jane say it anyway. “What?”
“You’re getting married today.”
Haley’s eyes got big and her smile stretched as wide as the sky. “I am getting married today!”
***
Their moms came to their room a little bit later, on the way to the room they were all meeting in to get ready. They all had checklists of some sort on their phones—except Auntie Miss, who had two, one list on her phone and had another via good, old-fashioned pen and paper—and were running through everything they needed to remember to do and bring.
“Mom,” Haley said suddenly. “I need to borrow your lipstick.”
Auntie Miss looked up from her list, the paper one. “Which lipstick?”
“You know which one.” Raspberry Kiss. The one she always wore on noteworthy days and at special times, the shade she’d shared with Auntie Jess for years.
Jane looked at her mom. “And I need to borrow yours.”
It had been Haley’s idea. She wanted it to be her something borrowed. But she wanted Jane to borrow it, too. It felt symbolic to her, like something that was being passed down, and it would become their thing, too. She wanted them to wear it when they needed it, on good days and bad days, when they were celebrating something together, when they couldn’t be together on hard days, or just when they wanted to remind themselves there was someone else doing the same thing, for the same reason—someone connected to them, forever and always in their corner.
“Oh, you girls,” Auntie Miss said, fanning her face with the paper as it dawned on her why Haley and Jane wanted it. “I feel like you girls were just babies. I really do. Don’t you think so, Jess?”
“Two seconds ago,” Auntie Jess agreed. “Like we blinked, and you were adults.”
“We used to talk about this,” Auntie Miss said. “When our girls are grown up—”
“When they get married—” Auntie Jess supplied.
“When they graduate college—”
“Where will they live, what will they do, what will they be like.”
“We used to make up these stories about you two, all these stories,” Auntie Miss said.
“Oh, boy.” Haley darted a look over at Jane. “Like what?”
“Oh, all kinds of things,” Auntie Miss said. “That you’d open a bakery together—”
“A bakery ?” Haley said. “What?”
She went on. “That you’d live down the street from each other—”
Auntie Jess laughed. “Marry a set of twins.” She pointed at Auntie Miss. “That was her idea.”
“Mom,” Haley said. “ What ?”
Auntie Miss held up her free palm, the one holding the pen, in her defense. “We used to take the two of you to this mommy playgroup thing at the park and there was this set of boy twins there that you girls loved,” she said. “They were the cutest little guys. We used to sit with their mom and joke about what if our girls married her boys.”
Haley gave her mom an incredulous look. “That is so weird,” she said.
Auntie Miss was unfazed. “That’s what you do with your children,” she said. “You dream silly little dreams for them until they’re old enough to dream for themselves.” She looked at Auntie Jess. “And your very best friends will dream for your children, too,” she said. “That’s how you know they’re your best friends.”
“You’re going to make me cry now,” Jane said, dabbing at her eyes.
“No tears!” Haley ordered. “There will be plenty of time for that later.”
“That was the one thing about Tommy,” Auntie Jess said. “You two ending up with cousins, it would have been sort of a storybook ending that way.” She stopped herself. “It’s definitely all right that it didn’t work out, though.”
“You snooze, you lose, Tommy,” Auntie Miss declared, waving her pen in the air.
Jane and Haley laughed. “That sounds like something Uncle Bob would say,” Jane said.
“It totally sounds like something my dad would say,” Haley agreed. She shook her head at her mom. “But you’re right. Janey’s going to be just fine. Better than fine.”
“You know,” Auntie Miss said, a smile on her face. “The Raspberry Kiss lipstick is considered to be quite lucky.”
“That’s actually true,” Auntie Jess nodded.
“Jobs have been secured, friends have been made, fabulous shopping trips have occurred, cloudy days have turned sunny …”
“Many cloudy days,” Auntie Jess added.
“And romances have flourished,” Auntie Miss concluded, “while wearing the Raspberry Kiss lipstick.”
Jane looked at Haley and burst out laughing. “Well,” she said, looking around and stretching out her hand, “give me some Raspberry Kiss lipstick then.”