Page 48

Tess
I geta text not long after we walked into Cari’s show.
Con:Better start planning
my bachelor party.
I take that to mean Henley said yes. I also take it to mean that Conner and Henley won’t be making an appearance tonight.
Cari’s so blissed out she hardly notices.
Could have something to do with the fact that her show officially sold out twenty minutes ago. Could have something to do with the ginormous sparkler Patrick put on her finger in the parking lot.
The Gilroy men are dropping like flies.
By this time next year, they’ll all be married and I’ll still be who I am now.
Tess Castinetti.
Best friend.
Ex-girlfriend.
Left behind.
I text some sort of congratulatory bullshit back.
Ooo and ahh over Cari’s ring, all the while, wondering what’s wrong with me.
Why I can’t let go.
Why I’m not worth loving.
Not worth fighting for.
“So?”
I look up from my glass to find Cari staring at me, a huge smile on her face.
“So what?” I say, my question dampening the wattage on her grin. I look around. Ryan and Patrick are standing a few feet away talking in low tones. Presumably about the community and veteran housing center Patrick is opening and Ryan is moving into next week, but if I were a betting kind of girl, from the quick looks they keep flicking at me, I’d wager they’re talking about the fact that Declan came here alone.
That he’s been standing in the corner by himself, sipping whiskey and looking like someone took his favorite toy for the past hour and a half.
“Will you be my maid-of-honor?” Cari repeats her question, her tone more subdued.
“Me?” This time it grabs my attention and holds it. “What about Grace?” I look around for her and find her, hovering near the exit, fingers clenched so tight around her clutch that I can see how white they are from here. She looks nervous. Likes she’s about to bolt. “Isn’t she moving here?” Not that it matters. Patrick’s loaded. Wherever Grace is, he’ll bring her here for the wedding.
“Shhh.” Cari flaps her hand at me and throws a nervous glance at her parents who are talking to Chase, one of Cari’s art friends, a few feet away. “Yes—but she hasn’t broken it to my parents yet.” We’ve talked about it. Her mom and dad will be devastated because when Grace moves, she’ll take Molly, her daughter, with her.
You would’ve had a daughter.
She’d be seven years old.
She’d have dark hair.
Her father’s blue eyes.
Your temper.