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“Good for your aesthetic, I guess?”
“Yeah, it was pretty wild, not gonna lie. Until the shot almost got ruined.”
“Oh no, how come?”
“We’re all standing there in our punk gear, looking, you know, mean and shit. When this deer just walked right into the shot.”
“What the fuck?”
“I know. It was so funny. We tried to shoo it away, but it was like it wanted its fifteen minutes of fame. There was nothing we could do until it decided it’d had enough of us.”
Esme laughed. “I wish I could’ve seen that!”
“You would have loved it. The photographer was a character too,” I continued. “Kept encouraging us to ‘embrace the forestvibe.’ We’ve got some shots that are out of this world. Wait till you see them.”
“I can’t wait for that. How about everything else? Any other news?”
“Oh yeah, for sure. I can’t believe it’s only been two weeks since we signed. So much has happened. We’ve got a dedicated social media manager, and she’s the absolute bomb. Our website has had a total makeover. I’ll show you later and we’ve had thousands of new followers.”
“That’s amazing! Here you go.”
“Yeah, it is. Thanks.” I took the coffee Esme gave me and followed her back into the living room, dropping on a squishy leather couch and pulling a soft throw rug over my legs. I was all set. “I guess it’s amazing what a bit of money can do.” Of course, that comment led me to thinking about Grayson, so an abrupt change of subject was in order. “But enough about me. I wanna hear all about how things went with Wolfe’s mom and dad?”
Esme scrunched up her nose. “Not great. I can tell they’re not happy and I can’t say I blame them.”
“Esme! Don’t talk like that!”
Completely unfazed, Esme laughed softly. “Well, I can’t imagine they ever thought Wolfe would settle down with a girl that grew up in a trailer park.”
“They better not have been rude to you!”
“No, they weren’t. They were icily civil, which was probably worse. It was excruciating. But Wolfe has made it very, very clear that I’m it for him and if they can’t accept that, he’ll quit the business and never see them again.”
“Fucking good for him! I’m gonna give him the biggest hug when I see him.”
Esme tapped her coffee mug to mine. “Cheers to that. He’s also made it clear that we’re the complete package, and he expects them to treat the kids like they would if they were his, biologically.”
“Aaww, I love that for you, my little cream puff.”
With stars in her eyes and a soft smile curving her lips, Esme said, “Thanks, me too.” She took a sip of coffee and placed her mug on the table. “Now, for the main event today. Bridesmaid’s dress!”
“Yesss!”
“Here you go. I’ve tabbed some of these for you to choose from. You know I don’t mind about the style, just that we’re going with blue, to match Ariel, Tiana and Belle.”
“Right, got it.” I crossed my legs and dropped a magazine into my lap, ready to have some fun.
“One thing, though.”
There was an unexpectedly serious note to Esme’s voice that had my eyes locking on hers. “What is it?”
“This is a lot to take on, on top of everything else you’ve got happening. I won’t be at all offended if you say it’s too much.”
“What the fuck? Why would I do that?”
“Hey, don’t get all huffy on me. This is serious. Your chronic fatigue is serious. The last thing we want is for a flare up, when everything’s just started to work for you.”
I lifted my chin. “I’m managing it.”