Page 29 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage (Jonathon Island #6)

Chapter Thirteen

B ronte was a fish out of water. She shouldn’t have come. She should have said she had to write words and didn’t have time to meet everyone for the “getting ready” party. Which wouldn’t have been a lie. There were so many sequins and tulle in this room, it was getting hard to breathe.

“Doing okay? Completely overwhelmed yet?” Dani asked, coming to stand next to Bronte and handing her a champagne glass filled with sparkling juice.

“This is…a lot.” Bronte had to be honest. She was pretty sure the panic was written all over her face, and if she lied, she knew Dani would call her out on it.

Dani’s living room had been transformed into what Bronte imagined one of those high-end boutiques would look like, only this one had more laughter and a lot more cheese.

Pop Christmas music played low, and wood floors creaked as the group of women perused through all the dresses that had taken over every available surface in the room.

Scents of yeast and oregano from the pizzeria below blended with the aroma of floral candles Dani had burning.

“We’re a lot, but I promise you you’ll have fun.

If you’re hungry, there’s a couple of charcuterie boards over there and lots of pizza.

And there’s plenty of sparkling juice and water in the kitchen if you need it.

Please make yourself at home.” Dani patted Bronte on the arm, crossed the room, and browsed through a rack.

Bronte nodded, not sure if she believed Dani.

Part of her wished she’d just insisted on picking up a dress from Jordi, whatever she had picked out for her, but she’d gotten excited when she’d heard about the getting ready party.

Now that she was here, she was wondering why she’d thought it sounded fun.

“Come over and pick out some dresses.” Mia waved Bronte across the room to two racks that could hardly contain the dresses they held. Mia pointed to a few more dresses strewn on the back of the couch. At least, Bronte thought it was the couch. She wasn’t entirely sure.

“These are up for grabs as well. They just couldn’t fit on the rack.”

Bronte nodded, sipping her juice as she stepped back against the wall to take everything in.

Jordi had said that it was just going to be her, Dani, Mia, Lily, and someone Bronte hadn’t met yet named Sadie, but there were at least three other girls that Bronte didn’t know.

Introductions had been made, but it seemed as if the information had gone in one ear and out the other.

Everyone had brought multiple dresses—Dani explained it was so they could all pick and choose from each other’s closets.

This way they felt like they were getting something new while not actually breaking the bank.

Bronte felt bad she didn’t have anything to contribute.

Not that she would have actually had anything to contribute, even if her entire wardrobe were here—just her one sad black dress, still hanging in her closet in Oklahoma.

Jordi stood next to Bronte with a plate of pizza, grease soaking into the paper. “Isn’t this just great?”

Bronte looked at Jordi over her shoulder, just to make sure she was talking to her. Bronte thought she’d done it discreetly, but Jordi grinned and kept on talking.

“I’m so glad we decided to do this this year. No one really thought this would happen again. When the hotel burned and everyone started leaving, it looked pretty dark, but now Dani has taken over with her plan and really turned everything around. Do you know which dress you want to wear yet?”

Bronte felt like she was watching a one-sided ping-pong match where one player was running between both sides of the table to hit the ball.

It took her a breath to realize Jordi had asked her a question.

“I haven’t had a chance to look through them yet.

I thought I’d let everyone else choose first.”

“And get the last choice? No way. You need to get in there and pick out your dress.”

“No, really, it’s okay.” Bronte waved her away.

“You know what? I think I saw the perfect dress for you. Here, hold this.” Jordi handed Bronte her soggy plate of pizza, wiped her hands on the back of her jeans, and disappeared across the room. Bronte was curious to see what kind of dress Jordi thought was perfect for her.

She didn’t have to wait long. Jordi appeared moments later, clutching a black floor-length dress with gold swirls sewn into the front. The sleeves were long and the neck high, but with the back open, it was a timeless dress.

It was perfect.

Bronte couldn’t stop her grin. “I love it.”

“I knew you would.” Jordi’s grin matched her own. “And we can pile your hair up high, which will make you look so long and elegant.” Jordi squealed. “Oh my goodness, it’s going to look so good!”

“So does this mean you found your dress?” Dani asked, coming up to them, a pitcher of more sparkling drink in her hands. She lifted it in question to Bronte, who shook her head.

“I picked this one out for her. Isn’t it perfect?” Jordi asked, holding up the dress for Dani’s inspection.

Dani gasped. “That’s going to look great on you.” She leaned closer to Bronte and said low, so no one else could hear, “You’re going to make Jonah weak in the knees.”

Grinning, Bronte reached for the dress to go try it on in the bathroom.

“Dani, did you hear that Bree’s back in town? I just found out this morning from my mom.” Jordi’s words stopped Bronte.

“What? She’s back?” Dani hissed. “Has anyone told Jonah?”

From the level of their voices, Bronte knew she wasn’t privy to their conversation, but she turned around anyway. “Bree? Like the Bree?” Her stomach plummeted.

Jordi and Dani looked up as if they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Jordi shifted on her feet, and Dani nodded.

Bronte swallowed. This was fine. It was okay. One kiss didn’t make Jonah hers to be jealous over. Even as she reminded herself, she couldn’t help the growing pit in the bottom of her stomach. Hadn’t Dani said she didn’t think Jonah had ever gotten over Bree?

“That’s great,” Bronte somehow choked out.

She could already see this playing out in her head.

She’d never had a chance, really, even if she had started to want one.

It was the plot for every romance story.

High school sweethearts have a falling out, and a few years later they bump into each other at some small-town tradition and realize they were always meant to be.

It was the perfect ending for someone like Jonah—the family man who loved rom-coms and believed in happily ever afters.

Not that she wanted to…Oh, who was she kidding?

She wanted to. She really, really wanted to.

“Hey.” Dani bumped Bronte’s shoulder with her own. “It’ll be fine. I’m not even sure when she got in, but there’s no way she could be here for Jonah. No one knew he was coming in. She probably won’t even be at the ball tonight. Her name hasn’t come up on the registry.”

Bronte forced a smile. “Right. It’s going to be fine.” She held her dress up, shaking the hanger. “Let’s see if this is going to fit.”

Jordi squealed again as she shooed her in the direction of the bathroom.

“You’re going to look so amazing, Jonah isn’t even going to remember who Bree is.”

Jordi’s confidence had a sliver of Bronte believing that maybe, just maybe, a Christmas miracle could happen and the stars would align, even if Bronte had her doubts.