Page 62 of Nothing to the Wedding

“You knew.”Jane’s head snapped side to side as she inspected each of their faces.“You both knew about this?”

“Yes,” Toria said on a laugh.

“This isn’t because of what I said this morning?You didn’t browbeat him into—”

“What do you think Knox just carries the ring around all the time?No.We didn’t speak to him this morning.”

Jane patted her decolletage.“We’ll need a license and—”

“You have a license, you signed it with a bunch of other things.”

“I… I have a license?”

“To wed?Yes.”

“And the dress—”

“Right there.Exactly the one you chose as your dream dress in the bridal store.Customized to our means and the fairytales, of course.”

“The cake?”

“On its way.”

“But I… but we…”

“No excuses, everything is under control.”

“But how did you…”

Jane needed to process.And she’d have time for that.Some anyway.

“Let’s get champagne in here and keep it coming,” Roxie called over her shoulder at someone, anyone.“Just breathe, honey.It will all be okay.”

She and Toria settled Jane on the antique-style settee, then sat at either side of her.They hugged and stroked to, hopefully, comfort while wide-eyed, still stunned, Jane fixated on the floor.

“You won’t miss out on anything and don’t have to do this today,” Toria said, giving Jane another squeeze.“There’s no pressure.None.If you don’t want to marry him—”

“I do!”Jane suddenly became alert.“I do want to marry him… I want to marry him… today!”

“Okay,” she spoke slowly.“That’s good.Great.”

“Does Knox know?How do we tell him that—”

“He knows, sweetie.Everything is planned.”

Was Jane listening?Was she breathing?Given what she’d just been hit with, Jane could be forgiven for not absorbing the details.

“How did…” Jane looked at Toria, then at her.“You knew this was happening?”

“We did.”

Jane swallowed.“This is why…”

Toria filled in the silence.“Why he didn’t sleep with you last night?”

“And probably why he was too busy to talk this morning,” Roxie said.“He had to deal with family, and guests, finding out the news.Though it could be he was nervous to say something wrong.”

“There’s no such thing as a nervous Collier,” Jane murmured.Ah, her guy and her best friend were like one.She loved it.“Oh, no, wait!I’m nervous all the time, I can’t be a Collier.”