“What does that mean?” Madi asks.
Jack meets her gaze. “It means they won’t be here on Thursday.” He shakes his head slowly. “I’m so sorry, Mads.”
“Jack…” I can’t let him do this. Especially because Madi knows it was me who was working with the band initially.
“Everything was set up right,” he says, ignoring me, “but in my follow-up, I screwed up the dates. I was thinking of the civil ceremony, and now they’re booked somewhere else the day of the reception. But it’s going to work out. You have a list of songs you wanted the band to play, right? I can work on getting them ready on a playlist tonight and be the DJ for the ceremony and reception. I’ll stay up as late as I have to. I know it’s not ideal, but—”
“It’s okay, Jack,” Madi says. “Something was bound to go wrong. There are so many details, it would be more than a miracle for everything to go exactly as it was planned. I’m just grateful you’ve been here to help. It’s been good spending more time with you.”
I’m not sure who’s more surprised between Jack and me. I don’t know what I was expecting. It’s not like Madi’s a tyrant. I guess it’s just the guilt I’m shouldering from the other things she doesn’t know about yet. I’m half-tempted to confess the whole thing right now while we’re sharing unfortunate information.
“But…” Madi says, drawing out the word. “I hope Troy will be okay taking over during the ceremony.” Her smile, soft and affectionate, grows as she looks at Jack. “I want you to walk me down the aisle.”
Jack’s mouth hangs open, silent.
“I was going to have Rémy’s dad, Michael, do it, but”—she shakes her head—“I’d like for it to be you. If you don’t mind.”
Jack blinks a few times in rapid succession, and I’m almost certain I see a sheen in his eyes. His Adam’s apple bobs. “I’d love to.”
He wraps his arms around her in a bear hug, rocking her from side to side. Now I’m the one getting teary-eyed.
They break apart. “Got to start practicing.” Jack slides his feet backward, holding an invisible hat like Michael Jackson. “You did say moonwalk you down the aisle, right?”
Madi socks him in the arm. “No. I didn’t, and I will shove you out of the aisle if you even try.”
He considers it. “Might be worth it. We’d probably go viral. Can you record it, Siena?”
“No,” I shoot back, glad to find my voice is stable. “Because I’ll be too busy body slamming you for ruining the ceremony.”
“Another reason to do it!” Jack says, like I’ve just sold his idea for him.
My face burns, but Madi is just shaking her head at her brother. “I better have Michael ready to step in.”
“No, no, no,” Jack says, waving his hands. He freezes. “Wait… is Michael your father-in-law?”
“Yeah…”
“So, your father-in-law’s name is Michael Scott?”
Madi heads to the door, shooting a glance over her shoulder at him. “Bye, Jack.” She smiles at me. “Bye, Siena.”
The door shuts behind her, and I whirl around to Jack.
“Why did you do that?”
“What? Michael Scott is a legend.”
I shut my eyes.Heaven grant me patience with this man. “Not the Michael Scott thing. Why did you tell her it was your fault?”
He shrugs. “It kind of is.”
“Yeah, kind of. Except not even a little bit.”
“Hey, if I’d helped more with the plans and preparation before we got here, you wouldn’t have had so much on your plate to begin with.And”—he stops my attempt to interrupt him with a raised finger—“maybe if I’d reached out to the band sooner, they would have been able to do something about the mixup.”
“Both completely hypothetical and a major stretch.”
“Not if you have an open mind.”
