This weekend was turning out to be very unexpected.
CHAPTER 2
Jordy
I openedthe door to the honeymoon suite to chaos. In the short time I’d been gone to get coffee, the bride and her wedding party had dresses and accessories strewn on every surface. My sister, the bride, was near tears as she frantically dug through her bag.
“I can’t find Nana’s brooch.”
Her Maid of Honor was sifting through the mess on the bed, concern etched on her face. My sister Emily dropped the bag she was holding and sank down on the floor in a puddle of despair.
“It’s going to be okay.” I set the coffees on the table and sat down next to Emily. “Do you remember the last time you saw it?”
Emily’s brow crinkled in thought. “I packed it yesterday with the rest of my bridal jewelry and put it in this bag.” She gestured towards the bag she’d dropped. “But the jewelry pouch isn’t in there.”
A tear slipped down her cheek and I felt it like a punch to the gut. My usually calm and confident older sister falling apart was not a common occurrence. She was the rock that navigated thefamily and now that she needed help, I felt at a loss as to how to assist.
It was usually me that needed talking down from one problem or another. I thought about what Emily would do if it were me in this situation. She was so good about knowing exactly what to do.
My first instinct was usually the exact opposite of what I should do. Like when I impulsively asked out the gorgeous older women at the coffee shop. Her surprised look told me that she had not expected to be hit on before noon on a Friday. It must have been my imagination, but for a moment she almost looked like she would say yes. But then she frowned as she turned me down politely before making her escape.
Then she looked back. That look held a multitude of emotions I could only hope to interpret. The only one I was confident about was appreciation. It was much like the look she gave me when I’d stood from my table. Her eyes ping ponged from my face to my pants and back again. Despite her reluctance to accept my invitation, she obviously liked what she saw.
I pulled myself from my rogue thoughts and reached for my sister’s hands and gave them a gentle shake to get her attention. “Hey, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to take a break and drink our coffee and then we’ll walk through your day yesterday step by step until we figure out what happened. The brooch has to be in the room somewhere.”
Emily met my gaze with tear-filled eyes and nodded. “Okay.”
I stood and pulled her up with me. We sat on the loveseat and I handed her the coffee. We sat in silence sipping our coffee for a few minutes, the only sound Emily’s occasional sniffle. The bridesmaids had taken their cue to scatter to their own rooms, probably overwhelmed by the drama of the morning.
Emily sat up straight and sat her coffee down with a clunk. “Oh no! I know what happened.”
She put her head in her hands and began crying in earnest this time.
“What’s the matter? Where is the brooch?”
Emily raised her tear-stained face to meet my eyes. “I wanted to polish my wedding jewelry so I took it out of the bag and brought it to the master bathroom. I must have left it on the counter. Along with the rest of the wedding jewelry—including the wedding rings.”
Relief surged through me. Emily and her fiancé lived in a modern cabin about twenty miles from Westridge. “That’s no problem. It will be a short drive to your house. I’ll go right after rehearsal dinner.”
“Thank you so much, Jordy, for doing this for me. The wedding planning has been such a stressful time and I don’t know where my brain is.”
“That’s what brothers are for.”
I was just glad that the solution to this crisis was so simple. I quick errand that would take no more than an hour and then everything would be back on track.
Courtney
The gaudyfloral pattern of the sofa hadn’t changed in thirty years. I ran my fingers along the faded material, recalling the night I sat here crying over the breakup with Austin. That night seemed so far away yet there were so many similarities. Television droning on in background, dad in his recliner chair, and mom puttering in the kitchen.
The occasional assessing glance from my mom as if trying to figure out a puzzle she couldn’t quite get. My dad occasionallycalling out the answer to the questions posed on the popular evening quiz show that was his favorite. The moment seemed frozen in time.
A thousand moments just like this one, suspended across my life. And all of a sudden I’d had enough. I couldn’t sit on this sofa any longer and trace faded floral patterns while under my parents’ scrutiny. I needed out right now.
I stood so fast I was lightheaded. “I almost forget, I’m supposed to meet my friend Becca in ten minutes,” I lied. “And, I may spend the night at her house so we can catch up.”
The impulsive decision to get out and stay out as long was possible was classic high school Courtney. And sleepovers at Becca’s house had been my go-to cover story because my parent’s didn’t know hers and were unlikely to find out the truth.
Before my parents could question why I hadn’t mentioned this plan earlier, I hustled to my bedroom to gather my belongings. In the entryway, I shoved my feet into my boots and grabbed my coat.
