Anybody, it would seem, except my best friend. She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing at me.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, tilting her head, a frown marring her lips.
“Nothing,” I assured her, working to keep my smile in place. “What’s happening this weekend?” I asked, deflecting her question with a question of my own. Tessa didn’t buy it, in fact, she outright ignored me.
“Just tell me what’s up, Elle,” she demanded, turning her amber eyes on me with determination. There wasno wayshe’d let me get out of this conversation without a little give.
“I had a rough day at work, okay?” I sighed, my shoulders dropping a little. I padded over to the refrigerator and opened it, searching for a bottle of water. “There was an accident on the highway involving six vehicles.”
“Oh, I heard about that,” she frowned, concern edging her eyes. I knew she understood. Sometimes, Tessa came home in tears because she wasn’t able to save an animal, and sometimes I came home like this because I’d witnessed too much death and tragedy. We’d both chosen jobs that could be hard on our hearts. Tessa leaned against the counter, chewing on her lip as she studied me. She had something to say, only she seemed to be warring with herself on whether or not she should say it.
“Just tell me,” I rolled my eyes. I cracked open the lid on the water bottle and took a sip, watching my friend.
“Brock proposed!”
I gasped, choking on the water I’d been drinking. It went down the wrong pipe, and I coughed, spitting some out on the tiled floor. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, staring at Tessa with astonishment. She flashed her left ring finger at me, as if I needed proof of this new development. “What? When?”
I set the water down, crossing over to her and taking her hand. Brock had really outdone himself. The ring was a beautiful, princess-cut diamond, with four tiny diamonds on either side of it. It wasn’t overstated; it didn’t scream in your face that it was ‘an engagement ring’.It was subtle, but once your eye noticed it—you realized how stunning it was, howperfect. It wasTessa.
“On the weekend!” Tessa squealed, practically bouncing on her heals. “Oh Elle, it was so amazing! We went canoeing at sunset and he did it then. I swear I almost tipped the canoe, I was so excited!”
“So…you’re engaged,” I summarized, still blinking with astonishment at the beautiful ring. It almost hurt my eyes. They itched and prickled, as if I wanted to cry.
“Yes! I’m getting married! Can you believe it?!”
I was torn between joining my best friend in a happy dance and sinking down to the floor and crawling into the fetal position. I took a deep breath, calming myself. There was no need to taint Tessa’s happy news with a sulking face. After all, she was my best friend and I was legitimately happy for her and Brock. He treated her incredibly and he was an amazing person—sexual escapades on my couch aside.
“That’s awesome,” I managed, somehow keeping a genuine smile on my lips. She grabbed my hands, holding them tightly.
“Please tell me you’ll be my maid of honor?” Tessa pleaded, her eyes wide and fearful, as if she thought I’d say no.
“Of course,” I told her, my smile faltering at the thought of seeing himagain. “I guess you haven’t picked a date yet?” I asked, holding out hope that I had at least a year to adjust to the idea of having to see himagain.
Tessa shuffled uncomfortably. “Well…” she trailed off, her amber eyes looking at me apologetically. “To be honest, I'd be happy eloping right now but I figured my dad would flip,” she laughed awkwardly, her eyes vulnerable. “So we were thinking July.”
“As in...this upcoming July?” I repeated. Tessa nodded, biting her lip nervously. “You’re getting married this July?”
Already, my mind was reeling with all the things that came with planning a wedding. It was already the middle of September. We had Stag and Does, bridal showers, bachelorette and bachelor parties to figure out, not to mention the actual wedding itself. I would be seeing an awful lot of Braden Miller, and it made me feel…sick.
“I know,” she bit her lip. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? Maybe we should wait until after I’m done vet school…” she added doubtfully, her face falling.
Next September, Tessa was planning on moving to Guelph to attend veterinary college. She had graduated top of her veterinary technician program at Georgian College two years ago and had secured a job working at a clinic near our apartment. She loved being a technician, but her dream was to own her own clinic, and for that she’d need to take the four year veterinary program Guelph offered. She’d been saving for this day for a long time now, and we all knew how important it was to her.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Tessa.” I took a shaky breath, forcing a smile in place. My panic wasn’t over my best friend tying the knot, because she belonged with Brock. I would have had to get used to the idea of seeing Braden again regardless, but I hadn’t expected it to happenso soon. “Vet school is like four years long. It makes sense to get married before it starts, you’ll be busy enough. Besides, who wants to be engaged for four years?”
“I know,” Tessa sighed, worrying her lip. “I just…I get it, you know? How you’re feeling about the whole Braden thing.”
“Whoa.” My eyes narrowed in anger that she’d called me out on it. “Thisisn’tabout Braden. I couldn’t care less about him. This is me freaking out because my best friend is getting married in less than ten months and we have an entire wedding to plan.”
“Sure,” Tessa said, doubtfully looking at me. She didn’t buy it—not that I really believed she would, but I felt better denying it. “It’s just going to be a small wedding.”
“Have you met your family?” I arched an eyebrow, my arms folding protectively across my chest as I smirked at her. “There’s nothingsmallabout them.”
“Fair enough,” Tessa smiled softly.
“Who else is in the wedding party?” I asked, trying to keep my face impassive as I leaned against our counter. I needed the support.
“Well, Braden is going to be Brock’s best man,” Tessa answered almost apologetically. “He also chose Travis, Grady, and Gordon. I’m going to ask Katie, Becky, and Krista.”
