"Don't push your luck, young man." But Linda was smiling as she hugged him too. "Welcome to the family. Officially."
Leah squealed and tackled Rachel. "I'M GOING TO BE IN A WEDDING! I call maid of honor!"
"You can fight Sophie for it."
"I will. I'll win."
Mac's dad appeared, took one look at the ring on Rachel's finger, and nodded with satisfaction. "Good. You didn't screw it up."
"Thanks, Dad. Your faith in me is overwhelming."
"I'm proud of you, son." Tom MacKenzie's words came out rough, but he meant them.
Sophie
Sophie watched Mac and Rachel walk away from the gazebo, hands intertwined, so obviously in love it was almost painful to look at.
She was happy for them. She really was.
So why did her chest ache like this?
"Stunning proposal."
Sophie turned to find Jamie standing beside her, his clipboard tucked under his arm, his expression unreadable.
"It was," Sophie agreed. "Mac did good."
"He was panicking all week. I had to talk him off a ledge three separate times." Jamie's lips quirked. "Almost forgot the ring."
"Classic Mac."
They stood in awkward silence. Which was new. She and Jamie had never had awkward silences before. They'd been friends for years, easy, comfortable, constant friends.
But lately, something had shifted. Something Sophie didn't want to examine too closely.
"Leah is looking for you," Sophie said, nodding toward where Rachel's sister was chatting with Luke by the food stands. "She mentioned something about wanting to leave early tomorrow."
"Yeah." Jamie's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "She's got work Monday. Long drive back to Burlington."
"Long-distance is hard."
"It is."
Sophie should walk away. She should go help the vendors finish packing up. She should do literally anything except stand here, hyper-aware of how close Jamie was standing, how good he smelled, how much she wished—
No. She wasn't going there. Jamie was dating Leah. Leah was one of her closest friends' sister. Sophie was not the kind of person who developed feelings for unavailable men.
Except apparently she was. Because here she was, pulse jumping, palms sweating, very much having feelings.
"Sophie—" Jamie started.
"I should go." Sophie stepped back. "Lots to clean up. Congratulations to Mac and Rachel and everything. I'll see you around."
She fled before he could respond.
Jamie
Jamie watched Sophie practically run away from him and felt something crack in his chest.
