“One of the things about marriage is that you’re a team. You don’t have to do things by yourself anymore once you’re hitched. You can share the load. Have you talked to James about this?”
“I don’t want to worry him,” Julie replied. “He might get the wrong idea—think I’m backing out or don’t love him.”
“Well, you’ve got to be able to discuss everything if you want to have a solid relationship. I’m sure he’ll understand. And he might even be able to help.”
“I’m sure you’re right. Thanks, Tilly.”
“Tilly? You’ve been talking to my sister...”
Julie laughed. “Stella calls you that all the time. I kind of like it.”
“Well, it’s fine with me. I miss her, so this way, I can feel like she’s here with us.”
“I know you miss her. I wish she could come over for the wedding, but she’s got the kids to take care of, and she was over here recently for your wedding.”
“Too many weddings, too little money,” Matilda replied. “It’s an age-old problem.”
They pushed the horses into a canter. Matilda came close to falling at one point when the horse whizzed around a gate post and headed for home. The canter turned into a gallop, and she found herself holding on for dear life with Julie squealing not far behind her.
When they reached the place where the trainer was standing, the horses pulled to an abrupt stop, and Matilda slipped from the saddle up onto her horse’s neck. The horse put its head down and Matilda slid to the ground, feet either side of the neck.
“Well, that’s one way to dismount,” Julie said as she climbed down from her own horse.
The trainer didn’t look particularly happy with Matilda, so she thanked her and quickly handed back the reins to hurry inside.
“Whoops,” she whispered to Julie, and the two of them held on to each other, laughing quietly as they rejoined the party.
Chapter Sixteen
For their second date , Jessica thought she and Tyler would be going out to a restaurant together, just the two of them. But when they arrived, he stopped at a table full of men and women around their age, already set up and halfway through a couple of pitchers of margaritas. Was it their first two pitchers? It was hard to say. They were wild and raucous, and Jessica could see nervous glances being exchanged between the servers.
“Everyone, this is Jess,” Tyler announced.
They all shouted in unison, welcoming her and raising their margarita glasses high in the air as they howled their approval.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, although she wasn’t sure anyone heard her over the noise. “We should find our table,” she added quietly to Tyler.
But he grinned. “This is our table. These are my friends.”
“Oh.”
Several of the women slid over, compacting into the booth, to give Jessica room to sit. Tyler sat opposite her and poured two more glasses of margaritas, promptly sliding one across the table to her. She caught it.
“Thanks.”
He raised his glass, and gulped down the contents, set it on the table, and poured another. Jessica sipped hers more gingerly. She may need to be sober to get herself out of this situation. She was an introvert, but that wasn’t exactly her issue. She didn’t know these people or what they might get up to. The night was still young, and she wasn’t one to drink much. Although, her friends had often told her to lighten up, so maybe she should let loose a little bit. After all, they were only having fun. She was naturally anxious in new social settings—it might take a little time for her to get comfortable.
When the waiter came over, Tyler made sure Jessica was able to order over the noise. He was very attentive, listening to her stories and laughing at her jokes. He gave her his full attention, and then did the same for his friends. He was good with people—that much was clear. He was much more extroverted than she was, and a little wilder than she was used to. Her ex-boyfriend had been quiet and brooding. She’d believed he was smart, philosophical, and thoughtful. It turned out that he was jealous, angry, and repressed. Apparently, she wasn’t a great judge of character, something she’d never recognised in herself before. But now she didn’t trust her own judgment. If someone could be so very different from who she’d understood them to be, how could she rely on her own instincts about them?
She ordered a buffalo chicken burger with fries, and he ordered the double beef burger with onion rings. After a while, she felt a little more comfortable around his friends. There was Brian, with his brown curls, deep brown eyes and mischievous smile. Keira, with her perfect blonde bob and mini skirt that looked dangerously like a handkerchief slung around her thin waist. And Damon with his almond-shaped green eyes, lightly freckled nose, and a hilarious joke to tell at every pause in the conversation. There were others too, but she hadn’t learned their names yet. These three were the closest seated to her, and seemed to know Tyler well.
“This one has been gone for so long, we thought he’d forgotten about us,” Keira said suddenly, leaning in confidentially with a smile at Jessica.
“That’s right — eight years, wasn’t it?” Jessica was the odd one out. The only one who wasn’t part of the high school group who’d known each other for so long, they almost seemed to have their own shorthand language.
“Eight long years. It was too long, Ty.” She beamed at him, and he shrugged.
“It flew by for me.”
