Brody doesn’t just make me feel like the most important person in the room. He makes me feel like theonlyperson in the room.
Amber wipes off the exfoliating scrub and starts applying a mask that smells like honey and lavender.
“Can I tell you something?” Maya asks.
“Of course.”
“When Derek proposed, I was terrified. Not of marrying him—I wanted that. But of the wedding.” She laughs softly. “Sometimes I feel like Mom and Dad…and just about everyone else, put me up on this pedestal. Expect me to be picture perfect.” She pauses, letting out a breath. “It’s a lot sometimes. And I was so nervous about the wedding. I just wanted it to be…different. Not something for anyone else, but something for Derek and me.” She reaches out, her fingertips brushing my wrist. “I couldn’t have pulled any of this off without you. Everything you’ve done, from the bridal-cation to the meet-and-greet party to the couples shower, you somehow managed tomake them truly about us. About our story. It means so much to me.”
My chest tightens.
“You’re really good at what you do, Chloe. I know I don’t say it enough, but I’m proud of you. Of your business. Of how hard you’ve worked.”
I’m going to cry. Right here. With a honey-lavender mask on my face and cucumber slices I haven’t even gotten yet.
“Thank you,” I manage. Barely.
“I mean it. You’re talented. And you’re brave. And you deserve all the good things.” She pauses. “Including Brody.”
“Oh, this is wonderful,” someone says, though I know the voice instantly. Our mom appears, settling into the chair next to me with a contented sigh. Like us, she’s got on a plush white robe, her hair wrapped in a towel. But unlike me, she looks like she’s actually gotten some relaxation in. “It’s so nice to see my girls together, getting pampered before the big day.”
My girls. She saidmy girls. Plural. Including me.
Something in my chest loosens.
She reaches over and squeezes my hand. Smiles, warm and genuine. “Everything is perfect, by the way. All the events you planned were beautiful. You really outdid yourself. I think you’ve finally found your calling.”
And there it goes again. Whatever just loosened tightens right back up. A few months ago, I would have given anything to hear her say that. But now…there’s a scared dragon and a blind princess calling too…
She squeezes my hand again. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart. Really proud.”
Thank goodness for the cucumbers Amber presses to my eyelids, because I was about to be known as that one guest who cried during her facial.
The rest of the afternoon passes in a blur of beauty treatments and girl talk. We get our nails done—I choose a soft pink that makes my hands look elegant. We sit in the relaxation room afterward, sipping cucumber water and eating those fancy tiny sandwiches you only see in movies. The bridesmaids show up too, chattering about the wedding and their dresses and their dates.
And through it all, of course, I’m thinking about Brody. About the way he said “I’m with Chloe” to Jennifer like he meant it.
About how the contract ends tomorrow.
And about Svetlana’s words.Life is short. You tell him. He loves you too, probably.
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I should tell him. Maybe there’s a world in which Brody and I get the happily ever after.
By the time we’re getting ready for the rehearsal dinner, I’m a new woman. My skin is glowing. My nails are perfect. My hair is done in loose waves that one of the bridesmaids helped me with, soft and romantic and nothing like my usual messy bun. I’m wearing a navy-blue dress—simple, fitted, hitting just above the knee. And most of all, I’ve got that confident glow that comes with being so sure that love has finally found you.
And I know what I’m going to do.
The rehearsal dinner is in the resort’s private dining room—a space with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake, long tables set with white linens and candles. It’s warm and romanticand perfect. It smells like winter, and I spot pine garland someone draped along the windowsills.
I walk in and immediately scan the room for Brody. He’s near the windows, talking to a couple of Derek’s groomsmen—guys from the team. He looks good. Relaxed. Happy.
And then he sees me.
His whole expression changes. Softens. He excuses himself from Tyler and crosses the room toward me with purpose.
“Hey,” he says when he reaches me.
“Hey.”
