After an annoyed little huff, the sound of her mother’s heels clicking away was a relief.
“Does she do that a lot?” he asked.
“Interrupt my love life. No. I don’t have much of one.”
“Excuse me while I indulge in a caveman moment and tell you I’m glad to hear that.” He chuckled. “I meant does she try to direct you.”
Bristol rolled her eyes. “All the time. She’s from a really old-fashioned family. If you’re not a wife and mother, you’re not really an adult. There’s no such thing as being a single woman who can look after herself in this neck of the woods.”
“And you have an independent streak?”
“Always have,” she said wryly. “But I need to get back to the party, or she’ll just badger me more.”
“Then let’s go.” He took her hand and led her toward the others.
“Thanks for not bailing.”
He scoffed comically. “I’m your boyfriend for the night. What kind of asshole would that make me to dump you in the middle of a party?”
“Someone a lot like Hayden.”
He laughed. “Yeah, stupid douche isn’t the image I’m going for.”
As they reached the gathering, Presleigh was still clinging to Hayden as if he was her sun and moon. He flashed a smile down at her, as if he wanted everyone to know that he was enamored with his bride-to-be. Bristol had once seen that expression directed at her, and she wondered what her younger sister would do if someone new caught his eye.
Presleigh spotted her and smiled. “Thank you, everyone, for coming. Invitations are in the mail, but Bristol also made delicious cookies and frosted them with our wedding date. She’s so clever.” Her sister sent her an earnest expression. “In fact, she’s one of the most important people in my life. Bris, I love you so much. Please be my maid of honor.”
Bristol felt her eyes widen and tried to keep the horror off her face. Wasn’t it enough that she’d given Presleigh her man and baked her engagement cookies? Now she had to stand next to her sister as she married the man who had once been hers?
“Is she fucking serious?” Jamie muttered under his breath.
Sadly, yes.
“I…um, thought you wanted me to bake your cake.” Bristol didn’t know what other excuse she could give.
“I do,” Presleigh assured with an excited shake of her head. “But you’ve always stood next to me in childhood. I want you to stand beside me as I become a wife.”
“It would mean a lot to both of us,” Hayden added.
Was this really happening? “Didn’t you already ask your friend Shea?”
“Yeah, but she and Corey”—she pointed at Hayden’s friend who watched with a glower on his face—“had that ugly breakup. Now they’re not speaking at all. I finally decided that it was fate telling me that you should be the one to stand beside me. Mama is going to walk me down the aisle since Daddy isn’t here. Please… It will be perfect.”
What a lovely piece of emotional blackmail, wheedling in front of almost everyone she knew so that she’d look like a bitch if she refused. Never mind that Hayden had left her for her sister, but she was apparently even second choice for Presleigh’s wedding party. “Um…”
“I’ve already picked out a dress and ordered it. It will fit perfectly and look fantastic. Please…”
It would probably look awful since she and Presleigh had polar opposite tastes. Bristol took a deep breath. It didn’t matter. As Daddy had always said, family was family—and they came first. As much as she didn’t want to do this, Bristol was choosing dignity over drama, so she refused to start a family feud over her pride.
“All right. I’ll do it.”
Jamie scoffed beside her. Yeah, she would have liked a graceful way out of this mess, too. But this commitment would last one day, over and done. Then she would step back and let Hayden and her sister live their lives.
“Thanks, Bris.” Presleigh looked as if she was going to tear up. “It means so much to me.”
Bristol smiled and tried to make it look genuine. “You’re welcome. On that note, the cookies are in the storage container in front of you if you’d like to pass them out.”
“They’re your cookies. Don’t you want to?” Her sister looked confused.
