"Wait," Jess caught her arm. "This conversation isn't over you know. I'm here for you - not just as one of your projects, but as your friend. After the wedding, we'll figure this out - together. Sloane knows a great divorce attorney if you need one."
Nadine's mouth quirked in a small but genuine smile. "Of course she does. I’d imagine Sloane knows everyone useful."
"And terrifying," Jess added, relieved to see some of Nadine's spark returning. “Seriously though. You don't have to manage this alone."
Nadine nodded, briefly squeezing Jess's hand. "Thank you. I’ll be OK. One thing I do know is this island looks after its own.” She picked up her clipboard, the action seemingly automatic. “But right now, I need to get sixty hungry people fed before Marianne starts asking for my head.”
36
The dining roomhad transformed in their absence, shifting from mingling space to formal dinner setting.
Guests found their seats, guided by the place cards Nadine had facilitated. Servers circulated with the first course - chilled lobster bisque garnished with fresh chervil and a swirl of crème fraîche. The pale pink soup gleamed in the lantern light, its rich aroma mingling with the scent of freshly baked bread in woven baskets on each table.
Jackson Whitmore tapped his glass from his position by the door, calling for attention. "If everyone could please take their seats, we'd like to begin."
At her dad’s request, Jess moved toward the head table, catching Nadine's eye one more time before they separated. The silent communication between them held volumes - gratitude, concern, and the promise of continued support.
As Jess took her seat beside Julian, she felt her fiancé’s hand find hers beneath the table, a warm, solid presence that should have been reassuring.
Across the room, she spotted Logan directing a server with a subtle hand gesture, his presence both commanding andunobtrusive as he oversaw the event. For the briefest moment, their eyes met, and Jess felt a flicker of something that existed in the complex territory between past and present.
Until Julian squeezed her hand, drawing her attention back to the celebration - their rehearsal dinner, prelude to their wedding, the official beginning of their life together. She turned to him, summoning her practiced smile once more as the evening formally began.
The soup bowls had been cleared, leaving behind the lingering scent of lobster and saffron as servers moved silently around the room pouring the main course wine - a crisp Chablis that caught the light like liquid gold when Julian rose from his seat, champagne flute in hand, his tie slightly loosened and cheeks flushed from jet lag and alcohol.
He tapped his glass with a dessert spoon, the clear ring cutting through conversation until the room quieted in anticipation. Jess smoothed her napkin across her lap, the silk cool beneath her fingertips as she prepared to smile through the customary toast.
"I want to thank everyone for being here tonight," Julian began, his voice carrying easily through the dining room despite the slight rasp of fatigue. "Especially those who traveled from the city - I know how painful it is to be away from the office for more than twenty-four hours." A ripple of knowing laughter moved through his colleagues, who had indeed been checking phones surreptitiously throughout the meal.
Jess studied him afresh in the golden lantern light, noting the shadows beneath his eyes from the Tokyo flight and the way he shifted his weight from one foot to another - a tell she'd learned meant he was fighting exhaustion.
"Jess has this remarkable ability to light up any room she enters," he continued, his gaze softening as he looked at her. "She makes the most challenging situations seem simple. Shefinds solutions where others see only obstacles." He swirled the champagne in his glass, the bubbles catching the light. "And somehow, despite all her success and capability, she still laughs at my terrible jokes, which frankly might be the most impressive thing about her."
Warmth spread through Jess's chest at his words. This was the Julian she had fallen for - thoughtful, articulate, appreciative of her strengths rather than intimidated by them. The man who had built space for her ambitions alongside his own, who understood her drive because he shared it.
"Of course, I have fate to thank for putting us in the same room three years ago, or Megan specifically," he continued, taking another sip of champagne, and Jess smiled fondly in the direction of her friend, seated with Sloane close by.
Julian’s words were slightly looser now, the careful precision he typically maintained giving way to a more relaxed cadence. "I knew Jess was the one for me when we met at that dinner party - the same one Megan dumped me at actually,” he added with a chuckle.
The words landed in the room like a stone breaking still water. A beat of silence followed, then scattered, uncomfortable laughter.
Jess felt her smile freeze in place as her brain scrambled to process what she'd just heard.
Dumped by Megan? What?
She turned again to see Megan at her right, hand suspended in mid-air where she'd been reaching for her water glass. Her friend’s smile had stiffened into a brittle mask, her complexion suddenly pale beneath her careful makeup. While Sloane looked on, eyebrows raised in amused surprise.
Julian continued, seemingly oblivious. "Which worked out perfectly for everyone, as it happens. I was nursing a bruised ego, and then there was Jess - brilliant, beautiful, and alsocompletely uninterested in my attempts to impress her." More laughter, stiffer now as guests registered the growing tension. "She made me work for it, which any good lawyer appreciates."
Jess felt her heartbeat in her fingertips, a rapid percussion against the linen napkin now twisted in her lap. Her mind raced through a catalogue of memories - Megan's careful neutrality whenever Julian’s name came up in early conversations. She had attributed it to her friend’s natural reserve, her therapist's habit of listening more than sharing.
Not once had Jess suspected there might be history between them. And perhaps worse, Jess had in the ensuing years attributed their drifting friendship to her own neglect, had blamed herself for being too caught up in her and Julian’s relationship to make time for coffee catchups and girls nights. But now that she thought about it, was Megan the one who had pulled back?
Across the room, Nadine caught her eye, tilting her head slightly in a question. Jess gave a subtle shake of her head - not now - and she nodded in understanding. But Nadine’s gaze remained attentive as she observed the dynamics unfolding. Seems her marriage implosion wasn’t the only bombshell being dropped this evening.
"But the greatest relationships often come from unexpected beginnings," Julian was saying, his speech continuing its meandering path, unaware of the undercurrents swirling through the bridal party. "And I for once, couldn’t be more grateful for whatever cosmic alignment brought us together."
Jess fought to maintain her composed expression, years of client presentations and high-stakes negotiations serving her now as she smiled and nodded in all the right places. But beneath the table, her fingernails pressed half-moons into her palms, anchoring her in the moment as questions tumbled through her mind.
