Of course, Piper wanted to believe that he was right. But her stomach still twisted. Peggy's words were a lit match in her gasoline-soaked mind, and every attempt to douse the flame only seemed to make it hiss louder.
"Hey," Zach said, sidling up to her as she re-organized her bag. "Don't go quiet."
Piper shrugged, not meeting his eyes. "Just thinking."
About how everything could look so stunning right before it spectacularly imploded.
"This went great. Everyone's happy with how it turned out. They'll edit tonight. It'll launch right away. And Denver will stop worrying about how an engagement can wreck a season that hasn't even started. Then Drake will be on his honeymoon with my sister and life will be—" He let out a deep breath. "—calmer."
She zipped her bag with more force than necessary. "Zach?"
He waited.
"I'm trying to trust that it's okay when things get calm." She sighed, fully meeting his gaze. "What if Peggy's right? What if when things are so easy, they only have one way to go?"
Zach's brow furrowed. "You want to call what we did here today easy? Because I have a lot of words for it, but easy isn't one." He tilted her chin up with his fingertip.
Her shoulders slumped slightly.
He let his hand sit gently against her neckline. She wanted to curl into his fingers and just let that comfort her but now was not the time.
"Did you say you needed to catch me?" Anna called over, moving toward them with the other Dvornakov girls. "What's up?"
"Yes, I did need to talk to you," Piper said, rolling her shoulders like she could undo years of conditioning and ignore Peggy's 'wisdom'. "Did Drake take off?"
Anna had made it clear that Drake could not, under any circumstances, see the dress before the big day. This wasn't a Babushka-brand superstition. This was 100% Anna's request. And Piper respected that.
"Not yet," Anna replied. "But he's going out with the guys as we speak. They invited Dad out to the afterparty. He acted like it wasn't a big deal, but it was a big deal."
"Come see us once he's gone." Piper winked in the kind of way that transmitted, code activated. "We've got something to show you."
Anna seemed uncertain.
"It's a surprise and it's good." Zach said, pausing to let the weight of the words sink in.
"Meet us at the changing tent in five?" Piper asked.
Diana chuckled, nudging Sadie. "Are we allowed to come, too? Or just Anna?"
"Anyone but Drake," Piper clarified.
"You should come," Zach agreed. "Definitely come."
Heather raised her plastic cup in a mock toast. "I think that means it's about the dress, right? It's got to be about the dress?"
Sadie squealed a good kind of squeal. "Is it the dress?"
Piper mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. "Five minutes."
She and Zach moved toward the tent to get things ready, her fingers lingering on the shoulder strap of her purse.
He stepped closer, his shoulder brushing hers as they strode together. A professional distance, sure, but close enough she could feel the heat of his body.
"Thanks for coming with," Piper said, fidgeting with the canvas bag.
"I spent way too many hours cussing at that silk to let Anna see it without me," he said.
Piper laughed, but it came out shaky, her nerves buzzing under her skin.
