Page 81 of The Marriage Mistake

“So,” she said. “You and Jack Mars.”

I took a seat across from her and glanced over at the kitchen, hoping Sadie would save me. She was busy checking the dress over, but she did shoot us an amused look over her shoulder.

“Me and Jack Mars,” I confirmed.

“What’s the world coming to,” Caroline said dryly before taking a sip of her wine.

“I’m sensing you’re not a fan.”

“I was enjoying seeing all the Mars men wandering around aimlessly without women to guide them,” Caroline said. There was a spark in her eyes. It was hard to tell how much of what she said was a joke or not, but I found my lips twitching in response.

“Okay!” Sadie came over and swept the red dress through the air. “Enough chit-chat. Try this one. Caroline is your size, so she brought a better pair of shoes over.”

My brows jumped, but Caroline didn’t seem bothered. Borrowing shoes? Hanging out on a Thursday afternoon? Drinking wine? These were things one did with girlfriends. I hadn’t had girlfriends since college, and even then they seemed to tolerate me more than they genuinely liked me. A little overwhelmed, I took the dress from Sadie and went to the bathroom to slip it on. Caroline’s shoes were red satin with a thin ankle strap and a smaller heel than what Sadie had lent me last time, and they matched the dress to perfection.

I walked back out to the living room and spread my arms. “It fits,” I announced.

Caroline threw her head back and laughed while Sadie rolled her eyes and planted her hands on her hips. Sadie looked at me and said, “I was expecting gushing praise, Ember. Hands flapping and eyes watering about what an amazing job I did on such short notice.”

“I’m not really a hand-flapping kind of woman,” I said, which made Caroline snort and laugh harder. Then I added, “But you did do a fantastic job, and I really appreciate it.”

Sadie beamed at me, then came over to check her work. She hummed as she touched the sleeves and studied the way the neckline fit. She fluffed the hem and tilted her head.

“It’s perfect,” I told her, and she looked at me with soft eyes. “Thank you,” I added sincerely.

“Don’t mention it,” she said briskly, and I went back to the bathroom to change back into my clothes. I folded the dress with care and came back out, feeling like I was intruding on their hangout.

But I still had most of my glass of wine, so surely they meant for me to stay for a little while. I set the dress and shoes on the edge of the dining table and sat on the couch while Sadie and Caroline chatted. I was definitely intruding. Now the question was, did I finish my wine and go, or did I make an excuse now and leave the wine unfinished?

While my mind was whirling with my social ineptitude, Caroline looked at me with an assessing look in her eyes and asked, “Ember, do you know how many moons Neptune has?”

I blinked. “Fourteen. Why?”

“Ha!” she exclaimed, pointing at me. “What are you doing tonight?”

I shrugged. “Dinner. Darby has basketball practice so she won’t be home until late, but she might need help with homework. Otherwise just reading and going to bed.” And waiting for Jack to creep up to my room and have his way with me.

Caroline shook her head and said, “Nope. Wrong. You’re coming to trivia night with us.”

Sadie giggled. “What she means is, would you like to come to trivia night at Bertie’s with us?”

Yes! my heart screamed. A part of me was uncomfortable right now, but a bigger part of me wanted this. The easy friendship, the feeling of belonging. But instead of agreeing, I said, “What’s Bertie’s?”

“A terrible bar with even worse beer,” Caroline replied.

“Sold,” I quipped, and the dark-haired woman laughed.

Sadie’s smile widened. “One of our friends, Joanne, can’t make it tonight. We were going to ask Gideon to come along⁠—”

“But he’s terrible at trivia because all he’s worried about is watching Sadie’s back.”

Sadie clicked her tongue. “He’s still reeling after everything that happened to me.”

“It wasn’t a criticism!” Caroline protested. “I’m just saying. It’s great that he looks at you with those big puppy dog eyes and follows you around everywhere, but he’s also terrible at trivia.”

Sadie clicked her tongue, but her eyes were laughing. I rolled my lips to hold back my smile and took a sip of wine.

Caroline arched her brows at me. “So?”