“Is something else bothering you, Maisie?”
“Is it that obvious?” She sighed and shook her head. “It’s Bonnie. I mean she’s supposed to be my best friend, and I can’t believe she’s refusing to participate in all this with me. I know I should just get over it, but it fucking sucks. Ya know?”
“Fucking Bonnie,” Kat growled and reached for the nonexistent glass because we were fifteen minutes early for our appointment.
“The wedding is coming up soon,” I told her. “And as much as it sucks, this is going to be her loss when she finally gets over herself.”
“Are you so sure she will?” Maisie snapped. “Get over herself I mean.”
“I hardly know her, so I can’t be sure, but my own best friend dropped me as soon as I got engaged to Lance. She thought I was a fool for marrying a military man. She was sure he would cheat on me during his long absences and that my loneliness would drive me crazy.”
Even thinking about it now hurt my heart, but I loved Lance, and I didn’t regret our years together.
“So, you just have to ask yourself, is having Bonnie around on the most exciting, romantic day of your life worth the headache if she doesn’t want to be there?” I hoped I hadn’t overstepped, but Maisie needed to hear the cold hard truth.
“No,” she said after a long moment of biting her bottom lip. “It’s not. You’re right but it sucks.”
“It sucks a lot,” I assured her. “But you get to marry a man you love and start your life together, so there’s that.”
“Yeah,” Maisie said on a swoony sigh. “That is the highlight of the day.” Her smile dimmed. “I just wish things were different.”
“So do I,” Kat insisted. “I like Bonnie, really, but whatever is going on with her, she needs to deal with it on her own, not by trying to take my brother away from the family.”
Her anger started to show and I gave Kat credit for realizing that it might not go over well with Maisie. “If she doesn’t shape up by the bridal shower, we’ll stage an intervention. How’s that sound?”
“Perfect,” Maisie said in a tone that indicated she hoped Bonnie did get her crap together by then. I had a feeling a Kat-led intervention wouldn’t go over too well.
In the next moment, a tall blonde came out from a room in the back in a toque and white chef’s coat.
“Sorry for the wait ladies, kitchen drama. I’m Kimber, your chef for the wedding, I hope.” I half-listened as Kimber did her spiel, wondering how it would feel to plan such an elaborate wedding.
Kimber offered us a seat a table with beautiful place settings and flowers. I took my place and unfurled my napkin.
Lance and I had a simple wedding, and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but this, well it was a whole other world.
And I get to be a part of it.
“All right, while we wait for wine and food, Vanessa can tell us what’s going on with her and Emmett?”
I blinked, surprised—no shocked—by Kat’s question. “Going on?”
“Is it too soon to ask that or too insensitive?” Kat feigned concern with a crooked grin on her face.
“I don’t know that anything is going on, honestly. Emmett is good-looking, obviously. He’s nice and has a mile-wide protective streak that is so common with military guys.”
“But?” Maisie rolled her wrist for me to carry on.
“But we’re just friends.” I sighed and decided that these ladies were my friends. My circle. My people. “And when I think of us as anything more, I feel nothing but guilt and sadness.”
“Well that has to be hard,” Kat said, sympathy swimming in her eyes. “But Emmett clearly thinks you hung the moon, so I don’t think he’s thinking of you as just a friend.”
I shook my head because I didn’t think that was true. Sure, there were times I saw hints of appreciation, but that was it. “He’s just a nice guy who’s being kind to a grieving widow.”
Kat barked out a laugh as the first course arrived. “And it has nothing to do with the fact that said grieving widow is drop dead gorgeous? Ha!”
Maisie laughed. “I mean the fact that she doesn’t know how gorgeous she is has to make her even hotter, right?”
“Excuse me?” I raised my hand like a kid at school. “Right here, girls!” It was nice to laugh and simply enjoy a few moments of life without the weight of my grief.
“We see you,” Kat said and put her hands up. “Put that smile away before Mace has an outbreak of lust.”
“Har-har,” I said and rolled my eyes.
“You love us,” Kat said confidently. “We’re family, it’s our job to give you a hard time.”
Family. For so long it had been just me and Lance, and for a while the wives on base, but that felt like a lifetime ago. But here was Kat offering to be my family. “I am attracted to Emmett, but it feels too soon. Do you think it’s too soon?”