Chapter One
Jasmine Bailey
My little cabana at the Lakeview Resort was bigger than the first apartment I’d shared with Muriel and Poppy in L.A. However, it still felt like it might get lifted off its foundation any second by the ridiculous wind and rain that had been ripping through all of southern Georgia since we’d arrived.
I’d heard that a little rain was good luck on a wedding day, but this? This was a bit extreme.
The bride to be, Chrissy, never half-assed anything. So, of course, she’d somehow managed to conjure the storm of the century for her special day.
It might not have officially been a hurricane—not yet, anyway—but it was the kind of storm people said only happened once every fifty years or so, and it wreaked absolute havoc on my hair, my shoes. As storms go, this one didn’t match any of the cute outfits I’d picked out to bring to the wedding rehearsal at the fancy-as-hell resort.
Still, after a couple of quick drinks and another half-hour of unpacking, changing clothes, drying, and re-straightening my hair while low-key wondering why I’d ever agreed to come back to Covington in the first place, I thought I looked pretty good. Well, presentable. Mostly presentable.
Good enough to face a bunch of people from my high school days, anyway. I never gave two shits about their opinions back then, and I cared even less since I’d grown up and had started making a name for myself in Los Angeles.
At least it was bound to be a good party. Wedding rehearsals and receptions were always good for a few drinks and laughs. The only trade-off was the inevitable question of when would I settle down and tie the knot myself.
Which... ugh.
Never.
Or at least not for a really long time. Not until I found a man who didn’t bore me or smother me after the first couple of weeks.
Where are those men?
After a quick stop by to do some emergency fashion triage—aka loaning Muriel a dress that should get her laid—we were good to go and ready to make our grand re-entrance to the resort bar.
I couldn’t help but give a little wolf whistle before we walked inside. “Wait until Cameron and Hugh see you, girl,” I said, clapping my hands together at the thought. “Their tongues are going to be hanging out of their mouths.”
“Oh my god, Jas.” Muriel’s cheeks instantly changed from slightly pink to bright red as she opened the door. “That is not going to happen. Definitely... probably not.”
“We’ll see.” I happily shrugged.
We walked through to the banquet room, where several tables had been set up, and people were already taking their seats.
After saying a couple of quick hellos and spotting Poppy across the room talking to a familiar-looking dude whose name I didn’t recall, I turned back to get Muriel’s attention—only to find that Cameron and some other guy from school had already beaten me to the punch.
“Already have their tongues wagging,” I muttered under my breath. Not that I begrudged Muriel the attention. Girlfriend seriously needed to get laid, and that dress would help her seal the deal.
Which, of course, was the entire reason I’d packed it in the first place. Only, I’d assumed at the time that I would have been the one wearing it when I hooked up with some guy for the night.
I may not be longing for my own wedding, but I found guys were often particularly eager to please for the first couple of nights you spent with them.
“Jasmine!” Chrissy’s voice rang out behind me. She looked amazing in her cute white tea dress with matching Converse. “I never got a chance to ask you about your mom when I saw you earlier.”
I schooled my features into a neutral smile and prepared the line I’d rehearsed for moments such as that. “She seemed to be doing well the last time I saw her.”
It wasn’t a lie. I simply happened to conveniently leave out the fact that I’d only seen her once in the several years I’d spent in L.A.
Still, she had been doing fine, which was good enough for polite conversation, right?
“That’s good,” Chrissy nodded. “I heard her moonshine business has really taken off lately. You must be so excited for her.”
What?
It had?
“I, um...” I opened my mouth and then snapped it closed again. All the possible words seemed to empty out of my head. “Of course,” I finally managed to say, barely remembering to smile. “Super excited. It sort of happened out of the blue.”
That was how it seemed to me, at least. Especially since I’d only known about my mom’s successful business enterprise for approximately fifteen seconds. The news had certainly come from out of the blue to me.
Before either of us had the chance to say anything else, Chrissy’s fiancé, Vic, walked over to whisk her away for photos with the rest of the bridal party.