As she blew into the room, she brought with her the familiar faint scent of chemicals and paint. I smiled until I saw the frustration shining from her eyes and the tight clench of her jaw when she started pacing up and down in front of the bank of windows on the far side of the room.
“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to stay calm even though seeing her this way immediately put me on edge. “Did something happen with Scott?”
Abruptly stopping with the pacing, she spun to face me and shook her head as she blew out a heavy breath. “No. No, he’s perfect. It’s not Scott, it’s Colt.”
My heart slammed to a stop as abruptly as her pacing had. Then it skipped before it settled back into its rhythm. After clearing my throat, I inhaled deeply and proceeded with caution. “Colt? Why? Is he okay?”
She snorted and lifted a paint-splattered hand to wave it around in the air. “Oh, he’s fine. I’m the one who might not be. He’s only been home since yesterday, but he’s already decided to take over the wedding planning.”
My brows twitched up in surprise, but I fought to school my expression and cocked my head at her instead. I followed her to the living room where she let out a big sigh and flopped down on the sofa.
“Colt is home? Why is he here when the wedding is still two weeks away?”
While I was surprised that he’d come back this early, it came as no surprise at all that he was already taking over. Colt had always been that way with his sister. She looked up at me, pouting as she shook her head.
“I guess he came now because he wanted to be here to help in the run-up to the big day, and by help, I mean he wanted to be here to rearrange everything.”
“Well, just don’t let him,” I said cautiously. “It’s your wedding, Teddy. Don’t let him come in here and bulldoze his way through all your plans. What doyouwant?”
She sighed again, then dropped her head back and covered her face with her hands as she groaned. “I don’t know what I want.”
I looked at her, taking in the obvious signs of distress she was exhibiting. Realizing what she needed, I held up my hand. “Give me a minute. I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for her to respond, I jogged to the kitchen and piled some homemade cookies onto a plate. If anything was going to calm her down, it was sugar. I knew my friend like the back of my hand and she loved sweet things more than anything else—except maybe Scott.
As soon as I handed over the plate, Teddy sat up, crossed her legs, and set it down on her lap. She tucked in with a blank expression on her face until after she’d inhaled a few. The sugar seemed to do the trick, and when I saw the tension in her shoulders easing, I sat down across from her and tucked my legs in underneath me.
“Okay, now I’ll ask you again. What do you want, Teddy? It’s your wedding. I know you know what you want. You just needed to be able to think again.”
She popped another cookie into her mouth, chewing it slowly as she thought it over. Once she’d swallowed, she looked at me again. “I’m just worried about my brother getting carried away. I’m open to his suggestions, but I don’t want some kind of fancy wedding. Nothing overboard or extravagant.”
I fidgeted with my fingers behind my leg, not wanting her to see. Teddy had no idea how I felt about her brother—how I’d always felt about him—and I wanted to keep it that way.
After turning it over in my head, I let out a quiet sigh of my own and swiped my tongue across my lips. I didn’t really see any other way, so as much as I didn’t want to promise what I was about to, I was her maid of honor and this was her wedding day. Whatever she wanted, she would get—regardless of what it cost me.
“If it helps, I’ll do my best to get him to rein it in,” I said. “I’m on it. We won’t let him turn your big day into a spectacle worthy of the society pages in New York.”
A spark of hope lit in her eyes, and she got up to give me a big hug. “It does help. It helps so much. You have no idea how relieved I am. I know Colt really only listens to Colt, but if you’re there, at least I know there will be a voice of reason.”
“It’s no problem,” I lied. “Colt may only listen to Colt, but I’ll just keep reminding him that this isn’t about him. He had his turn to plan the wedding he wanted. This is about what you guys want.”
“Thank you,” she whispered against my hair before she released me and scooted back on the sofa, looking decidedly more relaxed than before. “What are you up to? You do know that it looks like a craft store exploded in your dining room again, right?”
“Yep. Our theme for the week is space, and someone needed to cut out the planets for them to use.”
She chuckled and rubbed her palms over her denim-clad thighs before she nodded and stood up. “I’d better stop bothering you, then. Whatever shall they do without their planets?”
“Not much,” I said, then laughed. “Well, actually that’s a lie. Without their planets, they’ll just play and they’d probably prefer that to learning, but you should get back to Colt. Go spend some time with your brother. It’s been ages since he’s been back here.”
I would know, since I went out of my way to avoid her house whenever he was around. Teddy smiled softly as she glanced in the direction of their place. “Yeah, it has been a long time. Despite him interfering, it’s so good to have him back. As much as I’m scared that he’s going to turn the wedding into a spectacle, it’s really sweet of him to want to be involved, considering the circumstances.”
We walked to the front door together, and I squeezed her hand before she left. “There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for you and you know it. Between all of us, we’ll keep him under control. You just enjoy having him back, and Scott and I will take care of the extravagance. I know how much you’ve missed him. Try to focus on spending time with him while he’s here for longer than he has been since he moved away. Leave the rest to me.”
“Thank you.” She hugged me again, and then she was gone. For once, I didn’t stand on my porch and watch her as she walked back to their house. If I did, there was too much of a chance of seeing him and I really wasn’t prepared for that just yet.
After I closed the door behind her, I shut my eyes and tried to forget about the fact that he was so nearby. Breathing in and out deeply, I went to my bedroom once I opened my eyes instead of going back to my circles.
It was the same bedroom I’d lived in as a child, and as I walked in, I headed straight to my bookshelf and dug around between the piles of stuff I had on it until I found my old yearbook. When my parents had decided to retire to Arizona, I’d bought this place from them and now owned the house I’d grown up in, but I’d stayed in my own bedroom. Moving into the master just felt weird.