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“Just that you’re not the one getting all the pitying looks. Can’t keep a husband. Can’t keep a boyfriend.” Leah pushed back from the table.
“Hey,” he said. “Talk to me.” He didn’t like seeing her like this—tense and quiet. His Leah was laughter and movement and guts and brilliance. Seeing her shut down was almost … painful. He needed her to be okay.
Leah shook her head. “It’s just that it’s easier for you. I’m the one who’ll have to deal with my parents and everyone else.”
“Your folks are cool,” Zach said. He hoped he was right. Sal Santelli was like an uncle to him, along with the Blacklight guys. He’d always been around, ready to give advice or to crack bad jokes. But Zach had never really paid much attention to how he was with Leah and her boyfriends.
“Less cool when you scratch the surface,” Leah said. “At least when it comes to their kids. Sal tries to hide it most of the time but he’s still got a big chunk of traditional Italian dad in there somewhere.”
“You have been married,” Zach pointed out. “It’s not like he can think you’re a virgin.”
Leah winced. “Maybe not, but I’m sure he’d rather not think about my love life at all. He took the Joey thing pretty hard. I don’t want to disappoint him again.”
“You can’t live your life twisting yourself into shapes to please other people.”
“Maybe you can’t,” she said, voice sharp. “You’ve proven that much. It’s not that simple for the rest of us.”
O-kay. Wrong approach. He held up his hands. “I don’t want to fight with you. If you don’t want me to tell Mina, I won’t.”
“Then I’m the reason you’re lying to your sister. No.” Leah sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Tell her.”
“And everyone else?”
“Let’s play that one by ear.” She managed a smile.
At least that wasn’t “Hell, no.” An improvement. Maybe. “Okay.” He nodded toward the table. “How about you sit back down and actually eat something. Tell me about the rest of your day.” He sat, hoping she’d follow suit.
She did. And he was happy to see her reach for the slice and actually take a bite. Then another. He watched as she ate the whole piece.
“Your day?” he prompted when she’d finished.
“Not much to tell. I set up the studio. Did some admin.” She pulled the pizza box over and put another slice on her plate. “I checked the schedule. I think we can probably squeeze in some time Wednesday night. The same on Thursday. Maybe Friday afternoon. There’s a slot on Saturday afternoon as well, but I’m busy. Maybe you can ask Eli, keep playing around with his songs.”
She sounded more normal now. Good. “What’s on Saturday?”
“Girl bonding time. Faith’s having a dress fitting. Bridesmaids too. So I kind of have to be there.” She smiled again, and this time it was an all-the-way smile. He smiled back.
“Definitely girl time.” Faith was getting married. It still seemed kind of not real to him. She’d always said she wasn’t the marrying kind. Yet, here she was, throwing the dice. And this time, unlike when Mina had gotten married, he was going to be around for a lot of the hoopla that went into the lead-up to a wedding.
“Caleb doing anything during your girlfest?” he asked. He thought Eli had said something about sailing with Billy on Saturday. Maybe he should try and hang out with his future brother-in-law.
“Faith didn’t say,” Leah said. “But if I had to guess, I’d say he’ll likely be hanging out with Will and Stefan. Maybe you should tag along. Do some future-brother-in-law bonding.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” he said. He had some ground to make up with Caleb, who was definitely on Faith’s side when it came to Faith versus Zach. And the same went for Will Fraser. Sure, Mina had never been as mad at Zach as Faith had been, but things were still cool. He’d known Adam for a few years by the time he and Mina had gotten hitched. And he still missed the guy—Adam had had a very dry sense of humor and a love of surf as well as the boats he’d built that had made him easy to get along with. Besides, it couldn’t hurt to restore the gender balance in the Harper world a little. Brothers-in-law could only be a good thing. “Manly activities coming right up,” he said. “Though hanging out with you would be more fun.”
“We can do that after my girl stuff and your manly activities,” she pointed out. “Especially if you tell Mina between now and then. I won’t even have to sneak over here.”
When the doorbell rang, Faith was still hidden behind the temporary screen that the designer had erected in the family room on her arrival. Leah thought the whole screen thing was kind of overkill—after all, anyone in the room was there because Faith had asked them to be—but who was she to argue with a woman who commanded tens of thousands of dollars for her dresses? Maybe adding a bit of theater to the experience was part of how she justified her prices.
“I’ll get it,” Leah said. She figured her job as bridesmaid was to do whatever Faith wanted her to do to make things run smoothly. Just like Faith had done for Leah’s wedding.
“Thanks,” Faith called from behind the screen. Leah left Mina and Lou to do whatever Faith might need them to and headed for the front door, expecting it to be Ivy—her fellow bridesmaid—who still hadn’t arrived for this bit of female bonding. But instead of Ivy, Stella stood on the doorstep, her arms full of a giant bakery box in her trademark pink and white stripes. Behind her stood Anna Leighson, who ran one of the spas on the island.
“Hi,” Stella said brightly. She lifted the bakery box. “I’ve got a delivery.”
“Was Faith expecting you?” Leah asked. Faith hadn’t said anything about more food arriving. After all, Lou had brought a mountain of food, and Faith had drinks covered. They had very nice French Champagne along with equally fancy sodas and sparkling water for Mina, who didn’t drink, and canapés and fruit platters and cookies enough for a whole squad of bridesmaids.
Stella shook her head. “This is a surprise.”
