"There's my sister," Amy exclaimed, rising from the sofa. She stepped out from behind the coffee table and gave me a huge hug. “I’m so glad you're here.”
I hesitated to give in to the embrace, but after a few seconds I realized that this must be her way of apologizing or at least telling me that I'd been forgiven. I was going to demand the words at a later date, but for now, this was fine. “We wouldn't miss it for the world.”
She squeezed my upper arms when she let go, and I immediately began an appraisal of how much pressure she'd used. Was it anI love yousqueeze? Or anI will murder you in your sleepsqueeze?
“And there's handsome Eamon.” Amy gave him a hug that didn't last nearly as long. That made me think there was something fishy going on. Any woman with half a brain would've hugged Eamon for way longer.
“I think you've got this,” Eamon said to me. “I’m going back to talk to Luke and his father. Tom's a great guy, actually. Near encyclopedic knowledge of music. Fascinating to talk to.”
I smiled thinly. “Okay. I'll see you in a bit.”
I sat down and joined the other bridesmaids. There was a lot of chatter about the wedding and the honeymoon.
“You finally decided?” I asked. “I feel like you and Luke have been arguing about this for two months.”
“We booked it last week. We're going to Peru in March. We'll be living in a hut in the mountains so we can experience what it's like to be Peruvian.”
I burst out laughing, but it was immediately clear that Amy was not making a joke. The other bridesmaids all had abject horror painted on their faces, but they didn't know my sister like I did. “Wait. You're serious?”
The look Amy directed at me gave me all the clues I needed as to where I stood with her. She hadn't forgiven me for a thing. This was all for show. “Of course I'm serious. Why would I joke about that?”
I had no answer for her question, or at least not one I was willing to say out loud. Amy was the queen of pedicures and pampering. Peru must have been Luke's idea. “You're just always so funny. Sometimes it's hard to know if you're trying to pull a fast one.” I hated myself for covering up like that, but it was done.
Luckily, everyone else seemed ready to move on to other topics and I kept my mouth shut. After about an hour of excruciating chitchat, when everyone was pretty well hammered, Shelly announced that the happy couple would be opening gifts. Eamon came and sat on the arm of my chair while we all watched. There were Panini presses and Vitamix blenders, 800 thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and silver place settings. Aunt Jan gave them eight crystal goblets, but she wrapped each one separately, so that one came from her and the remaining seven from the dogs. Nick Carter tucked a five hundred-dollar gift card to Nordstrom in his.
When it came time for Amy to open our gift, I was more than a little nervous. Ours had not come from a fancy department store, or even from their registry. Eamon and I found it at a flea market in the city, albeit from a reputable antiques dealer. I had to hope that the uniqueness of the gift, plus the fact that it was something they wanted and needed, would make it appreciated.
“Wow. It's heavy.” Luke had no problem lifting the box, but the thing easily weighed far more than a crystal goblet.
Amy tore open the paper and opened the cardboard carton. Luke pulled the ornately scrolled fireplace screen from its container. Everyone let out a collective “ooh” and “ahh” like we were watching fireworks on the 4th of July. That made me feel one hundred percent better.
“You remembered. From the night you came over for dinner,” Luke said. Indeed, he’d made a comment that night about wanting to light the fireplace, but needing a new screen.
Amy smiled and cocked her head. “Thanks, guys. I love it. This will be perfect for those times I need to burn things. Like newspapers.”
Eamon looked down at me, seeming confused. I'd have to tell him later that my sister wasn't going to drop her vendetta against me anytime soon. “You're welcome. Katherine picked it out after we had dinner at your house. She polished it herself and everything.”
Luke smiled wide, seeming genuinely appreciative. “We love it. We'll think of you every time we look at it.”
I was now officially sick to my stomach.
I gripped Eamon's knee and looked up at him. “I think you should check in on Fiona.”
“Really? Now?”
I squeezed a little harder, fighting back tears. “Yes. Now.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It tookme a few days to recover from the bridal shower, especially since nothing else seemed to be going right. Eamon had his meeting today with his manager and record label so they could talk about the new record.
“Logic says I wear a suit to this meeting, but I don't want to. It all seems so pointless.” Eamon was sitting on the end of the bed, staring into the void of the closet.
“Rock stars wear suits to meetings? Isn't getting to wear jeans or leather pants half of the point?”
“A suit says I'm serious. And for the record, I own exactly zero pairs of leather pants.”
“You're Eamon MacWard. Aren't you going into this meeting with a presumption of seriousness?”
