‘I don’t know,’ Eva said.
‘You know the answer to everything, though,’ Maddy replied.
Eva cocked her head and tutted. ‘I really don’t. Just wedding stuff.’
‘Isn’tthiswedding stuff? Like, cold feet? I’m sure brides lunge at you all the time, right?’ Maddy asked desperately, hoping to hear that what she’d done was only part of the process.
Eva looked away. ‘No. This has never happened.’
Well, there was that dream dead.
‘And even if it had…’ Eva started.
Maddy waited. What else could she do?
‘Impulse control is important to me because my parents didn’t have any,’ Eva said, the words coming out flat. ‘So, when I tell you that I don’t do things like this, you understand that Imeanit.’
Maddy heard that. But she’d locked onto something else. ‘That sounds bad, your parents.’
Eva let out a short breath. ‘They were both addicts. I guess plenty of people are, but they were the variety that doesn’t go unnoticed by the authorities.’
Something in Maddy’s chest ached at how casually she said it. ‘And you had to…’ she started carefully.
‘Leave?’ Eva supplied. ‘Yeah. Twelve. Went to live with my aunt.’
Maddy swallowed. ‘Oh, Eva—’
‘It was better,’ Eva said, cutting across her. ‘Predictable, at least.’
Maddy gave a small, sad smile. ‘That’s a low bar.’
‘I’d have thoughtyou’dunderstand a low bar,’ Eva said.
Maddy stopped breathing.
Eva’s dark eyes widened. ‘I shouldn’t have said that. I obviously don’t know…’
‘No, youdon’t,’ Maddy said, surprising herself with how angry she sounded. But her head felt oddly tight and too hot. ‘You think I’m just this nervous little bookworm who can’t stand up for herself.’
Eva didn’t flinch, exactly. But something in her posture shifted. Suddenly, she wasn’t standing with her usual ramrod straightness.
‘That’snotwhat I think,’ Eva said quietly.
‘It is,’ Maddy shot back, pushing off the wall now, energy buzzing under her skin. ‘You walk in, you take over, you fix everything, and everyone just lets you.’
‘Maddy—’
‘And I let you,’ she continued, her voice tightening. ‘I let you plan my entire wedding like it’s a military operation. Timelines and contingencies and backup plans for the backup plans—’
‘That’s what you hired me for,’ Eva said, but there was less steel in it now.
‘I know,’ Maddy said, exhaling sharply. ‘I know that. That’s the problem.’
Eva frowned. ‘How is that a problem?’
Maddy laughed, but there was no humour in it. ‘Because it means I never actually have to decide anything, does it? I just defer to the expert. Let someone else make sure everything turns out right.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with wanting things to go right,’ Eva said.
