Page 84 of In Every Chapter

The actions backed up the words.

Part of me screamed it was too soon to say we were bonding or that there were feelings involved, at least on my side. But he kissed me like he meant it. He showed up. He handled my heart with care.

Greyson was a steady presence. I knew where he stood. He didn’t make me guess his feelings or intentions, but he let me set the pace.

And despite this weird feeling of being away from him, I was excited to spend time with my friends and see Stephanie try on wedding dresses. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

The first day was bridesmaids-dress shopping. Stephanie’s colours were sage and gold, so we were on a mission to find six sage-green bridesmaids dresses—with varying levels of success. When you carried a last name like Prescott in this city, as his fiancée, it got things done. There were dozens of dresses in the colour Stephanie wanted. What it came down to was picking a style.

“I can’t tell where the dress ends and Paisley begins,” Liz snorted, resting her hand on her cute baby bump, when I took my turn modeling one of the dress options.

Stephanie bit her lip, scanning me carefully. “Yeah, there is way too much fabric there for you, Pais.”

I didn’t disagree. There was such a thing as too much tulle.

It only took another three hours for Stephanie to narrow it down to the one she liked. Unlike some bridal trends, we would all be in matching dresses because Stephanie had a thing for order and symmetry.

Then it was time for the real dress shopping. The wedding gown.

I was scrunched on the chaise lounge between Hailey and Liz. Even though Hailey Bishop, Stephanie’s cousin, was younger than us by about five years, she fit in well with our group. The last time I remember her, she was still a teenager with a budding music career; now she was in her mid-twenties and America’s country music sweetheart. Nash had flown her in from Tennessee where she lived in Nashville, like the singer-songwriter she was.

Nana smacked Hailey’s shoulder when a book tumbled out of Hailey’s purse. “A book on your cousin’s big day?” she tsked.

“Not my big day yet, Nana.” Stephanie winked at Hailey from where she stood on the small dais, critically eyeing the current dress she wore—a sleek mermaid gown with a lace overlay and a sweetheart neckline flowing into capped sleeves.

Hailey carefully shoved the book back into her purse. “Give me a good book and my favourite playlist, and I’m happy as a clam.”

“Have you ever seen a happy clam, Hails?” Stephanie teased. “They all seem clammy to me.”

Hailey rolled her eyes at the pun. “If you look them up in the dictionary, you’d see my picture.” She clasped her hands under her chin and smiled angelically, batting her lashes.

To know Hailey was to love her. She had a joie de vivre that was contagious.

“Not that I’d ever dream of reading in the middle of this historic event, though,” Hailey continued. “You’re beautiful, Stephie.”

Stephanie sighed and turned to face us fully. “Thanks, but I’m not feeling the lace.”

Juliet cocked her head. “Maybe only lace on top? It sort of swallows you otherwise.”

We all blinked at her.

“Hey, I know a thing or two about dress shopping. I’ve had to do enough of it,” Juliet protested.

Ivy laughed. “Let’s try the next one then,” and she followed Stephanie back into the curtained change room.

The next one was worse. It was a ball gown with glitter. Glitter.

Stephanie marched out, eyes blazing, and honestly, I was surprised she even put it on. “No, no, no,” she growled, hopping up on the dais and gripping the bodice to keep it from falling down her petite frame. “I’m going to have to shower to get all the sparkles off.”

“That is nothing like what you said you wanted,” Liz said, standing and scanning around for the service woman.

“Can we all agree ball gowns are not in my future?” Stephanie said, her eye twitching.

“Definitely,” we agreed, and she practically bolted back behind the curtain to shed the dress.

A minute later, a muffled gasp emerged from the dressing room.

“Did you break something?” Juliet asked in a low tone, approaching the curtain. “I can negotiate while you make a run for it.”