Page 90 of Filthy Twisted Devil

Is it too early to commission one for my apartment?

Brinley

It's too late, actually. The waitlist is already way too long. You’ll be waiting years.

Pippa

Fine, I’ll wait. What else do I have to do?

Cat

Not to brag, but Sylvie has started showing some talent, too. Only a week old, and she's already an expert at spitting up on Dad’s suits.

Brinley

Nate is seriously wearing suits around a newborn? It's official. That man needs an intervention. I'm donating his office and filling his closet with tropical shirts and Crocs.

Cat

But I think the suits are hot

Brinley

Sorry, Cat. It’s for his own good.

I can’t help but smile at Brinley’s jokes. It’s a stark contrast from the private texts between her and me.

Eden

The florist put together her mock-ups for the flower arch for the ceremony. I emailed them to you.

Brinley

Thanks. I’ll review soon.

Option 2 looks great.

Eden

Did you get a chance to review the linen samples? I like the dark blue tablecloths.

Brinley

Sounds good. Let’s go with those.

Her texts to me are polite. Cooperative. Short. Nothing wrong with any of it, except that a year ago Brinley would have sent me fourteen texts in a row, plus three voice notes. Then, if I didn’t respond fast enough, she would have called me back within the hour to talk through every detail of her messages until I was doubled over with laughter.

I sigh and put down my phone. I’ve got too much to do to waste my afternoon wallowing.

After narrowing down my shirt pile, I move on to jeans and skirts. In Toronto, I can wear my jeans a few times between washes. Back home, they always seem to end up covered in dirt at the end of the day. I’ll probably need to pack all of them if I don’t want to be doing laundry the whole time.

I head to the closet to look through my skirts and find myself staring at my dark red dress. It’s the same one I wore to the Christmas party where Brinley got engaged.

We spent the weeks after that party excitedly texting about wedding plans, until one day, she sent it.

Brinley

As my maid of honor, you're going to need to talk me out of peonies.