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Glancing down at my watch, I nodded. Our lie-in and then the traffic-filled journey to his parents’ house had taken up quite a bit of time, and I only had forty-five minutes to get back across town to meet Freya and Bree. “Wow, you’re right. We should get moving.” I turned to Deanna and Mitch. “Sorry to run away so fast. Thank you so much for babysitting.”
“Anytime,” Deanna said, smiling. “Will I see you during the week for coffee?”
I nodded firmly. “Absolutely. Probably tomorrow if you’re free?”
“I am. And I’ll pick up some pastries for us too.”
I grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”
After saying a quick goodbye and grabbing Jessica’s things, we bundled everything into the car and headed into the city. I felt bad for rushing out so fast, but in truth, Deanna and Mitch were quite used to us running in and out at speed. There were a lot of times when collecting Jessica that we didn’t have the luxury of staying to chat because there was always somewhere else one of us had to be. Deanna and I would make up for it the next day.
She had been a Godsend for Radleigh and me. Not only were she and Mitch happy to take care of Jessica, she was fantastic company too. Often when Radleigh was at work, Deanna would come over, or we’d go out to lunch, or shopping, or for coffee. With Freya and Bree both working now, sometimes the days got a little mundane and doing things with Deanna gave me a break from that. Plus, she had a wicked sense of humour, and she and Mitch had taken me in as if I were their own daughter.
Radleigh dropped me off at a restaurant in the city and I had about five minutes to spare, which I spent kissing him goodbye. I was sad to leave after having such a brilliant night with him, and only just getting Jessica back, but I had a girly lunch planned, and then… shopping.
A shiver of joy rippled through me as I walked into the restaurant because wedding planning was the other thing that was taking up my time – and I loved it. With four months to go, we still had plenty to do and this lunch date with my girls was going to be spent discussing colours for bridesmaids’ dresses and then hitting the bridal shops for my own dress. The anticipation was killing me.
Bree and Freya were already waiting for me at a table by the window. Freya poured a glass of white wine from the bottle on the table, while Bree held a tall glass of water between her hands, eyeing the wine bottle enviously. I chuckled at her expression.
“Hang in there, babe. You’ve got a long way to go yet.”
Bree turned to me, giving me a slightly pained smile. “It’s going to kill me.”
She stood, still clutching her glass, showing off her slightly swollen stomach as she moved to the chair right beside the window so I could sit down beside her. I smiled at Freya across the table and she grinned back at me. She looked incredible with her blonde hair hanging over her shoulders, and the pale blue dress she wore clung to her slim figure perfectly. Her eyes sparkled in a way they hadn’t in a long time.
“I almost feel bad.” She raised her glass to her lips.
I couldn’t hold in my laugh, but I reached over and squeezed Bree’s hand. “It’ll all be worth it when you hold your baby in your arms. I promise.”
With an eye roll, Bree smiled. “Yeah. I know.”
Bree’s pregnancy was almost as unexpected as mine had been. She and Jude had only decided to try for a baby last winter, with the thought that it might take a while. They were in no major rush, but Jude’s sperm had other ideas, and Bree was pregnant within a few months. After a brief rough patch, Bree and Jude were happier than ever.
Freya hadn’t had it so easy. In fact, since Will died, almost everything had been a struggle for her. She’d finally gotten her anxiety under control, and work was no longer as torturous as it had been. Her life had certainly got easier since Tommy Salinger had transferred to Green Bay. His opinions about Freya’s relationship with Miguel had rippled through the Warriors and, while he wasn’t the only one who took a poor view of it, he was the only one who made a big deal out of it. I understood why people thought it odd and perhaps disrespectful for Freya to get involved with Will’s best friend, but the reality wasn’t so black and white. People treated them as though they’d both forgotten about Will, but the truth was, they’d needed each other. They’d needed to grieve and heal together. Was it unorthodox? Sure. Was it wrong? No. Strange as it seemed, there was something right between them. Something more than just two people leaning on each other. Nine months on, they were still taking things slowly but the way they looked at each other told me they worked.
Once we’d ordered our food, Bree reached down into her bag and pulled out a folder. Freya and I exchanged a grin as Bree placed the pristine white binder on the table and opened it up. She smiled as she caught our expressions. “Don’t mock me.” She giggled. “You know you love my wedding file.”
“I don’t think I’d recognise you without it these days,” I teased, and gave her a gentle prod in the side.
“You can joke, but you’d be lost without this bad boy!” Bree stroked her hand lovingly across the pages.
“She’s right,” Freya said, placing her glass on the table. “Your entire wedding is within those pages.”
“I know, and I’m extremely grateful. But damn…” I laughed. “I’m not used to Bree being this organised!”
“I did this for my own wedding,” Bree said. “It was super helpful to keep everything together, and also… I love weddings!”
She wasn’t kidding. The second she found out Radleigh had proposed to me, she’d put together this binder of wedding stuff which included everything from choices of venue to menu ideas to bridal magazine cuttings to wedding favour ideas and floral display suggestions. And that was just a taster. The folder was crammed. Thankfully, she wasn’t a stubborn wedding planner, and she happily switched out her own ideas for mine as we went along. Not that much needed changing. She knew me well and had exquisite taste.
“Alright,” I said, leaning closer to Bree’s magic book. “What have you got for us today?”
She beamed at me before flicking through the pages to a section I hadn’t seen before. Well, I’d seen the section, but I hadn’t seen her latest collection. The bridesmaids’ dresses. The first page showed some long, floaty dresses in pastel colours.
“Okay.” Bree slapped her hand over the page. “I had all kinds of ideas when we first got started, but then I messed up by getting pregnant so fast, and now I’m going to look like an elephant on Leah’s wedding day. So, I guess my first question is, does anybody mind if I make the first suggestion on a style choice?”
“Not at all,” Freya said. “We all need to feel comfortable as well as look good. What did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking maybe knee-length, or at least something with a loose skirt to hide as much of my baby bump as possible. I know I can’t be selfish because there are a lot of us, but I don’t want to ruin Leah’s wedding photos by being enormous!”
