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“Look, Jen, I haven’t been difficult. You get those brides that turn into real nightmares and I’ve been really nice about everything so I’m not like that. But this is important to me. It's important to Marc. He's already asked a lot of Brett to be here at the hotel so everything runs smoothly. I don’t want fighting. I just want everything to work out right, okay?”
I nod. I don’t point out that there won’t be fighting if Brett and I don’t have to work together. I think it’s stupid that we need to have anything to do with each other. But I agreed to involve the guy before I knew who he was.
“This grudge you have against him…” Stacey adds. “I don’t get it. I mean, it’s been years, right?”
I don’t try to hide my groan. “Is everyone going to tell me how pathetic I’m being by holding onto something like that?”
“What?”
“I know everyone thinks it’s no big deal because it happened so long ago, but what if it’s a big deal to me? Noah was my future, you know.”
“I know. You told me that. But this isn't Noah; it's just Brett. So, he's an asshole. So what? Since when does that bother you?”
“I was head over heels in love with the guy and we were supposed to be together forever. I know it sounds like the dreams of a teenager, and maybe it was. But when it all fell apart…”
“You told me,” Stacey says again.
She knows the whole story and how I feel about it, but she doesn’t know. Not really. She’s always had it easy. Rich parents, Prince Charming, a job that she landed because of who she is and not what she’s capable of—even though she is good at what she does.
I know it's petty to hold onto what Brett did, but I can't help but feel like it’s his fault Noah dumped me.
It’s not always so easy for the rest of us who have to pick up the pieces of our lives by ourselves without help.
But I don’t say any of this to her because it’s only going to turn into a fight. I don’t want to fight with my best friend so close to her wedding. She’s right; she’s been really great about the whole thing all this time. And I did promise her I wouldn’t let this become a problem.
“Okay,” I finally say. “You’re right. I did promise. And I said I would work with him, even though I didn’t know it was my Brett.”
When Stacey raises her eyebrows and grins at me, I shake my head.
“I don’t mean my Brett.” I press my fingers against my temple. “I mean the Brett I know.”
Stacey giggles. “Yeah, I get it. But—”
A knock on the door cuts her off.
“I think that’s Nina,” she says. “I asked her to join us.”
I walk to the door and open it for her. She hugs me before stepping into the room. She's wearing an orange sundress and her short hair is pinned back to keep it off her neck in this heat.
“So, this place is freaking amazing,” she proclaims. “Screw Adam, I think I want to move here.”
I laugh. “You’ll miss him too much.”
“Yeah, probably.” She shrugs and fans herself with her hand. "And I think I'm melting."
Another knock sounds and I open, expecting Kelsey. Instead, one of the hotel staff members stands in front of me with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.
“Miss Hall?” he asks.
I nod.
“Delivery from room five-oh-seven.”
I blink at him. “What?”
He holds the flowers out to me. I glance at Nina.
“Well, take them. The poor guy can’t keep them,” she says.
