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“You sound devastated,” Mr. Famous Actor says. I decide I like this dude. “And who are you?”
“Archibald Hill, the best man. Listen, man, I’ll drop off your lady’s phone at the concierge and leave a message to call you back, sound good?”
“Thanks, I guess.”
We’ve barely hung up when a cute brunette pokes her head into the meeting room. Her long brown hair cascades past her shoulders in soft waves, and she’s wearing one of those flowy maxi dresses in a pink flower print. She’s missing a colorful band tied over the forehead, or she’d fit in perfectly with Berkeley’s hippies of the seventies.
I dangle the phone in my hands. “Looking for this?”
Her deep blue eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, thank goodness it’s here.” Lana sighs in relief and closes the distance between us, taking the phone from me.
“Your boyfriend called,” I inform her. “He wasn’t too thrilled to speak with me. You should call him back.”
Her eyebrows draw together in a curious frown as she studies me. “You must be the missing best man.”
I grin. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
She smiles in return. “I’ve heard stories about you.”
“Only good things, I hope?”
The smile turns coy. “Mostly about how my best friend had to save your ass,literally,and on multiple occasions…”
I chuckle at that. So, this sassy, no-bullshit attitude is to be expected not only from the bride-to-be but her friends as well?
“Touché,” I concede. “What did I miss? Was the meeting really necessary?”
Lana gives me a long, glad-we-understand-each-other stare, and then smiles. “It was mostly a review of the schedule for the next few days and the mandatory events for the bridesmaids and groomsmen.”
“Such as?” I ask, worried.
“Well, tomorrow we’re going wine tasting, which is optional. Wednesday is dedicated to the bachelor and bachelorette parties, which you were supposed to organize for the bachelors” I snort. Tucker took care of that. “Planning the bachelorette party was one of my duties as maid of honor, too.”
“Wait,” I cut her off. “You’re the maid of honor?”
She eyes me sideways. “Something wrong with that?”
“No, but… err… I assumed Winter’s sister would be the maid of honor since she’s family and all… Nothing personal.”
Lana’s face clouds. “Yeah, but we all had a fallout last year.”
“I’m familiar with the backstory,” I say, remembering Winter’s ramblings in Thailand about how her twin sister had had an affair with their best friend’s boyfriend.Thiswoman’s ex-boyfriend.
Lana seems taken aback, and blushes. “Winter told you?”
“The very first night we met.” I chuckle. “Probably when she thought she’d never see any of us again once the expedition ended. And it’s your fault Winter spilled the beans.”
Lana scowls. “How is itmyfault?”
“You made her promise to call her sister and indirectly stirred up all the feelings she ended up ranting about later. But I thought the Knowles sisters had patched things up.”
Lana’s frown relaxes. “They’re in a good place now; we all are. But the role of maid of honor requires a lot of interaction with other people. All our friends…” She pauses as if searching for the right words. “…from before. And not everyone has forgiven Summer, so I guess Winter asked me to be the maid of honor to shelter her sister from blowbacks and unpleasantries.”
“Makes sense.” I nod. “Anything else important from the meeting?”
She checks a sheet of paper in her hands. “Not really. Thursday is a recovery spa day. Friday is free until the rehearsal dinner at eight. Saturday, the ceremony and reception. And on Sunday, it’s over.”
I low-whistle. “And you guys, what? Spent over an hour discussing this?”
