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“No.”
“What happened?” I really hoped it had nothing to do with Lyndi talking to Beau. I knew Lyndi had a crush on him, but if Layla did too, we were going to have a serious problem. The sisters had never liked the same guy before. It wasn’t their thing. But there was a first time for everything.
Layla looked over her shoulder at where Ms. Hattie had gone to join Thatcher. She looked concerned too. What the heck was going on?
I squeezed her hand again. “Lay, what’s up?”
“Ms. Hattie just wanted to warn me. She heard someone rented the apartment above her flower shop.”
I blinked at her, not understanding what she could possibly be upset about. “Okay, who rented it?”
“Zac.”
I stilled. It was the first time I’d heard Layla say something other than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when referring to her ex. “Is she sure?”
“Yes. He’s coming back.”
“So, is he getting stationed at Beaufort again?”
“No idea. All I know is that she was talking to the leasing agent for the apartment, and she heard it was Zac Miller. There can’t be more than one, right? It has to be him.”
I tilted my head from side to side. “I mean, he’s probably not the only Zac Miller on the planet.”
She leveled me with a glare. “Come on, Aria. Of course it’s him. What are the odds?”
Nodding, I kept my face neutral. “Okay, well, even if it is him, who cares? He left, and he’s dead to us, remember?”
“Yeah.”
She didn’t look like she meant it, so I took her other hand now, holding them both between us. “Layla, listen, don’t worry about this. Whether it’s him or not, he’s in the past. Come on, you’re supposed to be having fun with Beau tonight.”
Layla snorted. “Oh, no. Lyndi’s totally in love with him. I’m hoping if I make myself scarce, she’ll take a chance on a real guy instead of a character in one of her romance novels.”
“You’re the best sister in the world, I swear.”
“Yeah, well, she deserves some happiness even if I’m totally up a creek in that department right now.”
With a sigh, I surveyed the reception area, trying not to be too obvious that I was looking at Lyndi and Beau. Then I saw Nate and Chelsea in a corner, appearing to be fighting. Chelsea stormed off, and he shook his head, stalking in the opposite direction.
I turned back to Layla again. “Hey, there’s always Nate. Looks like he and Chelsea just broke up.Again.”
A laugh escaped her even as she tried to stifle it, then she sniffed. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up.”
“Of course. Just promise me you won’t dwell too much on this Zac thing right now. This is supposed to be an amazing night to celebrate Paul and Shelby, right?”
I’d said something similar to countless women nursing broken hearts at my weddings. While their heartbreak mattered and deserved all the Ben & Jerry’s and chick flicks in the world, their friend’s wedding wasn’t the time or place to cry. As the wedding planner, sometimes it was my job to remind them of that before the bride got wrapped up in anything that could bum her out.
“You’re right,” Layla said on a sigh, shaking it off. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, girlfriend. I get it. Trust me. You should have seen me on Valentine’s Day, crying over Will at my event that night. We can’t help our feelings. But we can fake it till we make it.”
“Okay. I’ll do my best. But we need to make sure to have girls’ night even with Shelby gone. I’m going to need all the help I can get dealing with this.”
I put my arm around her and led her back to the dance floor just as “Don’t Stop Believin’” began to play over the speakers. “We’ve got you. Now, let’s dance!”
