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“I didn’t… I didn’t mean to.”
I break down on the last word, and Jessi wraps me in a hug. It’s comforting and kind and so, so needed. It feels like having a sister.
“Start from the beginning,” she says, lifting the blanket up and placing it back down so it covers both of us.
Like the day I went shopping with her and Alice, Jessi instantly feels safe. I find myself spilling the whole story out—minussomeof the gory details—with barely a concern that we might be overheard or Jessi might get angry.
She’s sympathetic, cringing in the expected places and nodding along at others. At the end of it all, when I tell her about David taking the promotion days before we came out here, she sighs.
“David Donovan, I could kill you,” she mutters under her breath.
I sniffle. My tears have dried as I spoke, thankfully, and I’m starting to feel more like a real person. That, at least, is tremendously helpful.
“Are you telling me as your future sister-in-law, or are you asking my advice?”
I consider. “I… I mean both, maybe?”
Jessi smiles. She bumps her shoulder with mine. “Great answer.”
She doesn’t say anything else. I laugh a little, nervously. “Okay… so?”
“It’s like I’ve always said, Laura. You remind me of him. You guys… you’re cut from a really similar cloth. Why have you been pulling back?”
I don’t know what to say. My heart hammers, hard and painful, in my chest.
Jessi smiles gently as if she knows that. “Don’t have to answer. I’m just saying.”
For a minute, we just sit together. My mind is whirling with Jessi’s words.
These months, I’ve been soupset. I’ve been upset with David, I’ve been upsetaboutDavid, I’ve been upset when I’ve had him and when I haven’t.
For right now, I know that I wouldn’t have been able to become friends with Jessi like this if it wasn’t for David. And… Well, maybe I’d never get David if it wasn’t for Jessi. Briefly, I’m immensely grateful to them both.
I hug her, quick and fast, just like we did in the dress shop. She laughs happily and hugs me back. Then I realize how cold it is, and I go to stand up.
Jessi’s hand shoots out and touches my knee. It stops me, and I turn to her inquisitively.
“He’s better because of you,” Jessi says. Then she drowns the rest of her champagne, tips the empty glass at me, and heads inside.
I watch her go.
Then I pull out my phone and text Alice.
I’m shooting my shot. Wish me luck.
I don’t bother putting my phone away. I just stand up, warming up by pacing around a little. She texts back almost immediately.
OKAY???
OKAY NO?
GIRL!
I snort. She starts FaceTiming me, but I decline the call. She calls again, and I answer with a soft snort.
“LAURA JAMES?—”
“Okay, okay, shush!” I laugh.
