The lake was exactly as I remembered—cold, dark, the dock creaking under my feet. The sound of water slapping against the wooden structure offered a sense of peace. Someone stood at the far end, facing away from me toward the lake. I knew that shape, the way the sun glinted off tanned skin.
I opened my mouth to call out, but before a sound could come from my own throat, a loud squeal ripped through the air. I hesitated and looked around.
“Paige! Get up!” A familiar voice shrilled out right before a sudden weight landed on my chest.
I jerked awake to find Jenna sitting on my chest, grinning down at me like a Cheshire cat. I gasped, clawing at the blankets, my heart hammering from the sudden awakening while the dream faded.
“It’s noon, goofball. What are you doing still in bed?” Jenna announced, already jumping from the bed to pull open the curtains. Sunlight stabbed my eyes.
“It’s also Sunday,” I croaked.
“Bridesmaid duty doesn’t care what day it is.” She grinned and tossed a pillow at my head. “Coffee first. Shopping second. Complaining third.”
“Can I move complaining to first?”
“No.”
“Well then, I’m at least going to start this day off right,” I mumbled as I grabbed for the pouches on the nightstand.
“What is that?” Jenna asked with a raised brow.
I opened the bag of gummies and grabbed a handful.
“Paige Margaret, that better not be what I think it is! You’re going to be too fried to help with dress shopping!” Jenna quickly attempted to grab the treats from my hand, but before she could touch me, I shoved at least four of them into my mouth.
Jenna’s jaw dropped and closed a few times. She reminded me of the fish we had caught when we were younger.
“Your mother is going to kill you if she finds out,” Jenna hissed between her teeth.
I raised an eyebrow as though to ask if she was going to be the one to tell her.
Thankfully, Jenna chose to keep quiet about my little snack before we ventured out. The effects took about an hour to kick in—one very long hour. An hour in which women gathered and giggled about ridiculous things.
It only got worse when a friend of Jenna’s named Jamie kept asking about Cayson. This bridesmaid trip was supposed to be full of girly stuff and shopping, not questions about men. Not that I could say anything about it, though.
Three boutiques later, my feet ached and my smile felt laminated on. The gummies were beginning to wear off.
Jenna swirled in front of a mirror, holding up a lace gown that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.
“This one?”
“That one,” I said.
“You haven’t been paying attention.”
“I’ve been paying attention to how much I need—” I caught myself, with a glance toward Jamie. “Coffee. I need coffee.”
Jenna’s eyes softened for just a second, but she didn’t comment. She hung the dress back and linked her arm through mine. “Lunch first. Then more suffering. Come on, girls!”
We met the men at a diner downtown. Myles stood when Jenna walked in—tall, clean-shaven, the kind of guy who probably owned a tie for casual Fridays. He kissed her like they’d been apart for weeks.
Cayson was already seated. Although his eyes found mine, he didn’t bother to stand.
“Paige,” Myles said, extending a hand. “Jenna’s told me everything about you.”
“Hopefully the edited version.”
He laughed, an easy and warm sound.
Lunch was a blur of small talk. Wedding topics were to be expected—guest lists, seating arrangements. The whole time, Jenna’s hand remained on Myles’s arm. Myles asked about Los Angeles, but my answers were vague and gave nothing away. All the while, I could feel Cayson watching me.
I dropped my fork twice. The second time, he reached for it at the same time I did. Our fingers brushed. I pulled back like I’d been burned.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
His jaw tightened. “Don’t be.”
Jamie’s eyes flickered between us before she plastered on a smile and pulled his attention away. Jenna’s eyes flicked between us too. She didn’t say anything, but she saw.
After lunch, she announced she needed my “expert opinion” on something at the bridal shop and pulled me into her car. She drove past the shop, past the town, up to a lookout point overlooking the lake.
She cut the engine and turned to face me.
“Okay,” she said. “I drove us all the way out here so you can’t run away. Talk.”
“About what?”
“About the fact you look like someone ran over your dog, and you kept flinching anytime Cayson breathed or got too close to you at lunch.”
I stared out the window. The lake in the distance was flat and grey. The same color as my memory of it, the same color from my dream. Though this water was soft and gentle, the water in my dream had been more pronounced, as though it refused to settle.
“I left for a reason, Jenna,” I said finally, with a sigh.
“I know.”
“Not because of school or L.A. Or any of the reasons I gave.”
Jenna waited patiently. Typical for her. She was a gracious pillar in a storm.
I picked at a thread on my jeans. “I left because my heart was broken. And coming back…” I swallowed, trying to find the words. “Everything looks the same, but I’m not. And I don’t know how to be here without remembering who I used to be.”
“Who you used to be,” Jenna repeated softly. “Or who you used to be with?”
I didn’t answer, and thankfully, she didn’t push. She just reached over and squeezed my hand.
“You don’t have to tell me anything else,” she said. “But you also don’t have to do this alone.”
My throat tightened, and all I could do was nod.
She started the car. “Now, let’s go finish shopping before I elope out of spite.”
A surprised laugh escaped me before I could clamp down on it—a real one.
“There she is,” Jenna said, and pulled back onto the road.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhL6vRL1TIK
and then Add to home screen.