Page 40 of Bride Games

The minute Zach left, Paige knew she needed to see her girlfriend—and fast. She texted Emma, chanting over and over:Please be available.Paige nearly begged Emma to meet. Emma agreed and said she’d get a sitter if Eli weren’t available to watch Lucy.

After Paige and Emma were seated, they pushed the menus aside and ordered a glass of wine. Once their vino appeared, Paige held up her wineglass and clinked it with Emma’s. “I can always count on you to meet me. Thank you. I hope it wasn’t too hard to find a sitter for little Lucy.”

“Actually, Eli’s watching her. He was excited.” Emma furrowed her brows. “I could tell by your text that something’s wrong. What is it?”

Paige took a healthy gulp before answering. “Do you check social media at all? I mean, I know you’re a busy single mom—for now—with an Etsy business and are planning a wedding, so I’m guessing you don’t spend hours checking Facebook or X.”

“Not often. I covet my rare alone time.” Emma cocked her head. “I basically hop online to get inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram occasionally, but I haven’t been online in more than a week. Why?”

Paige laughed so hard her cheeks hurt.

“Oh, is it something good?” Emma stared at her best friend over her wine.

Nearly choking from something between laughter and despair, Paige said, “Nothing good. Nothing at all. It’s probably easier if I just show you.” Paige pulled up the trending page on X and passed her phone to Emma. Before she did, she saw that #Paigeisafraud and #FirePage were both still trending. Paige watched as Emma’s eyes widened.

“Who did this?” Emma asked after a couple minutes of scrolling.

“Who didn’t is the question.” Paige took her phone back as Emma sat agog. “Both hashtags are trending. That means thousands of people are commenting. Maybe tens of thousands.” Paige shook her head. “You’ll never get through all the comments tonight, but trust me, these trolls have covered every social media platform I can think of.” Paige waved to the server for a second glass of wine. “And there’s more.”

Emma took a tiny sip of her wine as she studied Paige. Brows furrowed, she asked, “Sorry, but how could it get any worse?”

Again, Paige laughed until tears streamed down her cheeks. “Oh, pretty easy, actually.” She began ticking the calamities off on her fingers. “My boss pulled me off the air. He hired the effervescent Marie Fallon away from ESPN. And she’ll be traveling with my non-boyfriend-because-we-can’t-date-now to the games.”

Wide-eyed, Emma’s hand flew over her mouth. “No wonder you were desperate to meet. What will your job be? Or did he fire?—”

“At least he didn’t fire me. That’s the only silver lining. Luckily, the station retained me. Not so luckily, I’ll be replacing my boss—temporarily—as general manager while he goes on a long, luxurious Mediterranean cruise.” Paige grimaced. “I already have to meet with accounting and legal tomorrow. Doesn’t that sound like an ant-infested, fly-swarming, fire-ant picnic?”

“What an image.” Emma reached for Paige’s hand. “So sorry. And here I am just concerned about all things wedding. Is there anything I can do?”

“You’re doing it by letting me vent. You and Eli are the only ones who know I’m dating Zach, but since I’m the”—she made air quotes—“boss now, we can’t even risk that. I get to watch him on the field with Marie.” Paige stuck a finger in her mouth as if she wanted to make herself vomit. “Enough about my sad sack life. Tell me about the wedding. I need some happy news. How’s the planning going?”

Emma leaned forward, her smile practically reaching both ears. “You’re never going to believe this but we’re getting married at Lucy’s school.”

“What? At Appledale?” Paige’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s unique.”

Beaming, Emma said, “Yep. Eli and I discussed the possibility since we met when he was Lucy’s kindergarten teacher. Now, he’s back at the school teaching again, so it’ll be a full circle moment. The principal held an assembly to get input from the teachers and students.” Emma clapped. “The teachers actually agreed. They’re excited, as are the students.”

Leaning forward, Paige lowered her voice and waited until a couple passed their table. “Don’t tell anyone else about this, okay? Let’s keep this under wraps.”

“Why? How? The whole school knows. All the teachers, principal, students, their parents, likely.” Shrugging, Emma added, “Several people already know.”

“I meant don’t tell any other media outlets.”

“You’re the only media person I know.” Emma cocked her head. “What are you getting at, Paige?”

Paige peeked around the nearby tables to make sure there weren’t any eavesdroppers—fans who might be a little too interested in their conversation—before saying, “My boss has been a little weird lately. Okay, a lot weird. Mr. Hales wants the station to stay number one?—”

Interrupting, Emma said, “Which they already achieved, thanks to your incredible sports reporting.”

“I appreciate your support, friend. But now, he wants me to do some big, unique community relations story. We’ve done all the hospital events, charity events, but this—this—a wedding at an elementary school is different.” Paige whispered, “Who has ever heard of that?!”

Emma’s face fell. “You think it’s weird.”

Shaking her head so hard she reminded Emma of the actor inThe Exorcist,or was itCarrie, Paige continued. “On the contrary. It’s storybook. It’s unique. It’ll be wonderful.” She reached for Emma’s hands. “Please give me the scoop. I need this exclusive to get back in the station’s good graces. Please don’t breathe a word about this to anyone you might know in TV land.

“As I said, I don’t know anyone in TV land except you but I wouldn’t even if I did.” Emma stared at her finally happy friend. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal but I’m glad I was able to make you smile again.”

Paige glanced around again. “Are you kidding me? It’s so cool. Tell me everything.” She reached for a notepad. “I’m taking notes. By the way, dinner’s on me.” Paige waved a server overand put a finger to her mouth as if Emma needed to be reminded like her six-year-old.

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