Page 44 of Perfect (mis)Match

“Thankfully, I’m lucky enough to have someone at my side who helps me remember life isn’t just about achieving goals.” I glanced at Piper again. “She forces me to slow down and enjoy the little things, whether it’s a fresh-baked croissant or the afternoon sunshine. Piper is the reason we’re all gathered here tonight, so I’d like to raise a toast to her, as well as to you, Jean and Joe, our wonderful hosts. This new partnership is important to me for so many different reasons, but I think the core is the strong connections we’ve forged over the past few days.” I liftedmy glass higher. “To big dreams, new friends, and the happily ever after that isEvermore.”

The room filled with the sound of clinking crystal as we toasted our mutual success.

“I’d like to say a few words as well,” Jean said as she slowly stood up. She looked every inch the manor matriarch in a flowy beaded caftan with a bright orange and blue pattern. “Vincent, I think we all know our first meeting wasbumpy,” she paused to give me an eye-crinkling grin. “But now that we’ve had a chance to spend time together, I can see why Piper is in love with you. And vice versa. You complement one another so beautifully. You remind me of the two of us when we started our life together.” Jean glanced at her husband, and he reached out to take her hand. “This man of mine is a bit of a curmudgeon, but like Piper, I keep him laughing. If I may be so bold, I predict the two of you will have a long and happy marriage that mirrors our own, so here’s to your next forty years together!”

I felt a little off balance as I reached out to touch glasses. Forty years? It seemed like an impossible goal. But then I looked over at beautiful, effervescent Piper…yeah, I could picture her finding someone to love her for that long.

Spending a lifetime loving her would be easy.

Icertainly wasn’t cut out to do it, but surely she’d manage to secure her fairy tale somehow.

I frowned as my mind flashed images of Piper in a wedding dress standing beside someone else. The thought of Piper with another man sent tension unfurling across my back, and I caught myself grinding my teeth. She deserved a lifetime of happiness, but I didn’t want to witness some other asshole getting to enjoy it.

I jumped when I felt a kick beneath the table.

“What’s wrong?” Piper whispered.

I must’ve been frowning without realizing it.

I shook my head. “I’m fine,” I mouthed back.

“Well, folks, I think the time is right,” Joe said, pushing back from the table to walk over to the sideboard. He opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of paperwork. “Your attorney approved the language in the contract, so all that’s left to do is put pen to paper. Shall we?”

“Hooray!” Piper cheered.

I was thrilled as I walked over to take the heavy black pen in Joe’s outstretched hand. This was what I wanted, after all.Evermorewas so close to being finalized, and I could bask in the glory of achieving what I’d set out to do. My chemists now had everything they needed to extract the oils and prove that Summit was peerless in the industry.

So why did I feel like something was still missing as I leaned over to sign?

13

PIPER

“The colors areallwrong,” Chloe wailed, her voice cracking as she stared in the mirror at her bridesmaids. Her eyes were glassy with the kind of frustration that comes from too many sleepless nights and too much pressure.

Her friends Payton, Caroline, and Emma looked at each other wordlessly, like they had no clue how to console their teary-eyed friend. I’d only just met them, and I couldn’t figure out why I, Chloe’s newest addition to her friend roster, was the only one willing to help solve the latest wedding disaster in the making.

“What don’t you like?” I asked. “Because I think our dresses arebeautiful.”

And they were. But poor Chloe was so primed for every aspect of her wedding to blow up that she couldn’t see reason. We were in a pricey boutique in a huge white fitting room with multiple bottles of champagne chilling, which should’ve made the fitting celebratory, but Chloe was inconsolable.

She sniffled and walked closer to where we were standing in a line in front of the mirror, wearing the dresses she apparentlyhated. “I know you probably think I’m overreacting, but…” She hesitated, her voice small now, fragile. “I asked for shades of pale pink, and Caroline’s dress is…It’s just sobright.Almost neon.” She plucked at the draped fabric at the waistline. “And Emma’s dress is so pale it’s almost white! Yours is the only one that’s close to what I was imagining, Piper, and it still doesn’t seem right.”

I thought my dress was absolutely perfect, but attempts to tell her that weren’t doing any good. Clearly, this was about more than the dresses. I had to find another way of tackling the situation.

“Yeah, I see what you mean,” Emma agreed before I could say anything. “They’re a mess.”

It was gasoline on a brushfire.

“Thank you, Iknow!” Chloe huffed, throwing her head back. “I just…I really don’t want to be a control freak, but they’re…they’re wrong, and I don’t know what to do about it. They’re justwrong!”

“Oh, now hold on, I wouldn’t say that,” I volunteered quickly, because I could see that Payton was about to add her two cents out of solidarity. The last thing we needed was to add more fuel to the fire when Chloe was this close to exploding. “They’re all in the same color family, but not exactly the same, which is what you wanted, and Caroline’s dress is bright but not neon. Why don’t we get the swatch palette to check the dye lot?”

“No,” Chloe sobbed. “It’s no use, I just…I hate them. I don’t even know why. I just do.” She held a tissue up to her nose. “What are we going todo?”

The shop attendant must’ve heard the wailing, and she came rushing in. “What’s happening in here?”

“We hate the dresses,” Chloe cried. “I don’t know, maybe I need to have new ones made!”

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