Page 71 of The Wedding Wrecker

"Maggie!"

"What? I'm just saying, maybe there's a reason you can't keep your hands off each other. Chemistry like that doesn't come along every day."

I felt my face heat. "We're not... I mean, we haven't actually..."

"Wait, what? All this sexual tension and you haven't sealed the deal yet? What are you waiting for?"

"I mean, we’ve definitely come close. But I thought if we stopped short of full-blown… you know. It might keep things from escalating and getting too complicated too fast. This way, it’s just… casual.” I watched one of the climbers drop from the very top of the wall without a moment of hesitation, landing easily.

I didn’t understand how they did that. What if they land on the mat wrong? What if their body just snaps in half, as bodies tend to do when falling from twenty feet in the air?

Maggie's laugh echoed through the phone. "Honey, there is nothing casual about the way you talk about this man. You're already in deep. The only question is whether you're brave enough to admit it."

I was saved from answering by the appearance of my mother at the entrance to the climbing room. She spotted me and waved, then pointed toward the bar next door. I wondered if she was planning to continue our interrupted conversation about James from earlier.

"I have to go," I told Maggie. "Somehow… my mom found me.”

“Not as sneaky as you thought you were,” Maggie laughed. “Anyway. Think about what I said. And Emma?”

"Yeah?"

"Most of the things worth having are the ones that are scary at first. Wouldn’t you rather know you tried and failed than wonder what would have happened if you gave things a shot? Just something to think about…."

I found my mom at the bar back in the main lobby area, nursing what looked like a gin and tonic. She'd tied her silver hair back in a neat bun, but her usually impeccable makeup was slightly smudged.

“How’d you find me in there?” I asked as I took the seat next to her. I asked the bartender for a water. My failed attempts at climbing had me sweaty and thirsty.

“Trial and error,” my mom said simply.

I grinned. “You okay?” I asked. “I’ve hardly talked to you. And I haven’t evenseendad once. Literally. Not once.”

She smiled into her glass. “He’s doing fine. He started a new book series and I can’t get him to leave the room for anything. But he’ll show for the ceremony.I think,” she added.

I swallowed. “The ceremony you hired James Carter to sabotage?”

My mom shrank a little, making me immediately feel guilty. “I know… I’m not pretending I know I did the right thing. All I know is I’m trying my best to protect Lily, just like I’d try to protect you. And I hate the way this feels. I’m constantly…” she clutched a fist over her stomach, grimacing. “It’s like my insides are balled up day and night over this. Part of me wants him to find nothing, and the other part doesn’t believe there’s nothing to find. I don’t know if I’ll feel good either way.”

"Have you talked to him? Has he found anything?"

"No. But..." She took a long drink. "I see the way Richard Wellington and Dick slide off and whisper every chance they get. They are hiding something. I just know it.”

"But that doesn't mean Marcus is bad for Lily."

"You really believe that?"

I thought about how happy my sister looked with him. How his face lit up when she entered a room. The way they seemed to orbit each other naturally, like they couldn't help but be drawn together.

And yes, Marcus had a tendency to be on his phone when I wished he’d be more present with Lily. Sometimes, he looked like he was hardly paying attention, even when he was looking right at her. But did any of that mean they shouldn’t get married?

"I think... I think love isn't always perfect." The words felt strange in my mouth. "Sometimes good people come with complicated families. Sometimes the fairy tale has a few rough edges. And maybe the best relationships come from a little compromise and work. I don’t think many of them just arrive perfect right out of the package, you know?"

Mom studied my face. "You sound different."

"Different how?"

"Less... certain. You used to be so black and white about these things. A perfect wedding for the perfect couple leading to the perfect marriage."

I traced patterns in the condensation on my water glass. "Maybe I've been wondering if I was wrong about all that. I’m gettingolder and I still have yet to meet the perfect guy. How long do I wait before I admit I may be going about it wrong?”

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