Page 49 of The Wedding Twist

Back to the couch?she thought. “Maybe Allen’s?” Celeste said. It was just far enough out of town that they likely wouldn’t run into anyone they knew.

She noted Ava’s lips purse slightly. “Not Allen’s,” she said. “Let’s just go into town. I don’t want to drive.” The way Ava flinched at the mention of the popular nightspot was a bit strange, but Celeste didn’t argue. If they ended up running into old friends, at least she could leave Ava behind and not have to worry about a ride.

They walked through the wooded path into town, which took them a bit out of the way, but walking at the side of the highway at night, where there was only a gravel shoulder, was a bad idea, especially after a drink or two.

Best Case Brewery was on Keystone Ridge’s main strip and was operated by two former lawyers and best friends who’d left the profession to pursue their other dream. The brewery served several different types of beer but also had a great cocktail menu and, apparently, poured shots.

“Thanks,” Ava said, sliding her credit card across the bar to the young bartender. “I’ll start a tab.”

“Seriously?” Celeste said, trailing her sister to a high-top table near the window. “Shots? What are we, twenty-three years old?”

“I never get to go out anymore,” Ava said. She placed the shot glasses on the table, shrugged off her jacket, and slung it over her stool, then nodded at the table. “It’s Saturday night. Indulge me.” Ava held up her shot glass to clink against Celeste’s.

She tipped her head back, then grimaced as the tequila burned the back of her throat. “Ugh. Tequila will forever remind me of Jordan Randall’s party in grade twelve.”

Ava laughed. “How many weeks were we grounded for that summer?”

“At least three for me. Maybe only two for you.” Celeste had broken the rules very few times in her life, but when she had, she’d made it count. Ava had only been fifteen at the time and begged Celeste to bring her with her. She had refused until Ava had threatened to spill to their parents about the blow-out party, and she’d begrudgingly brought her sister along.

Another girl at the party had given Celeste a dirty look for talking to her boyfriend, and Ava had sloshed her cheap beer in the girl’s face and threatened to rip her ponytail extension off.

Maybe it was the tequila, but Celeste’s heart warmed at the thought of her sister going to bat for her like that. Ava was tough. She was complicated. But she was so fiercely loyal, and the fact that she’d driven all the way from the city to take Celeste out meant a lot. She took a deep breath and decided to go all in. “Next shot’s on me. Then Robyn or Sia?”

Ava’s face lit up and a devilish smile crossed her face. “Now we’re talking.”

Celeste collected two more shots from the bar and held them in the spaces between her pointer and middle fingers and middle and ring fingers as she leaned over to request a song from the DJ, who looked like he’d just walked out of his high school exams, then returned to the table to join her sister.

“Speaking of talking…”

Celeste waited. Ava wasn’t a talker, but she sensed her sister had dragged her out to do more than drink.

“Okay?” Celeste said.

“Quinn told me she found you in the office in tears last night.”

“Yeah,” Celeste said. She stared at the coaster on the table and scraped at the edges of it with her thumbnail.

“Want to tell me what that’s all about?”

“Not really.”

“Come on.”

Celeste looked at her sister pointedly. “That’s pretty rich coming from you, the world’s most secretive person.”

Ava leaned in. “Except I know you want to talk.”

Celeste sighed. She did, actually, although she was worried about getting all teary in such a public place, where she recognized at least half of the other guests. “Fine. I’ll tell you what happened, but I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Ava nodded. “I think I really screwed things up with Jack. He’s been so supportive and so there for me, and I didn’t even think about the fact that my leaving town would be a dealbreaker.”

“Leaving town?” Ava said.

“I got a job offer in BC.”

Her sister raised an eyebrow. “I’m assuming you haven’t told Mom and Dad.”

“No. And don’t say anything. I’m going to tell them tomorrow.”

“I won’t.” She paused. “And Jack didn’t jump up and down at the news. Celeste, come on, what did you expect?”

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