Page 1 of Always a Bridesmaid

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Jane Pearce survived by a steady diet of color-coded tabs, an extensive planner, and a roll of open-in-case-of-emergency chocolate doughnuts. As a bridesmaid for hire, organization was a necessity. Chocolate was a way of life.

She had taken a happenstance, filling in as a bridesmaid at a complete stranger’s wedding—because why not?—and turned it into a budding empire. As the co-founder of Bride Buddies, Jane took her job as always a bridesmaid and never the bride seriously.

There were three main reasons people hired Jane. The first one was obvious and sad, they just didn’t have any friends. The second was more common: their other bridesmaids were drama-causing, unsupportive, hot-messes who needed to be wrangled by a professional. Most brides were honest with their friends and family about hiring a professional bridesmaid, and Jane attended those events as herself. But the third, and Jane’s favorite kind of hire, was when someone wanted her identity to remain a secret, and this was where Jane shined.

She’d played the role of a distant cousin, a stepdaughter once removed, and the college roommate. This meant collectingextensive files on the entire wedding party, a detailed family history, and creating a believable origin story between Jane and the bride-to-be. The key was knowing her facts and sticking as close to the truth as possible.

Did she dream of walking down the aisle with that veil trailing behind her, a diamond winking off her ring finger, the man of her dreams waiting for her on the other side of the altar? Sure, didn’t most women? But for now, she was happy playing Cupid’s wingwoman.

Juggling multiple weddings per week every year, not including dress fittings, engagement parties, and bridal showers, Jane had mastered the art of blending into the bridal landscape, but her latest gig posed a unique challenge. She would be portraying an actual person at her first international event for a high-profile client.

Okay, so Sarah wasn’t so much high-profile as was her older brother. But because of his athletic prowess and international fame, her role-playing had to be on point. Just to be considered for the job, there was a complete background check conducted on her; her business partner, Roxy; their company; not to mention the NDAs they signed. None of that would deter Jane. An event of this magnitude, and a payout this huge, was going to take Bridal Buddies from a two-person, besties-boutique firm into a high-profile company that offered top-of-the-line services for brides all around the world.

This would only be possible if they had the money to expand their business and include a diverse range of bridesmaids for hire. Bridesmaids who would allow Jane to focus on growing and running a seven-figure company, which had been her dream since college. She’d always been business-minded—that she got to help other women in the process only made her job that much better.

As it stood now, she was the face and the backbone of the company, which was why things were falling through the cracks as of late. Like forgetting to set her alarm when she took a nap and waking up an hour late for her red-eye flight, which forced her to forgo a shower and head off to Austin-Bergstorm International Airport in black leggings, an oversized sweatshirt with a dark smudge on the sleeve—which she’d put her money on was chocolate—and a ball cap.

The line for the bag check was longer than Space Mountain at Disneyland and she’d been rammed and bammed by so many passengers it was like being trapped in a game of bumper cars without a bumper. She’d had her toe stepped on, her right boob elbowed, and coffee dripped on her left. There were only three checkers working, and she was positive that if things didn’t turn around fast, she’d miss her flight—which would mean she’d have less time to settle in and prepare for the biggest job of her career thus far.

“This is why I should’ve just brought a carry-on,” Jane mumbled to herself. “One less line to stand in.”

“Oh, those were the days,” the woman beside her said. The woman looked exhausted. She had an infant strapped to her like she was tandem skydiving, a toddler holding her hand, and enough bags to open a luggage shop. “I’m lucky to get out of the house without needing a bellhop.”

“Though I can’t really stuff a bridesmaid dress into an oversized backpack.” Not to mention the wigs and other necessities one needs when moonlighting as a master of disguise.

Jane wasn’t just a bridesmaid for hire this trip, she was playing the role of an actual person: Elle Vaughn, Manhattan socialite, accomplished equestrian, and the bride-to-be’s childhood best friend, who had recently sold Sarah out by revealing private information to the press about her olderbrother. Since the bride had been talking about Elle nonstop to her family and admitting to Elle’s betrayal would mean having to come clean about nearly costing her brother his big racing contract, Sarah couldn’t have a bridesmaid be a no-show. Enter Jane and Bride Buddies.

“A wedding,” the woman said dreamily. “I remember those days. My friends and I are now in the swollen ankles and breast-pumping phase. A night with martinis and menus that aren’t peanut- and gluten-free sounds like a dream.”

“I do love me a good wedding,” Jane had to admit. The flowers, the glowing bride, the first dance, the romance of it all. They were like the fairy tales Jane used to weave about her father when her mom’s military career had taken them all around the world and she would rather say her dad was a roadie with whatever her favorite band was at that time than admit that he was dead.

“Where are you headed? Tell me it’s someplace beautiful.” The woman’s eyes were wide and expectant as if hanging on Jane’s every word.

“London actually.”

“Is it a destination wedding?”

“No. It’s for my childhood best friend. She’s from there,” Jane said, pulling up all the details like a spreadsheet in her mind. Her back straightened, her words became more precise—more Upper East Side Elle and less middle-class Jane. “We met at equestrian camp when we were just thirteen. Every summer we’d bunk together and throughout the years we’d write to each other. We had journals we’d pass back and forth, sharing our secrets and dreams. By the time we aged out of camp and pen-pal antics, our friendship was cemented.”

It took everything Jane had not to gag on that lie. The truth of it was, just two weeks ago, Sarah had been inches from killing Elle. As Jane understood it, Sarah trusted Elle with a secretabout her brother and Elle went straight to TMZ. Henry was still in the dark about how his secret meeting with a rival team became public knowledge, and Sarah wanted to keep it that way, at least until after the wedding. So she’d hired Jane to play the role of Elle.

Armed with tales of s’mores, friendship bracelets, and secret midnight swims—and every detail of Elle’s history that Roxy could scour from online—Jane was determined to make this her best performance yet. She’d been training her entire life for this, after all.

“That is so sweet.”

“I’ve never met her family.” Thank god for that. It was the only way this particular job was going to work. “So this should be a fun trip.” Seven days to play the part of a backstabbing socialite? And help a distressed bride in need? She was up to the challenge. Jane loved helping other people turn what could have been a traumatic experience into something to be treasured.

She knew trauma, had lived it. So if she could save just one person from that kind of pain, then her hard work was worth it.

“Oh, I think you’re up,” the woman said, looking past her to the travel attendant standing behind the counter.

“That’s me. It was lovely meeting you and I hope you have a safe trip.”

“Have a martini or three for me.”

“I will!”

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