Page 16 of Always a Bridesmaid

“This is why you hired me. Now, did you get it on your dress?” she said calmly, as it had happened to so many brides in the past. “Not to worry. Just some baking soda and fizzy water and it will come out in a flash.”

“No. The wine that was being imported from France is destroyed. There was a run-in with a chicken truck. No chickens were hurt in the accident.”

“Thank god,” Jane deadpanned.

“But they got splattered by the overturned barrels of wine. It was a gift from my mother’s old friend Andre. Now I have no wine for the rehearsal dinner, which is French-themed, so I need French wine. And I have to tell Andre about not receiving his gift. What am I going to do?”

Jane sat next to Sarah and took her hand. “You are going to do nothing. You are going to enjoy your stay at the spa with your friends and sister and have a relaxing time while I, your bridesmaid for hire, take care of this.”

She blinked back the tears. “Are you sure?”

“This is why you hired me.”

Sarah pulled Jane in for a bone-crushing hug. “Thank god for you.”

“You’re welcome. But we also need to talk.”

Sarah went white as rice. “About what?”

“Elle.”

Sarah wrung her hands. “What about her?”

“She put bleach in your shampoo?”

Her head snapped up. “Who told you that?”

“Your brother. But it should have been you.”

She dropped her head in her hands. Jane rested a hand on Sarah’s leg. “I need you to be straight up with me. About everything. When I get caught off guard, I make mistakes and now your brother is suspicious.”

Sarah straightened like she’d been bit by a snake. “What? No, no, no. Henry can’t find out. Then I’ll have to tell him why I’m no longer friends with Elle, that it was because of me and my fat mouth that Elle told the tabloids about him considering signingwith another team. It will only convince him everyone is out to get him. He can never find out.”

“He won’t, I swear. But this will only work if you are completely transparent and follow the rules. Like no coming to my room unannounced. I can’t risk anyone seeing me out of costume. Always text me and I will come to you,” Jane reminded her.

“Why?” she asked, and Jane pointed to her Bride Board. Sarah gasped. “Oh my goodness. Are you like a spy or something?”

More like an imposter. An interloper who jumped from one wedding to the next pretending to be other people so she didn’t have time to examine her life too closely. And for a while it worked. But lately it had become lonely. Which was why she wanted to expand her business. She loved love and romance and happily ever after. Like her dad, she was a hopeless romantic, but she was starting to forget who Jane was, and it would be nice to know who was staring back at her in the mirror every once in a while.

“Or something. Now back to Elle. What else do I need to know?”

“She could be a bitch, but when she was nice you felt like the only person in the world. I was a scholarship kid.Thescholarship kid at camp. No one wanted to be my friend, but she let me in her group. And I know it sounds stupid now, but at the time I just wanted a place to fit. My dad had just left, we’d lost our home, Henry was living in the dorms and training, and the only place where I got to be a normal kid was at summer camp. And Elle wrote me every month like clockwork. Those journals we passed back and forth were my lifeline. But when we’d see each other at camp she’d go back to being Mean Elle. But then we hit college, she outgrew her mean streak, and our friendship matured. She’s been there for me through a lot.”

“She sold your family out to a tabloid.”

“Yeah.” Sarah sniffled. “I keep forgetting. It’s easier to forget a broken heart than relive it all day long.”

“Later you and I will chat about anything else your family might know about you and Elle. That way I’m not ambushed.”

“I really am sorry.”

“It’s okay. I get wanting to hide the hurt parts of your soul. After my dad died, I used to make up stories about what great adventure he was on so that kids wouldn’t know he was gone.”

“I’m sorry about your dad.”

“Me too,” Jane said and took a deep breath. “Now, back to Elle the Bridesmaid. She has a wedding to save.”

Sarah suddenly stood. “My brother! He’s waiting downstairs to drive me, now you, to another winery.”

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