Page 27 of I Always Will

She interacted in the group, she replied and gave opinions, and she even responded to things Hailey said—but only in the group. Each time her stomach clenched when a notification from Hailey came in, she took a deep breath, shook it off, and replied as if she weren’t talking to Hailey Davis. And, for the most part, Hailey seemed to be following her lead. There had been a couple of times Hailey had gotten a little too bold for Alexandria’s liking and had referenced something from their past, but she’d always done it in a way that didn’t allow Alexandria to call her out. Not that she would, anyway, but Hailey was walking the line between overt and plausible deniability, and the only one who knew she was doing it was Alexandria. It was infuriating.

Alexandria had even changed Hailey’s contact in her phone to a name that felt more appropriate and which inspired the correct feelings of disdain. As opposed to whatever it was that ‘Hailey Davis’had been inspiring.

It was helping. Sort of. But now, she was back in Newell and they were close together again. Pretending not to care about her, to be entirely indifferent, was all good and well through a text message. How was she supposed to pull that off in person? Perhaps she could just ignore her for the most part? Perhaps she could put on an expression of neutral disinterest? Perhaps she wouldn’t even see her? Alexandria was only here for a couple of hours for wedding dress shopping. How likely was it that Esme would be bringing her boss, who was also her wedding caterer, to try on dresses? That wasn’t protocol at all.

Daniel pulled the car up outside his flat and texted Esme that they were there. Their mother was apparently making her own way to the first shop. Alexandria wondered whether that was his choice or hers.

“You’ll try to keep Mum busy?” he said, looking urgently at Alexandria as they waited for Esme to join them.

“Of course.”

“And you’ll intervene if she tries to say something horrible about the wedding or the dress or Esme?” He looked so sad, it broke Alexandria's heart. He usually allowed their mum’s nonsense to roll off his back. If it bothered him this much, it was either really bad or really upsetting Esme. Or both. And Alexandria didn’t like that at all.

“I’ll do everything I can to keep her quiet and Esme happy, I promise.” She meant it. This day was not supposed to be their mother’s. Her opinion on any of it, no matter how forcefully given, was entirely irrelevant.

Alexandria wished she were surprised that their mum was giving up a whole afternoon of her time to do this, but she’d seen her at dinner, and she’d heard from Daniel how many times he’d been called to their parents’ house for dinner and an intervention in the last two weeks.

She wondered when their parents might give up. They were halfway to the wedding already. It wasn’t going anywhere, and Daniel and Esme seemed happy. Yes, it was quick, but what did it matter, really?

Alexandria spotted Esme walking towards them, her long, flowy dress billowing behind her in the wind and seeming somewhat unseasonal for late October, but it felt very her.

She jumped out of the car, holding the passenger seat door for Esme.

“Alexandria!” Esme beamed, giving her a quick hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” Alexandria said, not going into details. Esme didn’t need to know that she was most glad to be there to protect Esme from her mother. Though, she couldn’t help but wonder whether Daniel and Esme were both using her full name as some sort of bribe for her presence. Whatever it was, she wasn’t questioning it. There were far too many other things to worry about. And she’d have come no matter what they called her. Not that she’d tell them that, though.

She clambered into the back of the small car as Esme got into the front and scooted her chair forward a little to give Alexandria more leg space. It wasn’t much, but she appreciated it.

“I’m really scared your mum’s going to be angry with me,” Esme said nervously, shifting in her seat to look back at Alexandria as best she could, as Daniel pulled away and set off for the town centre. “I think she has ideas about what a wedding is supposed to look like, what the dress should be like, whatIshould be like… I don’t think she’s going to like what I’m looking to wear.”

Alexandria’s heart gave an unpleasant tug. She hadn’t known Esme for very long, but she knew she was usually sunshine incarnate. And, even if they’d never met, deep down, she’d have known Esme would be like that. She was exactly the type of person Alexandria had always imagined Daniel would marry, exactly the kind of person that matched him.

Of course, she had a lifelong crush on Hailey and they were nothing alike on the surface, but still…

She mustered a wide smile. “What kind of dress are you hoping for?”

Esme smiled shyly. “Well, obviously not one that’s like… tailored to me and stuff. We don’t have time for that. They’re very pretty, but they’re not very me, you know?”

Alexandria nodded. She could see that. There were a million kinds of wedding dresses out there and, probably, something for everyone, but something about Esme felt wilder and freer than your average wedding dress. Plus, they had a time crunch. Alexandria would probably have died if it were two weeks before her wedding and she didn’t have an outfit.

“I think something flowy,” Esme said, staring dreamily into the middle distance. Alexandria would take that. If she knew what they were looking for and Esme was focused on having a great day rather than her future mother-in-law, they were off to a good start. “And I think something with colour. White dresses are really pretty, but I think I want something bright or patterned. Maybe flowers. Something bright. That’ll stand out so nicely in November too.”

“It will definitely do that,” Alexandria said, smiling without having to try. If Daniel had taken her to a traditional wedding dress boutique and asked her to pick out a dress for Esme, she knew she’d have looked for something flowing, a little different, floral, and colourful. It was the perfect idea for her.

Alexandria just had to keep her mother on side and prevent her from trying to get Esme into something that had dropped in from the Victorian era—fine for those who wanted that. Absolutely not Esme’s style.

Or worse, talking her out of the wedding altogether.

Weren’t Sundays supposed to be relaxing?Wedding planning was a nightmare. She suddenly saw the benefit of condensing it into thirty-two days.

They arrived in a fancier part of the city centre on a street lined with places to buy formal wear and designer goods. Alexandria jumped out of the car to give them a minute. Her mother loved this street but she was certain to have complaints about it today.

“Okay,” Esme said, stepping out beside her and slipping an arm through one of Alexandria’s, pressing the two of them together. Whether it was for warmth, comfort, or both, Alexandria wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t going to argue. They were a united front today. And every day moving forward. Daniel might be a little impulsive, but he’d found someone he loved and who seemed to adore him too, and that was more than enough for Alexandria. As it should be for their mother.

“Great,” she said, momentarily squeezing Esme’s arm tighter to hers. She wasn’t this person usually. She wasn’t touchy-feely and soft and close with people she’d just met. She was, however, good at anticipating people’s needs and understanding what they wanted. It wasn’t often she was willing to give it if they wanted more of her than she was comfortable giving, but with Esme, she felt okay. It was like Esme was just another part of Daniel. Like they really were two parts of the same whole. She shook her head wondering when she’d gotten so sappy. “Where are we starting?”

“Oh, right up here,” Esme giggled, pulling Alexandria forward to where a woman even tinier than her was waiting.

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