Page 90 of Best Man
“Well, yeah …”
“Voila. That makes you one of the WAGs; wives and girlfriends.Welcome to the group!”
“Whoa.” Paulina didn’t know what to say. “Crazy.”
“Head spinning yet?”
“Um, yeah. It’s beenspinning for the past month.”
“Savor it. It’s a good feeling,” Piper said with a snicker. “Anyway, I should let you go; I need to get back to work. We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Alright. Thanks for being so cool and understanding about everything. It really means a lot to me.”
“That’s what I’m here for, Paulie.” She waved at the camera. “Bye! Love you!”
“Love you, too!”
The video call ended. Paulina stared at her phone and shook her head with disbelief.
Everyone whom she’d feared might stand in the way of their relationship had happily stepped aside and given the couple their blessings. She was a WAG now—one of the girls.
It was awfully easy, wasn’t it?
Almosttooeasy, in fact.
Paulina hated that she couldn’tfullyenjoy this moment. But deep down, in the pit of her stomach, was a feeling she couldn’t shake. An ominous dread kicked at her belly. Things were simply goingtooeasily. And life never, ever worked like that. Work on a farm for long enough, and you developed a certain skepticism. Youknewthe various ways in which life conspired to screw you over year after year.
But that was farming. This was love. The two were different, right?
Surely.
At least, that’s what Paulina had to tell herself as she put the truck in gear and left the farmer’s market for the last time.
I’m just being crazy because of the distance,she thought.I’m sure everything will feel real once I’m there.
29
Paulina
Two weeks later.
Paulina slept like a rock her first night in Dallas. Jet lag wasn’t quite the right word for the five-hour flight from Montana to Texas. But thanks to a canceled flight, Paulina spent hours aimlessly wandering around in an airport with nothing to do, and didn’t make it into Dallas until after midnight. By the time the taxi cab dropped Paulina off at Jax and Piper’s condo, Piper was passed out on the living room couch and wouldn’t wake. That wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for Piper; Paulina had always known her sister to be a heavy sleeper—she had narcolepsy, after all. And when she passed out, she passed outhard.
The morning after, Paulina woke with a sudden startle in a strange but comfortable bed. The mattress violently shook, jostling and tossing her tired, confused, and disoriented body from side to side.
“Wakey, wakey! Time for eggs and bakey!” Piper jumped on the mattress, her feet stamping all around Paulina’s body. “Aren’t you excited to get up and start your new life in Dallas?!?!”
“Whyyyyyyy?” Paulina pulled the covers over her face and let out a surly groan. “Why must you torture me?”
“Sorry. Ihadto.” Piper giggled, flopped onto her side, and snuggled up next to her sister. “Remember when I was in my grumpy teen phase, and all I wanted to do on the weekend was sleep in? But you wouldn’t let me, because you were still a kid who woke up every morning at the crack of dawn, even on the weekend?”
Paulina remembered, alright. There was a period of time where, every Sunday morning at seven o’clock, she’d wake Piper by jumping on her bed. It seemed so hilarious back then, especially because it made Piper so groggy and crabby—but now? Not so much.
“So this is revenge?” Paulina mumbled. “Guess I deserve it.”
“One part revenge, yes,” Piper admitted. “But it’s already eleven o’clock and if you sleep in all day, we’ll never get done what we wanted to do today. We’ve got places to go. Things to do. People to see!”
Eager to show her sister around Dallas, Piper had scheduled a day full of activities. They were going shopping for clothes and had hair and nail appointments, too—all so they could look nice for tonight. The two couples were being joined by Derek and Katerina for a triple-date dinner.
