Page 22 of Forever After All

“What style are you looking for, Jess?” Everly asked.

Jess shrugged and moved a pink fluff of fabric across the rack. “I don’t know.”

“Linc really liked that green dress you wore to the reception last weekend,” Thea said quietly.

Jess gave her new sister-in-law a pointed stare. “What do you mean?”

“She means Linc liked that green dress,” Hadley said.

A weight pressed on Jess’s chest. “Why does it matter what Linc liked?”

“It doesn’t. Unless you want it to matter,” Everly said.

Jess looked back and forth between the other women. “Did Linc say anything about the wedding?”

“No,” Hadley drawled in her sweet, Southern accent. “If he did, what would he have said?”

Jess shook her head. “Nothing. He’s picking me up for the wedding.”

Everly grabbed the rack beside her, but her wide-eyed stare stayed fixed on Jess. “Really?”

“He’s picking you up for a date?” Hadley asked, slowly and carefully.

Jess sighed and continued looking at the dresses. “He didn’t say it was a date.”

“But he didn’t say it wasn’t either, did he?” Hadley asked.

“Double negatives confuse me,” Jess admitted.

“What did he say?” Everly asked.

“He said he could pick me up, we could ride to the wedding together, maybe dance, and then he would take me home.”

Thea’s eyes widened as she looked at Hadley, then Everly.

“What?” Jess asked.

Everly pretended to be interested in the dresses again. “He didn’t say it was a date, but did you ask him if it was?”

“Yes. I did. And he said just what I told you. He didn’t say it was a date.”

He hadn’t. That fact hadn’t escaped her. It wasn’t a date, or Linc would have said it was.

That was the only thing keeping her from pulling her hair out over it. When she was confused, she asked for clarification. She usually got it.

Not this time.

But it was safe to err on the side of caution. If it wasn’t a date, that meant they’d be at the wedding together, but there weren’t any expectations.

“Like I said. Linc liked you in the green dress,” Thea continued. “Maybe look for something dark. Navy would be a nice contrast to your light hair.”

“Liked it? He couldn’t take his eyes off of her,” Everly added with a chuckle.

Jess fought the panic rising in her throat. “You’re seeing things. Linc is my friend. He’s my co-worker. That’s it.”

He was not her love interest.

But… lately, she’d been wondering if things could work out between them.

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