We all tipped back our glasses. The whiskey burned all the way down my throat, but I just grinned at my siblings.
The world felt right when we were all together. No matter what challenges we might face, at least we had each other.
Chapter 3
Emery
“Heidi, what are you doing to my hair?” I asked.
Heidi laughed hysterically behind me. “I’m making you look presentable, Em. You just wait. It will come together at the end.”
She threaded a few more strands of my hair into this crazy braid.
If Heidi and I hadn’t been best friends since kindergarten and if I hadn’t known all her deep, dark secrets, I was sure she would have dumped me for the cool crowd. Despite her obsession with geometry, her all black attire, and her pool-slinging skills, she had been a cheerleader and obsessed with popularity.
My sister, Kimber, had been the girlie girl—prom queen, homecoming queen, voted most attractive. The whole shebang.
But not me. Though I never had a problem with finding a date, I had not been the typical teenager. I had played varsity soccer my freshman year, I’d skateboarded circles around the dude-bros in town, and I had made up my mind that my dream job was to become a vampire slayer.
At the time, Landon Wright had tested my friendship with Heidi. Why would the star quarterback have any interest in the loner tomboy? I hadn’t understood it any more than Heidi.
I closed my eyes and pushed the thoughts aside. I was only thinking about Landon because I knew he would be at the wedding this afternoon. He hadn’t crossed my mind in a long time, and I hadn’t seen him in longer.
“I swear, it’s going to be cute,” Heidi assured me.
“I know. I trust you,” I said. “I cannot believe that you talked me into going to this wedding with you. Is it going to be like a high school reunion? I don’t know if I’m prepared for that.”
“It’s not a high school reunion,” Heidi said. “I got invited because I work for the Wrights and, like, half of the company was invited. It’s going to be a big wedding. I doubt you’ll even run into him.”
“I am not worried about running into Landon. It’s been almost ten years since we broke up,” I told her.
“Didn’t he get married anyway?” Heidi asked.
She yanked on my hair, and I winced.
“I don’t follow him. You would know more than I would.” I glared at Heidi in the mirror. “Stop giving me that look. Do you know how many guys I’ve dated since Landon? No, you don’t. Because I can’t even remember, but it’s a lot. And I’m currently sitting right here because of guy trouble.”
“I just know you and Landon,” Heidi said dreamily. “Perfect high school couple. That was, like, the only thing that you beat Kimber in. You and Landon got Best Couple in the yearbook.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please stop reminiscing about high school, or I’ll vomit.”
“You were cute,” Heidi added.
“If you think for a minute that something is going to happen with him at this wedding, you’re out of your mind. Not only is he married, but he’ll also be there with his wife. And, as of today, I’m officially swearing off men.”
Heidi laughed. “Yeah, right, Em,” she said. “You are boy crazy and always have been. Even when you were our little skater girl.”
“Look, Mitch fooled me into thinking that he loved me. He was, like, fifteen years older than me and a total player. I’m almost certain he was sleeping with an undergrad,” I told her. “I mean…how bad is my judgment skewed that I ended up with someone like that? I think I just need to be single for a while.”
“All right,” Heidi said with a shake of her head. Her blonde hair swayed back and forth down against the middle of her back in an amazing wave that she’d somehow created. “More for me tonight.”
“All for you.”
Heidi stepped back and observed her creation. She messed with my bangs and then added one more curl into the end. “There. What do you think?”
I looked in the mirror and hardly recognized myself. While I wasn’t still a tomboy, when I felt down, I’d tend to fall back on old habits, as in no makeup and messy bun galore. But Heidi had practically digitally remastered my face. My makeup was flawless, and the shimmer shadow brought out the green in my eyes. My dark hair was braided into a crown atop my head that wove into a low side ponytail with curls.
“You have a gift,” I told her. “You’ve made me look human again.”
“Go put on your dress,” Heidi said. “I can’t wait to see it all together!”
“All right. All right. I’m going.”
I shimmied into the dress that Heidi had picked out for me from a boutique downtown.