Christine winced. “I never meant to steal him, you know,” she said. “I just found him incredibly attractive from the first time you brought him home. And he was always so nice to me, you know? Like, he puts up with my bullshit. And when I found out that it was me he really liked… well, I just couldn’t resist, I guess. It was shitty of me, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I should have told you.”
“It’s okay. Sometimes stuff happens and we don’t realize what’s going on till it’s too late. Or, we try to deny it and then we are only fooling ourselves.”
Christine stared hard at her sister. “You talking about Alex?”
Jamie flushed. “Um…”
“He’s here with you right now, isn’t he? I was definitely wrong about him not ever liking you, that’s for sure.”
“What do you mean? Because he threatened Stephen?”
“Not just that,” Christine said. Her eyes widened. “You have no idea, do you?”
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just… mom told me, okay? And I guess you should probably know.”
Jamie’s stomach slowly started to clench again. “Tell me what, Christine?”
“The day before Dad called you, Alex showed up at his office. Dad didn’t want to see him, of course, but he also knew Alex Reid isn’t someone you ignore. So, he made Alex wait in the waiting room for a couple hours while he handled ‘pressing work’. He, apparently, didn’t even go to the bathroom in that time. When Dad finally couldn’t avoid it, he let Alex into his office. He wasn’t planning on actually listening to whatever Alex wanted to talk to him about, but Alex made him. I guess they talked well into the evening about how Dad needed to reconnect with you, and he refused to leave until Dad agreed to call and ask you out for lunch.”
“That was nice of him.” She smiled, not completely sure what to make of the situation. “Mr. Reid went through some personal family things and probably didn’t want us to go through the same thing.”
“Whatever,” Christine scoffed. “There’s no doubt Alex likes you. No, I take that back. I bet he’s completely in love with you.”
Jamie blushed and bit her lip. “I’m sure Alex didn’t go to see Dad. He probably bumped into Dad on the street and told him to call me.”
Christine nodded. “That’s not how Mom told me. We talked about it for hours one night.”
“Seriously?” Jamie smirked. “You had a wedding to plan and you had nothing better to talk about than me?”
“Mom and I still like a piece of hot gossip, even if it’s about your love life.” She grinned at her sister. “He really, really likes you. Doesn’t he?”
Jamie pressed her cool hands against her burning cheeks. “Hey, this day is supposed to be about you, remember?” She handed her sister a lipstick tube. “Fix the last bit of your face. As soon as Mom gets back, I’ll fix your dress.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Jamie.”
“Me, too.”
“So, you made it through,” Alex said, pouring them both a glass of champagne. “How do you feel?”
“Relieved,” Jamie said honestly. “But it’s not over yet.” She looked around at everyone enjoying their meals and making polite chatter about the wedding ceremony. At the sweetheart table, Christine was leaning into a very uncomfortable Stephen, who kept looking fearfully at Alex and Jamie. Christine, however, looked more content than Jamie had seen her in a long time.
“Don’t worry,” Alex whispered to her. “Christine will whip him into husband material soon enough.”
“I think they look adorable together,” Jamie’s mom broke in. She and Jamie’s father were their only two dinner companions, much to Jamie’s relief. The last thing she wanted was to talk to any of Stephen’s or Christine’s shallow friends.
Jamie’s dad rolled his eyes. “I hope he knows that I can make it look like an accident if he hurts her.” He looked directly at Alex when he said it.
Alex gave such a slight nod that Jamie just caught.
“Okay,” she said. “Christine told me everything about what happened between the two of you.” She pointed at both men at the table who simultaneously groaned.
“I can’t believe you told Christine!” Alex pointed a fork at Jamie’s father and chuckled. “I told you I didn’t want Jamie to know and you told her sister!”
“I didn’t tell Christine, I told my wife!” The older man turned an accusing eye on his wife. “I didn’t know she’d blab it out.”
Jamie’s mom held up her hand in defense. “Look,” she said. “Nobody said anything about keeping it a secret from Christine. I’m so not to blame here.”