(Present Day)

San Francisco, California

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SUBJECT: ANOTHER REAL date.

Hayley,

I want to take you back to Alaska this weekend so we can finish the tour, and then I want to take you somewhere else special next weekend. You’ll need a black dress for both dates.

Corey

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SUBJECT: RE: ANOTHER real date.

Can I have a hint of where you’ll be taking me for the second date? A hint of what we’ll be doing?

Hayley

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SUBJECT: RE: RE: ANOTHER real date.

I can tell you that we’ll be fucking at the end.

Corey

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I BLUSHED AS I READ Corey’s latest email and placed my phone in my purse. I made sure my car was locked, and then I walked across the street to the bridal store where Claire was hosting a last-minute fitting.

When I walked through the white doors, I found myself face to face with her identical twin daughters, Ashley and Caroline. Drop dead gorgeous redheads, they were in their mid-teens, and they were the spitting images of Claire. They were also, unfortunately, incapable of having conversations with people outside of themselves.

“Hey, Ashley and Caroline.” I looked back and forth between them since I still couldn’t tell them apart. “Can you tell me where to find Claire?”

They blinked in unison. Then they looked at each other as if they hadn’t heard a single word I said.

Please don’t do this to me today. Just answer me...

“I like the way Hayley dresses,” Ashley (I think) said. “It’s really cute.”

“Yeah, it’s really classy, but slightly modern at the same time. Do you think she has a stylist?” Caroline (I guess) raised her eyebrow.

“I think she puts her own clothes together. She did own a cute coffee shop, so she has to have some artistic sense.”

“You saw the coffee shop?”

“No, I just saw the pictures when Jonathan talked about it. It was pretty, pretty chic.”

“So, you don’t know where your mom is?” I cleared my throat. “Like, you can’t give me any direction?”

“You know who also dresses nice?” Caroline asked. “Corey. They should shop together.”

“They should be together. They would be a cute, stylish couple. What do you think his style is?”

“Okay, then,” I said, stepping away. “It was nice seeing you again. Thank you both so much for helping me.”

“You’re welcome,” they said in unison. Then they continued talking to each other as if I was never there.

Shaking my head, I walked through the shop’s long and twisted ivory hallways, checking each suite for Claire. It took me eight minutes to find her in a secluded suite in the corner.

“Great!” She stood to her feet as I entered the room. “You’re on time. We’re just double testing the custom hair pieces today, so this won’t take long.” She motioned for me to sit in a stylist’s chair.

“I’m honored you asked me to be in your wedding,” I said. “I’m not sure if Jonathan told you that, but I wanted you to hear it from me.”

“I’m honored you’re going to be in it.” She pulled a brush through my hair. “I think your brother just wants this wedding over and done with.”

“He does.”

We both laughed.

I sat still as she continued straightening my hair, wondering if she did this type of thing for her girls all the time when they were younger. If this is what it felt like to have a mom help you get ready for a special day.

I shook away the thought of my mother and cleared my throat.

“Can I ask you something, Claire?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think it’s possible to fall in love with a close friend, years later?”

“Is this about Corey?” She smiled at me in the mirror.

“Corey who?”

“Corey Walters. The guy who was with you at the private airport weeks ago.”

She saw us? When? “I don’t remember being at the airport recently.”

“Are you sure? I believe I saw you two when I was flying back from my bachelorette party.”

I didn’t say anything, and she laughed softly.

“To answer your question, it depends.” She pulled the brush through my hair again. “So, let’s hypothetically use you and Corey as an example so you can better explain it to a friend, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

“I’m not sure if it’s possible to fall in love with a close friend years later. I think it just means the love never left.”

“But I never loved—” I stopped myself. “My friend never loved this guy when she was younger. She was too young to know what that meant. At least that’s what she thinks.”

“I’m sure she just didn’t know how to handle her feelings back then.”

Silence.

“You should take a look at the party dresses before you leave here,” she said. “They have plenty of options to choose from for the next time Corey takes you on a date.”

“Really? How do the sizes run here? Do they—” I stopped myself. “Nice trip up, Claire. Real smooth.”

“Thank you.” She laughed. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t dare tell Jonathan about you and Corey. It’ll stay between us.”

“Do you think he’d be upset about me dating Corey?”

“I think he’d be utterly outraged.” She smiled. “I also think that days before you plan on telling him—if you plan on telling him, that you should give me an advanced warning.”

“So, you can calm him down for me?”

“No, so I can make sure that I’m halfway across the country and far away from his wrath.” She laughed. “Now, tell me a bit more about when you and Corey were together in your childhood so that I can give you a better answer.”