Taking the word “emergency” to heart, we all trucked downstairs post haste. Felix answered the door immediately, like he’d just been waiting behind it for us to show up. The worry etched across his face was my first clue something bad was going down. Jules’s appearance sealed the deal.

She was dressed the same as always, casually in a T-shirt and jeans, her hair in a loose ponytail and her face free of any makeup. Nothing all that strange there. It was the look in her eyes though, like someone had simply drained the sparkle and shine from them. Like someone had stolen the real Jules and left only a shell of her behind.

Not even knowing what was up, I wrapped her in a hug, keeping a careful grip on the plate of grilled cheeses I’d brought with me. “What’s going on? Are you alright?”

“No.” She shook her head. “But it’s best we wait until everyone gets here. I only want to have this conversation once.”

“Grilled cheese?” I offered.

Her smile was painted in sad lines. “Thanks, but I can’t eat. Not now.”

Dani inched closer to us, trying not to interrupt. “Hey,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure I gave you your keys back and to thank you for . . . everything.” She shrugged.

I glanced down at the set of keys in her hand, confused. “What’s with the keys?” I left my question general, not really caring which one of them wanted to fork over the answer.

Jules tossed the set of them on the table. “I told Dani she could borrow the Audi to drive up to Concord.”

Something inside me cracked a little. It was probably the wall I’d tried to construct around my heart to keep it safe. In all reality wasn’t much of a wall, more like a haphazardly built, ramshackle fence. “You were going to drive to Concord?”

“Well, I couldn’t fly.” Dani’s cheeks pinkened.

“But you said—” I darted a glance at Jules. “I thought there was a three-hour limit.”

She wouldn’t look at me. “There is.”

She’d been willing to break another rule for me. Risk it to make sure I was okay. The realization snapped any of the last restraint I was holding onto. “I love you,” I blurted.

Jules eyes went wide. “I’m gonna . . .” She pointed to the living room, slipping out from underneath my arm and carefully extracting my plate of food from my hand.

Dani’s hand rested gently against the base of her throat. “Gavin.”

“I know the timing is shit and there’s absolutely nothing romantic about Felix’s kitchen, but I love you, Dani, and I don’t care who hears me say it. I don’t care about any of it. All I care is that you know it. I want you to hear it in case I don’t get another chance to tell you.” I nudged the bottom of her chin so she’d look at me. “I love you Dani. Whenever your birthday is, whatever your name is, even though I know you’re going to leave. Right now, in this moment, I love you.”

Her eyes filled, and she rested her forehead against my chest. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

I rested my chin on top of her head. “It’s always been like this. Just because I didn’t say it earlier doesn’t mean it was any less true then.”

And just because she hadn’t said it back to me, didn’t make that any less true either. Back in the day I would’ve given anything to hear her say those words. I waited, time and time again for them to slip through her lips. Now, I realized, I didn’t need to hear it. She showed it to me in the way she looked at me, the way her eyes would find mine across the room. It was the brush of her hand against mine in passing, the feeling of her legs twisted between mine when we woke up in the morning.

Warmth spread through my shirt and it took me a second to realize she was crying. Ah, shit. That wasn’t what I wanted. “Don’t cry, Dani.”

“It’s not fair,” she whispered, her voice broken.

Another knock sounded through the room and she pushed away from me, turning her back, and pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. She searched out Jules and mouthed, Bathroom?

Jules pointed it out, eyes full of sympathy.

Everyone else filtered into the room together—Ian sans Bianca, Ben with Rachel in tow, and Annabelle, Jules and Felix’s wedding planner. Now, she was an odd addition to the group. Her being her meant it was some sort of wedding related emergency. Dressed sharply in a navy dress, an iPad tucked under one arm, she took in the room in one calculating sweep.

“Let’s take this to the living room,” Felix said, leading the way.

Jules sat in the oversized armchair, Felix at her side. Ian, Ben, and Rachel took one couch, Annabelle and I sat on the other, Daphne perching on the armrest next to me. I left an open cushion between us, which Dani filled as she hurried from the bathroom, no evidence on her face that she’d been crying.

I didn’t miss the looks all of them but Jules cast her way, and I gave them a look right back that said, Cut it the fuck out. I’d stayed out of it when the rest of them had their heads up their asses, which Ben still did, so they needed to mind their own fucking business and stop making Dani feel worse about something she couldn’t even control. If they only knew everything she’d already compromised on to make things work with us, they’d keep their mouths shut.

“Thank you guys for coming,” Jules said, crossing her legs. “I know it was short notice, but, well, we don’t have a lot of time.” Her eyes dropped to her lap and Felix threaded his fingers through hers.

“I think most of you guys know that Jules’s little sister, Elle, has been battling Juvenile Huntington’s.” He tightened his grip on Jules’s hand. “We got a call last night that she’s taken a turn for the worse.”

Rachel’s hand drifted up to cover her mouth.

“We talked about it and it’s really important to both of us that Elle is there for our wedding, and—” His throat worked as he swallowed. “—the current timeline just isn’t going to work.”

Jules turned to Annabelle. “We really appreciate everything you’ve done, but at the end of the day neither of us really cares about a big wedding. What really matters to us is that everyone we love is there. So, we’ve decided to go to town hall next weekend. We’d love if you all—”

“Hold on,” Annabelle interrupted, her gaze dagger sharp. “Town hall?”

“Like Jules said, the where doesn’t matter. The who does,” Felix said sharply.

Her chin lifted. “Are you suggesting that, given a week, I couldn’t put together something for you that’s better than town hall?”

“It would have to be somewhere close to home.” Jules looked to Felix for confirmation. “My family has a lot of property. Not anything gorgeous but a lot of space.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if we could make it work. I don’t have a dress, we’d need—”

“None of which you’d need to worry about.” One perfectly painted fingernail tapped against the screen of her iPad. “That’s my job.”

“You could pull that off?” Felix’s eyes narrowed, assessing her.

“Under two conditions.” She held up two fingers. “One: you give me carte blanche. The food, the music, the dress. All of it. I can make it happen, but I won’t have time to consult you on every decision.”

“Done.” Jules leaned forward, intent. “What else?”

“Two: as fabulous as I am at my job, I’m only one person.” Her gaze circled the room, and before she opened her mouth I already knew what was coming. “In order to pull this off, I need a team. To be frank, I could a hire a team of professionals, but it’d be pricey. If, let’s say, your friends were willing to pitch in—”

“Whatever you guys need,” I interrupted her.

“What Gav said. We’ve got you.” Ian added with a nod. “Bianca’s in a meeting, but I know she’d say the same.”

“Anything I can do to help,” Rachel said.

Ben looked to Annabelle. “Just name it and we’ll get it done.”

I glanced to Dani, waiting to see if she might chime in. She caught Jules’s attention. “If there’s any way I can help, I’m more than happy to.”

My hand gave her knee a squeeze and a second later her fingers laced through mine.

“You’ve got a string quartet at your disposal.” Daphne blushed as all eyes turned to her. “After everything you guys did for me, it’s the very least I can do.”

“Go.” Annabelle flicked a hand at Jules and Felix. “Be with your sister. All you need to do is show up next weekend. We’ll hammer out the rest of the details.”