Save the Date

“No—”

“I liked it better longer,” Jenny K. said, which was pretty much par for the course—the two of them could argue about anything, with Priya and Linnie playing peacemaker.

“Did you guys come from the house?” I asked, looking around and not seeing any suitcases. “You get settled in okay?”

“Yes,” Priya said, then rolled her eyes. “But Jenny is worried that having roommates is going to crimp her pickup prospects.” I was about to ask which one when Jenny W. smiled at that and smoothed down her sweater.

“What can I say?” she said, giving me a wink. “I’ve always had good luck at weddings. If you know what I mean.”

“We always know what you mean,” Jenny K. said, rolling her eyes. “And like I told you, you’re not going to find anyone dateable at this wedding.”

“I beg to differ,” J.J. said, smiling widely at them.

“Oh, hey, J.J.,” Jenny K. said. “I didn’t see you there.”

“I bet you ladies might enjoy the attentions of a younger man. Well, not you, Priya,” he said to Priya, who’d gotten engaged last year. “But these ladies, perhaps?” His voice was getting lower with every syllable, to the point where he now sounded like a baritone. Jenny K. just laughed, but I couldn’t help noticing that Jenny W. looked intrigued. “Anyone want a ride on the J train?”

“Okay, stop it,” I said, giving J.J. a shove, which he returned.

“Who needs a drink?” Priya asked, already taking a step toward the bar. I was about to ask for a Diet Coke when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Siobhan

Hey! Two simultaneous situations going on.

Need to talk to you about tomorrow

And also

MY FUTURE ROOMMATE IS THE WORST CALL ME

I had just started to text her back as Danny came to join us, a drink in each hand.

“Hello,” Danny said, leaning over to kiss the bridesmaids’ cheeks. “I thought it suddenly seemed more exciting in here. How are the Jennys tonight?” He held one of the drinks out to me. “Here.”

“Is that my drink?” I asked. I locked my phone and dropped it in my bag. I’d text Siobhan later. I took a sip and smiled. I didn’t like real Cherry Coke, but whenever I was somewhere with an actual bartender, I ordered a Diet Coke with grenadine and extra maraschino cherries.

“Of course,” Danny said. “I know what you drink. I didn’t just get here.”

“Thank you.”

“Why didn’t you bring me anything to drink?” J.J. asked petulantly.

“So, Sheridan,” Jenny K. said, folding her arms, “I hear you sprung a surprise girlfriend on Linnie.”

“I thought I RSVP’d,” Danny said, giving her a bashful smile. “My memory’s going and I’m not even thirty.”

“So, where is she?” Jenny W. asked, looking around.

“She’s around somewhere,” Danny said, gesturing vaguely as he took a sip of his beer, not seeming all that bothered. “I’m sure she’s mingling. Has Mike arrived yet?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Not as far as I can see.” I had angled myself so that I had a clear view of the front door of the Inn, and I’d been keeping my eye on it—which meant I wasn’t paying attention when Jenny W. swiped my drink. “Hey!”

She took a sip of it, then made a face and handed it back to me. “Ugh, what is this?”

“Diet Coke with cherries,” I said, trying not to laugh at the look on her face. “Get your own drink if you don’t like it.”

“Oh, I intend to,” she promised just as Priya came back, holding a glass of champagne.

“So, I got pulled into a conversation with your uncle?” she said, sounding uneasy as she glanced toward the bar. “I think he was trying to get me to invest in some kind of pyramid scheme?”

“Our uncle?” I looked over at the bar to see Stu sitting on one of the stools, gesturing wide as Rodney’s sister slowly backed away from him. “What is Uncle Stu doing here?”

“Uncle Stu came?” J.J. asked, craning his neck to look. “Awesome.”

“Not awesome,” I said. “It’s just supposed to be the wedding party.” I pulled out my phone and texted Bill that we’d be one more at dinner, and he responded immediately with a smiley face and a thumbs-up.

“You know he can’t resist a free dinner,” Danny said, shaking his head.

“It looks like you could use a drink,” J.J. said to Jenny W. in what he probably thought was his suave voice.

She arched an eyebrow at him. “I can get my own drink, J.J.”

“Well, want to buy me one?” Jenny just laughed at that and headed over to the bar, Jenny K. and Priya joining her, and when they were out of earshot, J.J. turned to us. “Think I have a shot there?”

“No,” Danny and I said simultaneously, and he smiled at me. “You owe me a Coke.”

“I think I’ve got a shot,” J.J. insisted, smoothing down his hair and dodging out of the way of Danny, who tried to muss it up again.

“Hey, babe!” I looked up to see my brother waving to Brooke, who crossed over to us, a small, tight smile on her face. “There you are.”

“I’ve been looking for you.”

“I’ve been here,” Danny said, taking her hand and giving it a kiss. “Just hanging out—” Danny stopped talking abruptly, his eyes on the door, and I turned to see what he was looking at.

I pulled in a sharp breath and felt my hand tighten on my sweating glass. Mike was standing in the doorway in a suit and tie, but that wasn’t what I was staring at.

I was looking at Jesse Foster, who was standing next to him.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure as I watched Mike make his way across the lobby, Jesse by his side. Jesse was wearing a dark-blue blazer and a collared shirt, slightly open at the throat. I’d seen him dressed up before—he and Mike had taken prom pictures with their dates at our house Mike’s senior year—but that had seemed like more of a costume, something rented for the night. Right now, Jesse looked so handsome it was like I couldn’t quite take it all in.

“Did you see that Uncle Stu is crashing our rehearsal dinner?” Linnie asked, rolling her eyes as she and Rodney came to join us. “What is everyone staring at?”

“Mike’s here,” J.J. said, nodding toward the door.

Linnie took a sip from her glass of wine and squinted across the room. “Wait, why is Jesse Foster here?”

“I didn’t know he was going to be here,” I said, too loudly and defensively. “Why would I have known that? It’s not like we talk or anything.”

“I wasn’t asking you,” Linnie said, looking a little taken aback.

“I’m just saying, this is news to me too. That’s all.” Everyone was now staring at me, and I took a quick sip of my drink, then coughed as I accidentally choked on it, causing J.J. to whack me hard on the back.

“Mike did RSVP for a plus-one,” Rodney pointed out as he took a sip of his drink. We were all just blatantly staring at them, standing across the room, not even pretending to be doing anything else. “Maybe . . .” He glanced at Linnie. “Are Mike and Jesse like together together?”

“Maybe Corrine ruined all women for him,” J.J. said. “It wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Mike’s gay?” Brooke asked, her brow furrowing. “Wait, who’s Corrine?”

“Jesse’s definitely straight,” I said, realizing a second later that I’d said this with a little too much authority. “I mean, probably. I don’t know. Maybe he’s not. Who can say? Sexuality is a, um, spectrum.” I took another sip of my drink, but when I looked up, I could see Linnie staring at me like she’d just noticed more than I wanted her to.

“Here it comes,” J.J. said, his voice low, and I saw what he was talking about. My parents were walking over to Mike and Jesse, my mother holding on tight to my father’s arm, both of them looking visibly nervous.