One-Off

by Lynn Galli

  “Hi, Van.”

  “Did you teleport here?” His eyes darted around as if searching for the apparatus that allowed me to appear in place.

  “Hard trip?” I watched several of the other crew members from the show stumble off the escalator and over to stand beside Van, grunting at me in greeting.

  “We blew off a little steam last night after completing the interview with the general.”

  “They’re hung over?” I tried to keep the incredulity out of my voice. At least they didn’t have to go into work after this.

  “This is all exhaustion for me, but yeah, most of them.”

  “What about the twins?”

  He winced. “Not exactly hung over, but I’m not sure they’re talking to each other today.”

  I shook my head. They’d had professional disagreements that turned into marathon sessions of the silent treatment. This wouldn’t be anything new.

  Dallas appeared before I could get anything else out of Van. She looked tired but beautiful as always. She hadn’t aged during the trip. If anything, the natural tan she’d acquired made her look younger and healthier. “Skye!” She raced toward me and wrapped me in a hug that swung me off my feet for a second.

  “Welcome back.”

  “Thanks for being here. You’re exactly what I needed today.” She shot a glare over her shoulder in the general direction of Colin, who’d just stepped off the escalator with the rest of the guys on the crew. Her eyes came back and locked in on my hair. “Look at you. Love the red hair. It suits you.”

  A flush hit my cheeks. “I’m glad you approve. I wouldn’t want to ruin your wedding photos.”

  “You could dye it lime green and you’d never ruin the photos.” She wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I can’t wait to hear everything you’ve done.”

  “I brought my car to give you and Colin a ride home.”

  She blew out an exasperated sigh. “Forget him, the heavy handed Neanderthal.”

  “Oh, great,” I muttered.

  “You wouldn’t believe the crap he tried to pull. Told me that I wasn’t going anywhere without his permission. His permission!” Her voice rose and several people turned to look at us. I watched the recognition rise in their eyes.

  “OMG!” two college girls shrieked. “You’re Dallas Knight. Could we get a picture?”

  Dallas smiled her on-air smile. “Sure.”

  I stepped away and watched as the girls surrounded her for a picture. This set off a chain of requests from nearby passengers waiting for the luggage rack to start up. When they saw Colin step up beside her, he got bombarded with requests, too.

  Spotting Dallas’s bag, I grabbed it off the carousel. She caught my move and immediately turned to the people still surrounding her. “Thank you so much. Watch the show Friday night. It’s our best of the year. Let’s go, Skye.”

  I glanced around for Colin, but Dallas was pulling on my arm to get us moving toward the exit. As soon as I shut the door on my car, I turned to Dallas. “What’s going on?”

  “He’s such a man!”

  I refrained from smiling. “That’s how it works when you’re heterosexual, doll.”

  “Shut up,” she said through laughter. “God, it’s good to be with you again.”

  I started the car and got us out of the garage and onto the parkway. “Before you tell me what really happened with your interview mishap, tell me what’s going on with you and Colin.”

  “I didn’t know he could be so heavy handed. He basically told me I wasn’t going anywhere without him again. He made me tell him when I was leaving the room even if I was just going to the gift shop. It was suffocating. I always thought he considered me an equal, but it’s clear he doesn’t.”

  I tried for diplomacy. “I’m sure it stems from your disappearance. If you remember, I basically ordered you not to go anywhere without a team of bodyguards. You’re not pissed at me.”

  “You meant it lovingly.” Her hand squeezed my shoulder briefly. “You didn’t make me get your permission before I went downstairs to get some toothpaste.”

  “You almost slipped right through his hands. You don’t know how out of his mind with worry he was. Ainsley tried to talk him out of rounding up a search posse on his own.”

  Her green eyes rounded. “Ainsley talked to him?”

  “Tori called her into the office when you were missing. We thought Colin could use someone to talk to.”

  “I’m sorry I worried you so much, but it doesn’t excuse his behavior.”

  “Have you told him how you feel about this?”

  “I shouldn’t have to.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes, but she’d had a long trip. At the very least, I could let her complain for the ride home. “As you said, he’s a man. He needs things explained to him. He can’t just read your mind.”

  She sighed loudly. “Not today. I’ve had enough of him today.”

  “You’re not going to be able to do that much longer. Once you’re married, you’re kinda tied to him for a while.”

  She chuckled and nudged my shoulder as I pulled into her drive. Her hand came down on my arm, keeping me from getting out of the car. “Am I making a mistake?”

  Three weeks ago, I would have jumped at the chance to give her pause because it was such a short engagement. Everything was rushed and it relied on me being part of this wedding planning fiasco, but not now that I’ve spent every spare moment of the last three weeks in the wedding planning fiasco. Not when they were so obviously in love. It didn’t matter that I’d be losing my go-to person for all things, well, everything. Drop-bys, get-togethers, all-hour commiserating, and all-day outings were now going to have to be planned out well in advance and limited in time. I liked Colin, but it wouldn’t be the same if all three of us were there instead of just Dallas and me.

  “It’s cold feet.”

  “You think?” Her fingers gripped tighter.

  “I do. You love him, right?”

  Her sigh this time was dreamy. “Yes. He’s perfect.”

  Hardly, but I could keep that to myself. “He treats you well.”

  “Until he turned into a tyrannical asshole this week.”

  “Because he was scared.”

  “He wants me to take his name. He’s really angry I won’t.”

  I pried her fingers off my arm and indicated we should go inside. She’d purchased both sides of a duplex and converted it into a single family dwelling. Unlike my experience, her contractor had done an excellent job from the start.

  “Did you tell him why or did you just laugh in his face when he asked?”

  Dallas slumped onto her favorite chair. She visibly relaxed as soon as she settled in and realized she was back home. “I may have laughed at first because I thought he was joking. I’ve been in the business three years longer. It was my show first. I’m not giving up name recognition just so he can make me submit to some outdated tradition.”

  Dallas Knight had a cool ring to it. Dallas Pruitt didn’t have the same effect. Changing names in her business was always a tricky affair. “It’s probably just an assumption he made. I’m sure if you explain it to him, he’ll be fine with it.”

  “How do you know?” She looked doubtful.

  “His aunt kept her name and, because of a family tradition on her side, gave it to her daughter. I’m sure the idea of his wife keeping her name won’t offend him. He probably just didn’t like how you reacted to his question.”

  “Maybe.” She stared at me for a moment. “How do you know that about his aunt?”

  “I met her back when Ainsley and I roomed together in New York.”

  “How weird is it that this girl you roomed with is the cousin slash best friend of my fiancé? Small world, isn’t it?”

  “I’d say.”

  Her lips quirked. “How has it been?”

  “We have a lot to talk about,” I said but saw her fading quickly. “You should get some rest. Take a night away from Colin and work and the wedding. Y
ou’ll feel better about the whole thing tomorrow.”

  “We have so much to do still, don’t we?”

  Yes, but she was too tired to hear that now. “Everything’s in hand. Tomorrow we’ve got the dress fittings and you’re deciding on the shirt, vest, and jacket combo for Colin’s kilt.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe he’s going through with it. Did you know he doesn’t want any groomsmen except for his cousin?”

  “Ainsley told me. I guess one of their other cousins could stand up for him, but he doesn’t want to make his dad be anything other than the dad.”

  “Well, he’d better find another guy because it’ll be weird having you, Denver, and Savannah standing next to me and only Ainsley next to him.”

  “I’m sure he’s got a buddy he can ask.”

  “He does, he just didn’t want to. Men and weddings, huh?”

  “I’m not all that found of them either, if you’ll remember.”

  She stood and squeezed me to her. “I remember and I’m grateful. Really, Skye. Everything you did for this wedding. I’ll never forgot what a good friend you’ve been through this. I can’t even imagine where we’d be if one or both of my sisters had to arrange everything.”

  “I’m hoping they’ll realize that.”

  She dropped back onto the lounge. She was struggling between wanting to get up to date on everything and relaxing for the night.

  “Get some rest. You’ll need it. You’re putting the show together starting tomorrow. Then we can get every last detail done for the wedding.”

  “You’re the best friend anyone could ask for, Skye. I mean it.”

  I squeezed her hand and let myself out of her house. We both had keys and alarm codes for each other’s houses. That will probably have to change once she’s married, too.

  Twenty-Five

  The bullpen of the magazine show buzzed with energy. After a good night’s sleep in their own beds, everyone seemed to be back to normal aside from the insufferable tans they were all wearing. Running around getting interviews in the southern hemisphere did a world of good to their normally pasty or spray tanned skin tones.

  I walked through toward Dallas’s office after a second meeting with other division heads. She was hunched over her laptop, clicking away on the copy she’d use for voiceover and introductions.

  Her eyes glanced up when I knocked on her doorjamb. “Hey, friend.”

  “How’s the story coming?”

  “It’s going to be amazing.”

  “Feeling better?”

  She nodded at her office door. I turned to shut it. “A little. I called Colin before I went to sleep and apologized for ditching him at the airport. His aunt and cousin were distracting him so he couldn’t get too mad at me.”

  “Would he have?”

  “Probably. We haven’t spent a night apart in over a month.”

  “Did you kiss and make up this morning?”

  “You know we try to keep up professional appearances at work.”

  “You’re going to need to before Saturday night.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Ha-ha.”

  “How’s your foot temp?”

  “You’re just full of jokes today, aren’t you?”

  “Go to lunch together. Someplace private. Talk things over. Make sure he understands that you taking his last name is as ridiculous to you as it would be to him to take yours. Then tell him how it made you feel when he ordered you around and made you tell him where you were every second of the day.” I gave her my most sincere look. “Talk to him, Dallas, or this will be the shortest marriage in history.”

  “What is the shortest marriage in history?”

  “I’m sure there are several drunk Vegas weddings that get annulled the very next day. Let’s try not to break those records, okay?”

  “Have I turned you into a believer, my cynical friend?” she razzed.

  “Not hardly.”

  “But you think we can make it?”

  I hoped so, for her sake. “Yes.” It sounded a lot more definitive than I thought I could pull off, and I was exceptionally happy about it.

  “I really needed to hear that. Thanks.” She smiled and waggled her eyebrows. “Now, tell me how things have been going with Ainsley. Colin spilled the beans about her sexuality. Were you lying about not hooking up with her back when you lived together?”

  I sucked in a surprised breath and immediately wished I hadn’t. Now she had ammunition. “We didn’t live together. We shared an apartment. Two rooms, two beds in each room. I shared with Gwen. I didn’t lie. Ainsley couldn’t stand me.”

  “Are you sure? She doesn’t look at you like she can’t stand you.”

  My head tilted in interest, but I set aside her observation. She was seeing things with wedding bliss eyes. “You’re talking crazy. You’ve barely even seen us together.”

  “You know what I noticed?” She didn’t wait for me to respond. “Every time we went through a door, you or she would hold it open and never once was there an awkward break in stride as the other went through. That happens with you and me sometimes. We both reach for the door together or I grab it and you wait for me to go or aren’t sure if I’m going. Then there’s the way you walk together. You probably don’t notice it because you’re walking, but there’s no extra spacing between you. It’s like you know exactly where she is when you’re walking together.”

  “You’re making that up.”

  “I’m not. I get paid to read body language, and the body language between you two says you were intimate once or want to be. So which is it?”

  I nearly shot out of my seat. She was just trying to rile me up so she could stop focusing on her own cold feet. “Get your mind back on your story.”

  She laughed as I hustled for the door. “I want details when you finally hook up.”

  “Shut your yap.”

  I nearly collided with Colin on my hasty retreat from Dallas’s office. He chuckled and placed his hands on my shoulders to keep from bumping into me.

  “Hey, Skye. Running away from your pal?”

  “She inspires that in me.” My eyes widened when I spotted his aunt and cousin chatting with Floyd at his desk. Knowing Elspeth, she wouldn’t want to put off meeting Dallas any longer. It threw a wrench into my plan for them to talk things out, but we could find a workaround. “You guys need to talk. Tell her how you feel. Remember, she’s her own person and has been for thirty-two years.”

  “I know, I know.” He gave me a guilty look. “I already heard it from Ainsley last night.”

  “Try to remember that your fiancée is as independently minded as your aunt and cousin. If she doesn’t believe you think she’s an equal, you’re in for a hard marriage.”

  “I know, and I do think she is. I was just out of my mind when I thought I might lose her. I’m getting a handle on it.”

  “Tell her that.” I smiled at Ainsley and Elspeth as they joined us. I waved my hand back toward Dallas. “These two need their heads conked together.”

  “I’ll do it,” Ainsley joked and her mother elbowed her but couldn’t hold back a laugh.

  Colin ushered his aunt into Dallas’s office to introduce them. Ainsley and I followed to watch as Dallas forgot all about her irritation with Colin to welcome his beloved aunt with a hug. I breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn’t holding the grudge with Colin against his aunt. That wouldn’t make for a good first impression.

  I glanced at Ainsley, who looked equally happy that the introduction was going well. “Let’s go find some lunch to bring back. Hopefully by then, they’ll have remembered why they’re getting married.” My eyes switched back and forth between Dallas and Colin. Both looked a little guilty at being called out.

  I didn’t give them time to make excuses. I opened the door and looked back for Elspeth and Ainsley but was surprised to see Ainsley already at my side walking through. I was going to give the happy couple one final word of encouragement but found an irritating told-you-so
look on Dallas’s face. My face gave her a haughty you-don’t-know-anything look in reply. I turned and left without a word. Nothing more needed to be said. I’d gotten the couple to realize they needed to talk and gave Dallas fodder to tease me for ages to come. Maybe I was a hell of a lot better at this marriage thing than I ever thought.

  Twenty-Six

  Savannah was being a spoiled brat. The youngest of the Knight sisters, she was obviously used to getting her way. It didn’t matter that she was twenty-nine instead of twelve and standing in an exclusive designer’s dress shop among several people she’d just met. “Why do I have to wear the purple one?” she whined again.

  “Jeez, Detroit, put a sock in it,” Denver taunted, twirling in front of the mirror to inspect all angles of her green dress. She was clearly pleased with Dallas’s choice for bridesmaid dresses. Unlike the typical taffeta deals that hang useless in closets, these dresses could be worn to cocktail parties or work events for years to come.

  “Savannah!” she yelled at her oldest sister.

  I turned away before I started laughing and caught Ainsley’s eye. She and her mother and Colin’s stepmom were staring at Savannah like she’d grown a second head.

  “Will you two can it,” Dallas barked at them through the curtains hiding her in the dressing room.

  “I just don’t understand why we can’t all wear blue.”

  “Because,” Dallas said and left it at that.

  “That’s not an answer, and where the hell is Mom?” Savannah barked back.

  “Her plane was delayed.”

  “She’d be on my side,” Savannah muttered, her eyes returning to the rack that held my dress. “I want to wear Skye’s dress.”

  “You can’t.” Dallas didn’t sound perturbed yet. She had years of experience dealing with her younger sister’s petulance.

  “Why not?”

  I shook my head involuntarily. Ainsley was laughing silently again. Elspeth covered her mouth.

  “You’re wearing purple, Denver’s wearing green, and Skye’s wearing blue.”