The Bridal Squad

by Samantha Chase

  Yeah. It was that glorious.

  Unfortunately, Harper had a point and as soon as Julianne had gotten home, she talked to Gavin about it.

  “How was class tonight?” he asked as soon as he walked in the door and kissed her.

  “It was good,” she’d said. “Good crowd. Lots of newbies.”

  “And you pulled a double? You must be beat.” He was always concerned about her because he knew how vigorous the Zumba classes were. He’d been rummaging around the refrigerator for something to eat when she’d sat down on one of the stools at their kitchen island and told him about Brady and the kickboxing.

  With a chicken leg between his teeth, he’d turned and faced her. “So you…you boxed? Like with gloves?”

  She nodded.

  He took the poultry from his mouth and closed the refrigerator door. “And did it help?”

  “Oh God, yes,” she said with a sigh of relief. “Gavin, I’m telling you, I didn’t realize how…how much I was keeping things bottled up until I finally found an outlet! It was…it just felt so good!”

  He took another bite of the chicken. “And you don’t think the same thing could have been accomplished by telling your sister and the girls and your mom to just shut the fuck up?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at that. Gavin had a way about him that even when he said something like that, he said it with a smile and still managed to get his point across.

  “I’ve been asking the girls to behave and they haven’t. I have yet to have words with my mom but that’s coming soon.”

  And then she did something that she rarely did.

  She began to cry.

  Gavin was instantly there, wrapping her in his arms. “Hey, hey,” he said quietly, combing her hair away from her face. “What’s going on?”

  Then she blubbered on for fifteen minutes about her fight with Harper and how she felt bad about it.

  “And…and…and I get why she’s upset and why the things my mom says upset her, but she has to know that it doesn’t mean anything, right? Mom’s just not thinking! And now she doesn’t want to talk to me and she doesn’t want to come dress shopping with me and…”

  Gavin tucked a finger under her chin and gently forced her to look up at him. “You know who’s at fault here, don’t you?”

  She nodded.

  “I think we need to have your folks over for dinner and then both of us will talk to them. Together. What do you say?”

  She’d said that he was the most wonderful man in the history of the world. She agreed with his suggestion but that wasn’t happening until tomorrow, so it meant she was shopping for wedding gowns without her sister.

  They hadn’t even seen the first dress and Julianne already knew she wasn’t going to pick one today. She couldn’t. More than anyone, she looked up to her sister and valued her opinion, and she had a lot of resentment toward their mother right now for ruining this day for her.

  For them.

  And for what? Why was she being so damn hard on Harper? It wasn’t as if any of her engagements got as far as planning a wedding and putting down deposits so her parents never lost money on anything. Harper usually knew before any money was spent that things weren’t right. Sure she could have maybe figured it out a little sooner, but the way her mother had been sticking it to her, you would think the invitations had been sent or that her sister left the guys at the altar!

  That was something she was going to bring up tomorrow when her parents came for dinner.

  Thank God for Gavin and his rational thinking.

  Honestly, she didn’t know what she’d do without him.

  Then he’d asked her to show him some of her new boxing moves and…well…things had taken a very playful turn and they ended up making love on the living room floor.

  Yeah. She was a lucky, lucky woman.

  Julianne broke out of her reverie when she heard voices approaching. She turned to see her mother, Gavin’s mother, her grandmother and her Aunt Maryann coming through the door. For a moment, Julianne got her hopes up that Harper had changed her mind and was here with them, but after a quick look and a head count, she knew she wasn’t there.

  “There’s my beautiful bride-to-be,” her mother said as she walked through the door. At fifty, Melinda Burke did not look her age.

  She looked ten years younger, easily, and had the energy level to back it up. She was stylishly dressed in cream-colored wool slacks, matching ankle boots and a navy sweater.

  “Look at me,” she said, doing a sassy little spin, “I wore your colors today to show my support!”

  Julianne couldn’t help but smile as her mother kissed her on the cheek. “You look great, Mom. And the colors look great on you.”

  With a little wave, Melinda stepped back and said her hellos to Kayla and Natalie and before the conversation could go any further, Hailey came over to greet them and immediately began ushering them toward the seating area.

  It was amazing how she seemed to know exactly when she was needed, Julianne thought.

  Maybe she’d invite Hailey to join them for dinner tomorrow night…

  Kayla touched her arm to stop her before they followed the rest of the group. “Where’s Harper? I thought she was meeting us here.”

  “Why? Did you talk to her? Did she tell you that?”

  “No…I just thought since she didn’t come to Zumba this morning that she’d meet us here. What’s going on?”

  Julianne sighed and cursed the sting of tears that threatened to fall. “We had a fight the other night and…I don’t know…things just got a little out of hand and she stormed off and told me she wasn’t coming this week.”

  “What’d you fight about?”

  She snorted. “Everything. It just seemed to snowball and I know I was just being unreasonable – partly because of how frustrated I’ve been and why I was taking the kickboxing lesson – and I took it out on her.”

  Kayla hugged her before taking a step back. “I’m sure she poked at you a little too. It’s how you two are. You rarely fight but when you do, it’s a two-way thing. I’m sure she’ll cool down and everything will be fine.”

  “I don’t know,” Julianne said. “This whole thing with my mom harping on her about the engagements is really getting to her. And me. Gavin suggested sitting my parents down and talking to them about it.”

  “Sounds like a good idea…”

  “They’re coming for dinner tomorrow,” Julianne said flatly.

  “And that doesn’t make you happy?”

  She shook her head.

  “But…why? This seems like a good thing. You and Gavin make an excellent tag team. When things get awkward for you, he’ll step in and help out. Plus, your parents love him and normally listen to everything he says. So really, I’d suggest letting him do all the talking!”

  Julianne chuckled. She knew Kayla was trying to cheer her up, but she was also right. Her parents did seem to take everything Gavin said as gospel and tended to listen to him more than anyone.

  “Feel better?” Kayla asked hopefully.

  But she didn’t. “Either way, my sister’s not here. I’m supposed to pick my wedding gown today and Harper’s not here to help. We always talked about this day and she’s given me great advice so far. She has impeccable taste and has steered me away from things I thought looked good but in reality, didn’t…”

  “So call her!” Kayla looked over her shoulder. “Hailey’s got everyone entertained at the moment so why don’t you go outside, calm down and call Harper. I’m sure if you just extended the olive branch, she’d hop in her car and come right over.”

  She had to think about that for a moment. For the last several days, Julianne knew she really hadn’t put much effort into reaching out to Harper. Partly because she was still mad, but mainly because she was being a brat.

  “Come on, Jules. What have you got to lose?”

  “She could tell me to fuck off,” Julianne countered.

  “Oh, please. When was the la
st time Harper said that to you?”

  “Under her breath on Tuesday night when she stormed off.”

  Kayla arched a brow at her as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Really?”

  “Well…the look she gave me clearly said that.”

  “Jules…”

  “Okay, okay. Fine. I’ll try. But…don’t tell anyone I’m doing it. I don’t want…”

  “Julianne Marie Burke…”

  Uh-oh. Too late.

  “These nice ladies have a beautiful assortment of gowns waiting for you. What is the holdup?”

  “Um…sorry, Mom. I just needed a minute to talk to Kayla.”

  “I raised you to be more respectful than that,” her mother said. “It’s bad enough that your sister didn’t have the decency to show up today. You’d think after all the times we all had to go dress shopping with her…”

  “Twice!” Julianne snapped. “We went dress shopping with Harper twice. Why do you do that?”

  Her mother blinked at her in confusion. “Do what?”

  “Exaggerate? Make it sound worse than it was? Yes, Harper’s been engaged three times but you make it sound like she ran out on the day of the wedding each time! It wasn’t like that and you know it!”

  “Maybe wait until tomorrow…” Kayla said under her breath, turning her back on Mrs. Burke.

  “Julianne, that is just ridiculous. I do not do that!” her mother said defensively.

  “You just did! You just stood here and made it sound as if you’d made dozens of trips to shop for gowns with Harper when, in fact, it was two times! And one of them was when we were looking for prom dresses for me and Harper was with us and they happened to have a bridal section at the boutique!”

  “Julianne…”

  “And if you’ll remember correctly, Harper didn’t want to try on dresses. You talked her into it! You picked out the dresses! You practically wrestled her into a fitting room!”

  Hailey and Angie came walking out toward them. “Is everything all right out here?” Angie asked nervously.

  Kayla looked between mother and daughter and then to Angie and Hailey. “They’re fine. Just a little misunderstanding.” She sighed. “Jules? Why don’t you go and make your call while your mom and I head back over to the sitting room and have some coffee?”

  With her heart beating madly, she couldn’t speak. She simply nodded. As they were all walking away, she heard Kayla ask, “So there’s muffins, right? Chocolate chip?”

  Julianne rolled her eyes. How it was possible that Kayla was still in such great shape when she ate like a teenage boy going through a growth spurt was beyond her.

  Unfortunately, she had more important things to think about, like calling Harper. She knew everyone was waiting for her but until she got things cleared up, it was pointless to try on anything. Pulling her phone from her purse, she pulled up her sister’s number and hit send.

  And crossed her fingers that they’d be able to move on from this.

  ****

  “I am a glutton for punishment. I am a glutton for punishment. I am a glutton for punishment.” Harper chanted as she walked across the Enchanted Bridal parking lot. Thirty minutes ago, Juliane called and really, it was the kick in the ass she needed because she had been sitting at home – fully dressed with her hair and makeup done – debating on whether or not to just get in her car and go to the damn shop so she could see her little sister look like a princess.

  So she’d take the verbal abuse from her mother, go home later and eat her weight in cheese dip, then call it a day.

  Not like that hadn’t happened before.

  And not like it won’t happen again.

  Although her sister swore to her that she’d had “firm words” – her words, not Harper’s – with their mother right before calling, Harper was kind of curious to see if it would change anything.

  Maybe for today.

  It would probably be back to the same old, same old by Monday but if she could have even just one snark-free day, she’d take it.

  As she walked through the doors of Enchanted Bridal, it was as if Julianne was watching for her. She was still dressed in her casual clothes – well, her black skinny jeans, high leather boots and ivory sweater. Harper’s usual casual clothes meant yoga pants and a hoodie – and she’d look sloppy – but Julianne would still manage to make that ensemble look glamorous.

  It was a cross she’d learned to bear.

  Harper stood in the lobby and watched as her sister came running toward her and grabbed her in a fierce hug. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered fiercely. “Thank you.”

  And…shit. Now she was going to cry. They both were. It was what they did and then they’d get reprimanded for ruining their makeup. Not that she was going to mention it right now – not with the promise of a well-behaved shopping endeavor. There was no way she was going to be the one to start throwing negative comments around.

  “I was sitting at home hating myself,” Harper said quietly when they pulled apart. “I hated the thought of you finding your gown and me not being there to see it on you first.”

  “Okay, then,” Julianne said, wiping away her tears. “Let’s go find me a gown.”

  “Deal.” They walked back to where the rest of the group was and as Harper said her hellos and kissed her grandmother, aunt and Gavin’s mother, she felt the tell-tale dread building up as she got closer to her mother.

  Just say hello, she silently willed. Just smile and say hello and leave it at that. Please.

  “Hi, Mom,” she said cheerily as she bent down to kiss her mother on the cheek.

  “So glad you could make it, Harper,” her mother said and to the casual observer, it was a perfectly fine comment, but Harper heard the backhanded endearment for what it was.

  “Do you need help with the first dress?” she asked her sister rather than respond to her mother.

  “Why don’t you have a mimosa?” Hailey asked with a serene smile, almost as if she knew why Harper was ready to flee the room. “There’s a tray of them over next to Kayla. We’ve got everything ready for you, Julianne. Penny and I will help you get into the gowns.” Then she addressed the group. “You each have a notepad and pen by you. Please make notes on each of the gowns because if Julianne can’t decide and she needs your input, you’ll remember which dress was which, okay?”

  Everyone nodded and Harper made her way over to the sofa where Kayla and Natalie were sitting.

  Oh, yeah.

  Natalie.

  That was going to be an interesting conversation.

  Harper had been so consumed with her argument with her sister that she hadn’t paid too much attention to the half-naked picture of Natalie she’d received. She knew immediately that it was a wrong text and chose to ignore it. Judging by the way Natalie was biting her lip and trying not to look like in Harper’s direction, she knew they weren’t going to just ignore it and let it go. She almost wanted to bang her head against the wall and ask why – why did they even have to discuss it? So Natalie likes to send her husband sexy texts. So what? Good for them that they do that! And really, kudos to Natalie for looking so great. If anything, Harper had a newfound admiration for her – she had a great body, impressive confidence and she clearly wasn’t as uptight as Harper thought she was.

  There was definitely going to be a conversation.

  Hopefully much later and after a few more mimosas.

  Julianne and Hailey left the room to try on the first gown and Harper sat back with her glass and relaxed. Turning to Kayla, she smiled. “How was class this morning?”

  “I can’t believe you skipped out on it,” Kayla replied with a pout.

  “It’s the first time I’ve done that. Hell, I even came that time when I had the flu.”

  “Sure, that one you refused to miss…”

  Something was on Kayla’s mind and it hit Harper how this was not just going to be a fun, carefree time watching her sister model dresses. It seemed some serious conversations
and therapy were going to go down today too.

  Before she asked Kayla anything else, she reached for a muffin, shifted in her seat to get comfortable and took a sip of her drink. “Okay, what’s going on? Did you get a new assignment?”

  Kayla nodded. “Nevada for a week. I leave on Tuesday.”

  “Oh. Okay. And you don’t want to go to Nevada?” she asked curiously. Could that really be why Kayla was…off?

  She shook her head. “I don’t mind going to Nevada – normally – but this assignment is something any photographer can do. Not to be a snob but…it’s a little beneath me.”

  Ah. Okay, now she knew where this was going. “So you’re upset because Adam gave you a crappy assignment.”

  Another nod.

  “Did you tell him that? Did you say no way or that you’d do this as a favor to him but you wanted the next big thing to come up?”

  This time Kayla shook her head and Harper saw the tears in her eyes.

  Oh. Shit.

  “This isn’t really just about the assignment, is it?” she asked softly.

  “Dammit,” Kayla whispered as she wiped her eyes. “I thought I’d be cried out by now.”

  This time Natalie turned toward them and silently handed Kayla a tissue.

  With a murmured thanks, Kayla blotted her face, let out a weary sigh and then told them about her meeting with Adam. When she was done, both Harper and Natalie let out a similar sigh as they sat back.

  “Damn,” Harper said. “A crappy assignment and a break up.”

  “You should have taken the phone from his hand and smashed it against the wall right before kneeing him in the balls,” Natalie said as she reached for a fresh mimosa.

  Harper didn’t need to look at Kayla to know her expression was just as shocked as her own. “I think we may need to watch how many of those she has,” she whispered to Kayla, who nodded in agreement.

  “I was too shocked to react,” Kayla began. “I mean, my head was spinning from all of it. It’s not that Adam and I were so in love or anything, but I kind of expected…I don’t know…I didn’t expect it to end this way.”

  “No one knows how a relationship is going to end,” Natalie said sadly. “One minute you think everything’s fine and everyone’s happy, and the next…it’s just done. No explanation. No reason for why feelings change.”