Page 52 of Fauxmance

"You know, Dad would've been all about cutting the cake with a light saber," Jas said.

"He so would have," I said.

She sighed. "And he and Mom would already be out there cutting a rug."

"I hope she dances tonight."

"Me, too."

"Are you—" I cleared my throat, hoping I wouldn't send her crying again, but I had to ask—"are you disappointed there's not going to be a father-daughter dance?"

Jasmine took a deep inhale and exhale. "Disappointed? No. I am a little sad about it, though."

"We can start a new tradition," I offered. "The sister-sister-mother dance. Why didn't I think of this before? We could go out there and tear it up. I'm sure I can choreograph something really fast if you want."

"Thanks, Sis." She smiled, gesturing with her chin to something across the way. "But I think you have other things to worry about."

I immediately noticed that my mother, plus the bridesmaids, had surrounded our table.

Or actually, that was wrong.

They were all standing around Hayden.

Uh oh.

"You better go save him," Jasmine said.

"I'm sure he's fine," I said, staring as Mom threw her head back and laughed at something Hayden had said. "They look like they're having fun."

"Magnolia, the first time Mom met Cole she brought out the baby pictures."

My eyes widened. "She did?"

Jas nodded. "She liked to do that with all the guys I dated. No embarrassing moment was left unshared."

"I better go," I said.

"Good luck."

"Thanks." I walked as fast as I could in high heels. "Hey guys! What's going on?"

Hayden's eyes were bright when they came up to meet mine. "Nothing much. Your mom was just showing me some cool pics on her phone."

"Mom," I mumbled. "Can you please not?"

My mother sounded completely unapologetic as she said, "You and your sister were the cutest babies in existence. I can't help it if people are interested in seeing the evidence."

I gave her a scoff. "Are you saying Hayden actually asked to see pictures of me as a baby? Or did you force the cuteness on him?"

Mom gasped. "I would never!"

"I actually did ask," Hayden said.

I blinked. "Why in the world would you do that?"

He shrugged. "Your mom kept saying what a sweet kid you were, how you went through a phase where you refused to wear anything besides pajamas, and it made me curious."

The fact that Hayden freaking Davenport had probably seen my Care Bear PJs was enough to make me want to run and hide. Had she shown him photos of my awkward-middle-school-boy-band-obsessed phase? I shot Mom a look, but she wasn't giving anything away. That was okay, I decided. I didn't want to know. Unfortunately, it looked like the humiliation was only beginning.

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