Page 2 of The Chances We Take

Okay, not helpful, but let’s see what we’re working with. I gently nudged her aside so I could get a clearer view of what could only be described as Hurricane Ellison.

Her checklist was a bit of a disaster.

“Um…” This was not the time for words to fail me.

Panic overtook her features, and I gave her a reassuring glance as I continued to look over her checklist.

She still had to finalize the guest list, send out invitations, and choose a wedding cake. There were also hair and makeup trials, writing vows, and finalizing thereception menu, but those things could wait for a moment, especially since some of it would have to be done back in Montana. We had already picked out bridesmaid dresses, and I had planned the bachelorette party with her old college roommate, so we really weren’t that behind. Just enough to, understandably, make Ellison panic a little.

“Let’s start with the guest list and invitations,” I decided. Best not to stress her out even more with making the big decisions. Besides, the guest list was practically done; she just had to make the final touches.

Ellison was only in Houston for a couple weeks before she had to go back to Montana. She worked in Miles City—a short drive from the ranch in Silver Creek—and had also started teaching local kids how to ride. But she still tried to come back to Texas as often as her busy schedule would let her. Thankfully, her boss was understanding and flexible with the wedding coming up, but this meant we needed to do as much as we could while we were in the same place. Planning a wedding over FaceTime really wasn’t the same.

She nodded in agreement as I quickly sent a text to Reid, Colter’s best friend and the best man, who had become a close friend over the past year and half of knowing him.

SOS drowning in wedding planning over here

Reid

If Ellie would let us help we would

yeah i know

I couldn’t help but be amused by the situation.

“How do you want to do this? You tackle one half ofthe guest list, I tackle the other?” I looked up from my phone, doing my best to hide my smile.

“Yeah, that sounds good!” she agreed.

We got to work stuffing invitations into envelopes, addressing them with some of the labels we had printed out prior, then sealing them with a wax stamp. My playlist of Phoebe Bridgers, LANY, and Taylor Swift played in the background as we worked, a stark contrast to the ’90s country she usually had on. For a while, we let the music surround us, and occasionally I’d catch Ellison humming along to a song she would normally protest.

“So, have you talked to Reid much lately?” Ellison asked, knowing full-well who I was texting.

“Yeah, we talk a bit.” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.

The truth was, Reid and I talked almost every day. We were close friends, although part of me wished it was something more. He understood me—listened to me—better than a lot of my girlfriends did, sometimes even Ellison. I knew most of my friends expected me to be the bubbly sunshine of the group, because that was the side of me they always saw. Other than my younger sister Amelia, he was one of few people who didn’t expect me to act a certain way.

I didn’t have to pretend with Reid.

I understood why Colter and Ellison felt comfortable with him. He’d been described several times as the “therapist” friend of the group, and it made a lot more sense as I got to know him. He always knew the right things to say to make someone feel better.

“A bit?” She eyed me as she stuck a wax seal on an envelope. “Care to elaborate?”

“I don’t know. We just talk. Kind of like how you andColter used to talk all the time,” I teased, immediately regretting bringing up her relationship with Colter.

“Oh, I see.” She smirked. “I seem to recall you giving me a lot of shit for texting Colter all day every day and saying we weren’t officially dating but may as well have been.”

I frowned. “This is different, though, Ells. Reid doesn’t see me like that. We’re just friends, that’s it.”

“If you say so.”

I vaguely remembered saying,“If you say so,”back when she met Colter for the first time, but I wasn’t going to read into it.

I couldn’t.

As much as I adored Reid, I knew friends were all we would ever be. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I was good enough for him or had self-worth issues—I knew any guy would be lucky to have me—but there was too much risk of ruining what Reid and I had.

“Besides him not helping with wedding stuff, how is Colter?” I changed the subject before we spiraled down a Reid rabbit hole.

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