Page 14 of Little Gray Dress

“Right, yeah. Hi there, nice to meet you all.” I glance around at all the faces who nod excitedly back at me. I only recognize a few of them. I hope they don’t expect me to remember their names. Right now my head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton wool and I can hardly even remember my own name.

“Now, where is my other sister-in-law to be?” There goes her being more considerate to my feelings.

“They ran to their car.” Evan appears wearing an apron with a woman’s body in a bikini on the front, and he’s holding a pair of tongs. “They’ll be right back.”

I turn from Hannah and head back to the cover of their outdoor bar, kitchen area, downing my drink on my way. “What are you doing, Sis?”

“Nothing… I uh—” I quickly finish topping off drink number three and turn to my brother who is poking at the meat on the grill in front of him. “I just needed a bit of liquid encouragement. Ya know?”

“I do know, and I just hope you’ll stop after this one. Jack’s not the guy he once was. The sooner you see that the better.”

“Not the guy he once was? OK, I guess that’s good. What do you mean, though? Like, he’s better than he was? Worse? Is he worse than he was?” Please let him be worse.

Evan turns towards me and rolls his eyes. “OK he’s the same he was but he’s different, more laid back and quiet. I think it’s because of May, his fiancée.”

“Do I know this May?” I’ve been racking my brain since Hannah said her name and I can’t think of anyone named May. I wonder who this mystery girl is and how she is so much better for Jack than I ever was?

“I don’t know… I don’t think so. Just relax.”

Right. I’ll just relax, why didn’t I think of that before? I force myself to take a deep breath. He’s right, even though I hate admitting that. What am I so worried about? It’s not like I was the one that ruined our relationship. If anyone should be worried about tonight I would think it would be Jack. What if I announce exactly why we broke up? That would totally humiliate him in front of his fabulous, I’ll-just-love-her fiancée. Sounds like a fun time to me.

“I’ll be fi—”

When I turn to leave the kitchen, I run right into none other than Jack. If I hadn’t been daydreaming about getting revenge on him I might have noticed him. My freshly-filled beer sloshes down the front of both of us, leaving each of us looking like we just wet our pants.

“Holy shit.” I announce it loud enough to see some heads turn our direction.

“Emi.” Jack holds me out at arm’s length, probably hoping I don’t punch him in the groin. “That was quite a hello.”

I momentarily stare up at him and immediately wish I hadn’t. He’s not worse than he was. He hasn’t gone bald or gained weight. He’s still as gorgeous as he ever was. His dark hair and eyes, his comforting smile, and his cologne, all sink straight into my feelings. Damn it.

Evan hands us each a towel from a cupboard near the grill. I pat myself dry, trying to avoid any more eye contact with Jack at all. While he and Evan laugh at my lack of grace, I slip past him and through the doors of the house.

“Oh my God,” I mumble to myself and try disappearing into the kitchen, hoping that’s where Lily vanished to.

“What happened to you?” She looks at my sodden clothing and laughs.

“I spilled my beer.”

“How?”

“By running into Jack.” I glare at her, whilst trying to squeeze beer out of my top into the sink.

“Oh no, did you get him too?”

“Yup…” I sigh as I lean against the counter. “I can’t do this right now. I wasn’t ready to see him tonight.”

“You never would have been ready. So, go change and get ready.” Lily glares at me with her motherly charm. “Now.”

It takes me only ten minutes to change, and the only reason I come back down to the party is because I’m starving and I smell food. When I walk out everyone is in a line at the outdoor bar counter, filling their plates.

“There she is! Finally,” Evan smiles over at me. “Come grab a plate, Em.”

When I walk towards the bar everyone stares over at me and one face grabs my attention.

“Greta?”

She nods at me. “Emi. Long time no see.” Her perfectly-made-up face glares at me.

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