Page 8 of Little Gray Dress

Behind me, Lily clears her throat. “Moving on physically isn’t the same as letting go, Ems. We’ve talked about this.”

“It’s true, though. In this case, it means exactly that. I am over Jack. I’m just a little surprised to hear that he’s engaged, that’s all.”

“Good, because this week is not about Jack and Emi for once. It’s about Hannah.”

“And you.” I say to Evan.

“Yes, exactly. So, we’re going to have fun, and things will go smoothly.”

When we pull up to Evan’s house I’m reminded immediately of our parents. He has our dad’s old vintage 1952 Corvette in the driveway. He’s completely redone it and it looks like it just came off the showroom floor of the car dealership. Dad bought the car when Evan was 18 so they could rebuild it together. It turned out gorgeous, and the last time I saw Dad he was driving it to the country club for his weekly game of tennis. That was his last game. He died of a major heart attack right there on the court. For a second my heart hurts as I stare at the car from my seat.

“Kind of sad they can’t be here for the wedding, isn’t it?”

When he says it I realize we are the only two still in the car.

“Yeah. It is. Do you think they knew they’d never see either of us get married when they brought us home?”

Our parents not being here nearly breaks my own heart. How sad to spend your whole life raising these kids and then never getting to celebrate the big moments with them, like weddings and babies.

“Nah, they never felt their age as it was, so I doubt it even crossed their minds. I’m sure they’re around us somewhere. Dad’s probably super-impressed with my more responsible venture into adulthood, and Mom’s probably still wondering when her sweet dizzy Emi will finally grow up.” He laughs until I make a swing for his arm, then jumps out of the car before I can make contact.

“Not even funny,” I say loudly as I get out, heading to the back to grab my bags.

“EMI!” Hannah comes squealing out of the house and engulfs me in a huge hug. Which is a little more than awkward, considering she’s a good nine inches taller than me.

I can’t say that Hannah and I are the best of friends in life, but I think we are just about as close as we’ll ever be. There may always be some lingering jealousy on Hannah’s side that Lily is my best friend and not her. But what can I do about that? Her marrying my brother won’t change the fact that I’ve known Lily since I was six years old. There is also the fact that I’ve always had that feeling that Hannah can change her opinion of someone in a split second over goodness knows what or why.

“Hi, Hannah!” I hug her back, and pretend my cheek isn’t smashed up against her perfect plastic boobs.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” She sets me free and hugs Lily and Josh. “Come in, come in! I’ll show you to your rooms. I’m so excited to show you everything for the wedding in person!”

Evan gives a raised-eyebrow smirk. He’s finally escaped the world of weddings that Hannah has become. She’s now got a new audience in Lily and me. The upcoming wedding is all she talks about. My wedding this and my wedding that is the topic of every phone call we’ve had for the last year. I honestly don’t know what she’ll talk about when this is over, but I imagine her post-wedding depression will be best for me when I’m two thousand miles away and can ignore the call.

“I have seriously shopped myself out this week getting your rooms ready, but since I knew you’d all be here a full week I wanted to make sure you had everything you’d have back home.” I find it hard to believe she is ever seriously done with shopping as I gawk at her fancy house while we follow her up the grandest staircase since Gone with the Wind and into a bedroom more luxurious than I’ve always imagined a room at The Plaza.

“Josh and Lily, this is your room. There are robes for each of you in the bathroom, toiletries that I know you all use and a snack basket on the dresser. If I left anything out just let me know and I’ll send Evan to grab it.”

“Wow, Hannah, you’ve really done too much. The room is beautiful.” Lily beams over at her. “And I thought this wedding wouldn’t be a vacation.”

“Exactly why I did this! I know you two work so hard and I wanted this to be like a vacation.”

Hannah and Lily always get along in a ‘we have to for Emi’s sake’ kind of way. Not that they don’t like each other; they do, mostly. But right now, it’s a little over the top. I’d guess by tomorrow night they’ll be slyly at each other’s throats like a scene from The Real Housewives.

“Now to Emi’s room.”

I follow Hannah out, grabbing my bags I left in the hallway, and into the next room on the right. “Same for you, but I also left a bridesmaid survival kit in here. Everything you might need for your bridesmaid duties or emergencies are in there. It’s so exciting, in a few days we’ll be sisters!” She’s talking much quieter in here, like she’s keeping what we’re saying away from Lily’s ears.

When Hannah first asked me to be a bridesmaid I was afraid to tell Lily. Not because she’d be mad, but because Hannah didn’t ask her to be one too. She had some other friends she’s closer to and thought it would be weird to ask my best friend, who doesn’t always love her, to be in the bridal party. But of course, she invited Lily and Josh as guests and moral support for me.

“Thank you, Hannah. You truly have thought of everything.”

“Grab your dress bag; we’ll put that in here with the rest of the wedding stuff.” She motions to the room across the hall from us. When she opens the door my jaw drops. The room is piled high full of boxes, gift bags, linens, decorations, and dress bags.

“Whoa. This is like a bridal shop. Why is it all here? I thought you hired a wedding planner?”

“I did, but I needed a place to store everything and we have plenty of room. Isn’t it amazing?” She glances around before hanging my dress on the dress rack full of gown bags.

“How many bridesmaids are there?” I count the bags quickly, worried that this wedding might end up like the last scene of 27 Dresses.

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