Page 80 of Kissing for Keeps
I hesitate.
“Just tell me, Jack. Put me out of my misery.”
I set my phone down on the table. “The band can’t make it.”
28
SIENA
I’m dead inside,gaping at Jack, trying to comprehend what he just said. When the seconds tick by, Jack takes a few steps in my direction. “It’s okay. We’ll figure something out.”
The band isn’t coming. The band Madi was super jazzed about will not be providing the music at her wedding. How is that okay? “Something like what?” My words sound as dead as I feel.
Jack shrugs. “I’ll play the kazoo or the recorder or something. It’ll be great. Very original.”
When I don’t laugh, he takes my hands again, his expression more serious. “Really, though, just leave it to me. The chateau has a speaker system, right? I can DJ. I did it once at a high school dance, and it was a pretty big hit. I promise to play less Usher at the wedding, though.”
I pull my hands from his and get out my phone, navigating to my email and typing in the search bar. This can’t be real. There has to be a mistake. I pull up the email thread I had with the band and scroll through it.
Jack’s eyes are on me as I scan the initial emails I sent back and forth with them.
There it is: July 9th. Crystal clear. “I really told them the wrong date.” I stare at the error, sick inside. How could I have made such a stupid mistake? The ninth is the civil ceremony,notthe reception. It’s like the election all over again, and I’m ruining Madi’s wedding just like I ruined the election. I’ve already ruined my friendship with her; she just doesn’t know it yet.
Jack takes the phone from my hands and puts it on the table next to his. “Hey.” He tips my chin up and meets my gaze. “I’ll handle it, okay? The band is my responsibility. Cell D32 says as much. Don’t you worry about it.”
Gosh, I want to do what he’s saying. I don’t want this weight on my shoulders. “Handle it how? I’m assuming they can’t come on the wedding day?”
He shakes his head. “They’re booked for another wedding. But I’ll figure something out. I’ve got this.”
I can’t believe I messed this up. The image in my mind of the perfect reception with lovely music playing in the background has been completely destroyed. All that’s left is the gaping hole of awkward silence that will inevitably happen between reception events. That or Jack scratching records.
I shake my head at his reassurance that he’s got this, but why? Clearly,Ican’t be relied upon to get things done. Jack would probably do better. But what if he doesn’t?
“Give me a chance,” he says. “Let me do this for you. For Madi.”
I meet his gaze, thinking about the times he’s mentioned not wanting to help for fear of messing things up. He seems to think that’s how Madi sees him: a big screw-up.
But right now, he’s offering to take this on. And right now, I’m feeling ready to shed the burden onto his shoulders. Heaven knows they’re solid enough.
I swallow and nod.
He smiles softly, a hint of sympathy there. “It’s all going to be okay.”
I shut my eyes. “I don’t want it to be okay, though, Jack. I wanted it to beincredible.”
He plays with a lock of hair that didn’t make it into my ponytail. I should stop him, but I don’t. It’s comforting, having him here with me, sharing in this terrible moment. It would be so much worse alone.
“Yeah, that’s what I meant,” he says. “It’ll beincrediblyokay.”
I laugh reluctantly. “That sounds worse than okay.”
He scrunches his nose. “It does, doesn’t it? But it’s not. Prepare to be amazed.”
He’s trying so hard to make this less awful than it is, and I appreciate it more than he knows. I have to accept that Madi’s brother might be the DJ at her wedding and that the couple’s first dance might be to Usher.
My phone dings, and I pull it out. It’s another email from Richard Harrison. I sigh and shove it back in my pocket.
“Text from Philippe?”
