Page 22 of Feels Like the First Time
Ali sighed at the reminder, then walked up the front steps, where she could see her sister inside—entertaining a group of suits. Ali glanced down at her faded jeans andBITE MEtee and considered leaving and coming back another time. But it seemed that she’d used up all of her stealth moves on Hawk, because Bridget looked right at her through the window and motioned for her to come to the door.
The front door opened and Bridget stood there looking like a model from one of the magazine clippings Ali had in her hand. She also looked genuinely excited to see Ali.
“Thank God you’re here,” she said, slipping out on the porch and closing the door. “Jamie’s colleague Stew was trying to explain to me how he was the reason that Y2K never happened.”
“Stew, the not-as-handsome-as-Jamie guy you were trying to set me up with?”
“Mom tried to set you up with,” Bridget said, then looked behind her again at the crowd inside.
“I didn’t know you were having an announcement party or I would have just called.”
Bridget waved a hand. “This isn’t for the wedding, it’s just Jamie’s monthly mingle night for his clients. They talk tech, trends, and—”
“Croquet?”
“I was going to say zoning laws.”
Three things Ali couldn’t see Bridget being interested in. “Sounds thrilling. I won’t keep you.”
“Don’t worry, he won’t even notice I’m gone,” Bridget said as if that wasn’t another reason to kick the pecker to the curb. “Are you here to tell me that you talked to Nolan Landon?”
“I built him a glorified pergola; I don’t go to Sunday dinners at his house.” Ali snorted. “So no, I have not and will not ever talk to Nolan Landon about having my sister’s wedding at his place. Plus, with your ex being a good friend of his, it might be awkward. For everyone.”
“Marriages end every day, Ali. It doesn’t mean people have to take sides.”
“I’m not taking sides. I’m telling you it’s not a fit. His place is a few hours from Seattle.”
“But only thirty minutes from here.”
Ali stopped short at that. Bridget was considering getting married in Destiny Bay, the place she used to bemoan visiting?
“What’s up? You and I both know that getting marriedhere, in an estate in the woods, is not your style,” Ali said, thinking of the exposed steel beams, concrete floors, and glass and stone walls. Not a single pastel in the color scheme.
Bridget walked over to the edge of the porch and leaned against the railing. “I have less than a month to plan a wedding before Jamie starts in on some big project. So unless I want to wait a year, or have it at Jamie’s parents’ summer house in Palm Beach, I need to make it work. Somehow, the idea of plastic flamingos and ninety-eight percent humidity have opened me up to out-of-the-box ideas.”
“Why not wait then?” Ali asked, going to stand next to Bridget, and for a moment it felt as if they were kids again, hanging out on the porch, while other people controlled their world. “Take the year and plan the wedding you really want.”
Bridget blew out a breath. “I want to start my life with Jamie now. I’m tired of waiting.”
“And you have to get married to do that?” Ali honestly asked, because as far as she was concerned, life started without a partner.
“Yes,” her sister said, and Ali found herself equally surprised and saddened by her sister’s admission.
“And before you judge me…”
“I’m not judging you,” she said quietly.
“Yes, you are. That little pucker you get in your forehead when you’re about to say something judgy is fetching.” She pressed her pointer hard against Ali’s forehead and pulled it up. “And while I get that this all sounds silly to a person like you who isn’t afraid to go it alone, I’m not you. And I don’t know how to be alone.” Bridget slid her a sad look.
Andthatwas one of the realest things Bridget had said to Ali since they were kids and snuck out onto the sailboat to watch the sunrise, and Bridget said she was making a memory because after the sun was wide awake, nothing would ever be the same.
“I’m not afraid of going it alone, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice to have someone I love by my side,” Ali said and the two of them stood quietly, watching the sun slowly sink beneath the skyline of Seattle.
When the sun went from blue to orange, and streaks of pink started to bleed in, Ali turned to her sister. “I’m not saying yes, but how does Jamie feel about tying the knot at his wife’s ex-husband’s friend’s house?”
“It was his idea,” Bridget said with such a fragile smile, Ali knew she was about as excited at the prospect of having the wedding there as Nolan would be hosting it. “He’s trying to build a new campus for a big environmental tech in Seattle and wants to get Nolan on board as the architect.”
“Then Jamie should ask Siri for the number to Landon Designs.” Ali nudged her sister’s elbow with her own. “You can tell him that she will even dial for him.”
