Page 23 of Feels Like the First Time
That earned her a small chuckle.
“He’s already tried, and Nolan hasn’t returned his call.” This time when her sister faced her, there was nothing but desperation in her eyes. “I’m not asking for your kidney or even for you to lie and say you like Jamie. All I am asking for is a simple phone call to establish a connection.”
“You’re willing to use your wedding and my relationship with a client, my professional relationship, to get Jamie that connection?” Ali asked.
“Yup,” she said, sounding suspiciously shrill, the way she sounded when she was trying hard to be selfless. “An opportunity is an opportunity.”
Ali was shocked. Not that Bridget would try to leverage Ali’s connection to further herself, or her fiancé’s career. When her sister was in a new relationship, it was all about melding into the man’s world, proving to be an asset in his life—and into his industry. She’d done the same thing for Hawk, going from hockey-hater to the best wife-ager in the NHL, orchestrating and maintaining the celebrity rise of Hawk’s career.
Until there was no career to maintain.
But no matter how much of a catch this new guy was, Ali never dreamed that Bridget would agree to let her future wedding double as a business opportunity. Weddings were what she lived for. She’d already planned her first five by the time she was thirteen.
“And what happens if your opportunity creates waves and messes up my opportunity?” Nolan had so many unique pieces to photograph, and while it wasn’t up to him which ones made the spread, he had some influence over the final layout.
“It won’t,” Bridget promised.
Ali drew in a deep breath and decided to go for honest. “Fine, next time I talk to him, I will mention Jamie’s project, not the wedding, just the project. But in return, I need to know if you really want this engagement party?” She held up the file. “Or is it your way of getting back at me?”
“Everything isn’t about you, Aliana.” Bridget lifted her wineglass to her lips and took a sip, her eyes amused. “And what would I be getting you back for anyway?”
“I don’t know, telling the groomer you wanted a lion cut on your cat when you asked for a line cut, wearing combat boots to your wedding, telling Jamie you have a weird fetish for loafers with tassels.”
Bridget swirled her wine. “Pretending you and Hawk are a thing?”
Ali ignored this, instead focusing on the real issue, and the reason she’d driven three hours to confront her sister. “Look, if you’re pissed at me, fine. But don’t take it out on Dad. He will do anything to make you happy, and you and I both know that there is no way he can pull this off and not feel like he disappointed you. You’re setting him up to fail and it’s going to break his heart.”
“I didn’t know I was being such a pest to him. I mean, he was the one who said he wanted it to be the party of my dreams,” Bridget argued. “I told him something small and quaint.”
“Then what’s all this?” Ali held up the binder.
“That is the engagement party of my dreams, which he had Mom send to him when I reiterated small and quaint.”
Shame and a bit of guilt welled up, because Ali had come here under the assumption that it was Bridget setting her dad up. In reality, it had been Gail’s doing. And Ali couldn’t come up with a single reason why her mom would do that to Marty. Unless…
“Is she using this to spend time with Dad?”
Bridget’s face fell, as did all her earlier posturing. “Is it so hard to believe that I regret not having Dad more involved last time?” she said with so much hurt in her voice, it sliced through Ali. “I never expected him to be into all the wedding stuff, but when he seemed so excited at dinner, I figured maybe this was a chance for him and me to connect on something that interests me. Something other than fishing and sailing.”
And here Ali thought that she was the sister who was misunderstood and overlooked. “So you want to plan this with Dad?”
“Planning my own party would be weird.” She wrinkled her nose. “But helping him from the sidelines might be fun.”
Ali saw the genuine longing in her sister’s eyes. It matched Ali’s when she’d been younger and was still optimistic that one day Gail would realize she couldn’t live without Ali and come home. She would never get that with her mom, but Marty and Bridget still had a chance.
“It will take more than you being on the sidelines for Dad to pull this off,” Ali said, gentle warning in her voice, a long-forgotten protectiveness settling in her chest. Not just for Marty, but also for Bridget.
Bridget smiled. “Which is why I was hoping my maid of honor would help him. Dad thinks she and I could also use some quality connecting.”
Ali’s palms started to sweat. “So the bubblegum pink satin, that was your way of asking me to be your maid of honor?”
“Nope.” Bridget opened the door and turned to walk back into the party, pausing at the threshold. “I was going to call you tomorrow and ask. The fuchsia silk, that’s payback. Tell Hawk I say hi.”
