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“Reynolds, you have a fiancée?” Emily exclaims. “How did we not know about this?”
“Does Nate know?” This comes from Lucy. “Because if he knew and he didn’t tell me, we are going to have words.” Horror dawns on her face. “Oh my gosh, unless he did tell me and I forgot. Baby brain has really been hitting me hard lately.”
“Well, Reed didn’t tell me, that’s for sure!” Emily huffs.
“Hey, guys.” I hold up a hand. “They didn’t know, okay? This was sort of a spontaneous thing.”
They exchange a look. “A spontaneous thing,” Lucy echoes incredulously—probably because, despite what I said to Nora earlier about having changed, the truth is I am actually still very much not spontaneous.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Emily declares. “You’re not spontaneous.” Next to me Nora lets out a tiny laugh. “Not that that’s a bad thing,” Emily hurries to add. “I myself appreciate the satisfaction of having a good plan.”
“Who doesn’t?” Nora agrees with another laugh. “But you’re absolutely right. Jack has always had too good of a head on his shoulders to be given to fits of whimsy.” She squeezes my arm, looking up at me with so much adoration in her eyes my heart swells in my chest. But then I pop it right back to its normal size by reminding myself that she is acting. The adoration is for Emily and Lucy’s benefit, not mine. “Which, of course, is what made it all the more romantic and meaningful when he agreed to my crazy idea to get married today.”
There’s more silence from Emily and Lucy. Silence and lots of blinking, as if they’re both still convinced this is all a dream and they’re trying to wake themselves up.
“Okay, but who even are you?” Lucy asks, then blushes. “Sorry, that came out ruder than I intended. I just meant, what’s your name?”
“And how do you know Reynolds?” Emily adds. Their gazes have turned suspicious. Which is both touching and annoying at the same time. What do they think she’s after, my money or something? Ha! If only they knew how much my savings have been depleted by my sister’s living expenses. Besides, I’m a detective, not like I make the big bucks to begin with.
Nora actually seems annoyed by the interrogation as well. I can tell she’s trying to hide it with a plastered-on smile, but her grip on my arm has tightened and there’s an almost imperceptible narrowing to her eyes.
“Actually, I’ve known Jack,” she emphasizes her use of my first name, “for years. We used to date.”
Alarm bells start ringing in my head. This is the point where I should swoop in and announce that this is my ex, Nora. The one I’ve only mentioned once, maybe twice—right, ladies? But before I can give them this pointed hint, Lucy beats me to the punch, outing me for the lovesick fool I am.
“Oh my gosh, you’re Nora! The Nora!” she exclaims in delight. “I can’t believe it! It’s so nice to finally meet you!”
Great. Just great. I don’t dare look at Nora to see how she’s reacting to this evidence of my unrequited feelings for her.
“Nora!” Emily chimes in, gasping with delight, thereby piling onto the heap of embarrassment I’m already buried under. “Ah! This is so exciting! We’ve all been rooting for you two to get back together and now you have! And not only that, but you’re getting married! We have to tell Mel. You know Mel, right, Nora?” She fumbles around in her purse, pulling out her phone. “Oh shoot!” she exclaims in dismay as she presses the button on the side. “I forgot my phone died. I never charged it last night.” She grimaces. “I hope Reed hasn’t been trying to get a hold of me. I haven’t seen him since he disappeared in the middle of the night on some case. He still wasn’t back this morning.” She eyes me. “You know anything about last night’s case, Reynolds?”
I freeze, temporarily forgetting my embarrassment over their Nora display. “Last night’s case,” I squeak. “Nope. Haven’t heard anything about it. I’m off-duty.”
“Plus he lost his phone,” Nora pipes up helpfully. I finally chance it and look down at her. She’s smiling sunnily at Emily and Lucy, looking like the cat that caught the canary. Perfect. Somehow–despite the fact that we're getting married to protect her from being convicted of murder–she’s turned the tables on me and now she has the upperhand headed into this marriage. All because my best friends can’t keep quiet about the personal matters of my heart.
Oh, who am I kidding? She's had the upperhand all along.
Emily sighs, looking down at the black screen of her phone. “Maybe I should call Reed and make sure everything is okay. Lucy, can I borrow your phone?”
“No!” Nora and I both cry in unison. Emily and Lucy swivel their heads to stare at us in shock.
“I mean, no,” I say more calmly. “Please don’t call him. We, uh, want our wedding to be a surprise.”
“A surprise? Why?” Lucy asks with a frown. “The whole point of a wedding is to celebrate your union surrounded by family and friends.”
“Usually yes, but part of the reason Nora and I decided to elope was to avoid the hoopla of a big wedding.”
“Avoid the hoopla,” Lucy echoes in confusion. “But why?”
Why? Good question. I scramble for a response, then hear myself echo Nora’s earlier words to me. “Nora is a private person.”
“Oh.” Lucy looks unsatisfied by this.
“Yup,” Nora agrees. “That’s me. Private, private, private.”
Lucy frowns in disapproval, but then quickly rearranges her expression when Emily elbows her in the side. “Our friend Becca is the same way,” Emily says kindly. “She really values her privacy.”
“That’s true,” Lucy agrees. “Although she’s still having a wedding,” she says this almost hopefully, like maybe we’ll change our minds upon hearing it.
