Page 115 of Book Club Confidential

Kate frowned. “Is that where you got the hat too?”

Hallie’s hands rose to her hair, as if she’d temporarily forgotten the little satin accessory. “No. Mrs. Haymaker said it’s some kind of tradition.”

“That’s a weird tradition,” Kate said.

Tessa bumped her elbow into Kate’s side.

“I’m sure she lied,” Hallie said. “I’m trying to pick my battles and focus my frustration on my family. They have to love me, even if I’m difficult. Meanwhile, Bryce hasn’t spoken to me since we left him in the driveway.”

Tessa’s eyes went wide. “That was days ago!”

Hallie nodded. “I didn’t want to argue again. You know I’m terrible at fighting. So I’ve made excuses to stay busy and avoid him. If I stay at his place, I work late on my food truck plans, until he’s asleep, before going to bed.”

“That’s not good,” Kate said. “Do you want me to get him, so the two of you can talk before the rehearsal? It’s getting down to the wire on this whole till-death-do-you-part business.”

She shook her head. “If I let things go, they’ll blow over.”

Tessa formed her blandest expression. Kate cocked one brow.

“What?” Hallie said. “It’s not as if I can call this whole thing off when everyone has flown in from out of town, taken time off work to be here, and spent thousands of dollars on all this.” She waved her arms in a wild circle around her head.

“Do you want to marry Bryce?” Kate asked. “Do you love him and want to spend every single day of the rest of your very long life with him? Watching him eat? Listening to him breathe and snore? Helping him do all the things he will inevitably ask you to help him with, even though he can probably do them himself?”

“Are you ready to be Mrs. Haymaker’s daughter-in-law?” Tessa asked. Because, from what she’d seen and heard lately, that would be a big part of the role as Bryce’s wife.

Hallie opened her mouth in what appeared to be shock. “You’re telling me not to marry him? Now? You couldn’t have said this at literally any other time? We’ve been engaged for years!”

Tessa gasped. “We did not say you shouldn’t marry him.”

“I might’ve said that,” Kate said, one finger lifted before her, as if to pause the conversation. “Answer my questions, and I’ll decide what I said.”

Hallie folded her arms, then rushed down the thick plush carpeting of the massive corridor. They followed as she turned a corner and ducked into an alcove. “I don’t know,” she whisper-hissed. “I need more time.”

“You are out of time,” Kate said.

Tessa peeked around the corner, keeping watch. “Where is Bryce?” she asked. “Where are all the men, actually?”

“Outside.” Hallie rubbed her palms against her thighs. She shifted nervously and leaned against the nearest wall. “They’re drinking scotch, smoking cigars, and talking about tomorrow. When to meet, where to meet, what to bring, et cetera.” She rolled her shoulders and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand. “What should I do, you guys? Bryce is a good guy. We have a lot of differences, but I love him. I’ve practically grown up with him. When I think of what a child I was at eighteen. How small my worldview was when we met. I’m so grateful for the way he changed my perspective on at least one hundred things.”

Tessa could see the deep conflict in Hallie’s hazel eyes. Tessa couldn’t imagine being in Hallie’s position, torn between two perfectly acceptable outcomes. Only one would make her happy. But Hallie had to decide which.

“There you are!” Hallie’s mom cooed.

A pack of women followed on her heels.

“Are you ready?” a younger woman asked. “Mrs. Haymaker and her friends are out there, getting seated.”

Tessa and Kate turned to Hallie, prepared to buy more time or create some kind of distraction while Hallie climbed out a window.

“Ready,” Hallie said.

Tessa’s eyes widened, but she followed Hallie silently as she led the way to the clubhouse’s back door. She stopped and looked to her mama. “We’ll line up here. You can let them know we’re ready.”

Hallie trembled as her mama slipped through the door and made her way across the plush green grass toward the small gathered crowd.

Landscape lighting illuminated the rows of chairs and the white arching trellis that would be covered in flowers for the ceremony at this time tomorrow. A man with a Bible in hand moved beneath the wooden framework, and the groomsmen took their place on one side.

Mrs. Haymaker looked angry, even from a distance.