One-Off (18 page)

“You’re the best friend anyone could ask for, Skye. I mean it.”

I squeezed her hand and let myself out of her house. We both had keys and alarm codes for each other’s houses. That will probably have to change once she’s married, too.

Twenty-Five

The bullpen of the magazine show buzzed with energy. After a good night’s sleep in their own beds, everyone seemed to be back to normal aside from the insufferable tans they were all wearing. Running around getting interviews in the southern hemisphere did a world of good to their normally pasty or spray tanned skin tones.

I walked through toward Dallas’s office after a second meeting with other division heads. She was hunched over her laptop, clicking away on the copy she’d use for voiceover and introductions.

Her eyes glanced up when I knocked on her doorjamb. “Hey, friend.”

“How’s the story coming?”

“It’s going to be amazing.”

“Feeling better?”

She nodded at her office door. I turned to shut it. “A little. I called Colin before I went to sleep and apologized for ditching him at the airport. His aunt and cousin were distracting him so he couldn’t get too mad at me.”

“Would he have?”

“Probably. We haven’t spent a night apart in over a month.”

“Did you kiss and make up this morning?”

“You know we try to keep up professional appearances at work.”

“You’re going to need to before Saturday night.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Ha-ha.”

“How’s your foot temp?”

“You’re just full of jokes today, aren’t you?”

“Go to lunch together. Someplace private. Talk things over. Make sure he understands that you taking his last name is as ridiculous to you as it would be to him to take yours. Then tell him how it made you feel when he ordered you around and made you tell him where you were every second of the day.” I gave her my most sincere look. “Talk to him, Dallas, or this will be the shortest marriage in history.”

“What is the shortest marriage in history?”

“I’m sure there are several drunk Vegas weddings that get annulled the very next day. Let’s try not to break those records, okay?”

“Have I turned you into a believer, my cynical friend?” she razzed.

“Not hardly.”

“But you think we can make it?”

I hoped so, for her sake. “Yes.” It sounded a lot more definitive than I thought I could pull off, and I was exceptionally happy about it.

“I really needed to hear that. Thanks.” She smiled and waggled her eyebrows. “Now, tell me how things have been going with Ainsley. Colin spilled the beans about her sexuality. Were you lying about not hooking up with her back when you lived together?”

I sucked in a surprised breath and immediately wished I hadn’t. Now she had ammunition. “We didn’t live together. We shared an apartment. Two rooms, two beds in each room. I shared with Gwen. I didn’t lie. Ainsley couldn’t stand me.”

“Are you sure? She doesn’t look at you like she can’t stand you.”

My head tilted in interest, but I set aside her observation. She was seeing things with wedding bliss eyes. “You’re talking crazy. You’ve barely even seen us together.”

“You know what I noticed?” She didn’t wait for me to respond. “Every time we went through a door, you or she would hold it open and never once was there an awkward break in stride as the other went through. That happens with you and me sometimes. We both reach for the door together or I grab it and you wait for me to go or aren’t sure if I’m going. Then there’s the way you walk together. You probably don’t notice it because you’re walking, but there’s no extra spacing between you. It’s like you know exactly where she is when you’re walking together.”

“You’re making that up.”

“I’m not. I get paid to read body language, and the body language between you two says you were intimate once or want to be. So which is it?”

I nearly shot out of my seat. She was just trying to rile me up so she could stop focusing on her own cold feet. “Get your mind back on your story.”

She laughed as I hustled for the door. “I want details when you finally hook up.”

“Shut your yap.”

I nearly collided with Colin on my hasty retreat from Dallas’s office. He chuckled and placed his hands on my shoulders to keep from bumping into me.

“Hey, Skye. Running away from your pal?”

“She inspires that in me.” My eyes widened when I spotted his aunt and cousin chatting with Floyd at his desk. Knowing Elspeth, she wouldn’t want to put off meeting Dallas any longer. It threw a wrench into my plan for them to talk things out, but we could find a workaround. “You guys need to talk. Tell her how you feel. Remember, she’s her own person and has been for thirty-two years.”

“I know, I know.” He gave me a guilty look. “I already heard it from Ainsley last night.”

“Try to remember that your fiancée is as independently minded as your aunt and cousin. If she doesn’t believe you think she’s an equal, you’re in for a hard marriage.”

“I know, and I do think she is. I was just out of my mind when I thought I might lose her. I’m getting a handle on it.”

“Tell her that.” I smiled at Ainsley and Elspeth as they joined us. I waved my hand back toward Dallas. “These two need their heads conked together.”

“I’ll do it,” Ainsley joked and her mother elbowed her but couldn’t hold back a laugh.

Colin ushered his aunt into Dallas’s office to introduce them. Ainsley and I followed to watch as Dallas forgot all about her irritation with Colin to welcome his beloved aunt with a hug. I breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn’t holding the grudge with Colin against his aunt. That wouldn’t make for a good first impression.

I glanced at Ainsley, who looked equally happy that the introduction was going well. “Let’s go find some lunch to bring back. Hopefully by then, they’ll have remembered why they’re getting married.” My eyes switched back and forth between Dallas and Colin. Both looked a little guilty at being called out.

I didn’t give them time to make excuses. I opened the door and looked back for Elspeth and Ainsley but was surprised to see Ainsley already at my side walking through. I was going to give the happy couple one final word of encouragement but found an irritating told-you-so look on Dallas’s face. My face gave her a haughty you-don’t-know-anything look in reply. I turned and left without a word. Nothing more needed to be said. I’d gotten the couple to realize they needed to talk and gave Dallas fodder to tease me for ages to come. Maybe I was a hell of a lot better at this marriage thing than I ever thought.

Twenty-Six

Savannah was being a spoiled brat. The youngest of the Knight sisters, she was obviously used to getting her way. It didn’t matter that she was twenty-nine instead of twelve and standing in an exclusive designer’s dress shop among several people she’d just met. “Why do I have to wear the purple one?” she whined again.

“Jeez, Detroit, put a sock in it,” Denver taunted, twirling in front of the mirror to inspect all angles of her green dress. She was clearly pleased with Dallas’s choice for bridesmaid dresses. Unlike the typical taffeta deals that hang useless in closets, these dresses could be worn to cocktail parties or work events for years to come.

“Savannah!” she yelled at her oldest sister.

I turned away before I started laughing and caught Ainsley’s eye. She and her mother and Colin’s stepmom were staring at Savannah like she’d grown a second head.

“Will you two can it,” Dallas barked at them through the curtains hiding her in the dressing room.

“I just don’t understand why we can’t all wear blue.”

“Because,” Dallas said and left it at that.

“That’s not an answer, and where the hell is Mom?” Savannah barked back.

“Her plane was delayed.”

“She’d be on my side,” Savannah muttered, her eyes returning to the rack that held my dress. “I want to wear Skye’s dress.”

“You can’t.” Dallas didn’t sound perturbed yet. She had years of experience dealing with her younger sister’s petulance.

“Why not?”

I shook my head involuntarily. Ainsley was laughing silently again. Elspeth covered her mouth.

“You’re wearing purple, Denver’s wearing green, and Skye’s wearing blue.”

Savannah frowned. “Whoever heard of three different colors for bridesmaid dresses?”

“We’re matching the Baird tartan,” Dallas said.

“What’s a Baird?”

“We are.” Ainsley tilted her thumb to indicate her mother. “Colin is.”

“Only half. He’s a Pruitt.” Colin’s stepmom probably thought she was being helpful but should have kept quiet. About twenty years younger than Colin’s dad, she had no relationship with Colin other than a polite tolerance of each other since she’d wed his father six years ago.

“So we have to suffer because of some outdated plaid material?” Savannah pulled at the bodice of her dress. The whole point of tonight’s visit was to get them fitted. I’d already done mine last week. Savannah’s dress needed to be taken in everywhere, which was the reason for her hissy fit. She was still single and hoping to meet one of the other on-air personalities from our network.

“It’s not outdated,” Ainsley informed her calmly. “Every Scot takes great pride in his or her clan. I think it’s wonderful that you’ll be wearing the colors. It’ll match Colin’s waistcoat and kilt.”

“She’s kidding, right?” Denver poked her head into Dallas’s dressing room.

“She’s not,” was the reply. “He’ll wear it for pictures and for a dance. Then he’s putting pants back on.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Elspeth teased. “I find men in kilts quite sexy.”

“Mum,” Ainsley hushed her before the sensitive topic flared another scene.

“That still doesn’t explain why I’m the one in purple?”

“For God’s sake,” Dallas said now completely exasperated. “Skye has red hair if you haven’t noticed.” Everyone’s eyes turned to my hair, which I was still partially hiding with a hat out of habit. “Purple doesn’t go with red. Denver’s got hazel green eyes so the green works best for her. You look good in any color, so shut your face and deal with the purple.” She stepped out of the dressing room in a sleek strapless wedding gown that was exactly right for her. Everyone was too stunned by the vision before us to follow Dallas’s logic.

“Oh, sis, that’s so pretty,” Denver said, her eyes getting misty.

“Killer,” Savannah said, reaching out to run her fingers over the bodice.

“You look a dream, pet,” Elspeth told her.

“Thank you.” Dallas gave a twirl to show us the back of the dress. The fitter flitted left and right, front and back, putting a pin or two in discrete places.

“It’s almost perfect,” the fitter said. “Shall we try the other one?”

“Why are you getting two wedding dresses?” Savannah’s tone went back to a whine.

“Because,” Dallas said again as she stepped back into the fitting area.

Savannah turned to Ainsley. “You aren’t going to wear a tux, are you? It’s weird enough that he’s got a woman as his best man. A woman in a tux would just take it over the top for me.”

“What is up your ass, Detroit?” Denver bit back at her.

“I hate purple.”

“I think it highlights your pretty brown eyes, lass,” Elspeth complimented.

Savannah preened in front of the mirror before she realized we were all staring at her. That’s when I spotted the insecurities. She was worried she wouldn’t look good, especially compared to her TV anchor sister. She knew the photos would eventually be published somewhere, and she didn’t want to be the odd one out. Well, she could rest assured. It wasn’t like I was a model. No one was when compared to Dallas, but I could see the worry in that she’d be compared to her sister. As her best friend, I would not.

“And once she takes in your dress, it’s going to look fab,” Ainsley encouraged.

“Are you wearing a tux?”

Ainsley smiled and winked at her. “Wait and see.”

“Come on,” Savannah groaned.

“What is your mom wearing, Dallas?” Colin’s stepmom asked after looking up from her phone for only the second time tonight.

“Probably a black dress.”

“Definitely black, she’s got a million of them,” Denver confirmed, trying the top of the dress in a different position to change the look. I would be letting it drape partially over one shoulder. It looked like Denver would go with a halter top. Savannah still couldn’t get over the purple.

“Maybe I should get her number so we can coordinate. We’re the mothers of the bride and groom, after all.”

I felt Ainsley and Elspeth stiffen on each side of me. My eyes shot to the other couch where Colin’s stepmom took up space like she was actually someone to Colin. I stood from my seat. “Rochelle, could I speak with you for a moment, please?”

She looked bothered by the suggestion but followed me out to the front reception area. A young woman and her mother stood hopeful by the desk trying to get an appointment. I gestured to a private corner and turned to face Rochelle.

“While I’m sure Dallas appreciates that you’re here showing support, I’d ask that you be a little more sensitive to your surroundings.”

Light blue eyes glinted in suspicion. “What are you talking about?”

“You are not Colin’s mother. She passed away when he was ten. Colin’s aunt Elspeth, the woman you’ve barely said two words to all night, helped raise Colin each summer. She has loved him and cared for him all his life as her sister would have wanted. If anyone is Colin’s mom, it would be Elspeth. So, please, have a care with how you label your role. You’re married to his dad; that’s it.”

Anger pinched her features. “You don’t have any right to talk to me that way.”

“I’m the MOH. It’s my job to make sure things go smoothly so Dallas can have her perfect day. And I care for that woman you just insulted by calling yourself Colin’s mom. So, I’ll ask again. Please be aware of the people around you and try to be sensitive to everyone’s place in Colin’s life.”

“Then you should be doing a better job putting a gag on those two spoiled sisters.” Her fingers slashed toward the changing room.

“Dallas and her sisters have a relationship that works for them. They bicker every time they breathe. It doesn’t mean they love each other any less.”