K. Text me later, he responded.
Janie put down her phone just in time to hear the front door open and close. She heard Mallory’s sniffles coming down the hallway and her heart lurched. She stood up, meeting her sister at the doorway to the living room, arms already outstretched. Mallory collapsed against her, her sobs coming in racking, full-bodied heaves. Janie rubbed her sister’s back, shushing her gently until her tears slowed. When it seemed like she finally had a grip on things, Janie led Mallory to the couch. They sat down, legs crossed under them, and faced each other, knees touching. Just like always.
“Talk, Mal,” Janie said.
Mallory sniffed. “They’re getting married,” she said softly.
“What?” Janie didn’t even try to conceal her shock.
“I thought it was just a fling,” Mallory said. “And somehow that made it feel easier. But, I guess he loves her. And they’re getting married.”
“How is that even possible? They’ve only been together, what, three months? I feel like he seriously just broke up with you.”
“I know,” Mallory said. “I keep counting backwards to see how long it’s been. I think he must have been seeing her before he broke up with me. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“So Preston is a liar, a jerk, and also a cheat. Good. I needed another reason to hate the guy,” Janie said.
“Also, he’s coming back to work,” Mallory said. “I thought he was gone for good, but I guess it was just a really long vacation.”
Janie reached for her sister’s hands. “Mallory, it’s time to quit. You shouldn’t have to work with him.”
“I won’t. I’m with Dr. Bailey now, and it’s a big office. I might pass Preston in the hallway, but . . . it won’t be too bad.”
“You’ll still have to see Tasha though, right?”
“Yeah, for scheduling and stuff. That’s unavoidable. But, I don’t know. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want them to win. He was the jerk. Why should I have to slink off with my tail between my legs, you know? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s true.”
“Besides, they pay better than anybody else. It’s why I took the job in the first place.”
“Also true.”
Mallory shook her head. “I gotta get over it. Move past him. Show him that I’m strong enough to let him go.”
Janie still hated the idea of Mallory having to deal with any unnecessary stress at work, but there was something to be said for staring down your ex with your shoulders squared and your conscience clear. She was impressed Mal was willing to push through.
“Hey, are you busy Monday night?” Mallory asked. “There’s this benefit thing downtown and the office bought a table. I guess they’re saying we all have to go, so I’m pretty sure Preston and Tasha will be there.”
“That means you need to go looking incredibly gorgeous and poised and younger than his mother—I mean his new fiancée—and rock that party?”
“Exactly,” Mallory said, her voice filled with conviction. “But I can’t do it without you.”
“Oh honey, you know I’m there for you. I wouldn’t miss it.”
“It’s like a fancy dress thing. I was thinking you could wear the navy dress that you wore to Shannon’s wedding? And if you don’t care, I’ll wear your silver dress with the open back.”
“Why are we still calling the silver dress mine? You’ve worn it how many times now?”
Mallory smiled a wide cheesy smile. “You love me. Don’t forget that.”
“Of course you can wear the dress. And of course I’ll be there with you,” Janie said.
Mallory breathed out a sigh. “I’m really glad you were home tonight.” She leaned forward and propped her head on her sister’s shoulder.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Oh please,” Mallory said. Janie could almost hear the eye roll in her voice. “You’ve been with Emmett every stupid day for a month. You’re never home anymore.”
“It’s because you always act so annoyed when we’re here,” Janie said, a shred of defensiveness creeping into her voice.
Mallory sat up. “I’ll try to be better about that,” she said. “But your uber-happiness has been pretty obnoxious.”
Janie swallowed her annoyance. The number of times she had listened over the years to her sister going on and on about this guy or that, endlessly patient through the highs and lows. The evenings she’d spent hiding in her room so Mallory could have the living room or the kitchen for dates. She’d put in more than her fair share of hours. But it wasn’t worth arguing over. Mallory was hurting enough already. “I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I’ll try to be more considerate.”
Mallory stood up and stretched. “I’m going to take a shower. What are you doing the rest of the night?”
Janie thought of her earlier text to Emmett. She’d love to see him, but her sister needed her, and that felt more important. “I’ll be here,” she said. “Want to watch a movie? I can order us some food.”
Mallory nodded. “That would be amazing. Just what I need.”
Early Monday afternoon, Emmett took Janie’s hands, leading her slowly forward. “One more step down,” he said.
“Good. You got it.” He repositioned the blindfold that wrapped around her face. “You’re not peeking, right? You can’t see?”
“I’m not, I swear. I can’t see anything.”
“Good. Now, walk straight ahead.”
“Please don’t lead me into the water,” Janie said. She knew they were close. She could hear it and smell it on the air. It wasn’t beach, though. She’d guess the harbor at the base of the river.
“I promise I won’t let you fall in,” Emmett said.
A few more steps and he stopped her, turning her shoulders until she faced into the breeze. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Okay. We’re here. You can look.”
Janie pulled off the blindfold and looked around. They stood on a dock, looking out across the harbor, right beside the most beautiful sailboat Janie had ever seen. She gasped. “Wait, it’s not yours, is it?” She’d grown pretty familiar with Emmett’s disdain for the yacht club and looking around, that’s exactly where they were.
“She’s Deacon’s,” Emmett said. “But I figured I could come down off my high horse and take her out for one afternoon.”
Janie spun around in his arms. “Seriously? Do you know how?”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m still a Calhoun, Janie. Sailing’s like breathing.”
She leaned up and kissed him, savoring the warmth of his lips against hers. Two months in, she still wasn’t used to the fact that she got to kiss Emmett Calhoun. For all the times she’d dreamed of it, her dreams paled next to her new reality. “This is the best surprise ever,” she said.
“I was listening when you told me how much you loved sailing with your dad,” Emmett said. “And how long it’s been since you’ve been out on the water. So. Let’s go.”
Janie was a novice sailor at best—her dad was always the one doing the actual sailing while she’d tagged along for the ride—but Emmett had an easy way of teaching and explaining what she needed to do that made her feel capable, despite her lack of experience. When they finally returned to the harbor just after dark, she was exhausted, but happy.
After a picnic dinner that had magically appeared on the dock—Emmett refused to explain his secret ways—they stretched out on the deck of Deacon’s boat with a couple of pillows and a blanket Janie was more than happy to use. Fall was mostly a nonevent in the South temperature wise, but once October hit, the nights finally started to cool off. Janie nestled against Emmett’s shoulder and stared up at the sky, stars brilliant against the inky black. “I could get used to this,” she said softly.
“Me? Or the boat?” Emmett said.
“Definitely the boat,” Janie said, laughter in her voice. “I’m pretty indifferent about you.”
He reached ove
r and stole the blanket he’d given her, causing Janie to squeal, but before he could get it away completely, she grabbed hold of the corner. She yanked to get it back, but he wouldn’t yield, instead pulling the blanket—and Janie—closer to him. “Indifferent, huh?” He took the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, then leaned her back onto the deck.
She shrugged her shoulders playfully. “Mmm? More or less.”
Emmett leaned down, his breath brushing against her cheek, and placed a soft kiss below her ear. He moved slowly, leaving a trail of kisses up her jawline stopping just shy of her lips. “How about now?” he whispered.
“You’re not playing fair.”
He grinned. “Sure, I am.”
If her hands weren’t pinned inside the blanket, she’d have pulled him down and kissed the sense out of him. As it was, she was at his mercy. He continued his ministrations, this time starting on the other side of her face. Again, he stopped just shy of her lips. “What was that you said about indifference?” he said.
Janie closed her eyes, her will power completely gone. “Okay, okay, you win. I’m not indifferent. I actually really, really like you. Can you please just kiss me already?”
“That’s what I thought,” Emmett said with a chuckle. He dropped the edges of the blanket, freeing her arms, and lowered his lips to hers.
“So about this twin bonding thing,” he said later, after they’d each eaten a slice of cheesecake out of the picnic basket. “You guys are closer than normal, aren’t you?”
Janie nodded. “Does that freak you out? I mean, it’s not like we finish each other’s sentences or anything. But, she’s definitely part of the deal. You can’t be close to me without accepting that Mallory is always going to be my best friend.”
Emmett nodded. “It’s cool. And I sort of get it. Deacon and I are pretty close, although it’s not the same thing. I like hanging out with him, but I’d hate living with him.”
“I think Mal and I will always have to live close to each other. At least in the same town. She’s always been there for me . . .” Janie froze. “Oh no.” She stood up, scrambling toward the back of the boat in search of her purse.
Emmett hurried after her. “Janie? What’s wrong? What happened?”
She shook her head, panic filling her gut like high tide during a thunderstorm. She pulled her phone from her bag, swearing when it wouldn’t turn on. “The battery’s dead. Where’s a charger? Is there one on the boat?”
Emmett looked around. “Maybe? I don’t know. Why are you freaking out?”
“Today is Monday.” Janie pulled her bag over her head and across her shoulders and reached down to pick up the shoes she’d discarded earlier. “What time is it?” She climbed onto the side of the boat and reached for the dock.
Emmett glanced at his watch, then offered her a hand, steadying her as she stepped onto the dock. “It’s ten thirty.”
Janie groaned. “Ugggh, that’s not enough time!” She hurried toward the parking lot.
Emmett hurried after her. “Would you stop for two seconds and tell me what’s going on?”
“There isn’t time to explain!” she said over her shoulder. “I need to find a charger and I need to get home. My sister is going to kill me.”
“Janie,” Emmett said, his voice firm enough, she finally stopped and turned around. “You don’t have a car, or a phone. Where are you going to go without me?”
Janie turned to face him. The pained expression on his face was enough to stop her. He deserved an explanation. “I was supposed to go to a work benefit with Mallory tonight. She asked me specifically because her ex-boyfriend was going to be there with his new fiancée and she didn’t think she could face him by herself. I was supposed to be there. For her. And I forgot.”
Emmett’s face fell. “That’s my fault. I surprised you with the boat.” He ran a hand through his hair. “What can I do to help?”
Janie’s mind started grasping at options, but it was already so late, there was only one that made sense. She heaved out a sigh. “Just take me home.”
It was past eleven when Janie found Mallory sitting in the living room in the dark, moonlight glinting off the silver in her dress. Janie dropped to the floor in front of her sister. “I’m so sorry, Mal.”
“You need to call Dad and tell him you’re not dead,” Mallory said, her voice flat.
“I did,” Janie said. “I called him from the car.”
“Oh, so your phone is working after all. How funny.”
Janie couldn’t defend herself, she knew. But she didn’t want Mallory to think she’d ignored her on purpose. “I charged it in Emmett’s truck. But I swear it was dead before that. Emmett surprised me with an afternoon on his brother’s sailboat. We were out on the water and I guess we lost track of time—”
Mallory cut her off. “Do you even hear yourself right now?”
Janie furrowed her brow. “What? I’m trying to explain.”
“Janie, you knew about this. You knew how important this was to me. Why would you even get on a boat when you knew you had somewhere to be?”
“I just . . .”
“You what? Forgot? Didn’t care? I wish I could say that surprised me. But honestly, it doesn’t. Not at all. Not after the way you’ve been acting the past two months.” Mallory stood up and stormed toward her bedroom.
Janie followed quickly behind. If Mallory managed to close and lock her door, the conversation would be over and Janie was not ready for that to happen. She caught the door right before it clicked and pushed it open. “What is that even supposed to mean? How have I been acting?”
“You mean other than like a ridiculous lovesick teenager?” Mallory yanked at the zipper of her gown but gave up when it wouldn’t budge past her middle back.
Janie moved in behind her and pulled the zipper the rest of the way down. “I am not a lovesick teenager.”
“But that’s just it,” Mallory said. “You are.” She pulled a t-shirt over her head, kicking the floor length gown toward her open closet. Janie stood, waiting as Mallory yanked on a pair of sweat pants and dropped onto her bed. “Just hear me out, okay? Come sit.”
Janie hesitated. She didn’t trust her sister’s sudden change in demeanor. Angry Mallory? I-want-to-throw-something-at-your-face Mallory? Janie could handle that. But this looked more like Lecture Time Mallory. And Lecture Time Mallory sucked because she was normally right.
Janie took a long, deliberate breath. She owed her sister this. She sat down at the foot of Mal’s bed.
Mallory kept her eyes down, her fingers fiddling with the edge of her comforter. Finally, she looked up. “There’s something I never told you about Emmett.”
Janie tensed. She and Mallory didn’t keep secrets. Especially when it came to men. What could Mallory possibly know that warranted keeping it hidden? “Okay.”
“The night after you gave him that note, he took it to a party and read it to everyone.”
Heat rushed to Janie’s face. Even though it had been years before, the idea of so many people hearing her words was mortifying.
“He didn’t know you’d written it,” Mallory continued. “No one did. But he did make fun of it. Even for a couple weeks after, his friends would quote it.”
Mallory’s insistence that no one knew Janie had written the note only brought a small measure of relief. She knew. And knowing her words had been laughed at for weeks brought up all the high school hypersensitivity she’d worked so hard to leave behind. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Come on,” Mallory said. “What good would it have done for you to have known that back then? It would have killed you. And you were already so sad, I just figured I could spare you the extra pain.”
Her explanation made sense, but Janie still felt like she’d been betrayed. Like a vital part of Emmett’s character had been kept from her. Still, high school was a long time ago. People grew up. Changed. The Emmett she knew wasn’t the kind of guy who would ever do something so cruel, was he?<
br />
She looked back at her sister, pretending a confidence she didn’t feel. “People change, Mal. Thank you for telling me, but what do you want me to do with that? Break up with him?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I just want you to think. Keep your head on straight.”
“I am thinking,” Janie said, her voice defensive.
Mallory scoffed. “You’re thinking about Emmett.”
“Okay, seriously? What is this conversation really about? Emmett making fun of the note? Or something else? Because it sounds to me like you’re jealous.”
Mallory pressed her lips together, her hands curling into fists. “Fine. Yes. There’s definitely been some jealous-like feelings happening. But Janie, I’ve been watching you. I’ve never seen you so single minded. He is all you talk about. It’s like everything else in your life has taken a back seat. Me. Dad. Your quartet.”
“What do you mean my quartet? What do they have to do with any of this?”
“You’ve missed two rehearsals, Janie. Alex called me yesterday trying to figure out where you are. He says if you don’t return his calls, they’re asking Leslie to play the wedding with them this weekend.”
“I haven’t missed . . .” Janie couldn’t finish her sentence. Because it wasn’t true. She’d seen a voicemail come in from Alex and had meant to call him back, but she’d forgotten. “Have I really been that bad?”
“I love you. But you’ve been obnoxious. I mean, think about it. When do you ever miss a rehearsal? I haven’t even heard you play your cello in ages.”
Janie’s face burned. She’d never meant to hurt anyone else. “I’m really sorry about tonight.”
“Tonight sucked,” Mallory said. “And we’ll talk about that in a minute. But you gotta let me finish what I need to say right now.”
Janie braced herself. “Fine. Finish. I’m listening.”
“I’m afraid you don’t know whether or not you actually have real feelings for Emmett.”
“What? Of course I do.”
“Are you sure?” Mallory said. “Because it seems to me like you’re dating high school fantasy Emmett without any concern for what the man is like today. Right now.”
Wedding Belles: A Novel in Four Parts Page 11