Today was supposed to be all about filling out forms to solidify a business arrangement, carefully planned and completely sterile in its efficiency. Today wasn’t supposed to hold any surprises, but the one standing not six feet away was massive, monumental, mind-blowing.
I’d been here before. Well, not here actually, but at another courthouse, waiting in line at the clerk’s office, forms in hand, ready to file the papers to obtain a marriage license. Not with the woman who was holding my hand right now, but with the one who was standing six feet away—Emma Reed—who was seemingly unaware I still existed. Right now, I kind of wished I didn’t.
“Names, please.”
The clerk’s voice shook me out of my reverie, but when I finally focused, I realized she was calling the couple in front of us. I breathed easy again before I felt a hard squeeze to my hand.
“Are you okay?”
I tore my gaze from Emma and back to Ann Koen, the woman I was going to marry in less than a week. “I’m good. Yes. Why?”
“Because you seem a little distracted. Jitters?”
Ann gave me one of the condescending smiles I’m sure she thought was endearing, but which made me want to hurl. Not an ideal reaction to your future wife. I squelched my annoyance and smiled brightly back. “Nope. All good here.” I turned as I spoke, to keep from drawing attention, praying Emma would finish whatever she was doing and leave before she spotted me. A second later I heard a familiar voice and knew my plan had failed.
“Hi, Katie. It’s been a long time.”
Way to be direct. It had been a long time. Eight years to the month, but who’s counting? I cast a quick glance at Ann who was watching the two of us with the same penetrating stare she used in the boardroom, and I resolved to keep this reunion simple, quick, despite the fact Emma was even more good-looking than I remembered. I pushed past the guarded expression she wore and thrust out my hand like we were mere acquaintances instead of almost-marrieds.
“Hello, Emma. It’s good to see you.” I turned to Ann. “Emma is an old friend. Emma, meet Ann, my fiancée.” I was so busy injecting distance and formality into the introduction, I wasn’t quite sure if I’d seen Emma wince slightly at the word fiancée, but I was pretty sure she had. I’d considered trying to make it out of this situation without saying the F-word, but I knew Ann’s predilection for telling everyone we encountered about our engagement, and Emma deserved to hear the news directly from me, since I was to blame for any wedding PTSD she might have. Which begged the question of what she was doing here, ostensibly alone, but before I could ask, Ann took over.
She stuck out her hand. “Good to meet you. You must be a friend from Katie’s past because she hasn’t mentioned you before. Are you here to get a license too?” She glanced around as if she could spot a fiancée wandering about looking for a mate.
Emma’s eyebrows narrowed in confusion. “License?” She glanced at the sign above the clerk’s window. “Oh no. I’m here doing some research on a deed for a client.”
“Realtor?”
“Lawyer.”
“Ah.” Ann’s tone had gone from mildly curious to total approval, and I recognized the shift for the snobbery it was, but even I had trouble hiding my surprise at the revelation.
“You went to law school?” I asked.
Emma’s attention shifted back to me and the heat of it swept me back in time. “I did. I’m working at Dunley Thornton, downtown. Have been for a few months now.”
While Ann chatted Emma up more, now that she found a reason to find her interesting, I digested the information that Emma had moved on with her life with no apparent residual ill effects from our last encounter. I knew I should be grateful, but my feelings right now were a swirled up mix of relief and regret, neither one sitting well on my already roiling stomach. I tuned back in to hear Ann say, “We should all get together for dinner. In addition to impending nuptials, Kate and I have mutual business interests that could benefit from outside counsel.”
I hated when she used words like nuptials, but I refrained from shaking my head in frustration lest Emma witness my annoyance. I’d convinced myself that pretending to be happy would eventually lead to the real thing, and I wasn’t ready to let go of that particular belief. But the idea of sitting through dinner with the former love of my life, watching Ann ply Emma for free legal advice, was more than I could bear. “Honey, I’m sure Emma is very busy and so are we.”
“Too busy to catch up with an old friend?” Emma’s smile told me she sensed there was more to this story. “Nonsense.”
“Coffee then,” I said, thinking quickly. Apparently, this confrontation was going to happen, but I’d be damned if it was going to happen in front of Ann. “You and I can catch up on old times, and then we’ll schedule a real appointment with you, after the wedding.”
Did Emma wince again when I said the word wedding? Maybe I’d imagined it, but I didn’t dwell. That should be my mantra. Don’t dwell. Because if I did, then I’d never be able to make the decisions that had to be made no matter how distasteful they might be.
“Coffee would be perfect.” Emma gave me her card. “My cell’s on there. I look forward to hearing from you.” She shook Ann’s hand and walked away. I studiously avoided watching her go, conscious that Ann was watching me the way she always did. Instead, I pretended to be studying the sign listing the requirements for a marriage license.
“She seems nice.”
I kept pretend-reading the sign. “What? Oh, yes, I suppose she is.”
“How do you know her?”
I heard the slight edge beneath Ann’s friendly tone. She was digging, and I had to give her something or she would tunnel through my privacy to get answers. “We were in college together at Richards. She joined the Air Force after we graduated, but I haven’t seen her in years, so something must’ve changed.” I shrugged to signal it was of no consequence to me and hoped Ann bought my feigned indifference.
“Smart woman. Law is a much better field than the military. I mean, I think it’s great to serve our country and all, but it’s such a thankless occupation.”
For the second time in less than an hour, my annoyance bubbled to the surface. “It’s only thankless because we choose not to award it the same value as other careers.”
“You’re adorable when you’re passionate,” Ann said with her condescending smile just as the clerk called our names. “Let’s channel some of that passion into this.” She pointed to the window and stepped up to present the paperwork for our license. For a second, I stood frozen in place only able to watch her and wonder when my life had gotten so completely out of hand. When I was sure she wasn’t looking, I glanced back toward the exit, wishing Emma would reappear and that my failed past could be rewritten, but I knew as surely as I’d known that fateful day, some mistakes simply couldn’t be fixed.
I stepped up beside Ann and swore to the clerk that all the information on the forms was correct, and offered a silent prayer that this wasn’t another one of those mistakes.
* * *
“Are you going to call her? Huh? Are you?”
My best friend, Betty, wasn’t known for being subtle or patient, and as much as I knew this, I’d still chosen to tell her about running into Emma at the courthouse, which probably said something about me, but I wasn’t in the mood for introspection. Especially not with an impatient seamstress poking at me with a dozen pins. “No. Absolutely not. And put that card back in my purse.”
Betty sighed and shoved Emma’s business card into my bag. “But you said you would.”
I waved her off. “It was one of those polite things you say. No one means it or expects you to really call. Especially not when I haven’t talked to her since…” I let the statement hang in the air, certain there was universal agreement that it wasn’t a good idea to go calling on the ex you’d dumped, especially not a week before your wedding to another woman.
“Huh.” She frowned, and then took a long drink from the expensive champagne the owner of the dress shop had left for us.
I spent a few seconds resisting the urge to take the bait before I gave in. “What? And don’t say nothing because clearly you have something you want to say.”
“Is she still hot?”
Not the question I’d expected, and caught off guard, I blurted out, “Oh, so hot. Better than ever.” I shook my head as if I could shake away the hotness in favor of acting rational. “But Ann’s hot too.”
“Different kind of hot. Emma was always hot hot and Ann is…well, she’s more of an icy hot.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Think about it. You’ll come around.”
I didn’t confess that I’d thought of little else since Ann and I had run into her at the courthouse yesterday. But my thoughts weren’t limited to comparing Ann’s and Emma’s physical appeal. I’d started a running list of all their traits, stacked side by side, which wasn’t really fair to Ann since when it came to Emma, I was operating entirely from memory. It was possible she was no longer funny and charming and smart and honorable and…The possibilities were endless, but my little exercise in pros and cons was pointless. Ann and I were getting married in a week and nothing was going to change that. Too many people and plans hung in the balance.
“She’s a lawyer,” I blurted out.
“Well, that’s a twist. What happened to the Air Force?”
The memory of Emma in her dress blues nearly caused my knees to buckle. “Pour me a glass of that stuff before you drink it all.” While Betty poured, I let my mind wander back to the exact circumstances when I’d last seen Emma wearing that outfit—the last time I’d seen her before yesterday. “I don’t know. I don’t know what kind of law she’s practicing. I don’t know anything, including what I’m supposed to do with the information she’s back in Dallas. For all I know, she’s married with kids.”
“Was she wearing a ring? And don’t tell me you didn’t look.”
I hung my head. “No ring. But that doesn’t mean anything.”
“True. If you called her, you might find out.”
“Not happening.” I gestured at the yards of material enveloping my body. “I’ve got a pretty full schedule for the foreseeable future.”
“Chicken.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
In an act of stunning maturity, I stuck out my tongue.
“Looks like things are getting a little out of hand in here.”
Damn. Ignoring the pleas of the seamstress, I turned and saw my future mother-in-law filling the doorframe. “Hello, Mary.” She hated when I called her by her first name, and I took whatever pleasure I could in doing so as often as possible.
“Would you like a drink?” I resisted adding, You’re paying for it after all, since I’m sure she was acutely aware. Not my problem if she had to buy her daughter a bride. My only problem was being for sale in the first place.
It wasn’t that Ann wasn’t a catch. She was rich and good-looking, and her family was well-respected, but they didn’t have a few crucial things they needed for world domination and I held the key. Hence the merger we were calling marriage. After the vows and cake and dancing, everyone would go back to their normal lives, but I would be the new wife of Ann Koen, and together our families would dominate the oil industry in the entire Southwest. Ann could check the Acquire a Wife for Society Functions box, and I could rest easy knowing I’d given up personal happiness for a practical and very necessary purpose. Romantic, I know, but I didn’t have a choice.
Mary’s only response was to pour herself a whiskey from the crystal decanter on the bar cart. The decanter looked heavy, like murder-weapon heavy, and I filed that thought away under the heading If You Decide to Make a Break for It. I wouldn’t, though. Being a runaway bride once is bad enough, but twice? Not going to happen.
Mary circled the pedestal where I stood, hemmed in place by pins and measuring tape, micromanaging the tailoring. I knew it was her way of dominating the situation to ensure she had complete control. The sad part was that she did. Neither Ann nor I had decided virtually anything about these nuptials, from the diamond on my ring finger to the flavor of the cake. I doubted Ann cared about any of what she would call sentimental notions and I supposed the details didn’t matter. This wasn’t my first trip down the aisle, and nobody liked a picky bride on repeat. Besides, under Mary’s careful direction, we’d have the best that money could buy. Everything would be picture perfect, literally, since Texas Monthly was doing a full spread on the romantic and business merger of our two families.
“All done,” the seamstress said, brushing her hands and standing back to admire her work. “She’s beautiful.”
“Yes, yes, she is,” Mary said, holding a fold of fabric between her fingers to make it clear she was talking about the dress and not me.
I called out to Betty, “How do I look?”
“Amazing as always. The dress doesn’t look half bad either.”
I spent a second reveling in Mary’s frown of distaste, certain she’d prefer I’d chosen a more demure maid of honor for what she’d said numerous times would be a very dignified occasion. But Betty had been by my side when I’d run out of my first wedding, and I needed her to ground me or I’d never make it to the big day. “Sounds like everyone is happy. I better get out of this thing before I accidentally rip it or spill something on it.”
Mary didn’t take the cue to leave the room. “I’d like to speak to you alone for a moment.” She shot a pointed look at Betty. “Family business.”
I didn’t hesitate. “Betty is family to me. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of her.” I didn’t point out that she hadn’t asked the seamstress to leave the room, likely because she considered her the help and therefore not important enough to consider at all. I stepped out of the dress and began putting on my regular clothes while Mary stewed, but I wasn’t going to be bullied into talking to her alone.
“Very well then. I spoke with our attorney and he hasn’t received the signed agreement.”
I knew exactly what she was talking about, but I played dumb. “Agreement?”
“The prenuptial agreement.” Her voice dropped on the word prenuptial like it was a dirty secret.
“Oh, that. I need to look at it again.”
“Your family’s attorney has already reviewed it and signed off.”
I didn’t bother asking how she knew that nugget of information, but I made a silent vow to throat-punch Randall Thatcher for his indiscretion. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to read through it again myself.”
“Please do. And I hope you aren’t simply stalling in hopes that I’ll give up on this issue. Because I assure you, I will not.”
“I’m certain you won’t,” I said. I softened my tone. “Look, I know you find this whole arrangement unsavory and your family has more at stake than mine, but I’m committed to making this work and I’m not interested in hijacking your family fortune beyond what we’ve worked out. I’ve been very busy with wedding prep, but I promise, I will read through it again and have it back to you by tomorrow.”
Mary’s expression softened into something slightly less than bitch face. “Very well. Please don’t forget. And don’t forget about dinner tonight. It will be the first time you meet the extended family and I’d like you to wear the Valentino I had sent over. It will look lovely with the suit Ann has picked out.”
I barely resisted rolling my eyes or laughing at Betty who was doing exactly that across the room. What was with Mary’s desire to dress her daughter and her wife-to-be in matching clothes? When she finally left the room, Betty burst out laughing.
“What in the name of all that is holy was that?” she asked.
“She’s used to being in control of anything remotely connected to her family.”
“Ya think?”
“Ann says she’ll settle down once the wedding’s over.”
“I wouldn’t count on it. A dragon lady like that doesn’t suddenly lose her love of setting things on fire.”
I waved her off. “It’s fine.” It wasn’t but pretending everything about this entire situation was normal was the only survival tactic I knew.
“I think you should have an attorney, not Thatcher, review that prenup.”
“There isn’t time. Besides, Ann assures me the language is boilerplate.”
“And she has no motive to lie.”
“Ann has plenty of faults, but dishonesty isn’t one of them. Do you really think I’d marry a liar?”
Betty looped her arm through mine. “I don’t. But I didn’t believe you’d marry someone you don’t love either.” Before I could respond to set her straight, she pulled out her phone. “As your maid of honor, I’m taking control of this piece.” She typed out a message and I heard the swoosh of it sending. “I just texted you the details for your appointment with a lawyer tomorrow. It’ll take an hour tops and I insist.”
I looked at my phone and read and reread the text that had just arrived, the name of the law firm nagging at the edges of my memory for a moment and then sinking in. “No, wait. This is Emma’s firm. How? When?”
“I texted her while you were going back and forth with Dragon Lady. Emma has an opening tomorrow and so do you.”
“Uh, no. Not a chance.”
“It’s the perfect opportunity for you to talk to her. Clear the air.”
“You don’t think the intervening eight years have been enough for that?”
“I’m pretty sure the silent treatment never cleared up anything.”
“Whatever.” I knew Betty well enough to know she wasn’t going to let this go. “She knows it’s me?”
“Nope. Which gives you the element of surprise. Make the most of it.” Betty’s smile was broad and I could tell she was quite pleased with herself. I should be mad, angry, furious she’d contacted Emma without my permission, but a small part of me was relieved. It was time I had a few minutes alone with Emma so I could properly apologize for leaving her the day before our wedding, even if I had to pay her hourly rate for the privilege of doing so.