Peter has been around quite a bit, though. I’m certain he respects Zoey’s status as an engaged woman, but the man is a flirt and she is definitely his target. Part of me wonders if it’s a game to him—if he chose herbecauseshe’s unavailable.
Olive comes out of the spare bathroom in my wig of collarbone length copper hair. Her eyes have too much dark makeupon them, and she added so many light-colored freckles, she doesn’t even look like the same person.
“Do you have a dark lip color?” she asks.
“Yeah, check my bag on the bathroom sink.”
She flits away, and I go into the kitchen to put ice water in a refillable bottle.
“Nice. I love the blonde on you,” Zoey says. She’s taken the short, white-blonde wig I wore in the airport. It’s chic, which is a good cut against her sharp jawline. “It’s been a while since I went out like this.”
I give her a side-hug, feeling a surge of affection for her support. “You didn’t need to stay.”
“I wanted to. Now we can all go home together.”
My stomach falls. I step back, framing her shoulders in my hands. Nancy’s words from last week ring in my head. “What if I don’t want to go home?”
Zoey blinks, her heavily lined eyes narrowing. “Explain.”
“I mean, if I choose to stay with Benny.”
She nods slowly. “What did Mom say?”
My hands fall to my sides. “You know I haven’t talked to her yet. It’s a better conversation to have in person.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s only going to get harder the longer you put it off.”
“Well, I need to go home and pick up Peanut, so I can see her then.”
“Bree, you’re still running from your problems. At some point, you need to face them.”
Her words ram into me like a volley of rocks to the gut. “I’m not…”
The words don’t even come, because she’s right. I’m avoiding my mom and dealing with the fallout of that entire situation. Does that mean I’m still running? I’m not facing it, that’s for sure.
“Don’t spiral,” Zoey says, pulling me into a hug. “This willall work out. Mom understands some of your reasons. She just wants to talk to you. If anything, she’s hurt, so I’d be prepared to smooth things over.”
“I can’t really blame her, I guess,” I say into Zoey’s shoulder.
She leans back and looks at me. “You ready?”
“I guess.”
The fields are buzzingwith crowds of people in front of the large stage. It’s all set in an open space across the highway from the beach, so the ocean glimmers in the background. Food trucks line the parking lot, and cars are parked row after row. Peter’s on stage at the microphone, announcing each financial milestone the BBB hits and thanking the sponsors between presenting each new band.
The entire day has been fantastic. The paps are all over like vermin, crawling around with their cameras and snapping pictures of Benny periodically, but none of them have seemed to catch on to our disguises.
At least the event is going to have a lot of great publicity if they post their pictures anywhere. Either way, Colby is around here somewhere getting good shots of everything.
The downside is that we can’t even so much as hold hands or we might give ourselves away.
“I liked that last one,” Olive says, no longer needing to shout now that we’re in another Peter monologue. “You could use them for a wedding band, Zo.”
Zoey nods her head consideringly, but her eyes are hidden behind sunglasses. “Tag’s mother mentioned a string quartet she likes in town. I think we might go that direction.”
“For the reception, too?” Olive doesn’t hide her judgment. “That’s not very you.”
“It’s not just my wedding. I’m taking on a partner, so I get half of a say in everything.”