The Forever Girl (Wildstone, #6)(44)

“Come out or I’m coming in.”

Caitlin slowly came out and moved wordlessly to the pedestal in front of three huge mirrors.

The dress was gorgeous but clearly too tight to zip. Caitlin stared at herself in the mirrors and burst into tears.

Maze waved off the horrified tailor and sat on the pedestal next to Caitlin.

“It’s my fault,” Caitlin sobbed. “I ate the entire bag of frozen Costco Bagel Bites, and it was five servings.”

“Everyone knows the serving size doesn’t count with Bagel Bites. And you’re perfect, by the way. It’s your dress that needs to adjust, just a little. No biggie.”

Caitlin sniffed. “You think I’m perfect?”

“One hundred percent perfect.”

Caitlin half laughed, half cried. “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Okay, but we don’t have to—”

Too late. Caitlin threw her arms around Maze and squeezed tight.

“—hug,” Maze said with a sigh. But in the end, she went with it and hugged Caitlin back. “You’re a nut.”

“A perfect nut, though . . .”

“Cat?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are your boobs vibrating?”

Cat sniffed and pulled back. “I’ve got my phone in my bra. It’s my boss. She calls all the time to either tell me she can’t figure something out or blame me for something going wrong.”

“But it’s your wedding week.”

“Oh, she knows.”

Maze took in the unhappiness in Cat’s eyes and wanted more than anything to bring back the carefree, happy Cat, because she deserved it more than anyone she knew. But short of going back in time to make sure Michael didn’t die, she had no idea how to help. “You need a new job, babe.”

“I like what I do.”

“Then you need to do it for someone else, someone who’ll appreciate your talents more. You’re amazing, Cat, and you deserve better.”

The bride sniffed some more. “You really do love me.”

“Duh.”

After surviving yet another long hug, Maze got the tailor, who took some measurements and promised to fix the dress. Then Maze got Cat changed and back to the lake house. She hadn’t even set her bag down when Heather caught her alone in the hallway, pulling her aside, looking around them to make sure no one was listening.

“What now?” Maze asked with dread.

“Um.” Heather paused. “Is everything okay?”

Loaded question. “Yes. Why?”

“No reason,” Heather said casually. “I just wanted to apologize that you guys keep getting interrupted or stuck with Sammie.”

“Oh, no worries.” Maze smiled. “She was great this morning at Home Depot. She even got chocolate all over Walker and everything.”

“Actually, when I asked if everything’s okay, I meant with you and Jace.”

Oh. Oh shit.

Heather bit her lower lip. “Listen, it’s none of my business, but Jace is clearly sleeping on the floor of your room. Are you two in a fight?”

“Um . . .”

“Because . . .” Heather paused long enough that Maze met her gaze. “I think he’s flirting with me, Maze. I mean, I can’t tell for sure because my radar’s broken. But if he is, then he’s a jerk, which I really need to know.”

Dammit. “No, he’s not a jerk. He’s a good guy.” She paused. “One who’s just here as a favor.”

“What?”

Maze grimaced. “Look, I heard everyone was coming here with a plus-one, so I panicked. After a lot of begging, Jace—my boss and also one of my best friends—agreed to be my pretend boyfriend.”

Heather stared at her and then laughed. “So . . . he’s available?”

“One hundred percent. But I need to keep this between us.”

“‘This’ being a big, fat lie?” Heather asked, very amused.

Maze blew out another breath. “Yes. It’s embarrassing.”

“You mean when you panicked thinking that Walker was bringing a plus-one because you’re still totally one hundred percent over the moon in love with him?”

Maze nearly fell over. “What?”

Heather grimaced. “Um, what?”

“Heather.”

“Yeah, so let’s scrap my last question from the record, on account of it being based on decade-old information.”

Maze was staring at her, heart pounding. “Oh my God. I knew I recognized the ‘totally one hundred percent over the moon’ part. You and your hacking abilities. You broke into my password-protected journal on that laptop we all used to share, didn’t you?”

“I was bored.”

“You were nine.”

“And curious!”

Maze covered her face, remembering some of the whiny teenage details she’d spent long hours languishing on and on about in that journal back in the day.

“And anyway,” Heather said, “if you’d all just let me play with you guys back then, I wouldn’t have been forced to spy on you. And it’s not like I didn’t understand your crush on Walker. Even then, he was one of the best guys I’d ever known. He understands what he missed out on growing up, and loyalty and connections mean something to him. He’d never turn his back on a single one of us, ever.”