Suck it up, Thalia. With a deep breath, shoulders back, I walked into the kitchen.
Mia was sitting at the kitchen table with her face buried in her hands crying. Jack was standing with his back against the sink, rolling his eyes and Liam was hovering over Mia.
“Thalia, you’re up,” Liam stated, while patting Mia on the back.
“Yeah, what’s wrong?”
I looked across to Jack who hadn’t said anything, but looked as though he was hurting.
“Are you okay?”
He ran his hands down his face without replying.
“Why does this have to happen three weeks before the wedding? Why did she have to go and do that?” Mia moaned.
When she mentioned the wedding I glanced back to Jack who seemed to have a mask in place.
My heart was beating wildly in panic. Had he not cancelled the wedding?
I pulled a chair out at the table and sat down before I fell down.
“Rebecca broke her arm last night when she fell over something in the dark. I’m getting married in three weeks and now my bridesmaid can’t be my bridesmaid. What can I do?”
Was she saying her friend couldn’t be a bridesmaid because she’d broken her arm? How stupid.
“Why can’t she be your…bridesmaid?” I stumbled over the bridesmaid word, not wanting to think about her wedding.
“Didn’t you just hear what I said? Are you an idiot?” Mia screeched.
“That’s enough.” Jack shouted, stunning her into silence. “Thalia is a guest in this house and she will be treated as such, not called names by you.”
Inside I lit up at Jack’s defense of me, but outwardly I tried not to show any emotion. He sure looked pissed though and wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“I’m sorry, Thalia. I just can’t believe this is happening.”
Okay, I could be nice. “I’m sorry about your friend, but why can’t she be a bridesmaid if she’s only broken her arm?”
“I don’t want wedding photographs with her having a white cast on her arm.”
Was she for real? I needed to keep my mouth shut before I said something to set her off again.
“I need coffee.”
Standing, I walked towards Jack who was standing next to the coffee pot and kept my eyes on him, until he met mine. I couldn’t explain the feeling I got when we locked gazes, and it wasn’t good. Something had happened within the past three days.
Without moving away from me, Jack reached up into the cupboard and retrieved a cup, then poured me my first coffee of the day. Passing it to me our fingers touched, sending tiny flutters of awareness through me.
“We need to talk,” he whispered.
I quickly glanced across to Liam and Mia, but they were engrossed in conversation.
“When?”
“Later,” he said to me then walked towards the table. “I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now.”
“Okay, I’ll look after Mia,” Liam said.
“Hey, wait,” Mia said, suddenly lifting her head from her hands and looked at me. “Thalia, you can be my bridesmaid. You’re about the same size as Rebecca. Oh, this is perfect.”