Final Score: Part One (Game On 5)

He forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. Fine.”

He didn’t look directly at me, but before I could question him further, he turned and left the room. My eyes followed him then landed on Bryce who stood just outside the door, his dark eyebrows drawn together.

“What the hell?” I asked, standing up.

Bryce shrugged. “I’ve no idea. He was fine all day, then we showered and changed and he got out before me, and when I joined him outside… he looked like he wanted to murder someone. I asked him what was up and he just got in the car. Hasn’t said a word.”

My eyes narrowed. Radleigh could be a moody git at times, but not so moody that his attitude changed in the time it took for him to shower and change. And if something was bothering him, he would almost always tell either me or Bryce, so the fact that he was being grumpy with both of us took me by surprise.

“Take a seat,” I said, nodding towards the living room. “I’ll go check on him. Do you want something to drink?”

“A coffee would be good.” Bryce rested a supportive hand on my shoulder before I headed to the kitchen. The smell of the roast beef I was cooking wafted down the hallway, making my stomach grumble and I hoped Jesse and Kayla wouldn’t be too long because I was starving. Radleigh was leaning against the kitchen table, a half empty bottle of water in his hand. He stiffened as I walked over to him and rested my hands on his waist. He still wouldn’t meet my eye.

“What’s going on?” I asked, slipping my arms around him. I tilted my head up in the hopes he’d acknowledge me, but he didn’t make any move to touch me or look at me.

“Nothin

g’s going on.”

“Radleigh, come on.”

“It’s just been a long day, that’s all.” Finally, he lowered his gaze to me and as his eyes met mine he gave me a small smile, a little more genuine than the last. With a sigh, he placed his free hand on my cheek before sliding it to the back of my neck, my own tension lessening ever so slightly with his movement. “Sorry for being a grouch.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

I could still feel my eyebrows pulling together in confusion, but I kissed him back, glad he’d at least partially snapped out of his weird funk.

“I’m going to make some coffee,” I said, and Radleigh shook his head.

“I’ll do it. You carry on with dinner. Jesse and Kayla will be here soon.”

“Thank you.” I placed another kiss on his lips just as the doorbell rang, signalling their arrival, and I smiled. “I’ll get the door first.”

Thankfully, Radleigh’s mood fully shifted over the course of dinner; apparently food and fun with his friends was enough to cast away whatever had bothered him earlier. Once we’d eaten, Kayla and I left the boys to do the washing up, and we went upstairs to talk bridesmaids’ dresses.

The two of us sat on my bed and Kayla was practically giddy with excitement. I chuckled at her enthusiasm as she grappled my phone from my hands to look at the photos from my shopping excursion with Freya and Bree. Kayla was sixteen now, and getting more beautiful every day. Not only that though, she’d grown a lot from the shy, under-confident girl I’d first met. I knew this was, in part, thanks to Bree’s influence on her. Much to Bree’s amusement, Kayla looked on her as a role model, and watching Bree transform from housewife to make-up artist seemed to have inspired Kayla.

“This is so unfair,” Kayla said, scrolling through the photos we’d taken of our favourite dresses. “How am I supposed to choose?” She looked up, her face serious. “I’d like to recommend all of them, and we just change through the day so we get to show them all off.”

I laughed out loud. Yeah, she was starting to sound like Bree too. “I think Radleigh might kill me if I spent that much money on dresses.” He was generous with the budget but with seven bridesmaids and five favourite outfits, he’d most certainly think we’d taken things a few steps too far. “If it helps, we all liked the purple and blue the best?”

Kayla nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think I agree.”

“I need to call Izzy and Chrissie, but I’m sure they’ll agree. Chrissie will for sure.”

“I wish the time difference between here and England wasn’t so big.” Kayla frowned as she handed my phone back to me. “I don’t get to talk to Izzy as much as I’d like to.”

I smiled with understanding. The eight hour difference was challenging at times, and there were really only a select few windows of time we could talk. Sometimes this involved my family staying up really late, or getting up really early to talk to me, and vice versa. I’d gotten used to it now, but Kayla clearly hadn’t. Since meeting Isabelle, the two girls had gotten super close. Just as well, since in spite of the obvious potential problems, it looked as though Jesse and Izzy were destined to beat the odds and make their long-distance relationship work. I’d never before seen a couple who were so far apart so dedicated to each other, and so determined to make it last. I was certain that sometime in the next few years I’d be attending their wedding because as young as they were, they both knew what they wanted and that hadn’t faltered the whole time they’d been together.

“Izzy will be back over here soon, right?” I asked.

“Not soon enough,” Kayla grumbled. “She’ll be here for two weeks in July. Although…” she trailed off, and smiled.

“What?”

“I talked to Bree last night and she said maybe we – me, you, Bree, Izzy and Freya – could get together and have a girly day. She said we could try and book a session at the studio she used to work at. Kind of a bridesmaids’ fun photoshoot. I know your sister-in-law won’t be able to come, or your niece, but you could bring Jessica.”

Knowing how Bree was, it would be a little too crazy for a small child, but the idea made me grin. It would be fun to get as many of us together as possible and have a bit of pampering. I knew for sure my stress levels would be higher by July with the wedding getting closer, and Bree and Freya would never turn down the chance to get made up. How we’d make it happen with Freya and Bree working, I wasn’t sure. And maybe even I’d be working again by then. The thought caused my body to jolt a little. Me. Work.

Don’t panic about that just yet.