61
Five days till Jolene moved in. Six weeks until the wedding. And about thirty seconds before I tossed my sister out of my office.
“Really, Cleo, it’s going to be okay,” I promised her. “You need to calm down. It’s not that big a deal.”
“Of course, it is!” she exclaimed, shooting a furious look in my direction. “I really liked this girl, Kristo. And now she’s just gone. Like that. I can’t believe it.”
I ran my hand through my hair and tried to center myself. I had never much been good at this kind of thing, but it was my sister, so I would give it a go.
“Come on, tell me about it.” I crouched down in front of where she had crashed dramatically into the seat in my office just a few minutes before. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”
She wiped the tears away from her eyes and gave me a hard look.
“You’re getting married soon,” she reminded me. “You don’t know what it’s like to have your heart broken.”
I thought back to the moment when Amaya had walked out on me, when she had told me she’d loved me. I hadn’t been able to think of a single thing to say back to her and had to watch her go. I grimaced at the memory. I had an idea of what it was to get your heart broken, but I had a feeling my sister didn’t want to hear it from me at that moment.
“Okay, but I know how much it sucks,” I assured her. “And this girl, if she was really that special, she would still be around, wouldn’t she? She obviously doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”
Cleo raised her gaze to meet mine, and I could see a flicker of incredulity in her eyes.
“You really aren’t good at this stuff, are you?” she remarked, and just that suddenly, my sister was back, ribbing me like she always did.
“You know I’m not.” I shrugged apologetically. “But seriously, if this woman wouldn’t stick around for you, then she’s not worth your time in the first place.”
“We were seeing each other for a few months,” she sighed heavily. “I really thought—I don’t know, I just thought it might have been something real, you know? Someone to take to the wedding with me.”
“I wouldn’t want anyone at the wedding who wouldn’t appreciate you the way you deserve,” I told her firmly. “You’re my best man, after all. I’m not having you get screwed around.”
“You’re still banging that drum?” She cocked her head at me and wiped her nose. “You really want me to be your best man?”
“I already told you, it’s the only way I’ll forgive you for blowing up my life with telling everyone about the contract,” I reminded her. She grinned and shook her head.
“I’m only doing it because I’ll look awesome in a tuxedo,” she replied. “Who’s Amaya’s maid of honor? Aren’t I supposed to get together with them?”
“Yeah, that’s Jolene, so you may want to hold off on that.” I raised my eyebrows at her, and she sank back down into the chair, defeated. Then I remembered Darla. The two of them seemed to have hit it off that night they spent at the dinner we’d hosted, but Cleo had been seeing someone, so those two hadn’t taken it any further.
“What about Darla?” I reminded her. “You guys seemed to get on really well, and she’ll be coming to the wedding. You should see if you can do something with her.”
“Yeah, I actually might.” Cleo nodded, furrowing her brow. “We had a really good time when we went for that drink.”
“Just that drink?” I raised my eyebrows at her playfully.
“Just that drink,” she shot back, swatting my arm. I grinned. I was so glad she was going to be my best man. I couldn’t think of anyone more suited to the job, but maybe that spoke to the fact that I didn’t have so many people close to me more than anything else.
I knew Cleo was in the same boat. It was hard, growing up between Greece and America, to hang onto friends where we could. Growing up, it had really just been the two of us, hanging on together to make sure we had some company our own age. Sure, there were the cousins back home, but they always seemed a little cliquey and treated us as outsiders because we spent so much time in the States. While Cleo had found a few socialite friends to flit around with, it was still me she came to when shit went down the way it had with her latest girlfriend. I assumed that’s why she’d been so mad about the contract, not because it existed in the first place but because I hadn’t told her about it before. I got it, I did. If there was one person I told everything to, it had been Cleo. But now someone else had taken that spot in my life, and I wanted to find her someone new to share that kind of relationship with too.
“I guess I should probably let you get back to work.” She sighed and dragged herself to her feet, as though it was some great trial to even pull herself upright. “And can you get me Darla’s number from Amaya? I guess we were a little distracted the first night we met, and I forgot to ask for it.”
“Just drinks, huh?” I teased again.
“Just drinks,” she repeated, but she was grinning like she was sitting on a secret. I gave her a quick hug and saw her to the door.
“Take care of yourself, okay?” I ordered her. “I’m going to need you running properly these next few weeks. The wedding’s coming up, and then …”
“And then we’re going to have to start putting shit together for the nursery.” She clapped her hands together in excitement. “Oh my god, I can’t wait to meet my little niece.”
“Or nephew,” I reminded her. “We don’t know the gender yet.”