Too Complicated (The Lewis Cousins 2)

“What about Shane?” Zoey asked.

“Same deal for me,” Serena replied. “Too close to home, especially with him working at the bar, plus, I’ve always thought he and Jazzy would be great together.”

“What?” I heard Jazzy sputter just before opening my dressing room door. My eyes found her, and I was surprised to see her face turn as red as her hair as I walked out. “No way!”

“Why not? He’s totally hot,” Serena said.

“And sweet,” Zoey added.

“And Australian,” I put in as I joined the group.

Jasmine nodded and replied, “All great points, but, he’s a total player, who works for the family, plus, there’s no way he’ll come to the wedding solo.”

“I think you’re protesting way too much for someone claiming not to like a guy,” Rena said, then leaned away from her cousin with a giggle when Jasmine reached out and tried to swat her on the head.

“Zoey, I have a few dresses ready for you in the dressing room, if you’re ready,” the proprietor of the bridal salon said, breaking us up before we could razz Jasmine any further.

I joined the others on the couch and picked up my champagne as we waited to see Zoey come out in her first dress.

“Did I tell you that we decided on a s’mores station at the rehearsal?” Zoey asked excitedly from behind the door. “Oh, and we’re going to lay long boards over bales of hay for seating during the ceremony. It’s going to be so amazing.”

“I had some ideas for centerpieces and a few different things we can do with chalkboards too,” I called out. “I’ve been going crazy on Pinterest. There are some awesome ideas on there.”

Before anyone could say another word, Zoey walked out of the room and took our breath away.

“What do you think?” she asked as she glided into the room. “I know it’s just the first one, but I love how it’s strapless on top and flows into this beautiful flowing skirt. Plus, the fabric here hides my belly pretty well, and it’s long enough that people won’t notice when I don’t wear heels.”

It took me a moment to find my voice, and when I did I asked, “Have you seen it?”

Zoey shook her head and said, “No, I wanted to do it out here, with you guys.”

She stood on the platform, still facing us, her eyes roaming our faces as she gauged our reaction to the dress.

“Look,” I urged softly, then stood to go stand next to my baby sister.

/> Zoey turned, her eyes welling as she surveyed herself from head to toe in the mirror.

“Oh,” she whispered.

Jasmine and Serena got up and joined us on the platform, and the four of us stood there, taking in Zoey’s glorious beauty in a dress that seemed to be tailor-made for her.

“You are definitely getting laid in that dress,” Jasmine said, causing us all to laugh through our tears.

Chapter Fifteen ~ Reardon

“Hey,” I said in greeting as I walked down the path in front of my house to the driveway. I’d talked Chloe into coming over for dinner again, using planning the bachelor/bachelorette party as my excuse. This time, she’d brought Christopher with her.

“Hi,” Chloe replied with a smile as she got out of the car. She was really glowing, and the beauty of her made me pause for a second, before clearing my throat and smiling at her son,

“How’s it going, Chris?”

“Pretty good,” he said with a shrug, then added, “Although my English teacher gave us an assignment at the last minute, which sucks.”

Hey,” Chloe chided, “don’t say sucks.” Then she turned her attention back to me and said, “He’ll have to do some homework while we’re here, but first, I want to show you something.”

Chloe held out her hand to me as she rounded the car, and I swear, I hustled toward her like a giddy teenager, eager to feel her hand in mine. I caught sight of Chris snickering at me before putting his skateboard on the sidewalk and taking off ahead of us. Chloe was oblivious to both of our reactions, too excited about what she was about to show me, so I decided to ignore the fact that I was coming off like a total dweeb to Chris and let Chloe lead me where she liked.

We turned the corner and went down a couple houses, before we stopped in front of a powder-blue, two-story house, with a sold sign on the lawn.