“No, this was just to torment you.” Damn. She was throwing my own words at me.
I tried another angle. “Have you asked Josie if she wants a party?”
“She does, believe me.”
“Okay.” Okay. If Josie did want it, I’d be a jerk to say anything against it. Did she also want a stripper? Shit, I needed to focus on something else. The thought made me want to punch the table or crush my cup.
“Any chance whatsoever I can skip this... milestone?” I asked.
She smiled sweetly. “You’ve said that about every milestone I’ve coerced you into having. And in retrospect, you’ve always been happy I did.”
Prom, graduation, graduation trip. I’d wanted to skip all of those. Tess was one year older than me and had moved out of the Winchester house by the time I was a senior, but guess who’d come home to visit the weekend of my prom? Tess.
She’d practically shoved me out the door. I hadn’t asked anyone to go with me, and I still didn’t have many friends aside from Josie, but I ended up having fun. Same with graduation.
“I’ve always hoped you and Josie would get together,” she went on. “I’m happy for you two.” Guilt kicked in again.
Tess glanced at the screen of her phone and sighed. “I need to go or I’ll be late for my morning meeting.”
“Tess, I’m grateful you want to organize the wedding, but I can hire a wedding planner. You have a lot on your plate.”
She and Skye were setting up their own lingerie business, and it took a lot of work. They both still worked full-time in the fashion industry, so they did everything in their spare time. So far, they had a small online shop, but their aim was to open a brick-and-mortar store soon.
“I’m never too busy for family.”
“Thanks.”
I had no clue why that still got to me after so many years. Maybe because I had felt like a stray dog in the few months after Mom moved to England and before Amelia and my cousins moved to New York. They’d given me so much, and I was trying to give back every chance I got.
Which was why I wanted to talk to Tess about something that was still a touchy subject.
“How is the financing going?” I asked her. She and Skye were pitching to investors for their business. They were as bold as they were hardworking. New York was a playground for the fashion industry, but also fiercely competitive.
“We have offers and are now assessing.”
“You’ve already decided which of the investors you want to take on?”
“Not yet. I’ll—wait a second. You have that look.”
“What look?”
“The corner of your mouth is a little lifted. Like... you’re not curious, just want a confirmation. Which means you’ve already got your way.”
“I might have set up precautions.”
“Like what?”
“Might have done thorough background research on all investors.”
In my defense, it wasn’t unwarranted. One of the business partners they worked with early on had scammed them. I was still pissed that he’d gotten away with it, but one of these days, it’d catch up to him. He’d get what he deserved.
She kissed my cheek. “Thank you for looking out for us. I just can’t believe we messed up so badly.”
“Tess, it happens.”
“Really? How many people nearly lost their business because they trusted the wrong people?”
“Many. I can make you a list. It’ll be at least ten pages long.”