She turns around with a grateful smile, dropping her arms back so I can help her slip into the sexy, shimmery jacket. It’s got cute fringe detail at the sleeves that in the right lighting will make it look like she’s dripping diamonds.
“I figured I’ll take it off after the ceremony,” she adds.
I step to the side, taking in the full picture from her signature Rachel bun, following the line of the dress’s slit down to her naked toes. With a tip of my head, I purse my lips. “Something’s missing.”
“I’m not wearing a veil,” she huffs. “That would definitely be overkill.”
“No, you’ve got your something old and something borrowed,” I say, pointing at the dress and the jacket. “The flowers can be your something new. We need to find you something blue.”
She laughs, fiddling with the sleeve of the jacket. “What was your something blue at your wedding?”
My smile falters as memories of the day flash in my mind—the heat of the sun on my shoulders during the outdoor ceremony, one too many glasses of champagne at the reception, dancing until my feet blistered. “My shoes,” I reply softly.
“Oh, that’s brilliant.” Rachel hurries around the corner. “Mom basically has her own shoe warehouse in here,” she calls. “Come help me pick out a pair.”
The back of Julia Price’s designer closet is a room just for shoes, artfully arranged from floor to ceiling on custom lighted shelves. Shoes twinkle in every color and style from Hermès flats to red-bottomed Louboutins. The contents of this room alone are worth more than what some people make in a lifetime.
“Geez,” I say, noting the bottom row of stylish leather boots. “Mama Price gets to shop in her own DSW every day of the week.”
“I know, right?” She turns, holding up two very different blue shoes—one a strappy heel, the other a tall, pointed-toe pump. “Which one?”
“The strappy,” I say immediately. “You’d be kicking those pumps off before you even walk down the aisle.”
“Good call,” she says, replacing the pump and grabbing the strappy heel’s partner.
Taking a deep breath, I glance over my shoulder, grateful to know that—at least for the moment—we’re alone. “Listen, Rach…”
She pauses, one foot flamingoed in the air as she works the buckle of the strap. “Yeah?”
I step forward and grab her lightly by the shoulders.
She drops her foot to the floor. “Tess, what—”
“Just listen for a sec,” I say over her. “I wouldn’t be doing my job as your best friend if I didn’t ask you this. If I didn’t look you in the eye and hear you say the words—”
She groans. “Tess—”
“Rachel Diane Price,” I say, my voice louder. “Are you sure you want to get married tonight? Because I swear to God, if you give me even a look like you’d rather run, I will throw you over my shoulder, linebacker my way down those stairs, and we’ll run.”
2
“I need to hear you say it, Rach,” I say again.
Rachel smiles, her eyes suddenly watery. “Tess, I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too,” I say quickly. “And only my love for you has me asking this now. You deserve an out if you need it. I mean, you haven’t known these guys long, Rach. And it’s a big freakin’ leap. Marriage is…well, it’s a legal quagmire—”
“Tess,” Rachel says again, lifting a hand to cup my face.
I still at the touch.
“I don’t need Lawyer Tess with me right now. I’m good,” she says with a gentle nod.
I suck in a breath, letting it out. “You’re good?”
“I’m really, really good,” she replies. “Tess, they’re the ones.”
“They’re the ones?” I echo.
“They’re the ones,” she repeats. “Tess, I’ve waited my whole life to feel like I make sense. Always searching for the reason. My reason. I thought travel was my reason. Then maybe it was medicine. And I do, I love medicine,” she adds. “I love healing what’s broken in others. Each time I think it heals a little something in me too.”
I smile. She’s certainly helped heal me. She found me at my lowest and gave me a home and a friendship I wouldn’t trade for the world.
“And then Jake found me in Seattle,” she says with a smile. “And when he found me, I found me too. I’m who I’m meant to be now. With them, I’m me. Jake, Caleb, and Ilmari, they’re my reason. So, I’m not walking down that aisle tonight. I’m running. I’m running to them, Tess. I’m going home.”