“Hey there, big brother.”
Her eyes were sparkling and her short hair was mussed up, and she looked happier than he’d ever seen her.
He reached out to ruffle her hair. “I wouldn’t have guessed my kid sister could clean up so good.”
She laughed and swiped at him. “Thanks…I think. Do you feel like dancing? I haven’t seen you up there yet.”
He shook his head. “I’m going to stay parked here for a while.”
Disappointment and something else clouded her blue eyes.
“Are you sure you—”
“I’m fine.” The words came out more gruffly than he’d intended, and he took a deep breath. “Sorry. But don’t worry about me, okay? This is your wedding. You shouldn’t worry about anything but having a good time.”
Allison sighed. “All right. I just…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re here, Jake.”
“So am I. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
And it was true, even though he felt strangely disconnected from all the joy and happiness around him.
“Any luck?”
It was Jenna, coming up on the other side of him.
“Nope. You’re welcome to try if you want, but I’m going to give up gracefully.”
Allison kissed him on the cheek before she went back towards the dance floor.
Jenna punched him lightly on the shoulder. “I didn’t think people were allowed to say no to a bride on her wedding day. Much less two of them. The combined force of our awesome bridal powers should bring you to your knees.”
He smiled. “I’m happy as hell for both of you, but I’m not going on the dance floor to prove it.”
His twin sighed. “All right, fine. You don’t have to dance. But you could at least talk to some people instead of sitting here drinking all night.” She spoke lightly, but Jake could hear the same thing in her voice he’d been hearing from his family for the last two months.
Worry.
He took another swallow of scotch, relishing the burn as it trickled down his throat. “I talked with people during dinner. I talked to Claire—who’s great, by the way.”
Claire was Jenna’s new stepdaughter, and they’d spent half an hour talking about music and movies and videogames. Or at least Claire had talked, and he had listened. The perfect conversation as far as he was concerned.
“I think she’s pretty great myself. But you haven’t talked to anyone outside the family. Ben and Linda are here, and I know they’d love to catch up. Mindy’s here, too.”
Mindy Nelson was an old girlfriend, and he’d already talked to her tonight. He’d had to let her down easy after she made it clear she wouldn’t mind repeating some history with him.
“I don’t need a cruise director, Jenna.”
“Okay, okay. But you should at least say hi to Erin.”
His mind was a blank. “Erin?”
Jenna stared at him. “Erin Shaw. Allison’s friend? She was at the house all the time when we were kids. And she worked on the farm every summer.”
An image flashed before his eyes—pale gold hair hidden under an ancient baseball cap, and serious gray eyes behind thick glasses.
“Yeah, I remember her. I’ll say hello if I see her. Okay? Now go do the bride thing.”
He kissed her on the cheek and felt a surge of relief when she left him. He tossed off the rest of his scotch and signaled the waiter for another one.
As he waited for it to come he found himself thinking about Erin. His memories of her seemed to belong to a different era, as if a hundred years instead of ten had gone by since he’d seen her.
She’d started coming to the house when he was in high school. He’d barely noticed her at first—she was just another of Allison’s friends, and quieter than most. But she’d fallen in love with the Landry farm, and so she’d been around a lot.
She worked long hours with the family every summer. She was so small and fragile-looking that they’d worried about her at first, but Erin always insisted on toughing things out.
She nearly killed herself stacking hay one year. The bales were heavier than usual that summer—some kind of calibration problem with the baler. Allison called it quits after half an hour but Erin refused to be beaten, working beside him and Jenna until she was almost shaking with exhaustion.
He’d never seen a girl her age so fierce and determined. From that day on, Jake had been curious about Erin Shaw.
His curiosity had never been satisfied. Unlike every other teenager on the planet, she didn’t like to talk about herself. He’d learned that her parents were divorced and that she lived with her dad, and that was about it.