sure this is about your parents? Nothing else? You’ve been getting more and more stressed the last couple of weeks.”
“You’re imagining things.”
“I know you, Rosie.”
Did he? Did he really?
“You can’t arrange a wedding in under a month and not expect a little stress, Dan. That would be unrealistic.”
“So it’s the wedding?” He stroked a strand of hair away from her face. “Not that I’m an expert on weddings, this being my first and only one, but I thought it was supposed to be fun and exciting.”
That was what she’d thought, too, but it turned out they were both wrong.
She didn’t feel giddy with excitement; she had a tension headache.
“Let’s talk about something other than weddings for five minutes.”
“Hey—” he pulled her back into his arms “—it’s going to be okay, I promise. Once your family arrives, you’ll be more relaxed. You’re probably stressed because your sister couldn’t make it out on the same flight. I know you miss her.”
Mmm. Right now she wanted to kill her sister.
Why were relationships so complicated?
“She emailed yesterday. She wants us to share for a few nights so that we can catch up. Is that okay with you? At Christmas we always end up sharing a room. It’s kind of a tradition.”
Dan grinned. “I’m assuming I’m not invited to this sisterly sleepover?”
“You’re not invited, but it’s going to feel weird being separated from you. I’m not sure how I feel about it to be honest.”
Katie had said in her email that she desperately missed girlie gossip and that she wanted a few nights together like they always had at Christmas, but now Rosie was wondering if there was more to the request than an urge for sisterly bonding.
She’d tried calling, but her sister hadn’t answered her phone.
Dan seemed relaxed about it. “It will be fun, and it’s understandable. She hasn’t seen you in ages. She wants to gossip with her little sister.”
Rosie hoped that was all it was.
She almost told him then. She almost told him what Katie had said, and how she’d put doubts in her mind.
But how could she? She didn’t even know if those doubts were real. She didn’t know what she wanted. There was so much she could talk to him about, but not this.
“I hope you like her.” I hope my sister doesn’t subject you to interrogation. What if she did? What if Dan decided it was all too much? Rosie leaned her head against his chest, feeling detached despite the warmth of his arms. It was as if a barrier had somehow appeared between them. One of the things she’d loved about him from the start was how easy he was to talk to, but right now she couldn’t find a way to say what needed to be said. She felt him stroke her hair.
“You’ve talked so much about her, I feel as if I know her already.”
There had been a few things she’d left out. Like the fact that her sister hadn’t sounded thrilled about the wedding. “It’s been an insane few weeks.”
He lifted her face to his. “Mom hasn’t been too overwhelming?”
“Not at all. She’s the kindest person and so generous. I love her.” That was true, even though it was also true that Catherine’s expectations about the wedding added another level of pressure.
“And she loves you.” He smiled as he kissed her. “She told me that if she could have chosen a daughter, she would have chosen you.”
And...more pressure.
Oh this was ridiculous. She needed to tell him about the conversation with Katie. But then he might be mad at Katie, and she couldn’t bear that. She didn’t want to begin a marriage with family tensions.
“Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
“You mean a really deep, dark secret?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
“Something no one else on the planet knows about me, not even Jordan?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? Because I have some pretty serious stuff buried in my past.”
Her heart started to pound. Maybe Katie was right. Maybe there were things they didn’t know about each other that really mattered.
“Tell me. You can tell me anything.” And she should be able to tell him anything, shouldn’t she? After he’d made his big confession, whatever that was, she’d tell him straight out about her doubts. Neither of them would be hiding anything.
“It’s pretty shocking.”
“Go on.”
He took a deep breath. “When I was seven I found my Christmas presents under my parents’ bed and opened them all.”
Anxiety turned to relief. “That’s it? Oh, you—” She pushed at his chest and he grinned.