be her witness at the courthouse,” I said.
“Probably. That won’t be so bad, but oh my gosh. You don’t suppose she’s going to pick out a bridesmaid dress for me, do you? She and I do not have the same sense of style!”
“You don’t think a lime-green taffeta dress with pink polka dots would suit you?”
“If only it could be that subtle. Maybe I’ll just tell her I have the perfect dress in mind and hope she goes for it. Do you think we should throw her a shower? An engagement-slash-wedding-slash-baby shower?”
“Probably, but when?”
“I have no idea. I’m crazy busy right now, and she didn’t give us much notice.”
“What do you mean us? She didn’t ask me to be a bridesmaid. This one is all on you.” I smiled because of course I’d help, but I wasn’t sure when. “Unless maybe you could have it after the wedding? I’m pretty busy with running the town, you know.”
Emily chuckled. “Dmitri told me you and June Mahoney had a catfight and were slapping each other across the face.”
“I wish. As much as I might enjoy taking a swing at June Mahoney, we did not slap each other. We raised our voices because she didn’t want to let Gigi send her husbands off into the sky inside a firework.”
Emily’s feet stopped moving. “Gigi wants to do what now?”
I filled her in on the latest shenanigans, and then she moved on to the next inevitable topic.
“So, when were you going to tell me about this Leo guy? And the kissing stuff?”
I couldn’t contain my sigh. “I wasn’t not telling you. I just, I don’t know. I’m not sure what to even say about it. We’ve had dinner twice. It was fun. He kissed me. That was fun.” I shrugged, suddenly at a loss for words and feeling inexplicably emotional.
“I talked to him for a few minutes at Bridget O’Malley’s wake. He seems like a pretty nice guy. And not too hard to look at, either.”
“That’s for sure.”
“So, why do you seem so reluctant to pursue something with him? Shoot, why didn’t you hop into bed with him after the first dinner?”
I looked around to make sure no one was near enough to hear us, but the streets were virtually deserted. “Because that’s not my style. When it comes to that sort of stuff . . . I’m a little shy. And I haven’t had sex in ages. I’m not sure I remember how.”
Emily grinned. “It’s just like riding a bike, except that the bike is naked, and the seat is a penis.”
I chuffed with laughter. “Good to know, but I guess it’s not the mechanics I’m so worried about. It’s the, you know, the emotional element of it. I like him. But what if we end up in bed and then I start to like him too much? Then he leaves and breaks my heart.”
Emily’s nod was sympathetic. “Listen, I totally get what you’re saying about that. It’s exactly how I felt about Ryan, but things are going great for us. Maybe things will go great for you and Leo, too. Don’t you think it’s worth a shot? I mean, honestly, Brooke, when’s the last time you had a boyfriend?”
“Ouch.”
“I’m not asking that to be mean. It just seems like you work really hard to keep yourself working really hard, and maybe you use that as kind of an escape, you know? Like, if you keep yourself occupied by worrying about the schoolkids, or the island’s government, or even Dad and Gigi, then you won’t have time to think about your own needs.”
I felt my cheeks heat up as she continued.
“You know, now that I’m a mom, and especially now that Chloe is a teenager,” Emily said, “I’ve realized what an enormous sacrifice you made by taking care of me and Lilly after Mom died. You were there for us all the time, and I owe you so much for that. But I think you got into the habit of stuffing down your own needs and desires all the time, and maybe . . . maybe it’s time you stopped doing that.”
We walked a few more steps in silence as her words settled in my brain and hot tears prickled in my eyes. My first instinct was to feel defensive, but in truth, my sister had struck upon something that had started to occur to me, too. People kept asking me why I wanted to be the mayor, and I came up with all