when you’re here next week. Thank goodness for Lucas.
Lacey: Is this some part of the grieving process I haven’t heard about before?
Anna: My counsellor says setting up other people is a good distraction since my libido sadly didn’t die with Cam.
Rachel: I can’t wait to see what Facebook ads you’re going to get from that sentence.
Lacey: I didn’t think religious people were allowed to use that word. If you stop messaging, I’ll know it’s because you’ve just been struck down.
Rachel: You don’t want to get her started on her God-created-sex lecture. Trust me.
Anna: What? It’s true! I’m barely in my thirties. It’s not like Cam died in his nineties and all we’d done was hold hands for the last two decades.
Lacey: Three decades. No one has sex after 65. It’s a rule.
Anna: Since when?
Rachel: Lacey, please start talking about the wedding. I’m begging you.
Lacey: I think it’s time we help Anna find a job. She clearly has too much time on her hands.
Anna: Way ahead of you on that one. Got my resume out all over the show. Strangely enough, there’s not a whole lot of appeal in a single mom who hasn’t worked for four years.
Lacey: You did some great projects before you had Libby. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
Anna: My dad has offered to put in a word with some of his business contacts. I’m praying it doesn’t come to that. Anyway, back to the wedding. Specifically, where we left off with the brother.
Lacey: Fine. Yes, it would appear that in the last few years Victor has made some progress toward becoming a decent human being.
Anna: Excellent. Everyone loves a good bad-boy redemption story.
Lacey: I would offer to introduce you, but I’m pretty sure he’s not the churchgoing type. He’s good with kids, so you can put that in his plus column.
Anna: No, thanks. I’ve had the great love of my life. I’m in the market for yours.
Emelia got her second chance. Maybe I think you deserve one too. It sounded easy in theory. Like handing out candy at a parade. But in his experience, second chances were harder to come by than Willy Wonka’s golden tickets. Especially when the carnage left behind was broken relationships and shattered trust.
Victor eased out his legs in front of him as he scanned the tableau from behind his sunglasses. Somewhere around four, he’d decided to give the missing invite the benefit of the doubt and show up for brunch.
No one had even blinked at his presence, so it looked like Lacey was right. He was glad he’d taken the chance. There was something good for the soul about sitting in the sun, watching the tribe romp around while Carolina screeched at them from underneath yet another ridiculous hat.
Lacey was nowhere to be seen. Lacey, who he’d just realized during his sleepless night, had known who he was this whole time. Not just that he was a total cad. He could understand why she hadn’t said anything about that. But she’d known he was Peter’s brother, had known all about his family, and hadn’t said a word. Not even when he talked about Anita.
It felt unfair like she’d had an advantage in a game he didn’t even know he was playing. But there was also grudging admiration. He wouldn’t have expected anything less from her than maximizing every possible advantage. Especially given the circumstances.
Closing his eyes, he let himself savor the warmth of the sun. It had been weeks since Minnesota. Meredith had to have something planned soon. And, unlike Lacey, he had no reason to be checking his emails over the weekend. No clients saw him as indispensable.
He opened his eyes as Peter dropped down into the empty seat beside him. “So, Emelia mentioned that Lacey works for the company Wyndham is merging with.”
Victor’s drink sloshed in his hand. Surely they’d had better things to do on their wedding night than talk about him and Lacey? He managed to keep the thought from exiting his mouth. For once. Instead, he took a long swig of his ginger beer while he formulated his response. No doubt Emelia had also told Peter about the rest of their conversation. “Has anyone ever told you your small talk needs work?”
Peter looked startled for a second, then gave a wry smile. “Emelia may have mentioned it a time or two.”
“I guess it’s an occupational hazard when you spend most of your time in a boat with a bunch of other men being yelled