way to show you how important you are to me.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You saved me after I lost my dad, when I thought the whole world had ended.”
“You saved me too.” Zara’s own tears had started to spill over. She wiped them away with the back of her free hand. “But honestly, Britt, there have to be a zillion better ways to show me you love me.”
“I know,” Britt said with a rueful shake of her perfect hair. “You have no idea how guilty I’ve felt all year about my misguided attempt to take care of you. So guilty that I’ve only made it worse by trying to pretend I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It wasn’t losing Cameron that hurt,” Zara told her. “What hurt most of all was worrying that I had lost you.”
“You would never lose me!” Brittany threw her arms around Zara, and it was such a relief to hold her stepsister tight. “Does this mean you forgive me?” Brittany said into her hair a few beats later.
Zara smiled at her irrepressible hope and confidence. “Of course I forgive you. Although…you aren’t the only one who didn’t tell the complete truth.”
Brittany cocked her head. “About what?”
“At your party on Saturday, Rory and I weren’t a real couple.” At Brittany’s incredulous look, she explained, “He found me freaking out over your engagement the day before, and he offered to go as my pretend date to show you that I was doing just fine.”
“But…” Brittany looked toward Rory’s workshop. “He just told you he loves you. And you were sure as heck acting like you love him too. I can’t believe that was just an act for his ex’s benefit—or for mine.”
“It wasn’t.” Zara was glad that she could finally talk about this with her stepsister. She’d missed their heart-to-hearts this year. “Something changed for us during your engagement party. And even though none of it was supposed to be real—”
“You couldn’t keep your hands off each other.”
“Do you blame me?” But Zara needed her stepsister to know one more thing. “What we have is so much more than just chemistry. I really love him, and he really loves me.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Honestly, I’m still more than a little surprised by how everything changed so fast for us.”
“Falling in love is pretty epic, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Before she could think better of it, Zara added, “And terrifying.”
“I know the sky fell for both of us once,” Brittany said, “but we can’t live every moment worrying that it will fall again. You deserve to be happy, Z. We both do.”
It was exactly what Zara had been telling herself since joy had finally broken through. That it was okay to be happy. That it was okay to embrace contentment. That it was okay to lose herself in the delight of being with Rory. She couldn’t express just how helpful it was to hear her stepsister confirm that all of those things were true.
“I’ll do it,” Zara said abruptly. “I’ll help with your wedding.”
“Fantastic!” Brittany was grinning from ear to ear. “I actually brought my folder of ideas, if you’ve got some time to go over them now.”
“Good to know I’m not a sure thing,” Zara joked.
“You’re my sister.” Brittany gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I knew you’d agree to help. And I have a feeling it won’t be too long before I help you plan the wedding of the century to that gorgeous woodworker of yours.”
“Whoa!” Zara tried to laugh off her suddenly racing heart. “We’re only at the beginning.”
Brittany rolled her eyes. “You’re so adorable when you’re in denial.” Then she pulled the world’s fattest folder out of her bag, pieces of lace and silk falling out onto Zara’s desk. “We’ve got a million decisions to make, so we’d better get started.”
* * *
Three hours later, Zara’s head spun from her crash course in wedding planning. Brittany had, not unexpectedly, left the folder behind so that Zara could continue to make headway on the details.
She went to find Rory just as he was coming to find her. They were in the middle of the hallway between their workspaces when he threaded his hands into her hair and gave her one of the best kisses of her life. Even when one of their co-workers walked past, they didn’t let each other go.
At last, he asked, “Everything go okay with Brittany?”
Wondering how on earth he could talk when she was still trying to