Page 16 of Wish For Me

I shoot her a glare. “Fine, three hundred and twenty.”

Ash sighs. “So I guess I know what we’re all doing for the next few days.”

“I would really owe you one.” I look around at all the faces. “Look, I know Everly has kind of been a lot when it comes to the planning of this wedding—”

There’s a chorus of scoffs and laughter. “Uh, you think?” someone calls out.

I talk over them, my voice growing a little sharper. “But I also know that she genuinely wants all of our guests—all of you—to have an amazing time. For Everly, this isn’t just about her special moment. It’s about celebrating it with everyone we care about.”

I see quite a few sheepish expressions. “She told me she ordered a crate of that hard cider I liked so much from our Tennessee vacation last year,” Will says.

“And she added a Mac and cheese bar just because it’s my favorite,” Lyric says.

“She really does make it impossible to be mad at her, doesn’t she?” Will asks fondly.

“Yeah, she’s the best. And my kid ruined her wedding dress,” River mutters.

“It’s not ruined,” Alex says.

“No, it’s just more work for you,” Wyatt mutters, and River groans.

“We’ll feed you all week,” Jasmine says. “Anything you need, you just ask.”

River and Jas clearly feel terrible. I keep telling them it will be a funny story we can tell Poppy someday. Way, way in the future, when the image of that painted dress stops giving me heart palpitations.

We go over detailed plans for everything that needs to get done before the family heads to Tennessee, and decide on who’s doing what. When the meeting breaks up, Rose and Leo walk over to me.

“Bodhi, I think you need to tell Everly about this.”

I gape at her. “Are you insane?”

Rose places a hand on my arm. “She wouldn’t like the idea of you going through all this stress on your own.”

“So you think I should put all the stress on her plate? Yeah, not happening.”

“You don’t know how she’ll react, man,” Leo points out.

Rose nods in agreement. “For all you know, she’ll be fine with taking the candles out the gift boxes.”

“And you think she’ll be fine with her dress being technicolor?” I shoot back.

Rose purses her lips. “Well, no. She’s probably going to freak the fuck out about that.” She squeezes my arm. “But then she’ll calm down and come up with a solution. Maybe one that isn’t going to cause Alex to work through the day and night for the next week.”

I feel a stab of guilt at that, and cast a glance over at Alex. “Sheofferedto fix the dress,” I say, hearing the defensive note in my voice. “Insisted, actually.”

“Of course she did,” Rose says gently. “There’s no one in this room that wouldn’t do the same for Everly. You know we all love her.” She smiles at me. “But we love you, too, Bodhi, and I don’t like seeing you so stressed out.”

“I think you should just tell her, man,” Leo says. “This whole marriage thing is all about honesty, you know?”

“That and Leo makes really good martinis when I’ve had a long week,” Rose says with a smirk.

“Honesty and martinis,” I say drily. “Got it. You guys should write marriage books, you know?”

“We really should,” Leo says smugly. “We’re awesome.”

I think about what they said for the entire drive back to the house I share with Everly. Should I just tell her? I’m going to have to come clean about the photographer eventually. And maybe Rose is right—maybe she’ll have a different solution for the dress.

I think about the other problem I’ve been dealing with, the one I haven’t even told Leo about. My dad.