Page 27 of My Best French Wedding

“About my wedding?” Fiona asked, peeling her cheek off her fiancé’s shoulder.

“And the castle,” Walter added, in case anyone had forgotten his first allegiance was to Maude.

“We can’t work together.” Hildy swung a finger between herself and Walter.

“Who said anything about working together?”

“You want to workagainsteach other?” The emphasis landed a little wrong. Hildy told herself no one else had noticed, but that didn’t explain Walter’s flushed cheeks.

“We’ll both do a story,” he said, voice gruffer than usual. “Fiona can choose the one she likes best.”

Hildy couldn’t seem to stop shaking her head. That was how intensely she disagreed. “It’s a ridiculous idea.”

“I don’t know,” Fiona mused. “We did that with the invitations. I had to see them side by side to pick my favorite font…”

“You’re not afraid of a little competition, are you?” Walter’s face was all innocence—if you overlooked the wicked gleam in his eyes. He was manipulating her and they both knew it.

And yet she was incapable of ignoring his challenge.

“Me? Of course not.” Hildy didn’t want to overplay her hand with a fake laugh, so she added a bemused huff instead. “I wouldn’t want Fiona to settle for less than the best.”

“Looks like we’re on the same page,” Walter said. “For once.”

“If you think you can see it to the end. Follow-through hasn’t always been your strong suit.”

His jaw tightened. “WhenIcommit to something, I’m all in.”

Robbie glanced between them, as if he was trying to puzzle out the smallest row of letters on the eye chart at the optometrist’s office.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Fiona asked Hildy, with a not-so-subtle tip of the chin in Walter’s direction.

She pasted on her brightest smile.Look at me, No-Drama Hildy!“It’s totally fine. Don’t give it a second thought. I’m certainly not going to.”

“Oh good!” Fiona said. “It makes me happy when people get along.”

“She’s a lover not a fighter,” Robbie confirmed. He tapped the side of her glass. “Time for a refill?”

“I thought you’d never ask!”

While the lovebirds wended their way to the nearest wine station, Walter rounded on Hildy.

“You can stop looking so pleased with yourself,” she snapped. “This doesn’t change anything. It’s been my story from the beginning, and it’s going to stay that way.”

“As long as you’re sure.”

“Maybe you should just give up now. Save yourself the embarrassment of being sent home empty-handed.”

“Why, Hildy, it almost feels like you don’t want me here.”

“How perceptive. Have you been working on your communication skills?”

“Are you sulking because I outplayed you?” He leaned closer, daring her to deny it.

“The week is young.” She flicked her hair, drawing his attention to her bare shoulders. Suddenly aware of how close they were standing, Hildy edged back a step. “Shouldn’t you be with your girlfriend?”

“My—you mean Maude?”

The hesitation piqued her interest. “Do you have another one?”