Just One of the Groomsmen

He’d been wanting an excuse to stop while telling himself he couldn’t start his own business and make it successful by taking half a day off partway through the week when his phone had rung.

“So, you know how you’re a bum now?” Addie had asked the second he’d picked up.

Glad for a legitimate reason to take a break, he’d dropped his tools and leaned against the wall of the shed. “Really? A bum?”

Her laugh had carried over the line and made him smile. “It’s my day off, but Lexi roped me into helping her plan the wedding—”

“She asked you to help with wedding stuff?” It was too funny, picturing her picking out dresses and flowers—hell, he bet if any guy tried to buy her flowers she’d hurl them at his head while yelling something like How dare you treat me like a girl!

“Okay, Mr. Incredulous, I had the same reaction, but apparently, much like Obi-Wan Kenobi, I’m someone’s only hope. And it’d help me not be so bored if you came along for the ride.”

Damn, how could he resist such a solid Star Wars reference? Not that he wouldn’t make her work a little harder for it. “What’s in it for me?”

She made an offended noise. “You get to hang out with yours truly, and we might actually get a chance to catch up without being interrupted every five minutes—well, since we’ll be in town, that’s not entirely true, but you get what I’m sayin’. Plus, we can give the rumor mill a push and scare all the older people that we’re together again and most likely plannin’ shenanigans. They’ll bar up the windows, bring their pies in off the sills.”

“So we’re bears?”

She growled, the weakest-sounding bear ever, then snort-laughed. “Pretend I didn’t do that.”

“Not sure I can unhear it.” He’d glanced down at himself, thinking he could use a shower. You know, for shenanigans reasons. Not because he cared about being sweaty and covered in sawdust in front of Addie. He’d told her he’d meet her in thirty, and he even wore the beat-up Saints hat she loathed to keep himself in line. Maybe that would also keep her in line, which was a moot point, because she didn’t seem to be having any trouble.

The shops lining the streets appeared very much the same. A few had new paint and new names, but not much had changed. Not much ever did here, and after years of too much change, too much traffic, and too many people, he took a moment to enjoy the slower pace and nostalgic timelessness.

Then the blond ponytail came into view. She’d paired a simple T-shirt with frayed, cut-off shorts that displayed a whole lot of leg, and he quickly jerked his gaze back to the unchanged buildings.

Now if he could only keep his feelings for one of his best friends from changing, that’d be great. Apparently it was going to take extra effort. “How do you feel about the fact that I’m only here because I had literally nothing else to do?” he joked as she approached.

“Relieved,” she said, without a hint of teasing. “I thought maybe Nonna Lucia would wanna help, but she informed me she has a social life, and then added that I needed to get one, too.”

“Real subtle, your grandma.”

“Right?” Addie pulled a folded paper out of the back pocket of the shorts that he absolutely wasn’t looking at. “Okay, so first up, I need to figure out how many strings of lights and yards of tulle we need to decorate the gazebo.” She looked from the list to the gazebo and then back to the list. “I’m assuming yards means tulle is a fabric?”

He shrugged. “Sounds right to me,” he said, although he was totally out of his league, a feeling he could see reflected in Addie’s expression.