LITMIR.BIZ

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didn’t have to think about that one very long. “She’d never forgive us for skipping out on her, would she?”

      “No, we’re going to have to do this,” Kyle stated with a shake of his head.

      “And listen to her talk about her wedding plans.”

      This time it was Kyle who groaned. “Don’t remind me. Ever since he gave her that diamond on Valentine’s Day she’s been like a broken record…the wedding this, the wedding that. Michael says…blah blah blah.”

      “It’s only one weekend,” Justin said for his benefit as much as Kyle’s.

      “So does this mean I can tell Tammy she can bring Tara?” Kyle stood, waiting for his answer.

      “All right,” he said, ignoring his instincts, which told him he was making a mistake. “I’ll do it, but you’re going to owe me big-time for this one.”

      “Hey—you’ll be thanking me by the time the weekend’s over,” Kyle said with a cocky grin.

      Justin hoped he was right, but his gut was telling him that this year’s Bulldog Reunion was not going to be the carefree event it had been in the past. Still, he would go for Paige. He’d been looking out for her ever since that first day she showed up at his mother’s day care. There were things that friends needed to do for friends. So instead of calling Paige and telling her he wouldn’t be at the reunion, he went to look for his Bulldog sweatshirt.

      CHAPTER TWO

      DESPITE KYLE’S ASSERTION that it didn’t matter whether there were eight or ten people at the Bulldog Reunion, Justin wanted to make sure that Paige knew he and Kyle had changed their minds and were now bringing guests. He wanted an excuse to talk to her—something he hadn’t done for a while. So the day before they were supposed to head out of town for the reunion, he called her while he was on his morning break.

      She answered her cell phone with, “You did it again, J.C.” using the nickname she’d given him as a teen.

      He smiled. “You were about to call me.”

      “I was. I guess we still have that special connection, don’t we?” She sounded a bit amused by their uncanny ability to sense when the other was about to phone. “Do you realize how long it’s been since this has happened?”

      “We haven’t talked much lately,” he agreed.

      “No, we haven’t. But I am glad you called today because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to reach you and I have to know what you think. You are never going to guess where I am.”

      “Dipping your toes in the Cascade River?” It was a favorite spot along the North Shore where they’d spent many a hot summer day. They’d hike along the upper region of the Cascade River where it tumbled and fell over rocks and boulders until they reached the Upper Falls. They’d bask in the sun on the flat rocks where the falls began, before following the winding trail as it twisted and turned its way back down the hilly terrain until they reached the area where the river was shallow enough for trout fishing. That’s where they’d take off their hiking shoes and wade in the cool water, splashing around like kids.

      “No.” She sounded impatient. “I’m in a dressing room trying on a wedding dress.”

      Justin stifled his groan. “You’re trying on wedding dresses the day before the Bulldog Reunion? Don’t you have enough to do to get ready for the weekend?”

      “Of course I do. That’s why I’m standing here in a wedding dress.”

      She wasn’t making any sense. More proof that love had made her crazy.

      “I was on my way to pick up some munchies for the Bulldog Reunion when I passed this consignment shop and saw this wedding dress in the window,” she continued. “How’s that for serendipity?”

      Paige excited over a dress was a novelty for Justin. Unlike most women he knew, she hated shopping, which was why he liked going to the mall with her. She used the “get what you need and get out fast” approach.

      “I’m telling you, Justin, this dress could have been made for me. When you see it you’ll know why I had to come in and try it on. And it’s a perfect fit. What makes it unique is that it belonged to a woman who was married in 1942.”

      “You want to buy an old dress for your wedding?”

      “It’s not old, it’s vintage,” she corrected him. “This dress was worn by a woman whose fiancé was going off to World War II.”

      “Your fiancé isn’t going off to war, is he?” he asked, trying not to sound hopeful.

      “No, but you know Pearl Harbor is my favorite movie. Justin, this dress looks like something Kate Beckinsale would have worn if Ben Affleck hadn’t gone missing and they had gotten married in the movie, which you know is what I wish had happened.”

      “And that’s why you want the dress?”

      “I want it because I like the way I feel in it—glamorous.” She chuckled. “Me…glamorous,” she said in a self-deprecating tone.

      “I think you are,” he told her, but she dismissed the compliment with a sarcastic “Yeah, right.”

      “Did I tell you the original owner was a schoolteacher?” She didn’t wait for an answer but rushed on. “Oh, and here’s something else. Guess where the wedding took place?”

      “In a church?” He knew it was the wrong answer, but he hated playing Twenty Questions, which was what she seemed bent on doing, and all of them were on a subject that he found irritating—her marriage plans.

      “You know I’m not getting married in a church,” she chided him. “The bride who wore this dress in 1942 was married at the High Falls.”

      “So you’re going to wear a dress that someone else has already worn to get married in the same place where you’re planning your wedding?” The significance escaped him and he didn’t pretend otherwise.

      She sighed. “I should have known you wouldn’t get it. I know you find my wedding details boring, but you are one of my best friends. At least you can pretend to be interested. I thought you’d be happy for me.”

      “I am happy,” he lied.

      “You don’t sound like it.”

      Justin held the phone away from his ear momentarily. Who was this woman? Certainly not the Paige he knew. That Paige would never have gone shopping for a wedding dress the day before the Bulldog Reunion. But then that Paige had never been engaged before, either.

      “Justin, you’re there, aren’t you?”

      “Yeah, I’m here. I think you cut out for a second, but I hear you now.”

      “Good, because I need an honest opinion and you always give me that. You need to tell me if I should get this dress. The salesclerk took a picture of me with her camera phone and she said she can send it to you.”

      “Can’t you just show the dress to me this weekend?”

      “If I wait till then, someone else might buy it. The clerk told me she’s already had several people asking about it. Besides, there’s no room in the schedule this weekend for us to leave the reunion and go look at it. If I’m going to get this dress, I have to buy it today.”

      “But, Paige, you never make impulse purchases,” he reminded her.

      “That’s why I need your help. Besides. You’re my man of honor. It’s your duty to help me select a dress.”

      He frowned. “Shouldn’t your fiancé be the one helping you make that decision?”

      “He can’t. It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride’s dress before the wedding.”

      Justin wondered briefly if getting rid of Michael

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