“I guess,” Matt said. “I mean, I never gave much thought to any of us Wolfes getting married, but I guess if I had, I would’ve assumed you’d be the first one to the altar.”
Me too.
Kennedy hadn’t spent the past decade planning his wedding, but he also had never been one of those guys who squawked about being a bachelor for life. He always figured he’d find a nice woman, settle down, have kids.
And yeah, he sort of thought it’d have happened by now.
“So is anyone else confused why Kennedy’s got marriage on the brain but also is insisting he and his girlfriend aren’t serious?” Matt asked.
“No,” Jarod said. “He’s thirty-seven now—”
“Thirty-six,” Kennedy ground out.
“I’m just saying, it makes sense. You’re not getting any younger—”
“Jesus.” Kennedy turned back to the golf cart and pointed at Ian to follow suit. “Get in. We’re done here.”
“You know I’m right,” Jarod said, calling over his shoulder as he and Matt drove off.
Once they were alone, Ian turned to Kennedy, his voice atypically serious. “You’re not having some sort of midlife crisis because of your birthday and the fact that Matt and I are married and almost married, are you?”
“No, that’s not it,” Kennedy said, meaning it. He was happy for his friends, and he wasn’t foolish enough to rush out and find the first wife available out of competition or fear of getting older.
“So what is it?”
Kennedy put his hands on the wheel of the golf cart but didn’t take it out of “Park.” “Kate and I sort of got into it the other night at my birthday party.”
“Kate?” Ian asked, sounding puzzled by the mention of their assistant’s name when they’d been talking about Claudia. “And what do you mean got into it?”
Kennedy rubbed his forehead. “You know how we always say the wrong thing to each other?”
Ian nodded. “You’re too much alike.”
Kennedy gave him a surprised look. “We’re nothing alike.”
“Neither one of you can stand for things to be out of order, and yet you can’t seem to get the other person in order. Alike.”
“Well, maybe,” Kennedy said, unable to deny that both he and Kate thrived on organization. “But when it comes to relationships, we’re apparently opposites.”
“Relationships?” Ian’s voice was startled and a little wary. “When were you guys talking about that?”
“At my birthday party. You know she believes in love at first sight?”
“And?”
“And,” Kennedy snapped, annoyed that Ian wasn’t sharing his concern, “I’m worried she’ll get her heart broken when she realizes that love at first sight doesn’t exist, especially with my brother.”
“How do you know?”
“Seriously? You’re taking her side on this?”
Ian held up his hands. “I’m not taking anyone’s side. I’m just saying that Kate and Jack seemed to really hit it off. It could be something. And besides, what does it matter if she has a different vision of relationships than you? You’ve got Claudia. She has Jack.”
His stomach clenched. “I thought you said it was only two dates.”
Ian studied him. “Okay, I’m going to say this while you don’t have a golf club in your hands . . . You’re acting jealous, man.”
“I am not,” Kennedy said automatically.
“Okay,” Ian agreed just a little too readily before gesturing at the fairway in front of them. “Then can we play golf now, or . . . ?”
Kennedy nodded in agreement and drove the golf cart forward to Ian’s ball, which his friend proceeded to land nicely on the green.
Kennedy’s game, on the other hand, continued to deteriorate.
He refused to let himself think about why.
10
Sunday, April 7
“We should have brunch in every day,” Sabrina said, sitting back in her chair and rubbing her stomach. “So much better than a restaurant.”
“Well, the food came from a restaurant,” Lara said, adding a bit more orange juice to her mimosa. “Lest either of you was assuming I could whip up bananas Foster French toast or whatever magic is happening with that quiche.”
“Cheese. Cheese is what’s happening with that quiche,” Kate said.
“Oh great. My wedding dress likes cheese almost as much as it likes this bread,” Lara said sarcastically, dragging a last bite of French toast through a puddle of syrup.
“It’s the sugar that’ll get you,” Sabrina said absently.
Lara glared at her.
“Could get you. Would get you if you were a different body type, without your wondrous metabolism.” Sabrina looked at Kate. “Help.”
Kate grinned. “Nope. I think that was one of the few times I’ve ever seen you verbally flounder. It was sort of glorious.”
“Totally glorious,” Lara agreed gleefully.
Sabrina, in addition to being one of the most beautiful women Kate had ever seen, seemed to radiate chic, effortless confidence. It had been intimidating at first. Even though Kate considered herself fairly secure in her own life and choices, it was hard not to feel like a wannabe in Sabrina’s presence.
But the more she’d gotten to know Sabrina, the more she’d seen beyond the rough edges and the cool polish to a woman who was warm and vibrant and giving. She’d won Kate over, first by being a fiercely loyal friend to Ian, who she’d known since childhood, and then later as Matt’s soul mate.
Of course, it had taken Matt and Sabrina a while to realize their soul-mate status, but Kate had known from the beginning. You couldn’t be in the same room with them and not feel the electricity.
“You know, I’m not worried,” Lara said after she finished chewing the French toast and pushed her empty plate away. “It won’t matter if my wedding dress is snug, because I have two of the most competent women on the planet as bridesmaids.”
“Well, that’s true,” Kate said. “You know, you’ll be my tenth wedding?”
“Tenth?” Sabrina asked. “As in you’ve done the bridesmaid thing ten times?”
Kate nodded. “And maid of honor twice.”
“Overachieve much, Miss Congeniality?”
“It’s not like that,” Kate said. “I mean, yeah, I love my cousins and college girlfriends, but I’m pretty sure some of them included me for the reason you just implied. Competence. I’m super handy in a crisis.”
“That you are, but you know that’s not why I asked you, right?” Lara said, studying Kate.
“Of course,” she said automatically. Kate hadn’t known Lara as long as she had Sabrina, and as a former SEC agent and current badass FBI agent, she was an unexpected addition to their group. But although she’d been wary of Lara when the other woman had been assigned to investigate Ian for insider trading, Lara made it pretty difficult to dislike her. With her big blue eyes, black-rimmed glasses, and her trademark blonde ponytail, she looked like the girl next door and acted like it, too. She was as kind as she was ambitious, funny as she was smart.