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nice to be involved in the
friendly banter between friends. These were the people closest to Em. In some
ways, Anna felt like an intruder on a life she hadn’t been a part of.
    Chiming in, Em said, “Jill is busy at
the salon till dark six days a week. You are the most available person, Jesse,
so stop being a terrible sister-in-law.”
    The comment sounded harsh to Anna,
but the smile that spread across both women’s faces let her know this was
normal talk between them. It was obvious Em loved Tommy’s sister, and even
though Jesse would probably deny it, she loved having Em around.
    “You saying I have nothing to do?
That I can drop everything at the store to go and rescue your ass and…” Jesse
knowingly added, “Jill only works five days a week.”
    “Good grief, Jesse, can you be a lady
for one night?” Jill scolded. “Have some manners. You are at a party that
doesn’t consist of beer kegs.”
    “Fine. Just for you, Jill, I will act
like a lady,” Jesse said sarcastically. “I won’t say another damn
word…oops—sorry, I guess you don’t approve of damn either…”
    “Forget it. Anna, it’s so nice to
meet you. I hope we get a chance to spend some time together while you’re
here.” Jill gave a pointed glance in Jesse’s direction and turned on her heel,
heading toward an attractive man seated several tables away from where the bride
and bridesmaids were standing.
    Okay, what is up with that? Note to
self—watch the language around Jill.
    Breaking the unwelcome silence that
hung in the air, Jesse said, “Well.”
    “Jesse, do you always have to do
that? Why can’t you play nice with her?” Em lectured.
    Anna wasn’t sure what was going on,
but she felt the need to change the subject. As maid of honor, she needed to
channel the waters in a different direction. Things had been going so well with
meeting Em’s friends. No need to ruin the atmosphere.
Em would thank her later for taking charge of the situation and turning the
focus off Jill and her abrupt exit.
    “Em, you should feel bad for sending
one of your bridesmaids out to buy her own gift. That just crosses the line.”
    “I paid for the gifts. Now that
you’re here, Anna, I can entrust you with some things. Jesse just isn’t into
all the wedding stuff…as you can tell.”
    “I’m never getting married, therefore
I don’t need to know anything about how to throw a wedding. I’m glad I only
have one sibling. I don’t think I can go through this torture again.”
    “Well, I hope that plan works out for
you, but for now—you are mine. So until I walk down the aisle and your brother
says ‘I do’, you are stuck with me.” Em turned to Anna and gave her a smile.
“You come by the house tomorrow so we can catch up. It’s crazy here, and I want
to be able to actually talk.”
    Em sauntered off, leaving Anna with
her comrade. “Is she always like this? I mean, when did she get so bossy?”
    “You haven’t seen anything yet.
Sometimes she is just downright scary. Weddings do not bring out the best in
people…that’s for damn sure. Come on, let’s get a drink.”
    The two women took a seat at a table
situated in the middle of the room. Jesse stopped a tray-carrying waiter and
grabbed two glasses of wine—handing one over to Anna and tossing back hers in
two hefty gulps. Wow. Nothing like alcohol to calm the nerves. Anna was
thinking she could learn a few bad habits from this chick.
    “What do you do? Em said you were the
most available,” Anna curiously asked.
    “I split my time at the hardware
store with my dad and Tommy, but I also work on the farm. We’re setting
tobacco, and for some reason Em thinks that’s easy and I can just drop
everything because I don’t have a clock–in, clock-out job.”
    “It must be nice to be your own boss.
I, myself, want to open up my own coffee shop someday. I hope to experience the
same feeling.”
    “I would hardly call it being my own
boss. I have to deal with an older brother