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tell me that you plan on marrying Mitch because of the pact. We made that pact when we were nine. Hell, you’re the only one who still takes it seriously. Megan and I forgot all about it. And I don’t want to hear another word about the nonsense that fortune teller told us twenty years ago. Yes, she was right about Megan, but any idiot can win the lottery once. Seriously, not another word.”
    “And yet you will both be married by your birthdays.” She sounded shorter than usual.
    “That’s purely coincidence, Libs.” She softened her tone. “Look, I love you, and I know a lot of the time we don’t see eye-to-eye, but I would really hate for you to get married for the wrong reason.”
    “Because you’re getting married for the right reason.”
    It wasn’t a question, nor was there any malice in her tone. So why did it hurt so much? Maybe because she had called to get reassurance from her friend and there was no way she’d confess her concerns now. “I don’t want to fight with you, Libby. Especially not this week. I need you.”
    “I’m sorry,” Libby said, her voice softening as well. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
    “Your friend is all set to photograph the wedding?”
    Libby laughed. “Yes, and I’ve already talked to your assistant about it this morning. Barry’s going to do a great job, Blair. He was my intern, and he’s fantastic. In fact, I won’t trust anyone else to photograph my own wedding when the time comes. Plus I’ll take photos of my own at the reception. Relax. I’m going to be personally taking care of this for you.”
    Out of the three of them, Libby tended to be the most irresponsible, but she took her career very seriously. There was no way she would let Blair’s wedding photos turn into a disaster. “Thank God. With all the other issues—”
    “What other issues?” Libby asked a little too eagerly.
    Why had she said that? She was only feeding Libby’s odd obsession with their weddings. “My wedding isn’t cursed.”
    “Of course it’s not.” She paused. “ You ’ re cursed.”
    “Libby! What did I tell you?”
    “I have to go, Blair,” Libby said, sounding distracted. “Noah’s calling me. I’ll talk to you later.”
    Before Blair could ask her anything about her odd friendship with Noah, she hung up.
    A little over an hour later, Blair walked into the office wearing a black long-sleeve, scooped-neck blouse, white pencil skirt, and nude pumps, her damp hair pulled up in a neat French roll. She stopped to check in with Melissa, who assured her that Mrs. Norfolk was already in the conference room and drinking her latte.
    “Has Mr. Norfolk’s attorney shown up yet?” When Melissa shook her head, Blair asked, “And we’re sure someone’s coming?”
    “Yes, he called about ten minutes ago, saying he was almost here. His plane got delayed by the weather too.”
    Blair sucked in a deep breath at the reminder of Phoenix. More and more pieces of last night had come into memory, and while she was thankful that nothing had happened between her and Garrett, she couldn’t ignore the part of her that was disappointed over it. But right now she needed to deal with her meeting and deposition. Her guilt could rear its head later. “Great. Well, I’m off to see Ben.”
    “Good luck! Maybe I should order out for a celebratory lunch.”
    Blair put a hand on her stomach to soothe her nerves. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. This could be about anything.”
    Melissa flashed her a grin as Blair headed for the staircase that joined the two floors.
    When she stopped next to Ben Stuart’s assistant’s desk promptly at 10:44, she glanced up at her with a questioning glance. “Can I help you?”
    Ben appeared in his office doorway and motioned toward her. “Hey, Blair. Why don’t you come in and tell me all about the wedding? I haven’t talked to Neil in ages.”
    She tried to hide her confusion. Had he set up this meeting to chat about her