Pure Connections

Chapter 29

Early July was a beautiful time to get married. Even the weather, which always leaned toward chilly this time of year, had granted Justin and Blake the warmth of a radiant sunshine and quiet zephyr that was perfect for a garden wedding. Jennie took a moment to appreciate the wealth of flowering perennials, towering arbor trees and stone columns around her. In less than an hour, the arrangement of white wooden chairs laid out on the verdant lawn would be filled with people here to celebrate the grooms.

For the hundredth time since she'd decided to go, Jennie tried to remind herself that's why she was there. Because even though all logic dictated that she should've lost Blake in her breakup with Lisa, he and Justin had wanted her here, anyway. Then again, Justin had been working for her father for years. She knew him, and after making the connection between him and Lis that night at Gia, her relationship with him felt like one she wanted to preserve. Tomorrow, Lisa would be gone. If this was also Jennie's last chance to see her, then she had to take it, if only to bolster her memories of the way the sun lit up the meadowy shades of gold and brown in Lisa's eyes, how she bellowed songs off key but danced with perfect rhythm, the melody of her laugh, charm of her smile...

The tap of heels behind her drew her attention, and she turned to see Zia, eyes trained upward in wonder as she made a slow 360 spin, the skirt of her honey-colored dress flowing in the wind. With everything Jennie had been learning about her, including her love of musicals, she didn't trust Zi to not break out in song right that second.

Zia released a contented sigh, beaming at Jennie. "Don't you just love weddings?" She spanned the distance to loop her arm through Jennie's, all the hesitation of their first meeting long gone.

Jennie supposed Zia had spent enough nights on her couch, eating a questionable amount of strawberry ice cream in solidarity and pulling Jennie back when her thoughts inevitably drifted to the taste of Lisa's lips to have erased any hint of awkwardness between them. It had led to Zia spilling her fair share about her own ex—the one that mattered—and though Mom had taken the news with expertly veiled shock, they were on the fast track to not only being sisters but feeling like it too.

Jennie smiled, letting herself bask in Zia's infallible buoyancy. "I love what they represent. For better or for worse and all that." Except, all she'd had lately were reminders that the latter was as complicated as it was romantic.

"I know. You'd think all this would be ruined for me considering..." Zia trailed off. Something crossed her features, something that gave Jennie the feeling she hadn't meant to say that last part out loud.

She couldn't help but ask, anyway. "Considering what?"

Zia dropped her chin with a shake of her head. "Nothing." She blinked, as if pushing away an unwanted memory, before turning to Jennie. "Hey. I know it's a weird day for you. I just want to say I'm really glad you asked me to be your plus one."

Whether by fate or coincidence, almost everyone else Jennie would've asked was already attending or unable to go. Rosie would be working the event, and Chu, to her dismay, was on shift at Gia. Even Dad had gotten a personal invite from Justin, and Sehun had always preferred dinner parties to weddings. But Zia was in no way a consolation choice. In truth, Jennie didn't know how she'd make it through this evening without her. "I'm glad you could make it."

With a comforting smile, she tugged on Jennie's arm, pulling her toward a row of chairs a few feet from the front. "Let's get a good seat."

When the ceremony kicked off with a piano-violin rendition of "Make You Feel My Love", Lisa, the linebacker Jennie assumed to be Justin's best man, and the officiant had already assembled beneath the stone pillar pergola. All the air in this awe-inspiring garden wouldn't be enough to get Jennie through the next half an hour. Maybe it was the music, the grand romance of the idyllic setting, or the way Lisa looked absolutely breathtaking—her warm skin radiant in the glow of late afternoon and makeup impeccable, the look of obscure expectation on her face as she tucked her wavy dark hair behind one ear, eyes constantly on the lookout for something, or someone. Her velvet tux jacket had been tailored to perfection, right down to the fitted ankle pants paired with pointed toe pumps.