This was the perfect dress.

One hundred percent opposite the Vera Wang ballgown style dress I had on order in Boston for my wedding to Lincoln, which made it all the better. I’d never put this on and think of him, or at minimum, not think about the wedding day to him.

“You’re right,” I whispered, and reverently swept my hands down my hips, across my stomach. A quick twirl showed off my bare back. Somehow, the dress made every curve of mine look perfect while hiding the small bulges that always hit my insecurities.

“I love it too,” Holly said, sipping a mimosa and walking toward me. “I might steal it from you for mine when you’re done with it.”

That brought a laugh from me. That silly woman. The petite blonde was at least six inches shorter than me and six sizes smaller. Still, I appreciated the compliment and the threat.

“This one.” I glanced at myself back in the mirror, tried to forget why I was wearing this and who would be seeing me in it and nodded. “Definitely this one.”

“Yay!” Gabby cheered. “Now we can finally go eat. I’m starved.”

I met her gaze in the mirror. “You know I’ll be paying you back for all of this, right? Everything you guys are doing for me.”

“You can try,” Gabby sang. “But we’ll see who’ll win that battle.”

“And Gabby doesn’t like to lose,” Holly said. She helped me off the small stage and squeezed my hand. “But yes, of course we know you’ll offer. Until then, let us help you.”

“Thank you.” Emotions bubbled and I choked them down. What a whirlwind of a day. Nine months ago I’d stepped into my first bridal shop to try on dresses for an entirely different wedding.

I had my best friend with me and we’d giggled ourselves silly with mimosas and snacks while trying on a gazillion dresses and laughed over how I imagined the rest of my life would go.

Now, it was all fake. Pretend. And all of it was to get over that man I’d been so certain of.

“Do you think I’m making a mistake?” I asked these women who were essentially strangers. “Doing this to Kane?”

Gabby ushered me toward the dressing room. “Sometimes in life we have the luxury of doing whatever we want and sometimes we do what needs to be done. If Kane wasn’t ready for this, he wouldn’t have offered, so don’t worry about him. He’s a big boy and he can handle his own self and emotions.”

She gently shoved me into the dressing room and closed the door behind me.

The problem, I figured, as I took one last look in the mirror before unzipping my dress at the side, was that I wasn’t so worried about Kane being able to handle his emotions.

But me being able to handle mine.

Fourteen

Kane

“You’re still kicking my ass.”

Emmersyn’s tee-off drive was straight down the fairway. Mine was somewhere lost in a sand trap, twenty yards closer to us.