“This isn’t our choice, Jess,” I say, frustrated that she’d even assume we’d shut down the shop of our own volition. “Our rent is going up, and it costs an exorbitant amount of money to lease this space every month. I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but you should at least know what’s going on in case you need to start looking for another job. The wedding will hopefully help our sales, but right now I’m not one hundred percent sure it’ll even happen.”

She looks at me with her big saucer eyes, and I get the nauseating sensation that I’ve just completely crushed her.

“I’m so sorry. I wish things were different,” I tell her.

She looks away. “Me, too,” she says.

I could work in the back, but if my weeks in this shop might be numbered, I want to soak up the atmosphere. I grab my laptop and sit in the main showroom along with Jess so I can watch customers come in to shop and admire all our glittering jewels. I click open a new document and type out a list of everything I need to do today to confirm that the wedding can happen as seamlessly as possible a week from tomorrow. The idea of a concrete to-do list soothes me; it’s something solid to cling to. I need to call the Wythe Hotel to check in with the event manager and the caterer; confirm arrival times and schedules with the photographer, officiant, and florist; and triple-check that my dress will be delivered to the hotel. Maybe I should book a bikini wax. Shit. Do I have time this week for a bikini wax?

As I debate adding that to my to-do list, Sophie enters the shop.

“Hey!” I say. I have so much to tell her. “So I have news.”

She stops short and shoots me a nervous look. Historically, I tend to give her mostly bad news.

“No, no, I think you’ll like this news,” I clarify.

She shifts her weight onto one hip and sighs. “Lay it on me.”

“I broke things off with Blake for good.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sophie interjects.

I steamroll onto the good stuff. “And then I went to Golden Years to apologize to Raj and patch things up. And then he offered to consider helping us out next week by marrying me at the wedding.”

“Wait, shut up, he did not!” Jess says, leaning over the counter, eyes gleaming. “I wish you had said that first thing today.”

“Hold on, you decided one impulsive engagement wasn’t enough this year, so you’re spontaneously gonna marry Raj now?” Sophie asks. She folds her arms across her chest in disbelief, looking every inch the part of the judgmental big sister.