“Doing all right?” his dad asked as Jake sat down.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Like your new job?”

Jake had started working with Olivia’s boyfriend a few weeks ago. Luke owned LD Construction and Remodeling. It was hands-on and keeping him physically active, which he appreciated. He liked his co-workers and the teamwork, as well as the fact that the job was at least a little bit different every day. Initially, Jake had been trying to find an office job through Adam’s temp company, but this suited him better.

“Definitely,” he said, and he could hear the satisfaction lacing his voice. He’d felt pretty aimless his first few weeks of civilian life but having a regular schedule and responsibilities had grounded him.

“Good, good.”

Having apparently exhausted his interest in conversation, Jake’s dad settled back in his chair and they watched the golf game in companionable silence until Patrick and Lexie arrived.

“Oh, hell no,” Sharon said, shaking her head emphatically. She yanked the bridal magazine away from Kate. “You are absolutely not putting me in that.”

Kate cackled, looking across the coffee table at Andrew, who was watching both of them with amusement. Even though he had no opinion on the bridesmaid dresses, he seemed to like just being around for all the aspects of wedding planning. Sharon thought it was adorable.

“I told you she’d hate it,” Kate said, still laughing.

“What’s wrong with it?” he asked patiently. The man had an abundance of patience, which was a real virtue among their group of friends. Especially since when Sharon and Kate got together they were loud. Andrew always took it in stride.

Sharon rolled her eyes. “Look, I get that this might be hard to understand when you’re marrying real-life-Barbie, but not all women look good in all clothes.”

“Hey, I don’t look good in everything,” Kate protested. Sharon raised an eyebrow at her bestie, who really did look like a Barbie doll. She was tall, slim with big boobs and rounded hips, and had long white-blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The California tan had faded since they’d moved to Maryland, but it would be back in the summer.

By contrast, Sharon looked like the Italian princessa that she sometimes liked to pretend she was. Short, curvy, thick black hair, black eyes, and olive-toned skin. Although she’d paled quite a bit since they’d moved to the East Coast too. She was Snow White to Kate’s Cinderella… At least she didn’t usually feel like one of the dwarves.

She might if she had to wear the dress Kate had just shown her though.