“Because I am!” He shakes his head. “I don’t get it. I thought this is what you wanted. For me to finally find someone.”
“Of course . . .” I trail off, not sure I want to continue, not even sure what I’d say if I did. They had just started dating and I knew he deserved his honeymoon period. He had a right to that giddy, fluttering-in-your-stomach feeling; that adrenaline rush when the other person’s name pops up on your phone; that urgency to want to be in touch with them all the time, about everything. And as his best friend, I also knew I was supposed to want that for him.
When Max and I started dating, we spent all of our nights and weekends together. The only breaks we had from each other were when we were at work. Jules had once joked, “The sex must be amazing. I’ve barely heard from you in weeks! You haven’t even posted on Facebook.” But she hadn’t been annoyed with me, and neither had Liam. Neither of them had called me to task over my absence or my behavior the way I was doing with Liam.
“I think what Kate is trying to say is you’re moving really fast. We’ve never seen you like this. And we just want to make sure you’re okay,” Jules interjects.
“I’m better than I’ve ever been,” Liam says, and leans back against the seat, staring out the sunroof, as if he’s basking in happiness. “And what about you, Jules?” He meets her eyes in the rearview mirror. “Should we be concerned about you? The old you wouldn’t be caught dead in Vegas, but now that you have a new look, we’re on our way there. . . .”
“This trip is for Kate!” she says a little too quickly.
“Uh-huh.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jules challenges, her cheeks turning red.
“Hey—” I interrupt. “I know I started this and I’m sorry. Can we just drop it? Pretend I never brought it up.”
“Fine,” they say in unison, and I lean my head against the window, letting the ensuing silence and the endless highway lure me into sleep, waking to the shiny casinos as we descend into the City of Sin.
“Are you sure there’s no tiger in here or a baby in the safe?” I joke as we trail the bellman into the two-thousand-square-foot suite that Nikki’s “people” had secured for us, passing three different TVs and two wet bars as I make my way to the window, gasping as I take in the incredible view of the strip, squinting my eyes to shield them from the late-afternoon sun. I turn to face Liam and Jules, who both seem lost in thought. “Hey, you two. I just want to say thanks. This is amazing.” Pulling them in for a group hug, I squeeze them close to me. “I’m lucky to have you guys,” I say, and am surprised when I feel tears burn my eyes, hoping the tension we’d felt earlier in the car will now melt away. “And I’m sorry if my wishes have hurt you in any way—I promise I was only trying to help . . .” I grip them both tighter, hoping Jules will take this opportunity to tell us both what’s on her mind.
But she only breaks away and smiles at me. “No waterworks! At least until we get good and drunk!” She laughs, any signs she’s struggling emotionally hidden behind her grin. She walks over to the bottle of champagne peeking out from an ice bucket that had been sent compliments of the hotel and uncorks it without fanfare. “To new beginnings,” she says as she pours champagne for all of us and gives me a knowing look. “Just because you didn’t get it right the first time doesn’t mean it’s not meant to be.”
I take a deep sip, letting the bubbles tickle my throat as I ponder her words. She’s right. It shouldn’t matter that I needed to go back in time in order to make things right. This really wasn’t any different than going to couples therapy to work through issues or going through a separation and then getting back together. The bottom line was we’d repaired our relationship.
“How about you, Jules?” I ask. “Is your life better the second time around?”
She pauses to refill her glass. “Hard to say,” she says. “You’re the only one who remembers living it the first time. You tell me.”
My mind wanders back to the month leading up to the wedding. Jules had seemed a little distracted, but I had chalked it up to stress. Between Ben, her kids, and her job, and being my matron of honor, her life was so busy that there was little room for error. But now I’m sure I must have missed something more serious. “You did seem”—I search for the right word—“distracted.”
A shadow passes over her face. “Interesting.” She glances at her watch. “Hey, we’ve got reservations at Sushi Samba soon—I’m going to jump in the shower.”
After the water is turned on, I glance over at Liam. “Do you think Jules has been acting weird lately? Is that why you asked her about why she really chose Vegas, because I agree with you, that’s not like her at all. . . .”
“Define weird. Because you’ve time traveled, wished her a kickass makeover, and me a famous girlfriend. So it seems like a sliding scale.”