City Wedding by Maggie Carlise Page A

I'm not hungover. I only had
two glasses of champagne.” She paused. “Seriously, Meg. You went to
drop off my note for Ed...”
    “I did that.” Megan turned around with a
grin. “Whatever you said in there gave him a pretty big smile.”
    Jessica laughed. “Thanks for being the
delivery service.”
    “No problem.”
    Jessica waited. And then prompted: “So, you
went to Ed's room. Then what?”
    “Then, nothing. I hung out there for a while.
Had some beer with those guys.”
    “'Those guys' being Ed and Liam?”
    “And Sam and Josh. Noah. Rob. Autumn was
there for a while, then her mom called about Miranda, so she
left.”
    “Rob stayed without her?”
    “Yeah.”
    Jessica hesitated. “Have you gotten the
impression something's going on there? With him and Autumn?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I think so, too. She hasn't said anything to
me about it.”
    “Well, she's hardly going to discuss her
marital problems with the bride-to-be.”
    “That's true, I guess.”
    “But she hasn't talked to me either.”
    Jessica sighed. “Maybe we should...” She
broke off in surprise as Megan lifted a hand. “What?”
    “Just stop right there.”
    “Stop what?”
    “I know it's hard for you, Jessie. But I want
you to take one day, one , to think about yourself. This is
your wedding day! You shouldn't be worrying about Autumn, or
anybody.”
    Jessica smiled. “That includes you?”
    “That definitely includes me.” Megan turned
back to her suitcase. “There's nothing to worry about with me
anyway. I'm good.” She turned back around with a smile.
    A smile just a shade too bright, Jessica
thought. “So...what about last night?”
    “What about it?”
    “You fell asleep in Ed and Liam's room?”
    “No. I went out.” Megan turned back to her
suitcase.
    Jessica waited. And waited some more.
“Where'd you go?” she said, finally.
    “There was this band Liam wanted to check
out. I went with him to see them. With him and Josh.”
    “Were they any good?”
    “Yeah. Liam knew them from way back. I'd
actually met them before, too – once when I was out with him in
London.” She straightened, thinking. “Maybe it was in Manchester. I
don't know. It doesn't matter.” She resumed rooting in her
suitcase.
    “So?”
    “So, what?”
    Jessica managed not to audibly sigh. “So,
what happened after the show?”
    “We hung around with them for a while. The
guys in the band. Went to a bar.” Megan turned around, studying her
manicure with great attention. “Josh took off when the bar closed.
I went to another bar with Colin and Andrew – two of the band
members.”
    “What about Liam?”
    “I have no idea what he did. He didn't come
with us.” She stretched a little, rolled her neck, her arms full of
her bath paraphernalia.
    “Where'd you sleep? Or did you sleep?”
    “I crashed on the couch of this tiny place
they're renting.” She grimaced a little. “I think it was clean
enough. But I'm looking forward to the shower, I have to say.”
    And there was more to this story. Jessica
would have put money on it.
    Megan read her mind and made a face at her.
“That's the whole exciting night, Jess. At least the music was
pretty good.” She paused. “Do you need the bathroom before I jump
in there?”
    “Jump away.”
    Jessica watched her make her retreat.
    For retreat it certainly was. There were
undercurrents going on with Megan that she just couldn't decipher.
She'd seen it ever since they'd come together for the wedding.
    She and her mom had met with Jessica and her mom, and Autumn, at Autumn's parents' house upstate for
a few days of shopping and pre-wedding pampering, prior to coming
into the city two days ago. The moms were sisters, and the
daughters had grown up as close as sisters. They hadn't all been
together like this since Autumn's wedding six years ago, and the
plan was to make the most of every minute.
    Jessica, for one, had been more than ready
for some pampering. She'd been stressing out. Not about the