Holding On by Meg Jolie

best friends all through high school, Jemma was entirely aware of how severe and how long-lasting Quinn’s crush on Luke had been. In fact, all three of the young women that had crammed themselves into the fitting room were well aware of it.
    Quinn was not the least bit surprised that Jemma was the only one that felt the need to bring it up.
    She scowled playfully at her. “No talk of that! Please!” she said.
    She was sure Jake had no idea how she’d felt about his brother at one time. No need to tell him. Not now. Maybe when they were old and gray and sitting on the porch, rocking their days away. But not now. Now, it just felt kind of embarrassing. And more than a little bit wrong. And since nothing had ever, or would ever, come of it, she saw no point in embarrassing herself by bringing it up. She was sure Jake would find the whole thing funny. Funny enough to share with Luke. And well…that would be mortifying.
    Especially because lately Luke hadn’t been acting like himself around her. In fact, if she was going to be honest with herself, it seemed like he’d been going out of his way to avoid her. She found his behavior hurtful but hadn’t wanted to bring it up to Jake. Doing so would’ve felt like whining about Luke behind his back. She had often wondered if maybe Luke didn’t like the idea of her and Jake together. It wasn’t as if she’d actually thought to ask him his opinion.
    She and Jake had happened out of the blue. She’d fallen hard and fast. And now, well, it was too late to wonder about whether or not Luke was okay with that. But they were going to be family and she wanted desperately for this awkwardness between them to go away.
    He hadn’t been back to town for a while or she would’ve talked to him about it. It just didn’t feel like the old days of their friendship when she could just pick up the phone and call him anytime. That didn’t mean that she hadn’t tried. He’d simply refused to take her calls. Not only didn’t he answer but he’d never called her back. So she’d stopped asking him to. It pissed her off and hurt her feelings all at the same time.
    She’d finally decided that his attitude had to have something do with Jake. He probably felt uncomfortable that she was dating his brother. But he could have just talked to her about it. He didn’t have to be such an ass about it. He was acting childish, leaving town like that.
    She had decided that she would try to g et him alone this weekend. Marrying Jake should bring them closer, not cause such a huge chasm between them. If he was upset with her she wanted to try to make things right.
    If she could.
    Or maybe the whole thing was in her head.
    Doubtful. But possible.
    “Our lips are sealed,” Lily assured her. She had mistaken the frown on her face for fear of her secret getting out.
    “Thanks,” Quinn murmured.
    She took a few deep breaths as she stared at herself in the mirror of the oversized fitting room that the four of them had crammed into. No alterations were needed this time around. The empire waistline was seated comfortably high on her stomach. This was it. She was bringing the dress home. Tomorrow, she would be wearing it.
    Usually the final fitting would’ve been scheduled in advance but just to be cautious, due to her “condition” the owner of the small boutique offered to make an exception. She kept the dress until the day before the wedding in case any emergency alterations needed to be made.
    They didn’t. The dress was quite lovely on her.
    “You look like a freaking princess,” Jemma said with a grin. She was standing behind Quinn, looking at her reflection over her shoulder. “With the up -do you picked out and the dainty little tiara, you’re going to look like you just walked out of a fairy tale. Jake’s going to be blown away.”
    Quinn had begun to carefully wiggle out of the dress. “Thanks. Now if the weather holds up, everything might be perfect.”
    They were getting married at the