“Duh.”

After surviving yet another long hug, Maze got the tailor, who took some measurements and promised to fix the dress. Then Maze got Cat changed and back to the lake house. She hadn’t even set her bag down when Heather caught her alone in the hallway, pulling her aside, looking around them to make sure no one was listening.

“What now?” Maze asked with dread.

“Um.” Heather paused. “Is everything okay?”

Loaded question. “Yes. Why?”

“No reason,” Heather said casually. “I just wanted to apologize that you guys keep getting interrupted or stuck with Sammie.”

“Oh, no worries.” Maze smiled. “She was great this morning at Home Depot. She even got chocolate all over Walker and everything.”

“Actually, when I asked if everything’s okay, I meant with you and Jace.”

Oh. Oh shit.

Heather bit her lower lip. “Listen, it’s none of my business, but Jace is clearly sleeping on the floor of your room. Are you two in a fight?”

“Um . . .”

“Because . . .” Heather paused long enough that Maze met her gaze. “I think he’s flirting with me, Maze. I mean, I can’t tell for sure because my radar’s broken. But if he is, then he’s a jerk, which I really need to know.”

Dammit. “No, he’s not a jerk. He’s a good guy.” She paused. “One who’s just here as a favor.”

“What?”

Maze grimaced. “Look, I heard everyone was coming here with a plus-one, so I panicked. After a lot of begging, Jace—my boss and also one of my best friends—agreed to be my pretend boyfriend.”

Heather stared at her and then laughed. “So . . . he’s available?”

“One hundred percent. But I need to keep this between us.”

“‘This’ being a big, fat lie?” Heather asked, very amused.

Maze blew out another breath. “Yes. It’s embarrassing.”

“You mean when you panicked thinking that Walker was bringing a plus-one because you’re still totally one hundred percent over the moon in love with him?”

Maze nearly fell over. “What?”

Heather grimaced. “Um, what?”

“Heather.”

“Yeah, so let’s scrap my last question from the record, on account of it being based on decade-old information.”

Maze was staring at her, heart pounding. “Oh my God. I knew I recognized the ‘totally one hundred percent over the moon’ part. You and your hacking abilities. You broke into my password-protected journal on that laptop we all used to share, didn’t you?”

“I was bored.”

“You were nine.”

“And curious!”

Maze covered her face, remembering some of the whiny teenage details she’d spent long hours languishing on and on about in that journal back in the day.

“And anyway,” Heather said, “if you’d all just let me play with you guys back then, I wouldn’t have been forced to spy on you. And it’s not like I didn’t understand your crush on Walker. Even then, he was one of the best guys I’d ever known. He understands what he missed out on growing up, and loyalty and connections mean something to him. He’d never turn his back on a single one of us, ever.”

Oh, but he had . . .

Heather looked away. “Not like I did. I just . . .” She shook her head. “After that time at Michael’s grave, knowing we all had so much we were dealing with, I knew I couldn’t burden you guys with the mess I’d made of my life. I’m so sorry I vanished like that.”

“Please don’t put this all on you, we all did it. We all let our own shit put doubts into our heads, and then let those doubts tell us we were better off alone. Which is never the case. I get that now. I think you do too.”

Heather turned to her. “I don’t ever want to be without you guys again. Ever.” She pulled the baby monitor off her hip to eye the screen. Sammie was still out cold, sleeping peacefully, a small smile on her perfect face.

“She’s amazing,” Maze said softly. “I’m proud of you, Heather.”

Heather looked up, surprised. “You are?”

“Yeah. You were dealt a bad hand and you turned it into a win. It’s a sweet life you’ve got there.” She nodded toward Sammie.

“It doesn’t feel sweet without you guys in it. I’m really so sorry. I feel like I can’t say it enough, but I didn’t realize until I saw you all again how much I needed you in my life.”

“Me too.” Maze took her hand. “I wish I’d known you were in trouble, but that I didn’t was on me. But I promise that me vanishing like I did wasn’t about you, ever. I missed you so much.”

They were hugging it out when Caitlin came down the hall. “What are we doing? Group hug without me?” Dropping her purse to the floor, she insinuated herself into the middle and joined in. “What did I miss?”

“How stupid we are for vanishing,” Heather said, “for not keeping up with each other’s lives. Never again.”

“Agreed,” Caitlin said. “Never again. You guys are the mac to my cheese.”

They sealed the vow with a glass of wine that turned into a couple of bottles. The rest of the evening was a pleasant blur for Maze as the three of them sat up late doing Cat’s favorite thing, making lists, in this case for what else still needed to be done for the wedding.

“Oh, and I’ve got to pick up Dillon’s wedding band at the jeweler’s and make the final payment,” Caitlin said, and grimaced. “Without letting Dillon know, since I was supposed to do it two weeks ago. And also I need to let his mom know I picked out the flowers with my mom during an appointment when she FaceTimed in. There are no decisions left to be made, even though she’s insisting on coming with me to make that final payment in a few days.” She thunked her head on the table. “Oh my God, why didn’t I elope?”

“I can handle the jeweler for you,” Maze said.

“You’ve done so much already.”

“Don’t you know?” Maze took her hand. “I’d do anything for you. Well, anything except deal with your scary-sounding future mother-in-law. You need to find your backbone, babe.”

When Caitlin teared up, Maze pointed at her.

“No. No more tears. I’ve used up my quota.”

“Fine,” Caitlin said. “But hugs are endless.”

“Oh my God. No—” But it was futile. Caitlin already had her in an arm hold.

THE NEXT MORNING came way too quickly. Maze stood in the shower trying to steam her hangover away. It wasn’t working.

“Tell me again why I have to be in here with you while you’re in the shower?” Jace asked through the shower curtain from his perch on the counter.

“Because you had one job, to be my boyfriend, and so far no one’s buying it. You need to yell out my name. Or moan really loud. No, wait! Do both!”

The curtain was yanked back a few inches. “You can’t be serious,” he said.

“Hey! Do you mind? Naked in here!” She put a wet hand to his face and pushed his head out of the shower.