I opened my eyes and nodded.
Very solemnly he said, “Go big or go home.”
“What the hell does that even mean, Steven?” Taylor snapped.
A laugh escaped from deep down in my chest. “Go big or go home? Go big or go home.” I was laughing so hard, tears were running down my cheeks.
Taylor jumped up. “Your makeup!”
She grabbed the box of tissues on the dresser and wiped my face delicately. I was still laughing. “Snap out of it, Conklin,” Taylor said, shooting a worried look at my brother. The flower in her hair was askew. She was right: the humidity wasn’t doing her hair any favors.
Steven said, “Aw, she’s fine. She’s just having a laugh. Right, Belly?”
“Go big or go home,” I repeated, giggling.
“I think she’s hysterical or something. Should I slap her?” Taylor asked my brother.
“No, I’ll do it,” he said, advancing toward me.
I stopped laughing. I wasn’t hysterical. Or maybe I was, a little bit. “I’m fine, you guys! Nobody gets to slap me. Geez.” I stood up. “What time is it?”
Steven pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “It’s two o’clock. We still have a couple of hours before people get here.”
Taking a deep breath, I said, “Okay. Steven, will you go tell Mom I think we should move the wedding inside? If we push the couches to the side, we can probably fit a couple of the tables in the living room.”
“I’ll get the other guys on it,” he said.
“Thanks, Stevie. And Taylor, will you—”
Hopefully, she asked, “Stay and fix your makeup?”
“No. I was going to ask if you could get out too. I need to think.”
Exchanging looks, the two of them shuffled out of my room, and I shut the door behind them.
As soon as I saw him, everything would make sense again. It had to.
chapterfifty-four
CONRAD
I woke up that morning to Steven shaking my bed. “Have you seen Jere?” he demanded.
“I was asleep until three seconds ago,” I muttered, my eyes still closed. “How could I have seen him?”
Steven stopped shaking the bed and sat down on the edge. “He’s gone, man. I can’t find him anywhere, and he left his phone. What the hell happened last night?”
I sat up. Belly must have told him. Shit. “I don’t know,” I said, rubbing my eyes.
“What are we gonna do?”
This was all my fault.
I got out of bed and said, “Go ahead and get dressed. I’ll look for him. Don’t tell Belly anything.”
Looking relieved, he said, “Sounds good. But shouldn’t Belly know? We don’t have a ton of time before thewedding. I don’t want her to get ready and everything if he’s not coming.”
“If I’m not back in an hour, you can tell her then.” I threw off my T-shirt and put on the white linen shirt Jere had made us all buy.
