“I’ve been in here a few times for facials.” Harper chose to avoid the cardio innuendo. “But I’ve never been in this room for foot massages.”
“I thought it would be a good break from the stress of the lead-up to the wedding.” I’d spent weeks researching theperfectbachelorette party before deciding on this. Eden wouldn’t have been on board with some of the wilder ideas out there, and no matter what I told Ty, pole dancing had never been a contender. But a spa day followed by fancy cocktails? Couldn’t miss with that.
“It hasn’t been so stressful,” Eden said over her teacup.
Eliza and Harper hooted laughter.
“You are a gigantic ball of stress,” Harper said. “You just can’t tell because it’s not that different from how you normally are.”
Eden took a prim sip of tea. “I like things to be done right. That’s normal.”
Her sisters laughed harder.
“June, you’ve checked on all the books for the decorations, right?” Eden asked, ignoring their glee.
“See what I mean?” Harper said around a giggle.
I tried not to laugh at the implication I might have accidentally misplaced two hundred old books. “They’re all still in their boxes in my pop’s garage, don’t worry.”
“We’re all agreed everyone will understand the books are because I’m a librarian, and not because Booker’s name isBooker?”
“She just can’t stop,” Eliza said with a grin.
Eden made a face at her youngest sister, but I was pretty sure she’d been serious about the question.
“So are weddings for nerds your side hustle or what?” Chloe asked me.
“Maybe it should be. I’m an interior designer.”
Her face lit up in the soft glow of the massage therapy room. “Which firm are you with? I’m an architect at Reid and Waters. Maybe I’ve heard of it.”
“Oh.” I hedged, tiny waves of not-quite-shame washing through my stomach. “Domestic Bliss.”
She seemed to try to connect the words in her mind. “Is that in Austin?”
I sipped at my tea. “It’s online-only.”
The smile on her face altered slightly, just a drop of her mouth, a change in her eyes, but I noticed it. Probably the best response I could hope for from people with more traditional careers in my field. If Kim and I had started our partnership, that would have been something to brag on no matter how poorly we were getting on, but working for a big, faceless internet company? I might as well have said I decorated prison common rooms for a living.
“That sounds interesting.” She’d opted for diplomacy, at least. Some people didn’t. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to work for an internet-based company like that.”
I curled my toes against the smooth stones that lined the bottom of my copper tub. “The work isn't that different from the firm I was with before. There are always requests coming in, so I keep pretty busy, and I like that I can work from home.”
Chloe circled her ankles in the foot soak like she was trying to think of how to sayBless your heartwithout actually sayingBless your heart.
“It’s good that places like that are making interior design accessible to people who don’t have a lot to spend.”
That still sounded like aBless your heartto me. Times like this? I really wished I had something to brag on.Anythingto brag on. “I kind of like working these smaller bids for people who don’t have an unlimited budget.”
She laughed, but it wasn’t unkind. “Honey, there’s a lot to be said for an unlimited budget.”
A spa employee came in to top off everyone’s foot baths and check on our neck wraps before she disappeared again. I slumped deeper into the plush couch, drawing in long, slow breaths of the heady lavender scent that clouded the air.
Even if I didn’t work for people with unlimited budgets these days, my job wasn’t that bad. Not really. Most of the contracts I got through the site were one-offs, a single room the owner wanted to freshen up or repurpose. Small changes could have a big impact and transform a home without breaking anyone’s bank. And yes, I could work my day job wearing pajamas in the comfort of my own apartment. It wasn’t glamorous, but it paid the bills.
“So,” Eliza said, her eyes keen on Eden. “Did you finally decide how you’re pairing us up with the groomsmen for the ceremony? Please say you put me with Travis.”
“I did, only because you wouldn’t stop texting me about it,” Eden said.
