Page 120 of The Heartbreaker for Hire

I noted he said when, not if, I needed to talk.

I turned my attention back to Mikayla. And that's when the screaming started. Not actual screaming. More of a high-pitched, emotionally compromised shriek.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! This is a disaster!" Julissa. The bride. Mikayla’s cousin was standing beneath the wooden wedding arch, staring at something on her phone like she'd just received photographic evidence that the world was ending.

Her mother Cherise was fluttering beside her. Two bridesmaids were whispering. Rob, the groom, looked like a man who'd been informed he had thirty seconds to defuse a bomb without instructions.

And Mikayla?

Mikayla took one look at the situation, handed her iced tea to a passing relative, and marched toward the bride.

"Jules."

Julissa shook her head. "No. Nope. I can't. I actually can't."

"Okay," Mikayla said calmly.

Julissa’s hands flew in the air. "Everything is ruined."

"Probably not everything."

"The flowers!"

Ah. Flowers. That explained the apocalypse.

"The florist just called," Julissa announced, her voice cracking. "Their freezer broke, and all my blush roses are wilted. They’re ruined. I’m not going to have any blush roses, and that’s what all the centerpieces were." Julissa pressed her palms against her eyes. "I know it's stupid. I know they're just flowers, but I've spent eleven months planning this wedding, and I wanted everything to be perfect, and now⁠—"

"Hey." Mikayla's voice softened. Not a lot. Just enough. She stepped closer. "Look at me."

Julissa shook her head.

"Jules."

Something about the way she said her cousin's name made Julissa lower her hands from her face.

"Do you remember when we were little and you made me marry Mr. Wiggles to your Barbie in your backyard?" Mikayla asked.

Julissa blinked. "What?"