The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

            Hallie: Weird, sorry, that came out naturally and I’m not being sarcastic.

            Jack: Does that mean I can use a pet name for you?

            Hallie: Like what?

            Jack: Umm . . . sunshine?

            Hallie: No

            Jack: Punkin?

            Hallie: That’s offensive to redheads.

            Jack: My apologies. Um . . . how about Shortcakes?

            Hallie: That’s so Fonzie.

            Hallie: OKAY. The reason I was texting was to let you know that I’m heading to the salon, and then we’re getting our nails done and having a special bridal party luncheon.

            Jack: When will you be back, Pudding Pop?

            Hallie: Probably won’t be, Numb Nuts. Are you okay meeting me at the wedding?

            Jack: Of course.

            Hallie threw herself into bridal party mania, opting to be the excitedly enthusiastic sister as opposed to the cynical dick she’d been about the wedding thus far. She got her nails done, got a blowout, and pretended a chicken salad was the most delicious meal she’d ever had.

            At lunch, her mother waved her over to where she was animatedly chatting with two of Hallie’s aunts.

            “Hey,” she said, feeling a little nervous as the trio smiled at her in a weird way.

            “Alma has a question about your boyfriend,” her mother said, gesturing toward Hallie’s tiny aunt with flame-red hair.

            Uh-oh. Hallie gave a polite smile and said, “Yes?”

            “Did he really design the Larsson Center in Zurich?”

            “What?” She looked at her senior aunt and had no idea what the woman was talking about. “Zurich, as in Switzerland?”

            “Well, of course, Hal,” Hallie’s mother said, looking irritated. “What other Zurich is there?”

            “Well, I’m sure there’s probably a Zurich, Indiana, or Zurich, South Dakota, somewhere,” she said, trying to figure out where this Jack information was coming from.

            “Uncle Bob was talking to Jack about his job, and after he said he works for Sullivan Design, well, your uncle googled him.”

            “He googles everyone,” Hallie’s mom said, and her two aunts nodded in agreement.

            “He really does.”

            “It’s a problem.”

            Hallie said, “Okay . . . so . . . ?”

            “According to the website, he’s designed parks and urban areas all over the world. We wanted to ask you, though, because your mom thought he was a landscaper.”

            Hallie stood there, stupefied, as she mulled it over. She’d assumed he did landscaping when she saw he was a landscape architect, but was that not accurate? He did dress nicely and put in a lot of hours, and he had said he had a ton of frequent flyer miles because of business travel.

            She lied and pretended to know what they were talking about, but as she walked away from them, she googled him as well. And holy shit, he was a senior associate who had indeed designed urban areas all over the world.

            He had a master’s degree in landscape architecture, for God’s sake.

            What in the actual?

            She didn’t have time to give it more thought, though, as the wedding day started cranking up to full throttle. Hallie did everything her sister asked of her, and by the time she zipped herself into her crimson-red bridesmaid dress in the huge white prep tent on the mountaintop, she was ready for a drink.

            Just before the wedding planner lined everyone up, Hallie hugged Lillie, and for the first time since the engagement, she felt nothing but happiness for her sister.

            Ben caught her eye right after the hug and gave her a fatherly aww-that’s-so-sweet smile, and she accidentally flipped him off.

            Old habits and all that.