Wish Upon a Wedding by Luann McLane

then groaned when he glanced at the message.
    â€œDo you want to talk about it? I might have some wedding advice for your sister that could help calm her down.”
    Avery inhaled a deep breath. “I don’t know if you can help.” He paused when Chad brought a basket of dipping bread along with a dish of herbed olive oil. After they each took of slice of the fragrant loaf he continued. “My sister’s maid of honor is Ashley Montgomery, my ex-fiancée. And I’m the best man.”
    â€œOh . . .” Sophia felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Wow . . . So that must be awkward, I guess, right?”
    â€œYeah. It’s weird. We were all best friends way before Ashley and I dated. Max, Zoe, Ashley, and I did just about everything together when we were growing up.” He shredded the crust of his bread. “But since thebreakup, of course, that all came to an abrupt end. Now that the wedding stuff is starting to get intense, my sister’s been trying to get Ashley and me back together. It’s driving me nuts.” He took a big gulp of the champagne and nearly coughed.
    â€œSo it bothers you to be around her?” Sophia asked carefully. She dipped a warm piece of the bread into the oil and waited.
    â€œWell, yeah, as you said it’s awkward.” He looked at the bread crumbs scattered on his plate as if wondering how they got there.
    â€œI don’t mean to pry—and you can tell me if it’s none of my business—but why
did
you two break up?” Her heart pounded as she looked at him and waited. She’d wanted to know the reason for a long time.
    Avery licked his bottom lip but remained silent.
    â€œHey, sorry—I shouldn’t have asked,” she said sheepishly.
    â€œNo, no, really, it’s okay,” he said. But he didn’t look okay.
    Sophia picked up her flute so quickly that champagne sloshed over the rim. She took a sip and said, “It’s just, I know you said something about you two growing apart but that seems like something that happens during the marriage and not the engagement.”
    â€œWell . . .” Avery suddenly seemed so uncomfortable that Sophia wished she’d kept her mouth shut. “I can’t go into . . . the reasons.” He looked into his flute for a moment and then back at her. “But I don’t want to get back together with her. I just don’t know how to convince Zoe—and everyone else—of this. She means well but . . .”
    â€œDo you know how Ashley feels about this?” Her heart thudded even harder. “Is she part of this plot as well?”
    Avery lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I haven’t spoken to her about the breakup since it happened,” hesaid but when he glanced away Sophia suspected that Ashley wanted him back and Avery knew it. He shook his head. “I just wish they would let this alone. And I sure wish I didn’t have to be in this wedding.”
    â€œYou mean be in the wedding with Ashley.”
    Avery nodded.
    â€œSo how is it when you’ve gotten together with them? Other than the obvious awkward undertones?” The fact that he got together with them bothered her more than it should.
    â€œIt’s just weird. The night that Zoe and Max asked me to go out for dinner I figured that Max might ask me to be his best man. What they failed to tell me was that Ashley was going to be there, too.”
    â€œHow did that go?”
    â€œI mean, once I got over the shock of seeing her, after a few beers we sort of fell back into the good old times.” He looked down at the table for a moment. “But there were also awkward silences while the elephant stomped around the room wavin’ its big ole trunk all around.”
    â€œI can only imagine.”
    â€œI only went out for drinks with them one other time when Zoe insisted we needed to go over more