Chocolate for Two (14 page)

“I miss you too. Life does get in the way, and this new job has me scrambling like never before. I’ve been keeping tabs on you from afar, though.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You have? Do I want to know what you’ve been tabbing?”

“Probably not.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding, princess. Listen, I really must run. We’ll have you and Jake over for a drink soon, okay?”

“Promise?”

He nodded. “My schedule is nuts right now, but we’ll make it happen.”

And with that, he was off.

Life does indeed get in the way
, I thought.

A few hours later I was back in Dumbo at the Waverly’s Honey Shop office. Tasha and Beth walked in the door just a few minutes after me, a bag of cookies in tow. As soon as I saw them, I stretched my arms in a
gimme
motion. After the nerve-racking day I’d had so far, I could definitely use some sugar.

“So, how was the engagement party?” Tasha set the bag on the table and began to divvy up the goods. “Any good stories? Any crazy action on the dance floor?”

I took a sip of my coffee. “Well, given that the average age was about sixty-five, I’d have to say…
no
. A lot of flower-print shirts, though.”

She nodded. “Of course. Flower-print shirts are where it’s
at
in Florida.”

“Was it fun?” Beth asked. “I’ve never been to Florida.”

I picked up a cookie. “It was. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it ended up being quite eye-opening.” I filled them in on the highlights of the weekend, trying to downplay the opulence of it all. I planned to tell Andie about that part, but I didn’t feel right broadcasting it here.

“Wow, sounds like a fairy-tale evening,” Beth said.

I nodded. The memory of the night was still a bit surreal. “It was…it was very beautiful.”

“I love engagement parties,” Paige said. “If the drinks are free, I don’t care
how
old the men are.”

“Careful, pregnant lady,” Tasha said. “People might get the wrong impression with talk like that.”

We all laughed, and I decided to share the biggest news of the weekend. “Jake and I, um, we sort of set a date when we were
down there.” I felt the little pit in my stomach stir and nibbled on a cookie to smother it.

Paige’s eyes suddenly turned a bit serious. “Really?” She knew I’d been in no hurry to set a date.

I swallowed the cookie and nodded. “We decided on Presidents’ Day weekend.”

I could see the
a-wedding-on-a-three-day-weekend?
look flash across her face. Paige was in her midthirties; she knew from her own experience how much those weddings sucked for everyone but the bride and groom. Tasha and Beth were still too young to resent weddings that took away precious holidays.

“That soon?” Paige asked casually, ever the diplomat.

I shifted nervously in my seat, my body language mirroring my awkward attempt at convincing her I was delighted. “Um, well, Jake’s mom was able to book a really pretty venue down there for that weekend, and it’s important to her to have the wedding down there, so I decided to just go with it.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth I realized how forced they sounded, and that I was clearly not delighted. I wasn’t
upset
. I just couldn’t muster any…enthusiasm.

“You’re really getting married in Florida?” Paige asked quietly. Her eyes said everything her voice didn’t.

I smiled as convincingly as I could. “Looks like it.”

Beth nibbled on a cookie. “I’m sure it will be lovely.” Beth never said anything that wasn’t nice.

“Why would you want to get married in Florida? You hardly know the place,” Tasha said.

“Tasha!” Paige was clearly appalled by her candor.

Tasha shrugged. “It’s an honest question. Waverly’s from San Francisco, and she lives in New York.” She looked at me. “Do you even know anyone in Florida?”

I bit my lip. “I know Jake’s parents.”

They all nodded.

“And his brother,” I added quickly. “His brother and his wife live down there too.”

They all nodded again.

“They’re super nice,” I threw in. It was sort of sad, actually. Like a full-court shot at the buzzer—when your team is down by forty.

They all nodded again.

“It would just…mean a lot to his parents if we got married there,” I said quietly. “It’s…complicated.”

With that, they got it.

Even Beth.

“That’s big of you, Waverly,” she said softly.

Tasha looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry for questioning your decision. If you hadn’t noticed, I can be sort of a bitch sometimes.”

I smiled and put my hand on her arm. “It’s okay. If you hadn’t noticed, that’s why we keep you around.”

Paige held up her cup. “Well, girls, Waverly is officially tying the knot. Let’s celebrate.”

“Thanks, Paige.” I shot her a grateful look.

We toasted with our coffees, then turned our attention to the cookies. After a minute or so, Tasha cleared her throat. “While we’re on the topic of relationships, I have a good story to share.”

We all looked up, and I pointed a cookie at her. “Do tell.”

She wiped a few crumbs from her mouth. “Actually, it’s on the topic of
looking
for a relationship. Beth and I went speed dating last night.”

Beth turned beet red. “Tasha!”

Tasha shrugged. “Please. Who are they going to tell? Your boyfriend? Oh, wait, that’s right, you don’t have one.”

Paige laughed. “You were right. You
are
a little bitchy sometimes.”

“But don’t you adore her for it?” I said to Paige.

Paige nodded. “Definitely.”

I turned to Beth. “Not that we don’t adore you too.”

Paige nodded in agreement.

Beth gave us each a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

I focused on Tasha, happy that the focus of conversation was no longer on me. “So? You went speed dating…and…”

She stood up as if she were giving a presentation. “We signed up online, and we expected to meet, I don’t know, a dozen, maybe fifteen guys, all young professionals from the city. Right, Beth?”

Beth nodded quickly, clearly still embarrassed.

“So we walk into the back room of this bar to check in and pick up our name tags, and after a quick look around, I turn to Beth and am like, ‘So, where are all the guys?’”

“How many guys were there?” Paige asked.

Tasha tapped her index finger against her chin. “That would be…five. For ten women.”

I covered my mouth with my hand. “I don’t think I like where this is going.”

“Believe me, you don’t,” Beth said.

Tasha took a sip of her coffee. “So the first guy I met was literally pushing sixty.”

Paige coughed. “Sixty?”

Tasha nodded. “
Sixty
. For real. And that wasn’t the worst of it. I swear to God, he was wearing a tan linen jacket with the words
HATE THE SINNER, NOT THE SIN
painted on the back.”

“What?” I said.

Tasha looked at Beth. “It was painted, right? In bright red?”

Beth nodded, herself still a bit red.

“There’s no way that’s true,” Paige said.

Tasha set her cup down and held up both hands. “Why would I lie about something this embarrassing? Tell me that.”

“Okay, you’re right,” Paige said. “So that guy was a bit…religious?”

Tasha nodded. “A minister.”

I coughed. “At a speed-dating event?”

She nodded. “You heard me. He said he’d befriended the organizer in
church
…in
Vegas
.”

“What?”

Beth put her hand on my arm. “It’s true. I met him too.”

I made a face. “Yikes.”

Tasha nodded at me. “Exactly.
So
scary. God knows what sort of perv cult situation
that
was. At one point he even used the word
prophet
to describe himself.”

By then, Beth was laughing as well, finally loosening up. “It’s true,” she said. “When I talked to him, he told me the same story. And actually, I think he might have been even older than sixty. He kind of reminded me of my grandfather.”

Paige and I stole a glance at each other, sharing an unspoken understanding of how grateful we were to be done with this phase of our lives.

“How much did you pay to go to this thing?” I asked.

Tasha waved a finger at me. “Don’t even get me started on that. So after Father Grandpa leaves, we all do the musical chairs thing, and then PowerPoint Paul sits down.”

I raised my eyebrows. “PowerPoint Paul?”

Beth let out a little squeak and put her head down on the table. Paige chuckled and began smoothing the back of Beth’s head. “I can’t
wait
to hear this one.”

Tasha tapped her palms crisply on the table. “PowerPoint Paul, who, by the way, lives like fifty miles out in New Jersey, was quite direct about the qualities he’s looking for in a relationship.” She held up a hand and began counting them off with fingers. “Chemistry. Conversation. Compatibility.” She looked at Beth, who was still facedown on the table. “What was the last one again? He gave you the same spiel.”

“Communication,” came the mumbled reply.

“Ah yes, thanks. I keep forgetting that one.” Tasha listed them on her fingers again. “The four
C’
s. Chemistry. Conversation. Compatibility. Communication. There you have it from Paul, corporate robot, of BFE, New Jersey.”

I laughed. “He really laid it out like that?”

Tasha nodded. “Oh yes. And he was quite serious about it.
No
sense of humor for PowerPoint Paul.”

“I think I’ve probably dated him,” Paige said.

Beth finally sat back up and groaned. “I’ll never find love.”

Tasha tossed another chunk of cookie in her mouth. “You won’t find it at speed dating, that’s sure as hell the truth.”

I smiled and realized how much I enjoyed the camaraderie of our little office. Who says you can’t mix business with pleasure?

I also realized the pit in my stomach wasn’t bothering me anymore.

Paige put her hand on my arm. “Want to grab a coffee? I can catch you up on the latest.”

I raised my eyebrows. Unless we were discussing something sensitive, we had our meetings in the open.
Grab a coffee
was our code for
We need to talk in private
.

“Sure.” I think my eyebrows were still raised in alarm.

Paige looked at Tasha and Beth. “Can you two finish the inventory report while we’re gone?”

“We’re on it.” Tasha put her arm around Beth and led her to the conference table. “Come on, farm girl. Let’s go crunch some numbers.”

Paige and I headed downstairs. As soon as we were out of the building, I looked sideways at her.

“Is everything okay?”

She nodded but didn’t make eye contact. “Yes…and no.”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

Once inside Almondine Bakery across the street, we ordered our lattes. A double for me, a decaf for her.

“Man, how I miss caffeine.” She stared longingly at my cup as we settled ourselves in at a table.

I gave her a look. “More than alcohol?”

“Are you kidding? I’m
pregnant
. I’m not dead.”

I smiled. “Just checking. So are you getting excited for the baby? Or are you nervous?”

“Both, but way more excited than nervous.”

I took a sip of my latte. “That’s exactly how I feel about getting married.”

“My three-year-old nephew is
super
pumped to meet his new cousin. I saw him a couple weeks ago, and he asked me if there’s a toilet inside my belly for the baby to go potty.”

I nearly spat out my drink. “That is so gross, yet so funny.”

She laughed too, but she looked a little distracted.

“So what’s up? You have me worried.” I reached over and gave her arm a squeeze.

She interlaced her hands tightly on the table but didn’t say anything for a moment. She just stared at her hands.

“Paige?”

I was about to take another sip of my latte when she finally looked up and spoke.

“I’m moving to Nashville.”

I froze.

What?

I set my cup down and tried to mask the anxiety that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and seized my entire body.

“I thought the plan was for Gary to move here once his son left for college.” Gary and Paige had been dating long-distance ever since they’d met.

She squeezed her cup. “It was, but now his son wants to go to junior college and live at home, which has sort of thrown a wrench into everything.”

I didn’t reply.

“And the cost of living is so much cheaper there…”

I still didn’t reply.

“And his job is based there…”

“And?” I knew what she was really getting at.

She sighed again. “And while I love New York City, I’ve reluctantly come to terms with the fact that raising a kid here is just…not…ideal.”

Bingo.

Ugh.

Why did
everyone
bolt for the burbs once they had a kid? My friends Kristina and Shane, who were also expecting their first child, had already moved back to a town outside Chicago to be closer to both their parents. And I vividly recalled when a pregnant McKenna—who had once proudly vowed to stay in San Francisco until the day of her funeral—quietly broke the news that she and Hunter were moving to Mill Valley. I’d reluctantly watched all of them leave, all the while feeling selfish for not wanting them to go.