Chocolate for Two (21 page)

“You mean bridesmaids?”

“Yes, dear, have you chosen them?”

“Um, I, um, sort of.” I already knew McKenna couldn’t be there. That left Andie, who was going to kill me when I told her I’d changed my mind about that too.

“Well, you should do it quite soon. When your attendants don’t live in the same city, coordinating fittings and alterations can take much longer than you might think. I imagine you’ll be having some friends from San Francisco in the bridal party?”

“Um, yes, of course.”
Friend, singular.

“If any of them would like to come to the shower, they’re more than welcome. It would be so nice to meet them.” She sounded so sincere, and I hated myself for all the evil thoughts running through my head. Given how I clammed up every time I was around her, how could she know that all I
really
wanted was an intimate wedding with no attendants, no shower, no fuss?

“Okay, thanks, Mrs. McIntyre, I’ll be sure to ask them.”
Her
.

“I’m happy to pay for their hotel. And yours too, of course. Just give me a number when you know how many will be coming. I’ll book you rooms at the Jupiter Beach Resort.”

“Thanks, Mrs. McIntyre. I’ll let you know.”

“Super. It will be a beautiful weekend.”

I hung up the phone and sighed.
What did I just agree to?

I stared at my phone for a moment, then sent Jake a text.

Yo, husband-to-be. We need to register. Yesterday.

Then I dialed Andie’s new work number.

She answered on the second ring. “Andrea Barnett.”

“Hey, it’s me.”

As usual when I called her at the office,
Andrea’s
voice rose a few octaves, and she became Andie. “Oh, hey, I’m just about to run into a meeting. What’s up?”

“Um, how do you feel about a weekend in Florida?”

“You mean for your glam wedding? You already know how I feel about that. Not a fan.”

“Um, no, for my birthday.”

“You want to spend your birthday in Florida?”

“Actually, it’s not for my birthday. It’s for a bridal shower.”

“A shower?”

When I didn’t reply, she kept talking. “Let me guess. Jake’s mom wants to throw you an extravagant shower to impress her rich friends, on your
birthday weekend
no less, and you caved and agreed, and now you want me to go so you won’t have to deal with that scene alone. Am I right?”

I could feel my cheeks get hot. “Perhaps.”

She sighed. “Do you realize how pathetic that is?”

“Perhaps.”

“It’s going to be a bitch walking down the aisle in February…you know, without a
spine
.”

I laughed. “Come on, Andie, please? She’ll put us up at a nice hotel. Pretty please?” I made a hopeful face into the phone. “I can’t face it all by myself.”

“Okay, fine, whatever. It’s beyond lame, but it’s your life.”

I smiled and exhaled. “You have no idea how much it will mean to me to have you there.”

“I lived with my mother for eighteen years. Believe me, I know.”

I laughed. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

“That’s the name of a song, Waverly.”

“Oops. I believe you’re right.”

“Listen, I’ve really got to go to this meeting. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Deal.”

When I hung up the phone, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

Then I noticed my left hand, which was still empty.

Uh-oh.

I wouldn’t have to face the shower by myself, but how was I going to face it without my engagement ring?

I thought about calling my dad.

Ever since Jake had mentioned their conversation about the cut and setting of my diamond, I’d been wondering what had happened to my mom’s engagement ring.

Does Dad still have it?

Maybe I could wear it?

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Not only would it solve my current problem, but it would connect me to my mother in a way I’d never been before. A very cool way.
And if her ring was even half as beautiful as the one Jake had given me, I knew I’d love it. Actually, I knew I’d love it no matter
what
it looked like. I imagined it was probably much smaller than the one I’d lost, but I didn’t care.

I looked at my hand again.

My dad was remarried now, and Betty had her own ring.

Why not?

I decided to call him.

He and Betty had recently opened a small café out in Sacramento. They’d named it Waverly’s Place, partly to thank me for the money I’d sent my dad during the years that he’d been struggling financially, and partly to let me know I’d always have a home out there. Not that I could ever see myself living in Sacramento again, but I was touched by the gesture.

I dialed the phone.

A female voice answered. “Waverly’s Place. How may I help you?”

“Betty, is that you?”

“Yes indeed. Waverly?” She sounded thrilled. No matter how busy she was when I called, Betty always sounded thrilled, and I loved her for it.

“Yep it’s me. How are you? How are things at the café?”

“I’m doing just fine, and so is Waverly’s Place, thanks so much for asking. Knock on wood, but we’ve been slowly building a solid business out here. Who would have thought?” She laughed.

“
I
would have thought,” I said. “I’m glad to hear it’s going well.”

“Enough about us. February will be here before you know it. Your dad and I are just tickled for the wedding. Neither of us has ever been to Florida. Did you know I’ve never even been out of California?”

She’d never been out of California? I wondered how she’d get along with Jake’s mom, who left the state just to go shopping.

“It will be wonderful to see you there. Um, is my dad around? I need to ask him something.”

“Of course, he’s in the kitchen. I’ll get him. You take care now, hon.”

I could hear voices in the background, then footsteps, and then my dad got on the line.

“Well, hello there, baby.”

“Hi, Dad.” I’d long given up trying to get him to stop calling me that, but I still hated it. “Is this a bad time to talk?”

“Are you okay? Betty said you needed to ask me something.”

“I’m fine. But, yes, I wanted…to ask you a question.”

“Sure thing.”

I swallowed. “Um, I was wondering about Mom’s engagement ring.”

Silence.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, baby. What about it?”

“I, um…I was wondering if maybe I could wear it?”

“You want to wear your mom’s engagement ring?”

“Yes.”

“But why? Didn’t Jake get you a ring? Did he tell you he and I talked about it?”

I nodded. “Yes, he did buy me one, and yes, he did tell me that. But…”

“But what?”

I sighed. “I lost it, Dad.”

“You lost your ring?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks. I feel
awful
about it, but it is what it is. Jake said he’d buy me a new one, but I was thinking it would be really neat to wear Mom’s. I mean, if you’re okay with it. I think it would pretty special, actually.” I was getting more and more excited about the idea.

I waited for his reply.

He sighed.

“I’m embarrassed to have to tell you this, Waverly, but I sold the ring years ago.”

What?

“You sold it?”

“I had to.”

“But why?”

He sighed again. “To pay off a big gambling debt.”

I closed my eyes and pressed a palm against my forehead.

Oh.

“I’m sorry to let you down, baby.”

“It’s okay, Dad.”

“You know all that’s behind me now, right?”

I slowly opened my eyes. “I know.”

“I wish I had a different answer for you.”

“It’s all right, I understand.”

“Listen, I hate to run, but the lunch rush is about to start, and I’ve really got to go.”

“Okay,” I said softly.

“You take care, okay, kiddo?”

“Thanks, Dad.”

I hung up the phone and tried not to cry.

Paige’s baby, damn him, arrived a week early.

He was super cute, though.

They named him Graham.

“How bad did it hurt?” Tasha asked Paige. She looked scared out of her mind.

Paige offered a weary smile from her hospital bed. “You look freaked out enough as it is, so I’m not going to answer that.” She was cradling her new son, all seven pounds of him, in her arms.

“He’s so tiny and helpless.” Beth reached for Graham’s little fingers. “Aren’t you afraid you won’t know how to take care of him?”

I laughed and pointed at her. “
That’s
why you’re too young to get married, Beth.”

“I’m never getting married,” Tasha said.

I turned my head and looked at her. “Didn’t we just have this conversation last week? I feel like we just had this conversation.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “We have it every week.”

Paige laughed. “I’m going to miss this conversation.”

“We’re going to miss
you
.” I put my hand on her arm. “You have no idea how much.”

Tasha and Beth went in search of a vending machine, and when they were out of earshot, Paige reached up from the bed and took my hand, suddenly serious. “I’m so sorry we weren’t
able to find a replacement for me before the baby came. I was hoping he’d be late, but the little guy had other plans.”

I waved a hand in front of me. “It’s not your fault. God knows how hard we both worked to find someone. Apparently you are simply irreplaceable.”

She smiled. “Any leads since I went into labor?” Paige had been at the office, diligently weeding through résumés, when the first pains struck.

I laughed and put my hand on her forehead. “Given that that was less than twenty-four hours ago, the answer would be…no.”

“Darn.”

“Let’s not talk about that now. Let’s talk about this beautiful baby boy of yours. Can you believe you’re a mom?”

She smiled at the sleeping bundle in her arms and shook her head. “It’s surreal, Waverly. I can’t explain it. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt.”

“Where’s Gary?”

“At my place, taking a shower. He should be back soon.”

“Is he over the moon?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty cute, actually. I wasn’t sure how he would react, given that he’s been through this three times before, but when Graham came out, he was practically giddy.”

I squeezed her hand. “I’m so happy for you, Paige. I guess now you can finally start planning your wedding.”

She laughed. “Yeah, right. Let’s talk when I’ve lost some of this baby weight. I don’t want to look like a marshmallow in my dress. Speaking of weddings, how are the plans going for yours? We haven’t talked much about that lately.”

I shook my head. “Today is about you, not me.”

“Thou doth protest too much, Waverly.”

I stiffened a bit. “It’s going fine, at least from what Jake’s mom tells me. She’s basically doing everything for us.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I don’t really have a choice.”

“Yes, you do.”

I shook my head. “You haven’t met this woman.”

“You always have a choice, Waverly.”

I looked at the wall for a moment, then at her. “Then I guess I’m…
choosing
to let her plan the wedding.”

“But it’s not what you want?”

“Not entirely, but it’s important to her, and I just don’t want to be selfish.”

“You don’t want to be selfish?”

I nodded.

“For your own wedding?”

I nodded again.

“You do realize that doesn’t make any sense, right?”

I sighed. “It’s just really important to her that Jake and I have a big wedding in Florida, and that somehow seems…more important than what I want right now.”

“More important than what
you
want for your own wedding?”

I nodded.

“Why exactly?”

“Because…because I want her to like me.”

“You can’t be serious.”

I didn’t reply.

“That’s ridiculous, Waverly.”

I tried to laugh. “Hey, sneaky, you broke the rules. We’re talking about
you
today, not me, remember?”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, fine. But just remember, it’s
your
wedding, and it’s not wrong to choose what makes
you
happy.”

I nodded. “Got it. I guess I’m still trying to figure out what that scenario would look like.”

Just then Tasha and Beth walked back into the room.

“No cute doctors here. Darn.” Tasha unwrapped a Snickers bar and shook her head. “Such a shame.”

Beth sat down on the edge of Paige’s bed. “In the movies, the male doctors are always so good-looking. The reality simply doesn’t measure up.”

I laughed. “Beth, in the movies, everyone is good-looking. Have you not noticed that?”

Tasha lightly tapped Beth in the back of the head with her Snickers. “Yeah, Einstein, that’s why they’re in the
movies
.”

“I hate to break up the party, but if you ladies don’t mind, I’m going to steal the mother of my son for a little while.” The sound of a deep voice made us all turn our heads.

Gary, his hair still wet, was standing in the doorway. He’d clearly rushed straight from the shower back to the hospital.

“Gary!” I hurried over to give him a hug. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks, Waverly.” He was beaming.

Tasha raised her eyebrows. “You’re Gary?”

Gary nodded and replied in his sexy Southern drawl. “So they tell me.”

Tasha looked at Paige and nodded. “Nice
work
, mama.”

“Tasha!” Beth looked mortified.

Tasha held up her palms. “What?”

I picked up my purse and stewarded them both toward the door. “And on that note…”