Chocolate for Two (25 page)

“You owe me forever,” she mouthed.

“I love you,” I mouthed back.

Bee and I walked over to the dessert table, where Jake’s mom was standing with a few of her friends. As we approached, they turned to us and smiled.

“Waverly, dear, we were just talking about you,” Jake’s mom said. “Everyone’s a bit surprised to hear you’re only having one bridesmaid in the wedding.”

I could feel myself blush.

“Oh, um, well, I—”

Jake’s mom looked at Bee. “Didn’t Holly always say she’d have eight bridesmaids when she and Jake got married?”

I froze.

Did she really just say that?

Bee nodded. “At least eight, maybe ten.”

Jake’s mom laughed. “Holly has always had
so
many friends. That girl is quite the social butterfly.”

I was speechless.

The shower was in my honor, but at that moment it certainly didn’t feel like it.

I smiled awkwardly and reached for a madeleine cookie.

I was trying my best to stay focused on the big picture, but right at that moment I was having a hard time seeing it.

“Okay, spill.”

“Can we at least order first?”

I sighed and looked at the menu. “Fine.”

Andie and I had just sat down at a seafood restaurant called Jetty’s. Jake’s mom had made us an early dinner reservation and hinted that we should get a good night’s sleep before the shopping expedition the following morning.

A man in a suit and tie approached our table, accompanied by what looked to be our waiter.

“Miss Bryson?”

I looked up. “Yes?”

He smiled and extended his hand. “I’m Phillip, the manager here. I just wanted to welcome you to Jetty’s.”

I smiled a bit awkwardly and shook his hand. “Thanks, Phillip.” I hoped my response wasn’t too cardboard. You’d think I could at least
pretend
this sort of thing happened to me on a regular basis, as opposed to…never. I wondered why he was talking to us.
Has he seen me on TV?

He kept smiling. “The McIntyres have been regular customers of ours for quite some time now. Lovely people.”

Ah, that’s why.

I nodded. “Yes, they are.”

“I hear you’re marrying their son?”

“Um, yes, in February.” I sneaked a look at Andie, who was clearly enjoying this.

“At the Breakers,” she said nonchalantly. Then, clearly to embarrass me further, she casually threw in, “over Presidents’ Day weekend.”

Phillip raised his eyebrows. “The Breakers? Over Presidents’ Day weekend? Wow, that’s just wonderful. I hope we’ll be seeing more of you before then.”

“I hope so too.” I smiled, hating that he felt the need to suck up to me like this. He seemed like a nice man, but the whole exchange was so painfully…fake.

“By the way, Mrs. McIntyre has already taken care of your bill tonight,” he said.

“Our bill?”

He nodded. “It’s all taken care of.”

I glanced at Andie, then back at him. “But we haven’t ordered anything yet.”

He smiled and looked amused. “Yes, of course. But whatever you choose to order, the bill is taken care of, including tip. Not to worry.”

“Oh. Um, thanks.” By the surprised look on my face, he had to know
this
had never happened to me either. I was clearly in uncharted territory.

He clasped his hands together, then gestured to the waiter standing next to him. “Well then, I’ll let Jeremy take care of you from here. Enjoy your evening, and if you need anything at all, please let me know.”

“Um, okay, thanks, Phillip.”

He’d barely stepped away from our table when Jeremy took over, a basket of warm, fresh bread in one hand, a wine list in the other. “Can I start you ladies off with something to drink?”

I looked at Andie. “You want to choose?” I couldn’t bear to further display my lack of sophistication by trying to select a suitable vintage.

She gestured for the menu. “Sure.”

After perusing the options, she sent Jeremy off to retrieve a bottle of Malbec. As soon as he was out of earshot, she leaned forward. “Now, that was unexpected.”

I laughed. “You think? Who does that?”

“Nice people do.
Rich
nice people, that is. I totally get what you mean about the hot and cold thing now. Jake’s mom is all over the place.”

“See? It’s like that Whitney Houston song.” I started to sing. “‘How will I know…if he…real-ly…loves…me?’ Only it’s
she
, not
he
, of course.”

Andie gave me a look. “Why does everything always come back to eighties music with you?”

I dipped some bread in olive oil. “Because eighties music is the best. Now will you please look at your menu so we can eat? I’m starving.”

After we’d ordered and each had a glass of wine in front of us, I spread my palms on the table and looked at her.

“Okay, enough of the chitchat, Ms. Barnett. Time to spill.”

She picked up her glass and tried to look casual. “Spill what?”

I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break.
Spill
.”

She took a sip of her wine. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What do I think?”
That you’re sleeping with Morgan.

“That I’m sleeping with Morgan.”

I flinched, then went with it.

“
Are
you?”

“No.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You wouldn’t lie to me, right?”

“I’m insulted that you would even ask me that.” The look on her face made me regret the question.

I leaned back in my chair. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I…I know you wouldn’t lie to me.”
But what is going on?

“Thanks.”

“So…what
is
going on, then?” I asked.

“With Morgan?”

I nodded.

“Nothing. I’ve never even made out with him.”

I exhaled.
Thank God.

She pushed her hair behind her ears and sighed. “But I’ve definitely flirted with him too much, probably even led him on a bit. I’ll admit to that.”

“But why, Andie? Why would you do that?”

Jeremy appeared out of nowhere with our entrées. It must have been obvious that we were in the middle of a serious conversation, because he was gone before I could even say thank you.

I picked up right where I’d left off. “Why would you do that, Andie?”

She stared at the ceiling. “Because…because…”

“Because what?”
Please don’t say because you don’t love Nick.

She hesitated, then looked straight at me.

“Because Nick asked me to marry him.”

My jaw dropped. “
What?
”

She nodded.

“When?”

“Right before I moved to New York.”

“What? That was like a month ago!”

“I know.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t tell anyone. I still haven’t. Until just now, that is.”

I was floored. “What did you say?”

She made the swirly
crazy
sign with her finger. “I flipped out on him, Waverly.”

“Flipped out? How so?”

“I don’t know. I just…flipped out. I got mad at him for asking me.”

I tilted my head to one side. “You got
mad
at him?”

She nodded.

“You got mad at him for asking you to
marry
him?”

She nodded again.

“But…why?”

She sighed. “Ever since he and I started dating, I’ve been saying I might freak out on him. You know that. I said I might get scared and run, remember? Remember, I called myself emotional Teflon?”

“Yes, I remember, but I didn’t think you really meant it. I thought you were just, you know, being
you
, being tough.”

“Well apparently I meant it—and then some, because I freaked out, then got scared, then
ran
.” She gestured toward the exit with her fork.

I didn’t reply for a moment, and we sat there in silence, picking at our food.

“Do you still love him?” I finally asked.

She nodded.

“Then…what made you get scared? I don’t get it.”

She pressed her hands against her temples. “I don’t get it either. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I couldn’t handle it, Waverly. I
couldn’t handle it like an adult, so I flipped out on him, told him I needed space, and moved to New York.”

“So that’s why you’ve changed the subject every time I asked about him.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

“And that’s why you’ve been flirting with Morgan.”

“Yes.”

“But you still love Nick?”

“Yes.”

“Have you talked to him?”

“No.”

“
No?
”

She nodded. “I’m not kidding, Waverly. I flipped out and left town. I don’t know what’s…wrong with me.” Her voice cracked a little. I’d never heard Andie’s voice crack.

“Nothing’s wrong with you, Andie. You’re just…scared. That’s the most natural thing in the world.”

She picked up her glass. “
You’re
not scared.”

I laughed. “You don’t think I’m scared about getting married?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

She cocked her head to the side. “
Are
you scared?”

“Of course I am.”

“You sure don’t seem like it.”

I swallowed a bite of salmon. “Well, that’s because…because I guess I don’t really think about it like that.”

“Like what?”

I set my fork down and started twisting my napkin in my lap. “I mean, I don’t really think to myself,
I’m getting married
.
Instead, I think about how much I love being with Jake, and how I don’t want to stop being with him, so I’m not going to.”

She gave me a weird look. “Say that again?”

I gave her an awkward smile. “I know that’s a roundabout way of looking at it, but that’s how it makes sense to me. Do you remember what I told you he said to me right before he proposed?”

She took a sip of her wine. “Would you hate me if I said no? Because I have no idea.”

I shook my head. “Of course not. He wasn’t proposing to
you
. Anyhow, he told me that he’d realized that for him, marriage isn’t about being able to imagine living your life
with
a person, it’s about
not
being able to imagine living your life
without
that person.”

She nodded. “Romantic.”

“I know. But it’s also makes it a lot easier to wrap your head around the idea of getting married, which is scary. Believe me, Andie, I know it’s weird to think about spending your entire life with someone. But when you think about
not
being with that person, and you realize you don’t want that, then it makes sense. At least it does for me.”

She sighed and picked at her pasta. “Really?”

“Definitely. You know, in a way I’m happy I lost my engagement ring.”

She looked up at me. “Have you gone insane?”

“Okay, maybe the word
happy
is a little strong. But it made me realize that while yes, it was beautiful, at the end of the day it was just a piece of jewelry. It doesn’t really
mean
anything, Andie. With or without it, Jake is still here, and that’s what’s important. It’s being with Jake that really makes me happy. Everything else is just for show as far as I’m concerned.”

She shrugged. “I bet that rock meant a lot to the jeweler, who is probably putting his kids through college with his commission.”

I laughed. “Not to mention whoever found it.”

“So are you going to get a new one?”

“I don’t think so. Jake said he’d buy me one, but I don’t know if I want him to. I mean, I’ll have a wedding band, so I was thinking that might be enough.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “I just don’t feel like I need a big diamond, like I need to make some statement about our love to the world. That’s what I’m trying to get across here. All that really matters to
me
is that I’m with Jake. Or, to return to the verbal gymnastics of a few minutes ago, all that really matters to me is that I don’t stop being with Jake.”

She leaned back in her chair. “Wow, you have really grown up.”

I smiled. “Thanks. But enough about me. I want to get back to
you
. How does it make you feel when you imagine not being with Nick anymore?”

She paused to think. I slowly picked at my salmon and did my best to wait patiently for her response.

Please don’t break his heart.

After a few moments of silence, she finally spoke.

“How does it make me feel to imagine not being with Nick anymore? That’s what you want to know?”

I nodded.

“Honestly?”

“Honestly. You can tell me.” I had a bad feeling.

Poor Nick.

She leaned forward in her chair.

“Honestly, Waverly…it makes me feel sort of sick.”

I let out a little gasp. “It does?”

She nodded. “I miss him more than I ever thought I would.”

I smiled. “That’s not what I expected you to say.”

“It’s not?”

“No.”

“What did you expect me to say?”

I hesitated.

“You really want to know?”

She took a sip of her wine. “Of course. If I’m opening the kimono, you have to as well.”