Timing (151 page)

I shrugged.

“He’s just picky,” Charlotte defended me.

“So,” I squinted at her. “You were kidding on the phone, right?”

She deflated, and Ben gave her a sympathetic shoulder squeeze.

“It’s so awful,” she said, her eyes locked on mine. “The dress, the

bridesmaid dresses… the tuxedos… Stef, it’s just… just….” She turned

and looked up at Ben.

He squinted at me. “It’s bad. Wait’ll you see the tuxedo you’re

wearing.”

When she had called, hyperventilating, to tell me that everything

she had done in preparation for her wedding had be undone by her

mother, her aunts, and her cousins, I had laughed on the phone. How

bad could it really be? But twenty minutes later, as I stood beside her in

her room, staring at the atrocity hanging over the mirrored side of the

armoire, I was speechless. I didn’t know a dress could have that much

beading and lace and….

“What are those… rhinestones?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Huh.”

“You see,” she waved at the dress.

Timing

17

“Huh,” I grunted again.

“Oh God,” she said, throwing herself down very dramatically

across her bed.

“Maybe if we pull stuff off,” I offered, fingering the lace and

brocade.

“Thank God you’re here,” she muttered into the comforter on the

bed. “I can’t do this without you. Nobody gets me like you get me.”

“I know,” I said, because it was true, but also because it was an

easy response and I was distracted. “I bet if the sun hit this just right

you could, like, blind people.”

She groaned loudly.

“Whose dress was this again?”

“Ben’s mama’s.”

“Huh.”

“There’s a veil too.”

“No, really?”

She lifted her head up off the bed so she could see me. “I’m sorry

that you have to deal with the whole Man-of Honor thing, but if I had

you stand with the groomsmen, it would have been a lie. You and Ben

are friends, but Stef––you belong to me.”

“Yes, I do, you poor, dumb bitch.”

Her smile, with the dimples, was luminous.

Back downstairs in the living room of the enormous three-story

bed & breakfast that we were all staying at, Charlotte clutched my arm

for dear life. I felt her fingers dig into my arm as a man and woman

stepped in front of us, followed closely by a younger couple.

“Charlotte, is this your best friend that we’ve heard so much

about?”

“Yes, Linda,” she said softly, leaning against me. “This is

Stefan.”

I looked at Ben’s mom and smiled wide.

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Mary Calmes

She caught her breath.

“Wow,” I said, offering her my hand. “Jesus, Char, you didn’t tell

me she was hot.”

Charlotte squeaked her surprise as I yanked her soon-to-be

mother-in-law into my arms and gave her a quick kiss before I hugged

her tight.

She pressed against me, her fingers digging into my back.

“Hey,” Ben’s father chuckled. “Give my wife back.”

I let her go but put my arm around her shoulders, holding her

beside me as I looked down into her face. “Whaddya say––can we

revisit the dress, Mom?” I asked softly, using the full weight of my

arsenal, my voice and my face. Having been told constantly from a

very young age that I was gorgeous, I knew I was. The blond hair, dark

green eyes, and the permanent tan that I had been born with, all of it

blended together made people stop and watch me walk by on the street.

I took no credit for any of it—it was just genetics, after all—but I used

it to my advantage when I had to, and I
had
to get that dress altered.

Ben’s mother giggled and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“Yes, darling, whatever you want.”

“Oh my God,” Charlotte breathed out on the other side of me.

“Hello there,” Mr. Cantwell said, smiling at me, extending his

hand. “It’s a pleasure, Stefan. My girl’s face lights up every time she

says your name.”

“Yessir, I know,” I said, smiling at him, taking his hand, gripping

it firmly. Nice that he was calling his soon-to-be daughter-in-law “his

girl.”

“I know this was a long way to come, but Charlotte said you

would do anything for her and Ben,” he said, his eyes warm as he

stared at me.

“Yes sir, absolutely.”

He liked me. It was there in his twinkling eyes and the firmness of

the handshake. He liked that I appreciated his wife’s beauty and that his

son was already important to me. “Tell me all about yourself. What is it

you do, Stefan?”

Timing

19

Before I could open my mouth to speak, Charlotte answered for

me.

“Stef’s an acquisitions manager at Chaney and Putnam. It’s a real

estate holding firm.”

“Oh,” Mr. Cantwell chuckled. “Well then… maybe I can talk to

you about some land I’m thinking of purchasing, get your thoughts.”

“Absolutely,” I assured him.

He nodded then let out a deep breath before turning to his right.

“Let me introduce the rest of my family.”

I met Ben’s sister, Renee, and her husband Stuart, and was then

taken outside on the enormous patio and introduced to her grandparents

and all her extended family. Aunts, uncles, cousins—I met everyone,

Ben’s mother Linda never relinquishing my hand, Charlotte never

leaving me either, her body molded to my side. When the music started,

I took the bride-to-be to the dance floor and into my arms. When she

started to cry, I scooped her up and spun her around until she started

laughing.

“Oh God,” she groaned suddenly a few minutes later.

“What?”

“Look, it’s the angel of death.”

I followed her gaze and saw Ben standing with Nick and Clarissa

Towne.

“You know, I seriously thought about not marrying the man

because of his best friend.”

“Why?”

“Are you kidding?” She shot me a look. “You know why. The

guy’s an idiot.”

“Well, Ben’s probably not thrilled that your best friend is gay.”

“Ben couldn’t care less. You know why?”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“You are not a total pig like Nick Towne.”

“He’s not that bad.”

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Mary Calmes

She gave me a look.

“I hesitate to even ask.”

“He asked Ben if he had to marry me.
Had
to marry me, Stef,
had

to.”

I just smiled at her.

“Like the only way I can get Ben Cantwell is if he knocks me

up.”

“Well, his family is very rich.”

She smacked me really hard.

“Shit,” I groaned, rubbing my arm.

“He’s an ass.”

“Stop,” I teased her.

“And his wife,” she moaned. “My God, my desk at work is more

animated then she is.”

“God, you’re a bitch,” I said, grabbing her hand and dragging her

after me off the dance floor.

I raised a hand, and Clarissa saw me. Instantly, her head tilted to

the side as her smile made her eyes sparkle.

“Holy shit,” Charlotte breathed out.

“See,” I said over my shoulder. “She shines.”

“Only when she sees you, Stef. Just like everybody else.”

I let go of Charlotte’s hand as I reached Clarissa, and she leaped

at me. We hugged tightly, and she buried her face in my shoulder.

“It’s so good to see you,” she said, inhaling me.

“You, too, sweetheart.” I smiled into her hair.

I let her hold me until she was ready to let go. When she did, I

held out my hand to her husband and Ben’s best man, Nick Towne, and

he pulled me into the guy clench and patted my back hard. His face

showed his ease in my presence.

“Hey.”

I turned to Ben. “What?”

Timing

21

He just looked at me.

“What?”

“Nothin’.” He smiled at me after a minute. “Look,” he said as he

raised his chin.

I heard my name before I even had time to turn. Charlotte’s

mother, May Holloway, was crossing the room, looking very

uncomfortable until I waved. She stopped, and I went to her. There

were arms held out waiting for me. A half an hour later, as I took a

break from dancing, flopping down in the seat beside Ben at the end of

the long table, I felt a hand trailing though my hair. When I lifted my

head, I found Charlotte. She was looking at me oddly.

“What?”

“You’re amazing, you know.”

I arched an eyebrow for her, and she snorted out a laugh.

“Classy,” Ben teased her.

“I just… you made Ben’s mom say yes to altering my dress, you

made me see a totally different side of Nick and our parents… I mean,

look at them over there,” she said, staring across the room. “You’d

think they were old friends instead of meeting tonight for the very first

time. It’s all working out.”

I was glad.

“And what started it all?”

“I have no idea,” I yawned, folding my arms on top of the table

and laying my head down. Six hours on a plane after pulling an all-

nighter at work the previous day was taking its toll on me. Not to

mention the copious amount of alcohol I had downed.

“You idiot.” She bumped my side. “You took Ben’s folks over to

my mom, and since everyone is crazy about you, they were all so open

and receptive. It was awesome.”

“Okay,” I placated her.

She pinched my side, but I didn’t even flinch.

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Mary Calmes

“God, Stef,” she said, running her hand down my torso. “Feel that

stomach under that shirt; it’s hard as a rock.”

“Not fair,” Kristin Barnes, one of her bridesmaids, said from the

other side of the table. “If you’re over there feeling Stefan up, then we

should all get a turn.”

“Well, then, come here.”

“Kris, leave him alone,” Ben ordered even as he made room for

two other girls on either side of me.

“You’re a big help,” I told him.

There were hands in my hair, under the back of my shirt, on my

chest, my biceps, and Kristin’s fingers sliding over my eyebrows. I was

drowning in women.

“Holy shit, Char,” someone laughed, “your best friend is

gorgeous.”

“I know,” she laughed. “I’ve been telling him since freshman

year. With those eyes and that hot body, he could have whoever he

wants.”

“Oh, most definitely,” Kristin chimed in. “The boy is smokin’

hot.”

I arched a brow for her, and she dissolved into giggles.

“Do you dye your hair, Stefan?”

Before I could answer, Charlotte did.

“No, honey, that’s all natural. The gold tan, the dark green eyes,

the dirty blond hair, that’s all him. He looks like that every day when

he first rolls out of bed in the morning. The only thing he works at is

the body, and he doesn’t work that hard, let me assure you.”

“Hey,” I protested. “My gym workouts are exhausting.”

“Please,” she put up her hand. “An hour a day out of your life is

nothing, Joss.”

“I think he’s right, Char,” Kristin agreed. “I mean, there are

washboard abs here; I’m thinking he works hard.”

“Oh yeah, lemme see.”

Timing

23

“Enough,” Ben laughed, getting up and shooing all the girls away,

taking a seat beside me. “Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves,

groping a gay man. The boy ain’t even enjoyin’ it. Go grope Rand, he’s

straight.”

“Oh, I would love to get my hands––” Alison Ford, another

bridesmaid, began.

“Gross,” Charlotte groaned.

“Or my mouth,” Kristin chimed in, “on that man.”

“Oh God, that’s so disgusting.”

“He’s your brother, that’s why,” someone else said. “But Char,

the man is absolutely edible.”

“Yeah, but he’s way too serious and dark to mess with.”

“‘Brooding’ is a good word.”

They were all talking at once, and I just smiled. I loved girls.

They were so much fun.

“And he always looks mad,” another voice suggested.

“But so hot.”

“Any of us would do him, Char, but he seems… angry.”

“Really angry,” Kristin agreed. “Which is why even when he

looks like that, I wouldn’t go near that man on a bet.”

“Me neither.”

There was a chorus of agreement from the table.

“Which is why we love Stef,” another of the bridesmaids put in.

“He’s beautiful and sexy and the sweetest guy I’ve ever met in my

life.”

“He’s not broken, he’s healthy.”

“If you weren’t gay,” Alison said, “you’d belong to me, Stefan

Joss.”

“Bullshit,” Kristin assured her. “He’d be mine.”

“You’re all high; I would have married him in college if he was

straight.”

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Mary Calmes

“Pardon me?” Ben interrupted, and the table dissolved into

laughter.

“Oh honey,” Charlotte soothed him, getting up to take a seat in

his lap.

“Get off me,” he grumbled, much to everyone’s delight.