It's Got A Ring To It (19 page)

 
“
She’d been ill for
a
few months
now
.
I wanted to call you, but I didn’t think you’d take my call.
Laila
, I’m so sorry.”

“No. I’m sorry, too. I know how much she meant to you.”

“She went quickly. It made such a difference that she didn’t suffer.”

All I could do was stare at the pearls, fragile as she was, in my
hands. Nana Bea told Ethan that she would pass them down to the woman he
married. It seemed only right that she never gave them to me in the end. But, I
figured that she’d have given them to Catherine. I thought about it and the
words came out before I could stop them.

“I need to know why she decided to give me the pearls. Why didn’t she
give them to Catherine?”

“You should know that she never felt about Catherine the way she did
about you,
Laila
. To her, you were her family and the
granddaughter she never had. She always said that you reminded her of my
mother.”
He
gazed
into my eyes without blinking, his tone serious
without
hesitation. “After I lost everything,
Laila
, I had to
start over at square one and it really made me think about what was important
to me. And when it came down to it, all the money and cars and houses meant
nothing when it came to happiness. I knew that I’d made the greatest mistake of
my life
—
leaving
you. And in doing so, I ultimately ended up hurting the only person who truly
loved me for the person that I was
—
and still am on the inside. I’m sorry
I hurt you
,
Laila
. But you need to know that you mean more to me than
any material thing ever could.
That’s why I couldn’t marry Catherine.
”

Hearing him acknowledge the pain that he put me through when he left
jogged something deep inside. I hadn’t know
n
what it was that I needed to hear, but
things were being made right again. Not necessarily with him, but his words. I
didn’t feel the same way about him anymore and I knew where he was going.
“Please Ethan, don’t.”

“Don’t what? Don’t tell you how I really feel? Nana Bea had no qualms
about letting me know the magnitude of the mistake that I’d made. On a regular
basis, she’d tell me to suck up all my pride and do whatever it would take to
get you back in my life. And, so I’m here. I’ll get on my knees, if that’s what
you need to see. You don’t have to make any decisions today,
Laila
, but believe me when I say that I love you. I never
stopped loving you and I want you back. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to
right my wrongs. You are the only thing in my life worth living for.”

Words clogged in my throat. I felt like abandoning him meant
abandoning Nana Bea. I was even more confused than when I arrived.

“
Laila
, you don’t have to say anything. The
pearls are for you. Ever since we lost my mom, her plan was always to give them
to my wife, since she had no granddaughters to pass them down to. Some of her
last words were that she wanted you to be my wife.
They were
always for you. If you look at the clasp, she had your initials inscribed.”

I pulled the necklace closer and on the inside of the clasp, the
letters LM
D
.
Laila
Maria
Dently
.
The name I would’ve had, if I had married Ethan.
A written
premonition of my future.
“It makes me think, she knew something we
didn’t.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if Nana Bea
did
know something we didn’t. Ethan was her pride and joy, but I
still wished she
were
here right now to tell me what to do. Maybe we were two souls that would always
find our way back to each other.

eighteen

The grand
opening of The Sweet Tooth crept out of nowhere. I was a live wire, flitting
about wildly. The store was ready, but I ran around polishing glass, buffing
the floor, making sure every jelly bean and red vine were exactly in place. By
the time we opened, my reflection glistened from every surface.

I hurriedly stepped outside to get the customer perspective from the
entrance and back inside. The giant gumball dispenser greeted me cheerfully,
anchoring all the displays surrounding it. Apothecary jars in every size were
filled to the brim with confections of every flavor. Gargantuan wrapped candies
and lollipops festively suspended in the air. Rows of chocolate bars arranged
like dominoes guided the eyes on a tour of the space. The ice cream bar
reminded me of old
-
time
malt shops, complete with pink
-
and
-
black stools. Sweet aromas
of rocky road ice cream and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies teased my
nose.
However
, my
favorite thing in the store by far
was
the huge gummy bear-shaped cotton candy
maker, filled with cotton candy stuffing.

“Ready?” I asked my two newly
hired
employees
, Ashley
—Olivia’s
younger sister—and
Stephanie
—Ashley’s best friend
. They were the
last of the finishing touches.
All in
black clothing with pink
-
and
-
black polka dot aprons tied at the neck and
waist. They looked the way I’d imagined.

“Smile,” I directed them with one of my own spread from ear to ear,
as a customer entered.

The next four hours went by in a sugary blur. Everyone I kn
ew
showed up. First, in
hordes that I eloquently juggled, then sprinkles here and there between mobs of
kids. I thought the crowd would taper off after the first fifty people got
their sample bags and
T
-shirts,
but they just kept on coming. Lena dropped by for a hot second. Brooke got
stuck on a layover, so she couldn’t make it, but she called to wish me
continued success. Even Ethan promised to stop in a little later. Mom and
D
ad made their obligatory
appearance for a few minutes and then they quickly vacated the premises. Had it
been a
wine tasting
,
they’d have closed the place down, but sugar never was their forte. The amount
of time they grace
d
anyone with their presence
wa
s
directly related to the profusion of wine. Possibly longer depending on whether
it
was
red or white.

I said my last good
-
bye
to my parents, when I s
aw
Elle, Myles’ sister. Just the thought that I accused him of being engaged to
her made me cringe. I could feel myself turning red and overanalyzing the whole
thing. Had he told her about that, or was I even important enough for him to
mention at all? I couldn’t figure out which was worse. Just the thought that
she
might
know was mortifying.
Running away wasn’t an option, considering it
was
my shop and I
was
supposed make people feel welcome.

“Hello. Welcome to the Sweet Tooth. How may I help you today?” I
smiled. The closer I got to her, the more I thought how seeing her from a
distance at the bridal salon, did not begin to do her justice. She
was
a knockout.
Gorgeous with the perfect body.
I’d have to starve and kill
myself at the gym daily to get a body like that.

Immediately, she smiled. She recognized me. “
Laila
,
how are you? It’s Elle, Myles’ sister.” Before I could respond,
she
wrapped me in her
embrace.
A true hugger.

Damn, I had to go an
d
blab my big mouth and charge him with being involved with his own sibling. And
she
was
nice, too.
Which only made me feel worse. “Elle, I thought that was you, but I didn’t want
to be wrong. Did you do something different with your hair?” Hair
was
safe because aside from
styles, different angles
changed
a person completely.

“Just plopped it up in a ponytail, that’s all. Excuse the attire.
Been working out and wanted to pop in to congratulate you on your opening.” As
if she needed to work out at all. There
were
no parts of her body that need
ed
to be toned or
jiggly
arm fat. Even her golden ponytail was perky and
perfectly coiled into a springy curl. She was going on about something while I
sized up her abs of steel, when I heard her say, “Myles has been raving about
it. Has he shown up yet?”

“Not yet,” I stuttered.
Yet?
Suddenly, I was itching to get to a mirror to check my makeup and hair. There I
was standing there with ice cream all over my apron, looking weathered with the
day. I had to be dazzling when
he
arrived. Myles needed to regret ever ignoring my call. Ugh. Men never
do the right thing the first time around.

Elle
was
sweet as pie, but havoc on my ears. The moment she said “Myles,” my mind
checked out. I lost all interest in what she was saying, I just nodded and
threw in an “uh-huh” every now and then. I scanned the room for a reason to
step away. A friend waved from across the room, and I pretended it was urgent
and excused myself. I felt bad
ly
that I didn’t even stop to chat with the girl, whose name I couldn’t place. It
was more like a drive-by, but time was of the essence. If Elle thought Myles
was already there, who knew how much time I had to freshen up. A little
push
up of the bra.
New glaze on the lips.
Touch up on the hair. And I
was
good to go.

When I returned to the floor, everything was a little more lifted.
Not a moment too soon either. Myles was there, standing by the gumball machine
with Elle. There wasn’t a casual way to make my way over, so I tried to look
busy, hoping he’d be the one who’d find me. A few candy wrappers were on the
floor, so I picked them up carefully as if the success of the shop hinged upon
them.

By the time I finished pretending to be detained, I nearly had a conniption
when I looked back at the two of them. Evidently, things
could
get worse. Much worse. Not only
was Myles there,
but
Ethan joined them. And if that
wasn’t enough, Myles and Ethan seemed to be
knee-deep
in conversation. What did they have
to talk about? They met one time at my mother’s house, of all places. Why
couldn’t Ethan just donate my stuff
?

Anxiously, I went rip-roaring over. “Hello
,
all. Thanks for coming,” I interrupted
abruptly just as Ethan explained how happy he was that we
were
giving our relationship another go.
I felt my eyes widen in surprise.
As if he knew what I was thinking, Myles gave me a cynical, knowing look, like
he predicted that Ethan and I would be back together. His lips never parted,
but his face said, “I told you so,” as if Ethan’s words strengthened his
argument.

“So,
Laila
. I’m pleased to hear everything
is working out with you and Ethan. They always say everyone deserves a second
chance,” Myles remarked snidely.

Elle and Ethan smil
ed
obliviously, none the wiser to the underlying meaning, clear only to Myles and
me. Myles smirked, reveling in my discomfort. Something felt unfair about him
knowing my history with Ethan, but Ethan being left in the dark about him.

Ugh, I wanted to hit him. He knew how to really get under my skin.
“Yes, Myles. Second chances are great. It’s third and
fourth
chances that I’m worried about
.
” I settled for a verbal
jab.

The playful banter between us wasn’t lost on Ethan. “So, Myles.
You’re taking the pictures for Lena’s wedding, huh?”

“Yep. Got a nice plan picked out for her. I’ll capture all the must
-
have moments.”

“Lucky you. With
Laila
as her maid of
honor, you two should be working pretty closely together.”

 
“Definitely hit the
jackpot. Though,
Laila
is a wild one.”

“Oh. Is she?” Ethan questioned with a raised eyebrow. What he was
really asking
was
did
Myles kn
o
w firsthand. Ethan had
never been introduced to the uninhibited version of me that I unleashed on
Myles. Nor, did I want him to know about it at that point. Before he could
respond, continuing their game of “
W
hos
e
lollipop
was bigger
,” I interrupted and changed the
subject.

“Speaking of weddings. How’s the planning going, Elle?”

“Got the dress and most of my vendors. I’m practically done,” she
said, keeping it simple, the one time I wanted her to elaborate.

“You’re nothing like my sister
,
Lena. She has a gigantic wedding planning
book with an array of options for everything. I feel exhausted every time we
meet.” Nervous laughter seeped out.

“You know. I knew you were opening a candy shop, but I never put it
together that you did candy stations for weddings. Myles told me that you’re
doing your sister’s wedding, and I was hoping you had an opening to do mine.
It’s the last vendor I have left.”

“Absolutely! I’d love to. In fact, if you don’t mind
,
i
t would be great if I could take pictures of
it to use for my brochure and website.”

“Sure
.
” Elle
beamed. “Myles and his friend are photographing the wedding, so you could
probably use those photos for your business shots.”

Myles chimed in to offer his services. He
would
enjoy that. Being in close proximity, where it would be
impossible for me to escape him.

“Uh…al
l
right
.
” I hesitated. Not only
would I have to work with him to coordinate Lena’s wedding shots, but add
Elle’s candy station into the pot and we’d be together almost on a daily basis.

Leave it to Elle to add more fuel to the fire, “Oh, in case you need
to mark your calendar. The big day is Valentine’s
Day
. Only six months to go. Eek!” she
shrieked with delight. “Ooh. I can hardly contain myself.” Her demeanor shifted
suddenly. “Hope that doesn’t mess up an
y
plans that you and Ethan have for that day.
I know it’s a day for romance and love. Maybe you can come with her if you
don’t already have plans, Ethan?”

And wouldn’t you know that Ethan agreed, the last nail into the
coffin. It had been less than a month since we met at Claim Jumpers and decided
to gradually become part of each other’s lives again. My plan was to start off
being cordial and maybe have coffee every once in a while until I could
determine if it would be worth it to go back down that road. Now, we
were
all coupled up. He
might as well have peed on me to mark his territory, like some rabid dog.
Easily, I could have
busted
his bubble and exposed him for the liar that he was, but seeing the loathing in
Myles’ eyes and hearing the tinge of jealousy in his tone, seemed like a fair
trade
—
for the
time being.

***

The end of
summer
moseyed by and the holidays came flying in with a vengeance. It was the busiest
season for business.
The time of comfort food and simple
personalized gifts.
I was tying bows and counting sugarplums in my head.
Black Friday nearly sent me into overdrive and when it was finally over, I
crashed hard. Normally, this was my favorite time of year, but the choices that
I’d made, and the people I let in and out of my life had taken a toll on my
cheer.

Things between
Myles
and me
remained professional, solely platonic. It took all that time, but
I came to terms with it. I was no longer waiting on a stolen moment. Between
Lena
’s
and Elle’s weddings,
all
we talked about
w
ere
weddings. We
reveled in our sisters’ impending nuptials that were fast approaching with the
new year
.

Ironically, weddings were all I ever wanted to talk about with Ethan
when we were together the first time around. This time, it
was
all he wanted to talk about, though I’d
preferred to talk about anything else. We weren’t the same people and it wasn’t
the same circumstances. The roles switched and he was the clingy hopeless
romantic hanging onto the past. He could speak of nothing but the blueprints of
the life he wanted to build for us.
The home that I use
d
to describe to him.
Kids and a dog, or two, he joked. Vacationing abroad in Italy.
Expanding and franchising the Sweet Tooth.
My dreams became his.
There
was
no dream that
he
was
working toward.
He had no plans, or friends.
Or, life, for that matter.
I was his dream.
His past, present, and future.