One of the Guys (25 page)

           
“Not at all,” Kate smiled. “We were
just chatting.”

           
“When are you going to ask her out?”
Kelly asked.

           
It was Kevin’s turn to blush as he
sat, gaping at his sister.

           
“Kelly, don’t embarrass your
brother,” Carol ordered, chuckling. “Let’s go get the cake and get set up out
here so Isabella can open her presents.”
 
The two of them got up, grinning.

           
“Sorry. I’m not sure who’s worse.
My mom or my sister.”

           
“It’s okay,” Kate said. “They’re
cute.”

           
“Yeah.
Real
cute,” Kevin laughed.

           
A few minutes later, Kelly came out
with a small cake for Isabella and Carol trailed, carrying another one for the
guests. Kevin’s family gathered around as Peter carried Isabella to the high
chair and strapped her in. John stood by with his camera, feverishly snapping
pictures of the guests, the baby, and her parents. Kelly placed the cake in
front of Isabella, who looked at it questioningly. She swiped her fingers
across the top, gathering a fistful of fluffy, pink frosting. She squeezed the
icing in her hand and held out her sticky, messy palm. Everyone chuckled. Isabella’s
mouth formed a little round “o” of delight as she did it with the other hand
and nobody did anything to stop her. Then she immediately started pounding on
the tray of her high chair, sending flecks of frosting splattering everywhere.

           
While Isabella destroyed her
birthday confection, Kevin got up and got two pieces of cake. He sat down next
to Kate and slid a plate in front of her. “Thanks,” she said. They ate their
cake and laughed with everyone else as Isabella picked up handfuls of cake and
frosting and threw them onto the ground, letting out a laugh with every splat.

           
Kate and Kevin sat together as Kelly
helped Isabella open her presents, which took a long time, because Isabella had
to inspect every scrap of paper, length of ribbon, and piece of tape. From time
to time, Kevin would get up to talk to family members and someone would sit
down in his spot and make small talk with Kate. She especially liked talking to
his grandmother, who seemed very sweet, if not all there.

           
When Isabella had finished with her
presents and had gone down for a nap, Kelly and Carol started cleaning up. Kevin
announced that it was time to take Kate home. “I think she’s had enough of you
guys,” he said, wrapping his mom in a big bear hug.

           
“He’s just saying that!” Kate said,
playfully smacking him on the arm. “It was really nice meeting you!”

           
Carol let go of Kevin and pulled
Kate into a hug. “It was nice meeting you, too, dear. We’ll have to have you
over again sometime when there’s not a huge crowd of people.”

           
Kelly was right behind Carol,
waiting to give Kate a hug, too. “It was great to meet you!” she said warmly. “Thank
you for Isabella’s piggy bank!”

           
Kevin and Kate made their way
through the house, saying goodbye to the family members that remained. In his
car, Kevin let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry about that,” he said.

           
“What?
 
Your mom and your sister?
 
No big deal.”

           
“I hope they weren’t too annoying.”

           
“God, no.
They
were really nice.”

           
“You still not feeling well?” he
asked. They both laughed.

           
“I had a nice time.
Really.”

           
“Thanks for coming.”
 
He smiled at her.

Kate
smiled back and wasn’t sure what else to say. When they arrived at her house,
she thought about inviting him in, but considering that her parents’ boxes were
still all over the place and things were piled up around the house, she decided
against it.

“Let’s
hang out again soon,” she said.

“Sure.
You know, you can come play poker whenever you want. I’ve gotten some other
guys to play, every once in awhile, too. You know, Miles and Joe?
 
They were at the Super Bowl party.”

“Maybe
sometime,” she said. “Thanks again.”

Inside,
she was greeted by her mother standing in front of the entertainment center,
dusting and rearranging picture frames. “How was your date?
 
That was the nice guy from karaoke, right?”

“It
wasn’t a date,” Kate corrected her. “But yes, that was the guy from karaoke.
My friend Kevin.”

“Not
a date?
 
Where did you go?
 
What did you do?”

“We
went to his niece’s first birthday party.”

Her
mother raised her eyebrows. “You met his family?”

“Yeah.
So?”

Her
mother just smiled.

*

           
A few weeks later, Kate was hanging
out at Lucy’s house for a girls’ night in while Jackson was out celebrating his
birthday with the guys. Kate brought two bottles of wine and Lucy provided lots
of snacks.

           
They started out the evening by discussing
wedding plans, but Lucy wanted everything to be so simple, and so much had
already been planned, that there really wasn’t much to discuss. They ended up
sitting out on the deck and just talking about anything else that came to mind.
It had been awhile since they’d spent much time together, so they had some
catching up to do. They talked about Lucy’s class at school, and some of Kate’s
clients, and Kate’s parents’ reconciliation. Before they knew it, it was after
midnight, and Jackson was home from his celebration.

           
“Hello, ladies,” he said, bending
down in between them and kissing each one on the cheek.

           
“You’re home awful early, aren’t
you?” Lucy asked.

           
“It’s a bitch getting old, huh?”
Kate teased.

           
Jackson nodded. “Yeah, it is,” he
said. He sat down with them and grinned. “Plus Chris had to get to his
girlfriend’s house. She kept calling and calling. That boy’s got it bad.”

           
“Really?”
Kate asked.

           
“She’s kind of a snob. None of us
like her,” Jackson said.

           
“Jackson says she’s a real pain in
the ass,” Lucy added.

           
Kate shrugged.
“Doesn’t
matter to me.
That’s all in the past.”

           
“Then why don’t you come play poker
anymore?” Jackson asked.

           
“I don’t know. Things just got
weird.”

           
Jackson waved it off. “Whatever. Chris
is dating somebody. Max is dating somebody. We’re all still friends. No big
deal.”

           
“I know,” she said. “I just haven’t
felt like it.”

           
“You can’t avoid those guys
forever,” Jackson said.

           
“Have you worked with Chris at all
lately?” Lucy asked.

           
“Actually, no,” she sighed. “But I
do have a wedding coming up with him next weekend.”

           
“Seriously, Kate.
It’s not that big of a deal,” Jackson said.

“I know, I
know,” Kate said, starting to get annoyed. “It was just stupid, that’s all. I
never should have gotten involved with either of them. Things will never be the
same.”

“Things
may never be the same, but that doesn’t mean you guys can’t still be friends,”
Lucy said.

Kate
folded her arms across her chest.

Jackson
got to his feet. “Just leave Kevin alone,” he said, winking at her. “Three
strikes and you’re out.”

*

The
following weekend, Kate worked on her first wedding with Chris in a long time. He
kept popping up out of nowhere to try to engage her in conversation, and she
kept coming up with excuses to avoid him.
 
She made it through the entire wedding and
reception without really having to talk to him.

That
is, until she made it to her car. “Hey,” Chris said. He was leaning against the
trunk. Kate had to fight the urge to groan out loud.

“I’ve
missed you,” he said. She raised her eyebrows at him, opened the car door, and
tossed her purse onto the passenger seat. “I mean, we all have. There’s a poker
game tonight at Kevin’s. You should come. How come you don’t ever come play
cards anymore?”

“Because
things got complicated, that’s all.”

“Complicated?”
Chris repeated. “You mean with me?”

“Whoever.
Whatever.”

“None
of that matters.”
 

“It
doesn’t matter?” she asked. “Thanks a lot. It mattered to me.”

“I
didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that we’ve been friends for a long time.
We should be able to get past this.”

“Maybe
you can, but I can’t,” she said. “I never should have dated you.
Or fooled around with Max.
Once you go there with a friend,
things are never the same. Admit it.”

“We’re
still friends,” he insisted. “Kate, come on. You’re like one of the guys.”

“Yeah,
well maybe I’m tired of being one of the guys,” she said, getting in the car and
slamming the door.

*

           
Sitting in her office a few weeks
later, Kate was busy typing up proposals and doing research for her newest
clients. Every year, usually starting sometime in March or April, she and Julia
became swamped with new brides that had gotten engaged on Valentine’s Day. This
year was no different.

           
“Go home,” Julia said, sticking her
head in the door. “It’s late. I don’t want you getting sick again. You work too
hard.”

           
Kate grinned. “I know, but we’re so
busy!”

           
“Isn’t it great?” Julia beamed.

           
Kate nodded and saved the file she
was working on. “Want to get a drink?” she asked.
“Maybe some
dinner?”

           
“I can’t tonight,” Julia said. “Alex
has something going on at the school tonight so I’ve got to get home to Allie.”

           
“Okay,” Kate said, trying to hide
her disappointment.

           
“Soon, though. We need another night
out. You should ask your mom, too. We can go to karaoke again.”

           
Kate giggled. “She’d like that.”

           
“I’ll lock up. Don’t stay too long,”
Julia said.

           
Kate decided that since she didn’t have
any plans that evening that she might as well stay late and get all of her
research done because it would make the rest of the week easier. Besides, she
liked looking through their files of pictures for ideas and trying to find a
visual representation of what a bride was looking for. It was times like this
when Kate found herself daydreaming about her own wedding.

           
Sometimes she thought she’d want
something small, simple, and private like Lucy and Jackson’s wedding. No fuss,
no muss. Other times, when she was trying to find a rose in the exact same
shade as a bridesmaid gown or when she’d come across a picture of a beautifully
decorated table, she couldn’t help picturing a huge, romantic wedding.

           
Someday.

           
For now, she’d have to concentrate
on Miss Elizabeth
Cutcher’s
wedding in November. She
reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a file folder marked “
Autumn
.”
 
In it were
pictures that she’d torn out of magazines, printed off the Internet, and taken
at weddings that she herself had planned. The bride had mentioned that purple
was her favorite color, but she wasn’t sure how she could work that color into
her autumn colored wedding. No problem. Kate started picking out pictures to
show her the next time she came in. Plum colored calla lilies. Bouquets wrapped
in eggplant colored ribbon. She even found a picture of a bouquet of peach
roses with delicate purple orchids tucked in. If this bride wanted purple, she
would get purple.

           
She did the same type of research
for several more of her new clients, compiling pictures and printouts to help
the ladies visualize all of the possible combinations of colors, flowers, and
styles. When she finished, she was stunned to see that it was almost eight
o’clock. It was definitely time to go home.