Three Girls And A Wedding (19 page)

“What was that?” I asked.

He opened my door for me and
paused, looking down at me. Finally, he looked away, his face red. “I said,
it’s also kind of hot.”

Color flooded my face, but I
couldn’t respond because he was helping me up into my seat, shutting my door,
and walking around to his side. I had no idea what to say to him, how to
respond to that. Did he really mean it? If he did, why did he seem so
uncomfortable? Why was he seem so set on disliking me?

But when Matt got in the car, he
seemed determined to ignore the moment. Instead of sitting in awkward silence,
he kept up a steady stream of conversation all the way back to my office. He
asked about the girls, how long I’d known them, what milestones Danny was
reaching, where we all went to school. It was completely casual and pleasant.

And completely fake.

By the time he pulled up at the
office, I felt worn out from so much politeness. “Thanks for doing this, Matt,”
I told him.

“No problem. I think Eric will be
really happy with our choice.”

I nodded. “I’m sure they both will.
Well…I guess I should go. Um…thanks again.”

“No problem,” he repeated, staring
out his window, not meeting my eyes.

I was down on the pavement, about
the close the door, when he spoke again, his voice soft.

“You take care of yourself, Jen.”

Chapter Twenty-One

‘Regardless of what
other events you may feel are unnecessary, I do hope you’ll have a bachelorette
party! These are a great chance for you to celebrate—not just a
celebration of leaving your single status behind, but rather a celebration of
the friendships you’ve cherished throughout those years. Your single girl
relationships are precious and you should carry them into your married life.
And there’s no better way to celebrate those girls than with a bachelorette
party!’—
The Bride’s Guide to a
Fabulous Wedding!

“Gin?” I called, knocking on the
bathroom door. “You almost done?”

“I can’t get this on right,” she
grumbled from inside.

“Can I come in?” I asked, looking
at my watch. Our dinner reservations—step one in the Ginny
McKensie
bachelorette extravaganza—were scheduled for
fifteen minutes. We needed to leave, soon.

Ginny opened the door and I let out
a low whistle. “Wow, babe,” I told her. “You look hot.” She was wearing a short
black strapless dress that hugged her slim frame pretty tightly. Her brown hair
was sleek and shiny, hanging straight down around her shoulders—the way
she used to wear it before Danny was born and she began relying exclusively on
hair ties.

“This stupid eyelash is stuck,” she
grumbled, peering at herself in the mirror. “Geez, it’s been way too long since
I’ve done this!”

“Well, you’ve had more important
things on your mind for the last year and a half,” I told her, leaning in to
pry the false lash from her eyelid. “There,” I said, readjusting it. “That’s
better.”

“Thanks,
hon
,”
she said, standing up straight and checking her hair in the mirror.

“You look perfect,” I told her.
“Honestly.”

“You’re not looking too bad
yourself, Campbell,” she said, looking me over. I was wearing a purple baby
doll dress that showed off quite a bit of leg, and the silver
Manolos
Kiki had given me.

“We do what we can,” I told her.
“Now come on, find your shoes. Annie’s already in the living room and the cab
will be here any second.”

Annie was waiting for us by the
door. She was decked out in a retro-looking red flapper dress. She had her
curly reddish-blond hair pulled back in a sleek chignon. It was a little
quirky, but very Annie.

“Well, this is the best the three
of us have looked in a long time,” she said, looking us over. “It’s a shame I’m
the only one not taken.”

“I’m not taken!” I protested.

“What about Jason?” she asked,
raising her eyebrow.

“It’s just a couple dates,” I told
her, feeling uncomfortable. “It’s not like a big deal.”

“
Mmmhmm
,”
she said, grabbing her purse and opening the front door. “A gorgeous guy who
wears expensive suits and drives an Audi keeps taking you out. That sure sounds
like ideal Jen Campbell dating material.”

I didn’t respond. She had a
point—Jason, from the exterior, looked like the ultimate power boyfriend,
the epitome of all the guys I had ever dated. Successful, well-dressed,
sophisticated. But I just couldn’t get around the fact that I felt nothing for
him. Nada. No matter how many fancy restaurants he took me to, that
ever-so-important issue could not be resolved.

I hadn’t heard from Matt since the
food tasting day. It had been more than a month, and I still thought of him way
more than I should. I told myself over and over again that nothing could, or would,
happen there. It was absolutely pointless to fall into fantasies about him when
I should be working, pointless to imagine his eyes every night before falling
asleep.

Anyhow, I wasn’t going to think
about him tonight. Tonight was girls’ night. Annie had planned it to the
smallest detail (with little help from me). She had asked Ginny if we should
get a big group together, but Gin said she wanted it to be just the three of
us. I was fine with that. With everything that was happening, I missed them more
than I could say.

A cab was waiting for us outside to
take us to Ginny’s favorite restaurant, Pronto. After that, we would be within
walking (or stumbling) distance to several places where we could dance the
night away.

We settled into the cab and I
closed my eyes for a moment. It had been a tough month, even tougher than the
ones preceding it. I was now only two weeks away from Kiki’s wedding, which
meant we were three weeks away from Ginny’s. I was fairly sure I had done
everything I could to make both a success. I had booked all of Ginny’s
vendors—the cake, the flowers, the DJ. A photographer friend of Josh was
doing their pictures, the dress was fitted and perfect. There were a million
last-minute things to do, but I knew I could handle them during the week after
Kiki’s wedding was over.

The Barker wedding was bearing down
on me, and I was terrified. I knew we had things under control, knew that
between Jason and myself it would be a smash. But I was still prone to waking
up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, wondering what it was that I was
forgetting.

Tonight would be the last night of
relaxation I would have for the next two weeks. I doubted I would see the girls
much at all. Most of the out-of-town guests were going to start arriving in a
week. There were hotel issues, transportation details to figure out, and
welcome baskets to deal with. On the following Monday we were throwing a huge
welcome bash for everyone. It would be the first in a week’s worth of
events—tours of the city, trips to local attractions, meals at Mr.
Barker’s many restaurants—that we were planning, all leading up to the
rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself.

I felt a dull ache begin to throb
in my temple. It was a constant companion these days, that ache. I took a deep
breath, desperately wishing I could clear my mind and enjoy the night with the
girls.

“You okay over there?” Ginny asked,
nudging me.

I smiled at her. “Yup. Little
headache, no biggie. So, what were Josh and Danny
gonna
get up to tonight while you’re out club-hopping?”

Ginny looked at me strangely. “Josh
has his bachelor party tonight,” she told me. “Danny is with Beth for the
night.”

Oh, right. Beth was one of Ginny’s
coworkers at the bookstore. She had probably told me these plans before. Over
her shoulder, I saw Annie roll her eyes and turn away.

“And Josh is…at the baseball game?”
I asked, struggling to remember.

“Hockey,” she said, narrowing her
eyes slightly. “And then the casino.”

Shoot. I remembered now. Ginny and
I’d had this conversation only last week. I think I was trying to answer some
emails at the time, but I should have been paying better attention.

The air in the cab was definitely
getting thick with tension, but luckily we pulled up at the curb outside of the
restaurant. I paid the driver, eager for the distraction, and we all walked in.

Pronto was busy tonight. I began to
feel my spirits rise; there was a buzz in the air, conversation all around us
and the sounds of people enjoying their meals. I was going to have fun
tonight—and make sure Ginny did, too.

A waiter showed us to our table and
I had to laugh. “Look familiar?” I asked.

Ginny groaned. “Oh my God, that is
so not a night I want to remember!”

It was right here at this very
table where, more than a year ago, Ginny had gone into labor. We’d had to force
her to leave with us to go to the hospital; she’d been in complete denial,
trying to convince us she was just having heartburn.

We sat down, all smiling now at the
memory. “How crazy is it that that was only a year and a half ago?” Annie asked,
opening her menu. “I mean, think of everything that’s happened since then.”

“Very true,” Ginny agreed. “All
these months with Danny…”

“Josh coming back,” I pointed out.

“You getting engaged, finding an
apartment, all this wedding stuff,” Annie finished. “It seems like a hell of a
lot longer than that.”

I looked at the girls, feeling a
swell of affection for both of them. We’d been through so much together. When I
had moved to Royal Oak, they were the first people that befriended me. Mom and
I’d had such a rough time of it and I was missing my dad like crazy. The two of
them opening their arms to me had been, literally, life-changing.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been a good
friend lately,” I suddenly said, feeling my eyes fill with tears. “Seriously,
you guys. I know I’m crap, and I’m so sorry.”

The waiter chose that minute to
show up for our drink orders. “Bring us martinis,” Annie said, looking over at
me. “Big ones.”

When he was gone, Ginny reached
over and grabbed my hand. “We’re worried about you, Jen. You’re working so
hard.” Annie cleared her throat and Ginny looked over at her. “And yes, we’ve
missed you.”

“I know,” I said, wiping my eyes.
“I don’t know why I can’t just cool it with this wedding, but I feel so
much…pressure. I know I need to be around for you guys more, especially with
the wedding. I just feel—torn. And I can’t make it go away, no matter how
hard I try.”

I was relieved to be finally having
this conversation with them. It was past due.

“Jen, I think we understand, better
than anyone else, about the pressure you place on yourself—and why.”
Ginny gave me a meaningful look and I knew she was talking about my mom, about
both
of my parents and what we had been
through.

“But that doesn’t mean you should
just give in to it,” Annie said firmly. “You’re a stronger person than you
realize. It drives me nuts when you don’t see it.”

“So what am I supposed to do, Ann?”
I asked, feeling anger start to rise. “Say ‘fuck it’ to a job I’ve always
wanted? This is my chance to get away from all those lame parties I used to get
stuck with. My chance for a promotion and some real money. How can you not see
that?”

“We do,” Ginny said in a placating
voice.

“I’m not so sure you
both
do,” I said, looking hard at Annie,
who met my glare head on. “What would you do, Ann, if you suddenly had a chance
at the role of a lifetime?”

“I suppose I would go a little
nuts,” she admitted. “But I would hope I was doing it for the right reasons.
And I would make damn sure I still made time for my best girlfriends,
particularly if one of them was getting married.”

Luckily the waiter appeared right
then with our drinks—otherwise I might have said something to Annie that
I would regret. Instead, I took a long gulp of the martini, relishing the burn
in my throat as it went down. We ordered food and then we were alone again.

“Look,” Ginny said, glancing
between Annie and me. “I know things have been tough lately, okay? We’re all
under a lot of pressure. But I want us to have a good time tonight. It’s my
bachelorette party and I want us to enjoy each other’s company.” She looked
meaningfully at Annie. “Okay?”

“Fine,” Annie said easily, holding
up her hands. “I’m not the one who brought any of this up.”

“Sorry to bring you down, Ann,” I
said, unable to keep an edge from my voice. “Believe it or not, I really was
just trying to tell you guys how much I love you.”

“Great,” Ginny said, and I thought
I heard her kick Annie under the table. “We love you too. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said, scowling.

Ginny stared hard at Annie. “Okay,”
Annie said sweetly.

“Great,” Ginny said again, looking
at both of us and sighing.

It was looking like it might turn
into a rather dismal evening, until Josh called and saved the day. Apparently,
he had been drinking for the past several hours and was now very
drunk—and very sentimental. Ginny, a huge grin on her face, waved us both
over to her phone so we could listen in on Josh’s teary proclamations of love
and devotion to Ginny and Danny.

We were all laughing silently,
Annie with tears of mirth streaming down her face as Ginny assured Josh she
loved him too and so did Danny, and agreed that yes, they were going to be very
happy and maybe one day would get a dog.

When she finally managed to get him
off the phone, we all howled with laughter. “You’re marrying a giant baby!”
Annie said, wiping her eyes. “Oh my God, I wish we could have taped that so we
could play it back for him later.”

“That was priceless,” I agreed
happily.

Making fun of Josh boosted all of
our spirits and we ordered another round of drinks before our food came out. As
we raised our glasses, Annie smiled broadly. “
Now
I’m having fun.”