I’m leaving for Chicago tomorrow to spend the entire month of July with Aunt Emily. There’s only so much shopping I can do (okay, not entirely true). When are you coming? I’m sure Mark can spare you for a few days. Please? Nordstrom’s is calling my name!
Brittany
Brittany,
Yes, but Mark is so gorgeous, and sweet and lovable and—you get the idea. I just can’t tear myself away right now! The last three days alone we’ve been to a museum, a boat ride on the Canal, and an outdoor classic movie. I’m falling in love! :)
Allie
Caroline couldn’t believe her eyes. Allie thinks she’s falling in love with Mark? They’ve only known each other a few weeks. She shook her head and deleted the email, clicking on the last one from Allie.
Caroline,
I told Brittany I’d ask, so can you spare a few days in July to drive me up to Chicago? Feel free to say no. :)
Caroline replied, rather tersely if she was being honest.
Allie,
Why are you emailing me? We share a very small bedroom, and I’m busy right now—working. Talk to me tonight.
“Caroline, darling, you look nice today. Why are you all dressed up?”
Caroline had just hit send on that email to Allie when she looked up to see Sharlene standing over her. It grated on her nerves that Sharlene called her “darling” or “dear” like she was so much older. Caroline had dressed carefully for the interview in a gray pinstripe pantsuit with a white camisole, black pumps, her hair tied neatly back with a clip. She’d given special thought that morning to looking professional, but Sharlene’s implication that she usually didn’t hit home. Caroline made a mental note to start dressing more appropriately, even if Meadows Advertising was a business casual environment.
“I had a job interview this morning.”
“Job interview? Interesting.” Sharlene tried to hide her smirk. “Where was your interview? Maybe I can put in a good word. You know I’m acquainted with all the right people at all the right agencies in town.”
Caroline groaned inwardly, but since Richard and everyone else in the office already knew, she replied, “Charing Cross Marketing.”
“Wonderful, Caroline! I must say it’s certainly time you moved on with your career. Why, just yesterday I said the same thing to your father when…”
Caroline braced herself for more of Sharlene’s self-congratulatory monologue, but with perfect timing, Richard came out of his office and saved Caroline from ennui. Richard and Caroline exchanged shy smiles. Sharlene narrowed her eyes and grabbed Richard’s arm to get his attention.
“Richard, dear, I’ve got one o’clock reservations at the Skybridge Club downtown, and they won’t hold the table for us. Misty’s meeting us there. We’ve got lots of wedding details to discuss,” Sharlene said as she tossed a menacing look at Caroline, “including the rehearsal dinner and the guest list.”
Caroline blushed and tried to appear busy, organizing paper clips, rubber bands, pens, and post-its in her desk drawer.
“Between you and Misty, I’m never sure who’s actually planning this wedding,” Richard protested. “Don’t we have a wedding planner?”
“My poor brother. So wrapped up in his work he hasn’t paid any attention to the details. In case you’ve forgotten, brother dearest, Daniel and I are giving the rehearsal dinner, and I’d like at least nominal input from you and your lovely fiancée.” Richard gave Caroline a look that said what can I do? and allowed his sister to nudge him down the hall.
“Have a nice lunch.” Caroline turned back to her computer in anguish.
But Sharlene had one last parting shot. “Caroline, you and your sisters must come up to Belford and have dinner with your father and me one evening.”
“When?” Caroline challenged her.
Sharlene hedged. “Well, I can’t give you an exact date right now, dear, because we’re still in the midst of redecorations, plus all these wedding preparations…”
“Uh huh.”
“No really, Caroline, I intend to have you girls up for dinner as soon as possible. I’ll call you.” She threw her an air kiss and walked off down the hall on Richard’s arm.
Caroline shuddered. Yeah, right. Dinner with “us girls.” She knew it would never be arranged.
****
“I see Misty’s already at our table.” Sharlene waved to her as she and Richard got off the elevator. The Skybridge Club, a private dining club atop an historic downtown skyscraper, was accessible only by private elevator with a key, which was only distributed to members in good standing. Sharlene had used Daniel’s membership continuously since her marriage and quite a few times before that, so she was practically on a first-name basis with the wait staff. If that had been appropriate.
“Hi, Misty,” Richard said, kissing her lightly on the lips. When she didn’t kiss him back, he shrugged, held the chair for his sister, and sat down opposite his fiancée.
“Richard, why are you late? You’re always so late to everything.” Misty snapped her napkin open and spread it on her lap.
“Oh, Misty, dear, don’t be angry. It was all my fault,” Sharlene told her. “We couldn’t find a decent place in the parking garage—at least not one close to the door. These shoes…”
“New?” Misty lifted the white linen tablecloth to get a look at Sharlene’s feet.
“Well, of course, dear. You didn’t expect me to go through a second summer wearing last year’s shoes, did you?” They both tittered.
Richard rolled his eyes but brightened when the waiter handed them their menus and started listing the day’s specials. Sharlene waved him away.
“Just bring three Cobb salads and three iced teas. We have business to discuss.”
“Very good, Mrs. Meadows-Benedict.” The waiter walked over to the service station and returned immediately with their tumblers of tea.
“Richard,” Misty cooed, “please tell me you’ve spoken to your best man and arranged for groomsmen. We’re running out of time, honey.”
Richard grabbed a roll out of the basket in the center of the table and absent-mindedly slathered it with butter. “Well, Jack already agreed to be best man. And I’m going on the GGG next week, so I’ll talk to the rest of the guys then.”
“And just what is the GGG?” Misty demanded.
Sharlene put her fingers to her lips in a silent reminder. She didn’t want to insult her very wealthy future sister-in-law, but sometimes Misty could be a bit, well, inappropriate. Like yelling at her fiancé in a nearly deserted restaurant.
“Guys’ Golf Getaway,” Richard told her. “I thought you knew I went to Vegas around this time every summer for a week’s golf outing.”
“How would I know that?” Misty took a loud slurp of her iced tea. “And what am I supposed to do while you’re golfing?”
Richard looked perplexed. “I thought you had shopping to do, or something. Didn’t you say you were looking for a trousseau?”
Sharlene decided to intervene before the two of them had a spat. “Really, Richard, this golf outing is poorly timed,” she scolded. “We have so much left to do, and we haven’t even started discussing the rehearsal dinner.”
Richard scowled. “Sharlene, it’s a tradition, one Dad started when I was in high school. Remember? Besides, I don’t think you need my input on any of this.” Turning to Misty, he added, “And if it helps, I’ll use the time to line up the groomsmen.”
“Well, my goodness, what do we have here?”
Sharlene, Richard, and Misty all looked up to see Adele Meadows standing next to their table.
Richard stood up and greeted her with a hug. “Grandmother, what a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?”
“Joining Polly Henderson for a late lunch, but she stopped to powder her nose, so I’ll just join the three of you while I wait.” Richard held out the fourth chair for her. “What do you young folks have your heads together about? As if I didn’t know.”
“The wedding, of course, Adele,” Mis
ty growled. She poured yet another sugar packet into her tea and stirred it vigorously, clinking the spoon against the glass.
“We’re trying to settle some details about the rehearsal dinner, Grandmother,” Sharlene said. She reached over and put a steadying arm on Misty’s wrist. “So far, all that’s been decided is that it’ll be at the Belford Country Club. Do you have any suggestions?”
“I suggest you rethink the whole thing!” Adele looked first at Misty squeezing too much lemon into her tea, Richard back to scraping butter off his roll and reapplying it, and Sharlene drumming the table with her well-manicured fingernails.
Sharlene huffed, “Grandmother, please. We have so many loose ends to tie up and very little time left, so unless you have constructive ideas…”
Adele sighed. “I’m sure you’ll arrange all the wedding minutiae, Sharlene, with your usual impeccable taste.” She confronted Richard. “What I’m wondering about is the marriage.”
Richard cleared his throat, tossed the roll on its plate, and took a big swallow of iced tea. Misty busied herself rearranging the silverware next to her plate and didn’t make eye contact with him or his grandmother.
Adele glared first at Richard and then Misty. “Will you two be writing your own vows?”
Richard nearly choked on his iced tea. “Uh, I hadn’t thought about it.” He looked helplessly at his fiancée.
“That’s another thing to consider,” Sharlene replied, when Misty said nothing. “I suppose we could have the wedding planner compose them.”
Adele sat up straight and leveled her gaze at each of them. “Wedding ceremonies should be about your love. You know, your grandfather and I wrote our own vows, and back then it wasn’t even a popular thing to do like it is nowadays. Rich spoke so eloquently it brought tears to my eyes, and still does every time I remember it. What will you be saying to your bride, Richard?”
Sharlene wanted her grandmother gone before she ruined everything. “Thank you for your help, Grandmother, but I think we can let the happy couple decide this on their own.” She stood and reached over to help Adele out of her chair and out of their business. Really, her grandmother was the most infuriating old woman.
Adele patted Richard’s arm. “I suppose you young folks will have to excuse me now. I see Polly waving at me across the room.”
Richard stood politely as Adele got up and walked briskly across the dining room, leaving the three of them alone in an awkward silence.
Chapter Eleven
“Oh, it’s you.”
Caroline came in the front door, kicked off her pumps, and untucked her white crepe blouse before taking a seat on the sofa. “Gee, thanks, nice to see you, too, Allie,” she said.
“Sorry. Mark’s supposed to be here, and he’s running late.”
“Traffic’s terrible.”
“That’s kind of what I hoped—thought,” Allie said. “No big deal, as long as we get there in time for the opening credits.”
Caroline began thumbing through the mail on the coffee table. “Where are you going?”
Allie was peering out the front window, watching for his car. “That new Sandra Bullock movie, then dinner. Romantic pre-July Fourth evening.”
That got Caroline’s attention. “Why pre-July Fourth? What’s wrong with spending the actual holiday with him?”
“He has plans with his family tomorrow afternoon—cookout or something—but we’re meeting tomorrow night at the Belford Independence Day Festival to watch the fireworks.” Allie got a dreamy look on her face.
Caroline winced and sat up straight. “I know that look, Allie. I’ve seen it before, plenty of times.”
“What look? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Allie turned back to the window, indignant.
Caroline thought for a minute, wondering if she should just bite her tongue, but Allie needed to hear it and maybe then she’d see the big picture. “It’s just like Spencer in eighth grade. Edward in tenth grade. Senior year it was Felix. You get so wrapped up in your romantic notions that you don’t realize when the relationship has, well, soured.”
“Caroline, you can’t compare high school crushes to this. I’m in a real relationship with Mark.”
“Allie, are you sure? You’ve only known Mark a short time.”
“Caroline!” Allie fairly shouted. “You are so impossible! Can’t you just be happy for me, for once?”
“I’m just concerned. I’m not willing to watch you go through more misery, or put the rest of us through three days of migraines.”
Allie opened her mouth to argue back, but just then Mark’s car drove up and instead of waiting for him to come to the door, she ran outside and hopped in the passenger side. Mark peeled off down the street.
****
Allie stormed through the front door, slamming it behind her. Caroline came out of the kitchen, surprised to see her sister back so soon. Allie’s eyes were red and puffy and it was obvious she’d been crying.
“Allie, what in the world?” Caroline began, but Allie pushed past her to the freezer, took out a pint of ice cream and grabbed a spoon from the drawer. Double chocolate chunk. “Uh-oh, the good stuff. Bad news?”
“Leave me alone.” Allie flipped the lid off the carton and tossed it on the kitchen counter.
Caroline picked up the sticky chocolate lid and laid it in the sink. She rummaged through the counter and pulled out a bowl, setting it on the table in front of Allie. “You haven’t even been gone half an hour. What happened to the movie and dinner? And where’s Mark?”
Allie sat down and began eating ice cream straight from the carton, shoving the bowl aside. “Mark had someplace to be,” she said between mouthfuls.
Caroline watched Allie blink hard to fight back tears, and her heart went out to her sister. “Did you two have a fight?”
“No! Yes! I don’t want to talk about it!” Allie shoved another large spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
Caroline sat down at the kitchen table across from Allie and reached for her hand. “Judging by the way you’re gorging yourself, this must be serious. What happened?”
Allie jerked her hand back. “Mind your own business!” She jumped up from the chair, grabbed her handbag, and marched to the front door. She slammed out, leaving the ice cream on the table with the spoon still in it.
Caroline ran to the door after her. “Allie, wait! Where are you going?”
“To Brandon’s,” Allie called over her shoulder. “I need to practice! Now!”
Caroline watched dumbfounded as Allie sped off down the street. She was still staring in disbelief when Megan and Susan returned from a walk.
“Hey, ice cream!” Megan grabbed Allie’s spoon and scooped some ice cream into the clean bowl still sitting on the table.
“What’s going on?” Susan asked Caroline.
Caroline took the carton from where Megan had pushed it aside, grabbed the sponge off the sink, and wiped up some chocolate that had dripped down the side of it. “I have no idea. Allie and Mark had a date that was over before it began. They must have had some sort of fight. She wouldn’t tell me what about, but she stormed out the door again saying she was going to Brandon’s.” Caroline looked up at the wall clock. “I hope he’s expecting her at this hour.”
“Brandon won’t care. He’s got a thing for Allie, in case you didn’t notice,” Megan said with a mouthful of ice cream.
“I wonder what Allie and Mark fought about,” Susan said. “Well, hopefully it’ll all blow over soon. They seem so right for each other.”
Caroline opened the freezer and put the thawing ice cream back inside. “Do they, Mom? Really? I don’t know, it just all seems too fast.” Caroline folded her arms and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Sort of fits her pattern, though, which means it probably won’t end well.”
“Yes, it is fast,” Susan agreed. “But if it helps, I think this time her feelings are genuine.”
“It doesn’t help. Something’s not right, but I just can�
�t put my finger on it.”
“Better get out the Excedrin Migraine,” Megan giggled.
Caroline frowned. “Eat your ice cream, Megan.”
Megan rolled her eyes at her sister but went back to eating the softening ice cream. Susan handed her a paper towel. “I hope you’re wrong this time, Caroline, but you need to stay out of it. Let your sister handle her own relationship.”
Caroline took a spoon from the nearby silverware drawer and helped herself to a bite out of Megan’s bowl. Megan scowled at her as Caroline slowly nibbled, thinking about what her mother had said.
“Guess what, Caroline. Mom’s going to let me pick out a dog at the pet shelter after the Fourth.”
“Really? A dog?” Caroline looked directly at Susan and gave her the thumbs-up sign behind Megan’s back.
“I’ve told her, Caroline, and I hope you’ll back me up,” Susan said, winking back at her, “that this dog will be Megan’s responsibility, not mine.”
“Mooommmm, I know! You’ve said it about a thousand times, and I’m old enough to take care of a dog. I’m nearly sixteen!”
“Not for another five months!” Susan reminded her.
Caroline hugged her sister and whispered in her ear, “If you need any help with the puppy, just call me.” Megan giggled and nodded as she put her dirty dish in the sink.
Caroline turned back to her mother. “Seriously, Mom, if Allie gets her heart broken again—on top of losing her piano, her home, and her school—I don’t know what she’ll do.”
“Oh, chill, Caroline.” Megan danced off to her room.
“I’m certainly trying,” Caroline called back.
Chapter Twelve
“Mom. Hurry up and park the car. We’re going to miss the Fourth of July parade!”
“Megan, we’ve never missed Belford’s Independence Day Festival since you were a toddler, so just let me…Aha!” Susan spotted an open parking place near the town square’s gazebo, right under a large shade tree, and zipped into it. “See? No problem, ladies.”
“Let me out. I’m meeting some kids from Willowby.” Megan jumped out of the front passenger side before Susan had even turned off the engine.
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