Wish Upon a Wedding

by LuAnn McLane

  “They’re not the only ones happy that you’re moving here for good.” Avery gave her hand a tighter squeeze. “Let’s order a bottle of champagne.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that. . . .” Sophia protested but Avery shook his head causing his curly hair to dip over his forehead in such an adorable way. She had the urge to reach over and brush the curls back just to feel the silky texture between her fingers. The blue sweater brought out his eyes and was just snug enough to show off the wide set of his shoulders and defined arms. “Really.”

  “Too late. I already did. Besides, this is big news! We need to celebrate.” His bright smile made Sophia long to lean across the table and get the kiss she’d been wanting but his phone pinged bringing another frown to his face. He glanced at it as if it was a snake ready to strike.

  “Is everything okay?” Sophia tilted her head as she shrugged out of her coat.

  “Yeah, it’s just my sister’s wedding plans again. To be honest, she’s been driving me crazy.”

  “It’s okay if you need to answer the text or give her a call.” Sophia smiled. “I’m quite familiar with bridal jitters.”

  “Not this kind,” Avery said, but before he could elaborate the server approached them with the bottle of champagne.

  The young guy named Chad looked a bit nervous to pop the cork. “Thought I should warn you. I’ve only done this once at home and it didn’t end well,” he admitted as he untwisted the wire cage. “I have trouble enough with wine bottles.”

  “Should we duck for cover?” Avery asked.

  “Maybe . . .” Chad looked at the bottle with trepidation.

  “Hold it at a forty-five-degree angle and don’t twist the cork at all,” Sophia advised. “Twist the fat part of the bottle as you pull down.”

  “Well, now . . .” When Avery raised an eyebrow, she grinned.

  “I’ve done lots of weddings and events where champagne was served. And I’ve seen my share of near disasters at parties.”

  “Only near disasters?”

  “Well . . .” She winced, but when Chad’s eyes widened she decided she’d better keep the cracked window incident to herself.

  Chad bit his bottom lip and put a towel over the cork. “Here goes nothin’,” he said, but the cork popped without mishap. “Hey, you were right.” Looking pleased with himself he poured the bubbly into two flutes with a flourish. “I’ll bring some fresh bread in a few minutes.”

  “Thank you,” Avery said, and lifted his glass of champagne. “To White Lace and Promises.”

  Sophia tapped her flute to his. She took a sip and giggled when the bubbles tickled her nose. “Oh, very nice. Thanks so much, Avery. This is a sweet gesture.”

  “My pleasure.” He smiled but his eyes appeared a bit serious. “I’m really glad you’re moving here, Sophia.”

  “Me too.” She took another sip of the champagne, and then played with the stem of her glass. “The decision was actually easier than I anticipated.” She was about to say more when his phone dinged again.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll put it on silent, like I should have done to begin with.” He picked up the phone, then groaned when he glanced at the message.

  “Do you want to talk about it? I might have some wedding advice for your sister that could help calm her down.”

  Avery inhaled a deep breath. “I don’t know if you can help.” He paused when Chad brought a basket of dipping bread along with a dish of herbed olive oil. After they each took of slice of the fragrant loaf he continued. “My sister’s maid of honor is Ashley Montgomery, my ex-fiancée. And I’m the best man.”

  “Oh . . .” Sophia felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Wow . . . So that must be awkward, I guess, right?”

  “Yeah. It’s weird. We were all best friends way before Ashley and I dated. Max, Zoe, Ashley, and I did just about everything together when we were growing up.” He shredded the crust of his bread. “But since the breakup, of course, that all came to an abrupt end. Now that the wedding stuff is starting to get intense, my sister’s been trying to get Ashley and me back together. It’s driving me nuts.” He took a big gulp of the champagne and nearly coughed.

  “So it bothers you to be around her?” Sophia asked carefully. She dipped a warm piece of the bread into the oil and waited.

  “Well, yeah, as you said it’s awkward.” He looked at the bread crumbs scattered on his plate as if wondering how they got there.

  “I don’t mean to pry—and you can tell me if it’s none of my business—but why did you two break up?” Her heart pounded as she looked at him and waited. She’d wanted to know the reason for a long time.

  Avery licked his bottom lip but remained silent.

  “Hey, sorry—I shouldn’t have asked,” she said sheepishly.

  “No, no, really, it’s okay,” he said. But he didn’t look okay.

  Sophia picked up her flute so quickly that champagne sloshed over the rim. She took a sip and said, “It’s just, I know you said something about you two growing apart but that seems like something that happens during the marriage and not the engagement.”

  “Well . . .” Avery suddenly seemed so uncomfortable that Sophia wished she’d kept her mouth shut. “I can’t go into . . . the reasons.” He looked into his flute for a moment and then back at her. “But I don’t want to get back together with her. I just don’t know how to convince Zoe—and everyone else—of this. She means well but . . .”

  “Do you know how Ashley feels about this?” Her heart thudded even harder. “Is she part of this plot as well?”

  Avery lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I haven’t spoken to her about the breakup since it happened,” he said but when he glanced away Sophia suspected that Ashley wanted him back and Avery knew it. He shook his head. “I just wish they would let this alone. And I sure wish I didn’t have to be in this wedding.”

  “You mean be in the wedding with Ashley.”

  Avery nodded.

  “So how is it when you’ve gotten together with them? Other than the obvious awkward undertones?” The fact that he got together with them bothered her more than it should.

  “It’s just weird. The night that Zoe and Max asked me to go out for dinner I figured that Max might ask me to be his best man. What they failed to tell me was that Ashley was going to be there, too.”

  “How did that go?”

  “I mean, once I got over the shock of seeing her, after a few beers we sort of fell back into the good old times.” He looked down at the table for a moment. “But there were also awkward silences while the elephant stomped around the room wavin’ its big ole trunk all around.”

  “I can only imagine.”

  “I only went out for drinks with them one other time when Zoe insisted we needed to go over more wedding details. I instantly regretted it as soon as I got there, but Zoe just doesn’t get it. I know that she misses all of us hanging out together and there is a hole in our lives now that wasn’t there before, but I can’t fill that void for them.” He appeared so upset that Sophia felt guilty for bringing it up. “I just can’t.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried, Avery.”

  “No really, it’s okay.” He paused, and then added, “I’m sorry for saying this so bluntly but this thing that Zoe is doing is just jacking around with my brain.”

  “I get that, Avery. But people do move on. I mean look at my brother Garret and Addison Greenfield. Not only were they engaged but their breakup was splashed all over the tabloids in a very public way and now they’re on friendly terms. I know your situation is different but maybe you can just put the past behind you, where it belongs.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to do. But it’s not that easy in a small town.”

  She shrugged. “And maybe you could give Zoe more personal reasons for the breakup, something that might make her understand
.”

  “It’s not that simple.” Avery scrubbed a hand down his face and appeared so crestfallen that Sophia wanted to do something more to help and then it hit her . . .

  “Have you forgotten about our plan?”

  “Plan?”

  “For me to pretend to be totally into you?”

  “Oh, Sophia, about that . . .”

  “No, I’ll do it.” She glanced left and right and then reached across the table to cover his hand with hers. “To everyone watching, we’ll appear to be on an official date.”

  “Yeah but I—”

  “No worries, I’m happy to do it.” Sophia squeezed his hand and smiled.

  * * *

  SOPHIA KNEW THAT PRETENDING TO BE SOMETHING that she kind of wished she could be was rather stupid but she wanted to help him out of this situation he found himself in.

  Avery sat up straight. “Wait, Sophia . . . you don’t need to do this.”

  “No.” Sophia shook her head. “I want to. I mean why not?” Because I might fall hopelessly in love with you and get seriously hurt in the process? “It’s the perfect plan.” Except for the getting hurt part but she wouldn’t dwell on that little detail right now.

  Avery finally nodded. “Okay, if this is what you want to do.”

  “It is.” Sophia smiled as she poured more champagne into the flutes, and then picked hers up. “Here’s to perfection.”

  He tapped his glass to hers but his smile appeared a little bit forced.

  “We only have to do this until after the wedding and then we can have a breakup.”

  “Okay.”

  Her smile faltered a little bit and an odd pang settled in her stomach. “Yeah, something big and public. I’ll toss a drink in your face.”

  Avery finally laughed. “You’re so damned funny. But seriously, this is gonna be a total game changer for me. I’m gonna owe you big-time.”

  “Aw, it’s nothing. What are friends for, right?”

  “Well, Sophia, this is going over and beyond the call of duty. You’re the best.” He tapped his glass to hers again.

  “Yeah, the best.” She smiled but felt a lump lodge in her throat. She was about to pick up her menu to hide her expression when Avery leaned across the table and gave her a light kiss on the mouth. The warm softness of his lips sent a tingle all the way to her toes. Oh boy, she was on the highway to the danger zone, and it was a zone she didn’t want to be in.

  “That will get tongues wagging again,” he said but then frowned and took a sip of his drink, making her wonder what he was thinking. “You ready to order?”

  Sophia nodded and lifted her menu. She looked at the selections without really seeing them and when Chad came over a moment later she had no idea what to order. She pretended to listen while he listed the daily specials but all she could think about was how this pretend-girlfriend thing was probably going to blow up in her face. When Chad looked at her expectantly she realized she was supposed to give him her selection. “The, um, today’s special.” She had no idea what it was but she doubted there was anything on the menu that she wouldn’t like.

  “One or two?” Chad tapped his pen to a tablet and waited.

  “Uh, one,” she replied, thinking it was an odd question.

  “One meatball,” Chad said. “Comes with a side salad.”

  “Oh, uh, the house is fine.”

  “Great choice. Tony Marino makes it fresh every day.” He looked at Avery.

  “I’ll have the same thing but make my spaghetti with two meatballs. And ranch dressing for me.”

  “Gotcha. Need more bread?” Chad pointed to the nearly full basket.

  “Maybe later,” Avery replied and turned his attention back to Sophia. “Now where were we?”

  “Talking about getting tongues wagging,” Sophia said and dug deep for a grin. “Maybe we should eat our spaghetti like in Lady and the Tramp? That would certainly give them something to talk about.”

  Avery frowned for a second, and then laughed. “Oh, right, the Disney movie. When we were kids Zoe loved that one and I had to watch it over and over again.” He put his hand next to the side of his mouth. “I pretended not to like it but I did.”

  “And I think Garret secretly enjoyed the tea parties Grace and I made him attend,” she said with a grin.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised. So then, you’re the pretty purebred cocker spaniel and I’m the street-smart mutt.” He nodded slowly. “Makes perfect sense.”

  “Oh, but a very dashing mutt that the cocker spaniel falls madly in love with,” Sophia said, and then wished for a trapdoor to swallow her up. Thankfully, Chad, bless his heart, arrived with the salads. Sophia gave an elusive cherry tomato her full attention even though she wasn’t particularly fond of them and reminded herself that Avery asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend.

  Pre-tend. As in make-believe. Not real. She stabbed the cherry tomato hard but sent the little tomato torpedoing across the table. “Oh God!”

  Avery laughed when he deftly caught it from careening into the dining room and onto someone else’s plate. “If I’d been on the ball I could have caught that in my mouth. That would have been pretty sweet.”

  Ah yes, his mouth, and what a beautiful mouth it was.

  She looked at the other tomato on her plate. “I could try to do it again but I think I’d fail,” she said.

  “You’re so much fun to be with, Sophia. And a good friend for agreeing to do this . . . thing for me.”

  Sophia waved a dismissive hand. They were just friends. She needed to remember that important detail and quickly changed the subject. While they ate their salads Sophia entertained Avery with bridezilla stories from her salon days in New York City. She had him in stitches, and he seemed to enjoy her company so much that by the end of the main course Sophia had to wonder if their pretend relationship could become very real. Avery claimed to be over Ashley. Sophia was staying in Cricket Creek. While she knew she needed to tread softly, hope crept into her heart and did a little jig. Maybe this little ruse could have a happy ending for her after all.

  7

  Gone Fishin’

  Avery cast his bait toward the lily pads and looked over at Uncle Easton, who sat on the backseat of the bass boat. The unseasonably mild weather had enticed them out onto the lake. Though the bass had been biting earlier, the morning activity had suddenly ceased. It was still great just to be outdoors, so Avery didn’t mind if he caught anything or not.

  “Be honest—do you think this pretend thing with Sophia is a good idea or am I playing with fire?”

  “Little of both, I reckon.” He reeled in his line, changed his bait, and then cast again.

  “You gonna elaborate?” Avery asked, grimacing when he missed a nibble. His concentration wasn’t what it should be.

  “Well, as I see it, you’re both single so I don’t really understand where the whole pretend thing comes into play. It’s obvious that you like the girl. I’m not sure I get it.”

  “Uncle Easton, I don’t want to start something serious with Sophia.”

  “Somethin’ wrong with your eyesight, son?”

  “No . . . I just . . . I don’t know,” he said, but he did know.

  “Lemme guess—you’re scared shitless.”

  “Hell no!” Avery protested but as usual his uncle hit the nail on the damned head. “I’m just enjoying my freedom after . . . you know. Why would I want to put myself through that shit again?” Avery said and then clamped his mouth shut.

  “No, I don’t know because you refuse to talk about what happened between you and Ashley. I never did buy into the whole cold-feet gossip or the even more ridiculous ‘you grew apart’ baloney that you like to toss around.”

  Avery remained silent.

  “You protecting her, son?”

  “I really don’t want to talk about
it, Uncle Easton. My relationship with Ashley is completely over. That’s all anybody needs to know.”

  “You still love her?”

  Oddly, Avery immediately thought of Sophia and didn’t quite know why. Or maybe he did know why and didn’t want to face his growing attraction to her. He shook his head. “No, I don’t love Ashley. I mean, a part of me will always care about her. We go way back to when we were kids. But I don’t love her like that any longer and I wish to hell Zoe would get that through her thick skull.”

  “You sister loves you and means well. This has been really hard on Zoe. She misses how happy the way y’all used to be.”

  “I know.” That was the problem, Avery thought, with a long sigh. That, and they unfairly blamed him and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it. “Look, I’ll admit that I miss hanging out with them, and the old times. But how the heck can I hang out with my ex-fiancée?”

  “I get that.”

  “That’s why I’m taking a page from your book and staying single. The relationship with Ashley caused me nothin’ but heartache. Why would I want to risk that again?” Avery looked back at his uncle and waited.

  “Because maybe you don’t want to grow into a lonely old man, like me. And just because it didn’t work out with her doesn’t mean it couldn’t work out with someone else.”

  “B-but you always said—”

  “Forget what I always said. I was a damned fool.”

  Avery reeled in his line and then cast toward a fallen log. “So, you’re sayin’ you wished you’d gotten married after all? I thought you said you didn’t want to be shouting and arguing like Grandma and Gramps always did.”

  Easton reached up and adjusted the bill of his baseball cap. “It wasn’t fun to be around constant bickering and fighting, always on edge. That’s for damn sure.”

  “Mom never yells at Dad.”

  “Your mama married your daddy really young, Avery. I think partly to get out of the house.”

  “Do you think that’s why Dad became a trucker? To get away from something he got into way too young?”