“I’d like an Americano, and she’ll take a white mocha, with peppermint, if you have it,” Nik said to the barista. He knew me so well and it made me smile.
“Of course, sir, any muffins or pastries with your coffees this morning?” Nik ordered a blueberry muffin for me to save for later and we sat for a few minutes on the leather sofa, putting off the inevitable just a little longer.
“I am glad about the photographer coming along, I think this may be a fun project for you after you finish the shop tour,” Nik said. He had put his arm around my shoulder, and I snuggled up against him tighter. “You’ll have to let me know all about her after you get settled in at your next stop.”
“Yes, I agree, though my next project after the candy shops are done is our wedding!” I reminded him and gave him a wink.
“I know that my two jobs are to plan the honeymoon and to show up at the ceremony,” he chuckled, knowing it was on my mind.
“Well, at least you haven’t forgotten! Where are we going again?”
“You know very well that I haven’t forgotten! However,” he huffed, “I don’t think you’d be able to stand the surprise, so if you want me to tell you, I will…”
I was able to sneak in a long kiss before we left the coffee shop, knowing I'd get a quick peck when we were out in the open, and he was dropping me off at Gail’s building.
“I’ll be dreaming of a sun-kissed Noey, toes dug in the sand on a beautiful beach in the Bahamas,” Nik said as he grazed his lips against my cheekbone.
"Mmm," was all I could mutter, thinking about him beside me on our honeymoon. Watching his backside as he walked away was a nice sight. The vest that matched his suit pants was a dark grey, and he wore a light blue button-up shirt with the sleeves cuffed and a darker blue tie that matched. It was too hot for a suit jacket, and he made professional look sexy.
“Noey?” a voice rang out to me from inside Gail’s building. I had one foot in the door, but caught myself in a daydream and wiped the bit of drool from the side of my lips.
“Yes?” I turned to find Gail’s assistant waving me over to her. “Oh good morning!”
Suzette was one of Gail's right-hand women who I saw and talked to regularly.
“Morning, Ms. Smitt! I’d like to introduce to you to Gavin Richmond,” she said and gestured over to the tall dirty blond standing across from her.
“Blonde, yes, hi...blonde roast, I mean...I,” I stumbled over the words. “Sorry, coffee isn’t yet kicking in, hello, let’s try this again.”
I reached my hand out to shake his.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Smitt," the beach boy said to me as I continued to try and formulate a sentence. "I'll make a note that you like the blonde roast.” The giggle that escaped his lips had me sputtering again, so I just told myself I needed to stop talking and shook my head. The awkward seconds of silence prompted me to turn back to Suzette and focus on her.
“Is Gail around?” I asked.
"She is and has her schedule blocked off for you this morning before your departure," she said. "Gavin was just about to accompany me to the rental car office to pick up your rental, so we'll be back in a jiffy!" Such a sweet girl, she was.
I headed to the elevator and up to Gail's office shaking my head hoping some sense would get knocked into me. It's not like I hadn't seen a handsome man before. I had just left one to be exact...
Chapter Fifteen
Gail had some fantastic ideas for incorporating some of the things I do daily into several projects we could work on after I returned from the honeymoon. A day in the life of a blogger was something we had hoped to get started on while on the road and could quickly produce after the summer's blog tour concluded.
“You’ll get along just fine with our photographer, have you met Gavin yet?” Gail asked.
I practically spit out the last sip of my peppermint mocha, choking on Gail's question. "Gavin, who exactly?" There I went shaking my head again as if I could just jostle out the awkwardness I suddenly possessed.
"Gavin is great," Gail said. "You two will hit it off. He's got a great eye for things and some fantastic ideas."
It made so much more sense to me now why Gail had mentioned separate rooms on our candy shop travels, and why Suzette and Gavin were going together to pick up the rental. Gavin was probably picking it up and Suzette was just his ride there.
“Uh, yeah,” I mumbled. “I met him in the lobby...looking forward to getting to know him better.”
I gave Gail a big hug and thanked her again for helping me rearrange the schedule to accommodate the gala and believing in me to launch the new projects we had discussed.
Suzette and Gavin were waiting in the lobby for me. She let me know they went ahead and loaded my luggage and because she had all of my information from the rental agreement last time, they were just able to resume the transaction and add Gavin on as a driver.
“Sounds like everything is in order?” I asked Suzette.
“Yes ma’am!” she said. “I wish you safe travels and hope you have lots of fun on this trip!”
I walked over to Gavin who was sitting on a round chair doing something on his phone. “Ready to go, Mr. Richmond?” Why in the hell did I just call him Mister?
“Yep, ready to go Ms. Smitt," he replied. Snarky. This man was not going to ease my stress levels over the next couple of months.
We found the SUV in the parking garage and I checked the back just to make sure all of my luggage was there, because, well...you can just never be too sure. I also needed a few seconds to breathe and figure out why in the world Gavin had made me so nervous. Was it nerves? Was that what it was? Was it the fact that I just assumed the photographer Gail was sending with me was a woman? I couldn’t help but think of how Nik might react to this predicament.
He came around to the backside of the vehicle where it appeared I was in my own la-la-land, but I was trying to sort through all this in my head before having to sit next to this man for four hours. I was already thinking about stopping to go to the bathroom.
“Hi,” he said and leaned against the open back. “Everything okay?”
“Hi back atcha,” I said without making eye contact. “And yep, everything is here and okay. Let’s hit the dusty trail.”
I started over to the passenger side, as did he, and I was still confused.
“Do you want me to drive for a while?” I asked.
"Oh, I don't mind driving, I was just going to open your door for you...you know, be a gentleman," he said and did just that. "But if you'd like to drive, that's fine with me too."
"Go for it, we can switch later," I said with a smile. Gentleman. Harrumph. I already had my gentleman, and he needed to not step on his toes.
We found our way toward I-95 and headed south where our destination for the night would be Raleigh, North Carolina. Gavin made small talk and we eventually settled on listening to his iTunes on random shuffle. I tried taking my mind off of things by working on gathering addresses for the guest list to send to Blaire. My phone was working overtime and I needed my charger out of the back.
“You’re welcome to use mine,” he said. “It’s in the front pocket of my backpack, just behind my seat, if you want to grab it.”
Was this okay? Male friendship was okay, right? I couldn’t place why I felt so weird. I grabbed his charger and said thank you softly, plugging my phone up to the console.
We're gonna need to stop for gas soon and I'm gonna need the place we stop at to be near somewhere with ice cream. He chuckled, but I had full intentions of eating away these weird feelings.
Chapter Sixteen
Nik didn’t completely freak out when I casually slipped in the photographer’s name as Gavin when we were talking on the phone that evening.
It was more of a, “Wait, who?”
Not much was said after that, I mean really what could he say? We were in a committed relationship and trusted each other. I know we both just wished we were taking the trip together.
“I have something to tell you too that is a bit unexpected,” he said.
“Yeah? What’s up?” I was intrigued but not worried.
“So at the gala the other night…,” he began. “While you were over talking with Gail, we all went outside and took what we were jokingly calling ‘the red carpet photos’ —remember I told you that?”
“Oh yeah, I was hoping they’d surface, so I could see how handsome you were! Did you get a copy?”
"Mmm-hmm," he said and the pause concerned me. "They've surfaced in the paper and some local tabloids."
“So you’re a star?” I was excited and ready to get off the phone, so I could Google him. I contained my excitement though because he didn’t seem to be done.
“Well...we all took pics together. Ryan and I took a couple together, Gus and me...Salavido and me,” and that’s where I figured it out.
“Just you and Salavido?” I asked and he knew what was coming. Stacy Salavido was one of Ryan’s other directors. She was a new hire and looked like she walked into The Mint right off the runway. Ryan was grooming Nik to take his place when he retired and we both figured he’d want Salavido to take Nik’s place when the time came.
"Uh-huh," he said softly. "They posted a picture of the two of us and got the caption wrong."
“What does it say, Nik?” I could hear him rustle the newspaper so he could read it to me.
“It says, ‘Nicklaus Eastwood, Deputy Director of The Mint, stooped to take a quick photo with his fiancé.’”
“No name?” I asked. “Nope, they didn’t ask, or I would have clarified right then and there.”
A big sigh came from me, and I knew he heard it. I had rearranged my schedule so that I could be the one in those photos. And this would further start rumors about me being out of the picture, and whether or not he was engaged to his co-worker.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now,” I said, ready to hang up and wallow in my hotel bed.
“Actually, there’s something I’d like to do,” he said and explained what he had in mind. Salavido was so upset about the photo she told Nik that she had a contact at The Washington Post who would be willing to do a little expose on the up-and-coming future director of The Mint and his fiancé. The article would clearly state how long they’d been engaged and the funny mix up about the published photo from the gala.
“I can’t ask Gail to rearrange this summer tour again, Nik...it’s a great idea and I love it, but I don’t know when we can get together for a photo and talk with this person.”
I’ve already talked to them and the reporter is willing to phone interview us both, either separately or together and we can find a spot where you have an extra hour or so, and I’ll arrange to fly to you and meet well meet a photographer.
"Or I could ask Gavin?" Why did I just volunteer to do that? "He might be able to get some shots that could be used for future projects. Maybe in a couple of weeks? I can look at the schedule and see where we have some pockets of time."
Nik agreed and his voice seemed to lighten up. I know he wasn’t thrilled to tell me about the paparazzi mix-up.
“I’m also going to send them a current photo of the two of us and ask them to print a retraction. It won’t be big or well seen, but it might make me feel better.”
“I love you, Nicklaus,” I said and he returned the sentiment before we hung up the phone. I missed him. It has only been a collective two weeks since I hit the road, and I missed his touch and the feel of his arms around me. It was going to be a long summer. And I couldn’t get Grandmother Audrey’s white wedding plans out of my head...
Chapter Seventeen
Gavin and I got to know each other better as we traveled from candy shop to candy shop. He was a pretty cool guy, and I finally loosened up and realized we could be pretty good friends. He also was a good sharer; he'd get samples of different candies, so we could try more selections. And his backpack was always filled with snacks. I’m not sure when he managed to shop and fill it up, but it never disappointed.
Blaire and I continued to check things off our list and Gavin enjoyed our conference calls in the car once in a while when he was driving. I appreciated his company then for sure because I wouldn’t have been able to work with her as closely during the day when she had questions and time to devote to me.
Nik’s family lived in Elkton, Iowa, and I was super excited to be traveling to Des Moines, the neighboring town, to visit a chocolate shop.
It had been a couple of weeks since Nik suggested we have a little engagement photo shoot for the write-up in The Post.
Gavin and I cut off a couple of days of adventures by driving a little longer into the night and squeezing in some stops. He was nice enough to drive more too, so I could write my blogs after our visits rather than just going back to the hotel and writing like I usually did. He had photos stored up that he'd need to get to editing so he planned to do that while we took a little detour and a couple of extra days after Des Moines to stay in Elkton.
I was relieved too. I needed to finalize some wedding plans in person. Nik’s sister Brooke was ready to pop at any time with her second child, and I knew she’d want Nik around for that as well. Not that we were coaxing the baby to come while we were there, but the timing would have been nice.
“Is there any place in particular in Elkton you’d like to do your engagement pictures?” Gavin asked after I got off the phone with Brooke and finalized our plans. The Eastwood Estate was large enough that Gavin and I could stay on opposite ends of the mansion if we wanted. And I hinted at that when I talked to Brooke. I wanted some alone time with Nik, and we’d have to take advantage of it quickly.
“Yep, definitely The Estate. The grounds are gorgeous and there should be some amazing summer flowers in bloom...I was hoping maybe the weather would be nice, and we could go out in the late evening before the sun sets,” I suggested.
“That sounds amazing,” Gavin agreed. “Do you know what you’re going to wear?”
He didn’t even have to look over at me to tell my eyes were huge, I hadn’t even thought about that. My initial weird feelings about Gavin had dissipated as we spent more and more time together. I was glad to feel like he was a friend now, and one I planned on keeping for the long haul.
“Let me call Nik and tell him to bring a few different things, and I’m gonna hope and pray the little boutique next to Tricky’s Donut Shop has something that will be perfect!”
“It’ll all work out, Noey,” Gavin said and reached over and patted my leg. I know he meant well but I think we both instantly regretted the sentiment.
“It will, I have faith,” I said.
Thankfully Blaire interrupted us with a phone call, so I was able to take my mind off of Gavin and get my head back in the wedding game.
“We’ve got about five weeks until it’s wedding time,” she said. “I sent your wedding dress up to The Estate...it’s already there, and Brooke has it hanging so any wrinkles have plenty of time to fall out. Give it a good try on when you have a minute just to make sure we don’t need any alterations. If so, it would be a good time to have those done while you’re in town...or at least measurements so it can be worked on between now and the big day.”
"You think of everything don't you?"
“That’s why you pay me!” We giggled at that and I was once again thankful for the summer road trip and being able to afford Blaire.
Gavin pulled in at the chocolate factory in Des Moines as I was hanging up with Blaire. I had never wanted to get through a chocolate tour faster in my life!
Chapter Eighteen
“Look, I know this is weird to even ask you, but you’re just gonna have to go with me to this boutique and help me pick something to wear,” I told Gavin. We zipped through the chocolate shop and we were on the road to Elkton. “I’m gonna write up this blog super-fast so that when we get to Elkton, it’ll be done and schedule to post this evening, and we can start our two-day vacation that's not a vacation. S
orry ’bout that, by the way.”
“Whoa, Noey,” Gavin said. “Slow down, it’s all gonna be just fine, and I don’t mind helping you pick out something to wear.”
He was a peach.
I did as I said I would and our first stop was actually Tricky’s Donuts, next to the boutique because you can’t walk by there without getting a snack. I could have hooked his coffee into an IV also, but Gavin seemed to think I had plenty of energy all on my own.
“A little Brookie told me you were coming to town,” Tricky said when we came in. He enveloped me in his big arms, and I couldn’t help but think about how exciting it was that I’d be calling him my brother-in-law one day. “I made a new one, especially for your visit…”
Tricky pulled a special box out from behind the counter. The chocolate yeast donuts were covered in chocolate glaze and chocolate shavings.
“The cream filling is mint,” he said and pulled the donut apart for me to see the inside.
“Oh gimme gimme,” I said and reached for the donut with both hands. Gavin and Tricky both laughed at me, but the donut was divine. I wasn’t paying them a bit of attention. “What’s it called?”
He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, “Double Smintt? After you?”
“Aww,” Gavin said, reminding me he was in the room. “Noey Smitt! Smintt! I get it!”
Tricky and I both turned and looked annoyed. Boy was he late to the party. Wait ‘til he hears the ice cream flavors Gage was cooking up.
“I love it, Tricky! The name and the donut are both sensational!”
We talked for another couple minutes, and he hooked me up with a strong coffee to go. I explained the outfit situation, and he of course understood.
Gavin watched as I came out wearing outfit after outfit and nothing wowed him. I started to think he was enjoying the fashion show, but nothing was working for me either. Not for a photo that was going to end up in The Post.
White Wedding Mints Page 4