Chapter 12
It was quite a party. Everyone in O’Shaunnessy’s was excited for me. All my staff were buzzed to be along for the ride because they knew I’d be taking care of them moving forward. Some of Cherie’s other relatives came along, including Marie and Vinnie.
I couldn’t remember ever having a party before. The beer flowed and the burgers and fries kept coming.
Cherie slung her arms around me. “You did it, Piper! I knew the day I rented you that kitchen that you were going places, and look at you!”
“Thanks, Cherie. You’ve been my rock.”
“I know good people when I see them.” She planted a sloppy kiss on my cheek.
“You hitting on my girl, cuz?” Aaron asked handing her a beer.
“She was my girl first.” Cherie said possessively. She’d been hitting the beers hard. “And nothing will ever change that. Got it?”
“Got it.” He agreed. “Thanks for introducing us.”
“I knew you two were meant to be. You’re both smart, hard-workers, come from crappy families, and you were both ready.”
“Ready?” I asked.
“To let love in. I knew you’d love each other.”
I looked at Aaron, confused. Were we doing such a good job that even Cherie was buying our act or was Cherie playing us? Had she set us up for real?
“Cherie, you know what this is right?” I asked. “You remember what’s happening here?”
“Perfic, its perfic.” She almost hiccupped it out.
“I think she means perfect,” Aaron translated.
“Yeah, I got that. You know what I think?” They looked at me. “Cherie has had perficly enough to drink.”
She nodded—a little cockeyed on account of the drink.
We were around the corner from my place so once we closed down the joint, Aaron said he’d come back with me. He was pretty buzzed himself. It turns out, at my own parties, I don’t drink much. It’s too much fun talking to everyone. Plus, I was high on my success. I realized I needed to call my dad back when we got in.
“That was a great idea,” Aaron said in a lazy voice, arm slung around my shoulder where it seemed to feel most at home these days. “You have the best ideas, Piper.”
“Thanks. It was fun. I’m glad we did it. It’s nice to share the excitement.”
“’Course it is. Like college graduation. Well, my parents weren’t at mine, but Cherie came.”
I looked at him. “Why didn’t they come?”
“I’d recently turned in my dad, so he had his trial, and my mom decided to flee the country.”
“She should have come.”
“Yeah, she should have.” He sighed.
I told him about my dad’s call the night before as we headed up the stairs. And then the phone was ringing as I opened the door. “Dad?”
“Hey, kiddo. How’d you do? You wowed ’em, right?”
“I blew their minds, Dad.”
“Go, Piper!” He cheered down the phone line. Aaron was shuffling behind me bumping into the furniture.
“Sounds like you’re not alone.”
“No, I’ve got a friend here. We just had a party at the local pub. You’d have loved it.” The truth was, the man had never met a pub he didn’t like.
“I would have. Is that a girl friend or a guy friend?”
“Guy friend.”
“Now that you’re a big shot, don’t let some putz take advantage of you.”
“Like usual, you mean,” I teased.
“I didn’t mean that. Not all people have your best interests at heart.” This from a welfare cheat and petty thief.
“I’ll keep that in mind. I think this one is enough of a big shot on his own that it doesn’t matter.”
“Well done, kiddo. Don’t be a stranger.”
“Get a passport, Dad! Then you can come and visit me.”
“Maybe I will.” Then he was gone, and the miracle was, he hadn’t asked me for anything.
Aaron was lying on my bed, looking at me. “Not such a bad dad after all then?”
“He’s trying.”
“Will he be mad you got married without him?”
“Not mad I don’t think.” I hopped onto the bed next to him. Gosh it was good to get off my feet. “He’ll be a bit sad, I expect, for a minute or two. He’s not one to dwell.”
Aaron took my hand and twined our fingers together. “If I had a kid, I’d want to be at the wedding.”
“I would, too. What about your mom?”
“She’ll be mad I got married versus mad she missed the wedding, which she likely wouldn’t attend anyway. And give that it’s Vegas, she definitely wouldn’t attend. But I kind of don’t care. I care about her, obviously, but not about her opinion on the matter.”
That seemed reasonable to me. If he didn’t care, then I probably didn’t either. We lay there side by side and I let my mind replay the events of the day from the hours of meetings where I had been so nervous but I’d nailed the deal anyway, to the party where I was surrounded by friends. I wanted to etch those moments in my memory forever.
Then I heard it. Next to me Aaron had fallen asleep, a small gentle snoring had begun. Like a cat purring in the bed beside me.
It was nice laying there. It was weird to be in my bed, holding hands with my future husband, who, it turned out, was one of the sweetest people I knew. This had been quite a day.
I didn’t go to sleep. I rolled over on my side and watched him sleep. There was no two ways about it he was the full package. Smart, sexy and sweet. I leaned in and kissed his cheek. I had thought finding someone to marry was going to be the hard part, who knew that resisting my own husband would be the greatest challenge of all?
Any Way You Slice It Page 14