Forever Starts Tonight

by Barbara Freethy

  "I'm just being a realist."

  "You told Brandon you'd bring him to the firehouse on Monday."

  A frown furrowed her brow. "I forgot about that."

  "He'll be disappointed if you call it off."

  "He will be," she agreed.

  "So we'll see each other then."

  "I guess we will, but after that—"

  "We'll figure out what comes next," he said, cutting her off. "No need to decide now, is there?"

  "I don't want you to get the wrong idea."

  "I have a lot of ideas already," he said lightly.

  She flushed at his comment. "Bad ideas."

  "Bad, wrong—who knows? Let's find out."

  She let out a sigh. "I'll see you Monday with Brandon at the firehouse. That's all I'm agreeing to."

  "That's all I'm asking."

  She shut the door and headed to the house. He watched her until she got inside and then muttered to himself the two words he'd been hesitant to say in front of her: "For now."

  He knew Jessica was going to complicate his life, but he hadn't felt this intrigued and involved and curious to know more about a woman in a very long time, and he wasn't going to let a seven-year-old and a dog scare him off.

  Six

  Maggie was the first one Jessica saw when she walked into the Ritz Carlton on Sunday afternoon. She was a few minutes late, having had to wait for the teenage girl who lived across the street to come over to watch Brandon. Fourteen-year-old Hayley had babysat once before and had gotten along well with Brandon, so hopefully everything would go well for a few hours. But she was close to home if there were any problems.

  Maggie was standing by the fireplace in the lobby, talking on her phone, but when she saw Jessica, she gave her a wave and motioned her over.

  Jessica smiled to herself, thinking that the strawberry-blonde, blue-eyed Maggie looked even prettier and happier today than she normally did. There was a rosy shine to her fair skin and a sparkle in her eyes that had been there ever since she'd fallen in love with Cole Hastings last October. She expected their engagement announcement to come any day now, maybe even today.

  She'd always been the closest to Maggie. They'd shared a room her senior year in college until she'd had to drop out to marry Kevin. Maggie was the one who'd first found her crying on the floor of the bathroom with a pregnancy test in her hand. She hadn't asked any questions; she'd just wrapped her arms around her and given her a hug. She'd really needed that hug.

  Liz had come in next: practical, no-nonsense, get-down-to-business Liz, who'd insisted she go to the doctor just to make sure she really was pregnant. Both Maggie and Liz had made her feel that no matter what happened, her friends would have her back.

  The rest of the group had been just as supportive: Andrea with her optimistic don't worry this will change your life in a good way attitude; Julie with her quiet, caring, and diligent delivery of crackers to ease morning sickness; Isabella, who had encouraged her to keep dancing and exercising through it all; Laurel, who'd dropped off books on pregnancy and motherhood; and Kate with her motherly nurturing, who'd given her the support she'd wished her own mother would give her. They'd all been there for her.

  Now, it was her turn to be there for each of them.

  "Sorry," Maggie said, as she got off the phone. "That was my assistant manager at the Stratton. A water pipe broke and flooded one of our guestrooms. Everyone is in a tizzy."

  "I had the same problem at my new house. It was a nightmare for a while."

  "You didn't tell me about that."

  "Well, there was nothing you could do. I dealt with it—as you are doing now."

  "Yes. Fortunately, we have plenty of empty rooms this weekend since it's off-season, so we should be able to get everything repaired without displacing anyone. Enough about that. It's good to see you," Maggie said, giving her a hug.

  "You, too. How is your job now that you're the hotel manager? And more importantly, how are things with Cole?"

  Maggie's smile grew bigger—if that were possible. "The job is good. It's taken me a few months to grow into it, but now things are running smoothly. But I don't know how long I will be there. Cole and I found another property in Napa with a small vineyard and a big old house that would make a perfect boutique hotel. We're thinking about buying it. Cole would like to make wine, and I've always wanted an inn where I can really get to know the guests. Not that I don't love the Stratton. It's amazing, and Cole's aunt has given me so many opportunities there."

  "But this would be something for you and Cole to build up together. It sounds wonderful. Does this mean you're going to think about having a wedding soon?"

  "Yes, it does." She held up her hand to show off a beautiful oval-shaped diamond. "He actually asked me a few days ago."

  "Oh, Maggie, I'm so happy for you. I knew Cole was the right guy for you the first time I met him at the baseball game."

  "He is pretty great," Maggie admitted. "We have so many plans. It's fun to really have a partner. And he's awesome enough to put up with my family. Actually, he was responsible for bringing us together at Christmas, something I couldn't seem to make happen on my own."

  "So are you telling everyone today?"

  "I am. We don't have a date yet, but we're thinking September. I've mentioned it to Kate, but no one else knows yet."

  "I won't spoil it. You can make the big announcement. I'll start putting money away for another bridesmaid's dress."

  "I'm going to make sure they're not hideous."

  "That I would appreciate. Kate is certainly making a lot of money as a wedding planner off this group alone."

  "I know. I told her she better make room in the schedule for me, although I'll probably have something small and intimate up in Napa. I don't need anything big and grand."

  "You might feel differently once you start planning." She paused as a pretty brunette with dark hair and blue eyes came rushing into the lobby. Kate was always like a whirlwind. When she was in the room, there was a new energy level.

  "How late am I?" she asked.

  "Later than me," Jessica said with a smile. "But I just got here, too. We should head down to the restaurant. I'm sure everyone else is already there."

  "I just told Jess about the big news," Maggie said to Kate.

  "Oh, good," Kate said with a laugh. "I'm terrible with keeping secrets; I can't wait till all our friends know. I also can't wait to start planning your wedding."

  "You never get tired of weddings, do you?" Jess asked.

  "I really don't. Some are more stressful than others, but there's nothing better than helping someone on such a happy day."

  "Hopefully, their happy days last longer than mine did," she said, instantly killing the mood. "Oh, sorry, forget I said that."

  "No, you don't have to apologize," Maggie said. "You have every right to be cynical."

  "But I don't need to bring my cynicism to lunch. So it's gone. Let's get back to happy."

  "One day you will have another special day," Kate said. "And many more happy days after that, Jessica. You just need to find the right man."

  "Well, that's certainly true, but I'm not exactly looking. I'm busy with Brandon and my new life."

  "How has the move gone?" Kate asked, as they walked down the stairs to the restaurant.

  "Well enough. Brandon is settling in at school, and so am I."

  "I'm glad you're closer," Kate said. "How is your mother?"

  "She's doing her treatment, and it looks like everything should be all right in the end."

  "That's great news," Maggie said. "I'm sure she likes having you only a half hour away."

  "We'll see. In my family, sometimes distance is a good thing." She paused as Maggie gave Isabella's name to the hostess, who escorted them to a window table with an amazing view of the ocean.

  Andrea, Julie, Liz and Isabella were already seated and engaged in rapid-fire conversation, which tended to be how all their gatherings went.

  After a round of
hugs, she sat down between Maggie and Kate and glanced across the table at Andrea, a beautiful blue-eyed blonde with a zest for adventure and a passion for truth-telling. As a journalist, Andrea loved to shake things up. "Where's your sister?" she asked Andrea, referring to her twin sister Laurel, who was the only one of their group who wasn't present.

  "She's at a birthday party for her mother-in-law; she couldn't get out of it. But she said to say hello to everyone."

  "That's too bad." She smiled at Isabella next. Isabella was a dark-eyed brunette with olive skin and a passion for dancing. She ran a dance studio where she'd met her soon-to-be husband, Nicholas Hunter. "How is the bride-to-be?"

  "A little crazed," Isabella replied. "But Kate is keeping me calm when she's not driving me crazy with wedding questions."

  "I hear that," Liz put in. "Kate is the best, but she will make you consider every last detail."

  "So it's perfect," Kate said defensively.

  "My wedding was certainly perfect," Julie said. "And so was yours, Liz."

  "I'm just teasing," Liz said.

  Liz and Julie had gone to high school together and had been friends long before they'd gotten to the dorms. While they were similar in that they had varying shades of blonde hair, they were opposite in personality. Liz was a sharp, quick-witted, somewhat cynical woman who never failed to state her opinions and Julie was a quiet, determined, idealist who worked very hard to make a difference in the world through non-profit fundraising.

  "So you live the closest, Jessica; you should have been the first one here," Liz pointed out.

  "You're right. I had to wait for my babysitter, whose basketball game ran late."

  "How is Brandon?" Julie asked. "Has he settled in since your move?"

  "Pretty much. He's starting to make friends, so that's good. He likes that we're still near a beach, although the Half Moon Bay beaches are a lot colder than the ones in San Diego."

  "That's true, but they're beautiful," Julie said, waving her hand toward the window. "Sometimes I forget how close I am to the beach when I'm in San Francisco, surrounded by tall buildings."

  "Well, you're always welcome to come down and visit," she said.

  "Okay, first order of business is Isabella's bachelorette party," Liz said. "I was thinking either a weekend getaway or maybe just a day of pampering and shopping and eating and drinking in San Francisco."

  Jessica held back the sigh that wanted to push past her lips. The bachelorette parties were always the most difficult for her. She'd had to miss most of them, simply because getting a weekend away from Brandon was impossible.

  "I was thinking a weekend in Carmel," Julie put in.

  "Or we could go to Vegas," Andrea said. "Michael can get us suites at pretty much any hotel we want."

  Andrea's husband Alex had made a fortune in the toy and video business, so Jessica was fairly sure any rooms he came up with would be first class.

  "Vegas is always fun, but what about New Orleans or New York?" Liz suggested. "Just to shake things up."

  "What do you want to do, Isabella?" Kate asked.

  Isabella gave them a helpless look. "Honestly, I don't know. Whatever we do together will be fun. I don’t want anyone to go to too much trouble or have to spend a lot of money. We could just do dinner one night."

  "Or you could all come to the wine country," Maggie said. "I can get you rooms at the Stratton, or we can drive up to Calistoga and do the mud baths."

  "Ugh, mud is not my idea of a party," Liz said dryly.

  Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a waiter with multiple champagne glasses on a tray. "I understand we're celebrating a wedding," the waiter said with a smile.

  "Yes, this lovely lady," Andrea said, pointing to Isabella.

  "Congratulations," he said. "The first round is on the house."

  "Who did this?" Isabella asked, then glanced over at Kate. "Katie?"

  Kate simply shrugged and smiled. "I think he said it was on the house."

  "Sure it is," Maggie said dryly.

  After the waiter handed out their champagne glasses, Kate said, "Let's have a toast. To our next beautiful bride, Isabella."

  "To Izzie," they echoed, lifting their glasses.

  Jessica took a happy sip of her sparkling liquid. She had a feeling she might need more than one glass to get through all the wedding talk.

  As she set down her glass, she noticed that neither Andrea nor Liz had actually taken a sip. Andrea wasn't much of a drinker, so that wasn't completely surprising, but Liz had never been shy about tossing back champagne, especially for an occasion like this.

  "So what do we think?" Liz asked. "Can we narrow down a location for the bachelorette party at least?"

  "Hold on," she said. "Why aren't you drinking, Liz?"

  Liz's jaw dropped. "Uh…I'm not thirsty."

  "Andrea didn't drink, either," Maggie said, exchanging a quick glance with Jessica.

  "So…" Julie asked as Andrea and Liz were put on the hot seat.

  Andrea blushed. "Well, I don't want to make this day about anything but Isabella, but I do have some news. I was going to tell you later, but, here goes…I'm pregnant."

  Andrea's news received a flurry of squeals and congratulations. Then all eyes turned to Liz.

  "Do you have something to say, Liz?" Julie asked.

  A smile spread across Liz's face. "As a matter of fact, yes! I'm pregnant, too. I'm almost three months. I didn't want to say anything too early. I didn't want to jinx it."

  "I'm right behind you at eight weeks," Andrea said. "This is going to be great. Our kids can be best friends, too."

  "I would love that," Liz said, her eyes blurring with surprising tears. "Damn these pregnancy hormones for making me emotional."

  Jessica laughed. "The tears are the least of it. They can make you crazy, too."

  "I can't believe this," Kate said. "Your bridesmaids' dresses are not going to fit eight weeks from now. We're going to have to have them altered."

  Everyone laughed at Kate's worry about the bridesmaid's dresses.

  "You'll make it work," Isabella told Kate. "You always do."

  "Yeah, well you guys aren't making it easy," Kate replied. "I think someone else has a confession to make."

  Jessica couldn't help glancing at Maggie. "It's time," she said.

  "Okay, fine, I'm not pregnant," she said with a laugh. "But I am officially engaged. Cole and I are going to tie the knot."

  Maggie's announcement was met with more happy replies and soon all three women were fending off dozens of questions about due dates and baby names and wedding plans. They only paused for a few moments to place their orders and then got right back into the conversation.

  It was suddenly all a little too much for her. She pushed back her chair and headed to the restroom.

  She didn't make it all the way there. The doors leading onto an outside terrace beckoned to her. What she really needed was fresh air and a minute to regroup. She was happy for everyone, but she felt a little overwhelmed, and she didn't really know why.

  Looking out at the ocean, she realized she was lying to herself. She did know why; she just didn't want to admit it.

  "Jess?"

  She turned to see Maggie walking onto the patio. "I was just on my way back to the table," she lied.

  "Sure you were. What's wrong? I know you didn't come out here to look at the view, since you can see it every day."

  "It is beautiful," she murmured, knowing Maggie wouldn't be satisfied with the answer.

  "Come on, Jess. What's bothering you?"

  She really didn't want to answer that question. It would make her seem petty and childish and selfish.

  "All right, let me guess," Maggie said. "It has something to do with Andrea and Liz being pregnant and me being engaged."

  "I'm super happy for all of you."

  "You don't look super happy despite the fake smile you're giving me. I thought you'd be excited two other people are joining your mom club."
>
  She let out a sigh. "It hasn't been much of a club the past several years with just me in it."

  "Well, it looks like it's growing quickly."

  "I know. They have a lot to look forward to."

  "So do you."

  "Do I? Sometimes I feel like I've been standing in place while everyone else is moving forward, which doesn't make sense since I did everything first: I got married, I had a baby, I got divorced. But the last few years…" She ended her statement with a helpless shrug, then added, "It's just that all these weddings and now the pregnancy announcements—they just remind me of how many bad decisions I've made, and how I did everything out of order."

  Maggie's brows drew together in concern. "There's no order. Things happen when they happen."

  "Or when you're stupid and you let them happen before you're ready. I wish I'd made some of those big life decisions a little later and with more wisdom."

  Maggie smiled. "Your life isn't over, Jessica. You can fall in love again, get married, have more kids. Just leave out the divorce part next time."

  She appreciated Maggie's light words. "I plan on it. And I want you to know that I'm not talking about having Brandon. He's everything to me. I have no regrets that I had him."

  "You don't have to explain, Jess. It's complicated, but that's what life is sometimes."

  "True. Enough of this pity party. Let's go back to the table."

  "Before we do that," Maggie said, her gaze more serious. "I just want to say it's okay to feel whatever you feel. None of us have walked in your shoes, and I think sometimes we're a little insensitive about things—like the bachelorette party. We don’t want to leave you out by planning something you can't go to."

  "But I don't want you to make plans based around me. I will try my hardest to come, but if I can't, I want Isabella to have the best bachelorette party ever."

  "Well, let's see if we can't do both. I am glad you moved back to the Bay Area. I know I'm still a good hour and a half away from you, but at least you're closer to everyone else, and we can all see each other more often."

  "I'm happy about that, too. And don't tell anyone else I was having a moment, okay?"

  "I wasn't planning on it," Maggie said. "You know I always have your back."