“Why are we all climbing into this thing?” Charlie motioned to the van. “I remember doing catering jobs in this, back when we first started at the restaurant.”
“You never could drive it,” Hailey said with a smile and then caught Charlie’s eyes.
“You weren’t any better,” Charlie retorted.
“Which is why I am driving,” Ember stated. “Also, we’re doing this instead of taking separate cars, because this is kind of like our wedding gift to each other.” She nodded toward Eva.
“Us in a van is your wedding gift?” Alyssa examined Eva.
“We’ve all been so busy lately. Charlie’s been out of town, Hailey’s been pulling all-nighters at work, you two have been off getting pregnant.” She looked around at her group of friends. “We thought it would be fun to take this trip together.”
‘Fun’ wasn’t exactly the word that came to mind first for Hailey, as she stood a few feet away from Charlie, but she did smile after the initial concern faded away, because she loved her friends.
“Let’s do this.” Ember pulled Eva into her. “Wanna ride shotgun?” She winked at her.
“Next to you? Always.” Eva leaned in for a sweet kiss.
Ember and Eva took the front. Hailey couldn’t exactly argue with the married pregnant couple that wanted to sit next to one another. That meant that she and Charlie were stuck in the back row next to one another. Once everyone got settled in, Ember put the van in reverse, and they headed down the road to get her friends married.
◆◆◆
Charlie stared out the side window for the first hour, while participating in conversation only when necessary. She could feel Hailey’s eyes on her periodically, but for the most part, they were both clearly on the same page. They’d ignore and pretend the other didn’t exist for the entirety of the drive and, likely, the event itself. During the next hour, Charlie talked about Detroit and how the project was going, while Hannah and Ember both seemed interested and asked her questions. At hour three, they made a pit stop for gas and a bathroom break. When they climbed back in, Hailey was in the middle seat, and Hannah slid into the back. She appeared to want to know more about Charlie’s work; turning older historical buildings into modern structures while still maintaining their original aesthetic. Hailey and Alyssa were in deep conversation, and Charlie found herself listening in whenever she and Hannah experienced a lull in their own.
“How many do you think you’ll have?” Hailey asked her.
“We’re just starting with this one. If we don’t screw him or her up, well consider another, but if we only have one, we’ll both be okay with that, right babe?” Alyssa turned back to Hannah, who just smiled at her. “Are you going to have any?” Alyssa asked Hailey.
“I want to one day, yeah,” Hailey said with a lowered head and a soft voice. “Not sure if I will, but I think I’d like at least two.”
“Yeah?” Alyssa glanced back at Hannah. “Han, wanna try for another?”
Hannah rolled her eyes at her and Alyssa just returned to her conversation with Hailey.
“I love that woman like crazy,” Hannah leaned in to share with Charlie. “She’s carrying our baby. It’s like this incredible thing. You think you can’t love someone more, and then you do, and then you think that again, and again, and then you do.”
“Yeah, I can understand that,” Charlie replied and looked at Hailey who, though wasn’t looking back at them, Charlie suspected, was listening in all the same.
By hour four, Charlie had started to lighten up a bit. She was having fun with her friends, talking about the upcoming wedding and potential names for Hannah and Alyssa’s baby. They’d tossed out several that were definitely not going to happen and some potentials, but the best names were the ones they shouted just as jokes.
“What about Rainbow?” Eva suggested. “For obvious reasons.”
“Yeah, that won’t get our kid mocked,” Alyssa returned.
“How about Aardvark?” Ember suggested. “Works for a boy and a girl, and they’d always be first in the alphabet.”
“Sure. Aardvark Granger,” Hannah said out loud and then laughed. “Sounds great.”
“Well, we could always go with Hermione if it’s a girl,” Alyssa stated. “Our last name gives us the perfect opportunity.”
“Is that the real reason you took her name, Al?” Eva turned around and asked.
“No,” Alyssa said. “It’s just an added benefit.”
The other benefit, Charlie surmised, was that Alyssa Masters was a well-known name everywhere in the country, thanks to a tragic incident that had happened years prior. Alyssa had been able to move on from it, and the world moved onto its next tragedy, but it was still out there, and every now and then, something would happen that would bring it all back up again. Becoming Alyssa Granger wasn’t just done because she loved her wife and wanted her name, or for the possibility of having a baby girl named after a Harry Potter character. It was one more way to put that part of her past behind her.
“I’m thinking, you should name her after one of us,” Ember stated. “Come on. There should be more Novembers in the world.”
“Why are you so sure we’re having a girl?” Hannah asked her.
“If not, you could name him Charlie,” Hailey suggested.
Charlie perked up at the sound of Hailey’s voice and the mention of her name. She met Hailey’s eyes and gave her a shy smile, which Hailey returned.
◆◆◆
By hour five, they had to stop for another bathroom break, thanks to Alyssa’s pregnancy bladder, and Charlie had gone inside as well. Hailey went around to the back of the van to try to find her chapstick, which she’d packed and then forgotten to remove before stowing the luggage away. Ember joined her in the back while the gas pumped into the van. Hailey had to push a few plastic bags aside. They’d brought snacks for the trip to Iowa and the trip back. Since Ember and Eva’s honeymoon wouldn’t take place until June still, as planned, they’d all ride back together. Hailey pushed one bag to the side and pulled out her small bag. She removed the chapstick and slid it into her pocket before placing everything back. But as she moved the plastic bag back on top of her roller, she saw something inside that caught her eye.
“Em, did you bring this?” Hailey asked and pointed.
“No, I thought you did,” Ember replied, and then heard the gas pump stop with a thud and walked to finish up.
Inside the bag was a box of Hailey’s favorite cereal. There was only one other person in the world that knew that and would bring it. Charlie walked out of the gas station with Alyssa and Eva, and she was laughing.
◆◆◆
They arrived at Eva’s family’s farmhouse and began unpacking. Eva’s mom and dad helped them get situated into the rooms they would occupy for the remainder of their trip. Since Anna had moved out and was the last child remaining at home, they had two guest rooms upstairs, along with Eva’s childhood room. Hannah and Alyssa would share Anna’s old room, which had a relatively new full bed. Ember and Eva would be in her old room with the full bed her parents recently purchased to update the room. It no longer contained the remnants of Eva’s past, but instead was a fully functional guest room they used for visiting friends and family members. That left the last room for Charlie and Hailey to figure out how to navigate. That room had also been updated with a full bed, which would make things incredibly awkward for them, considering they still weren’t talking. Ember, knowing this, dug out an old twin-sized air mattress from the garage and told Hailey to figure out who would sleep on it.
Charlie had disappeared shortly after the arrival, and so did Ember, the moment after she handed Hailey the air mattress. Hailey wondered if they were off talking about her and hoped that she wouldn’t lose both of them in this mess. Hailey made her way into the bedroom and set about blowing up the mattress and covering it with the sheets and a blanket Ember had also provided. Dinner was around the picnic-style kitchen table for the six of them, since Eva’s paren
ts had already eaten. Her mom left them plenty of home-cooked food, and they all enjoyed it along with their shared laughter. Charlie and Ember disappeared once again after the meal, and while Eva and Hailey were helping with the dishes, she thought to ask what was going on.
“Oh, I don’t know. Em just told me she’d be busy tonight and that she’d asked for Charlie’s help,” Eva responded to her question. “Are you two okay?”
“Who?”
“Really?” Eva rolled her eyes.
“No, were not, but I promise we’ll be okay for you guys,” Hailey replied and dried the last dish.
Hailey showered after Hannah and Alyssa wrapped up in the bathroom and retired for the night. She climbed on the air mattress and rolled onto her side. Charlie and Ember were still missing in action, and while she found herself curious about what they were up to, she let the exhaustion of the day carry her away into sleep.
CHAPTER 22
When Charlie walked into the bedroom, she first noticed that the lights were out, meaning Hailey was likely already asleep. She went to use her phone to provide light so she could get ready for bed herself, and then she noticed that Hailey had taken the air mattress. She also noticed that she didn’t need her phone, because there was a night light plugged into the wall. She hadn’t seen it initially, because it was on the other side of the bed. It hadn’t been there before, when they dropped their stuff. Thanks to the location of the outlet and the placement of the air mattress, the light illuminated the top of Hailey’s head, her closed eyes and soft features. Charlie stared for long moments before Hailey went to scratch her nose. She didn’t wake up, but Charlie smiled at her and then turned away, so she wouldn’t get caught if Hailey did wake. She changed her clothes, finished her nightly routine, and climbed into the bed.
◆◆◆
When Charlie woke up, Hailey was already out of the room. Charlie showered, dressed, and walked downstairs to find that there were muffins on the table along with some bacon that had been fried earlier. The old-fashioned coffee pot was full and sitting on the table as well. Charlie filled a cup and took a walk around the house to see if she could find anyone.
She found Alyssa and Hannah in the living room, talking to Anna and Eva’s mom. She decided not to join in on the conversation and headed outside where she saw Ember and Eva sitting on the porch swing. They looked to be a little occupied and attached at the lips. She let them have their private moment and took her coffee along for a walk around the property. She’d finished it by the time she found Hailey staring up at the tree house in the backyard. Hailey turned just in time to see her place the empty cup on the back porch and then walk over.
“It says no admittance.” Hailey pointed at a sign that had been taped to the ladder attached to the tree.
“So, you better not go up then,” Charlie warned.
“Is it falling apart or something?” she asked.
“No, it’s actually the opposite.”
“It’s falling together?” Hailey lifted an eyebrow and turned to Charlie.
Charlie laughed and then said, “No, it’s what Em and I have been working on. It’s her present to Eva.”
“A tree house?”
“She started making some modifications when they came back a few weeks ago. She and I have been finishing it. We’re trying to get it ready for tomorrow night.”
“What’s tomorrow night?” Hailey asked.
“She’s going to show Eva after the wedding. They’re going to stay out here.”
“They’re going to stay the night in a tree house?” Hailey questioned the logic.
“They had their first kiss up there. It’s important to both of them. You can go up. We just put this here so no one else would. Eva’s dad told her they’re thinking about taking it down because of the damage it sustained during a winter storm, which is a total lie Ember convinced him to tell her. And he even said the sign was a legal requirement in case kids came on the property.”
“I can go up?”
“Sure.”
Charlie watched as Hailey climbed into the tree house and then climbed after her. When she got inside, she watched Hailey look around.
“You guys did all this?” Hailey asked.
The tree house had been pretty bare when Charlie arrived. Ember had worked on the structural stuff during her last trip and had even stained all the wood to prevent further warping and damage. She’d told Charlie that the house used to have a bean bag chair, some blankets and random bookshelves for Eva’s collection, but not much else.
“Yeah,” Charlie replied.
She and Ember had created a honeymoon suite of sorts, thanks to Ember’s genius and Charlie’s architectural and design skills. The room now housed a bed, that was really just a nice mattress on a six-inch wood frame that matched the wood of the house itself. They hadn’t made the bed yet, but the sheets, pillows, and a comforter were all resting atop it.
“Charlie…”
“It was Ember’s idea. We brought up a space heater, but she wanted that cheesy, fake fireplace thing.” She pointed at what looked like a thin black box. “Turn it on,” she told Hailey. Hailey walked over and looked for a moment until she found a switch and flipped it. The front of the box illuminated in fake flames as if it was an actual fireplace. “We ran electricity last night. The speakers are all connected.”
She pointed to the ceiling, where Hailey’s eyes followed four ceiling-mounted small speakers that Charlie had connected to a central speaker. Ember or Eva could attach their phone and create whatever musical vibe they wanted for their night. They’d placed a small two-person table in one corner and on it rested the gift Eva had for Ember, wrapped and ready for delivery.
“That’s the gift Eva told me to hide,” Hailey shared and pointed at the box.
“I know. Ember won’t open it. She knew about it already. We just thought it would be nice to put it up here. They could open it together after everything. Do you know what it is?” Charlie asked her.
“Eva told me last night. It’s a first edition signed copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“That seems like a gift Eva would get for herself; not Ember,” Charlie stated.
“It’s the book that brought them together,” Hailey explained. “Eva gave her a copy of it that day at Windy’s. It was the first book Em read before she read the rest of Eva’s entire collection in like a weekend or something.”
“Oh.” Charlie watched the glow on Hailey’s face at the story of her two friends meeting and falling in love.
“A mini-fridge?” Hailey pointed at the small appliance.
“It’s got snacks in it, mostly. Ember heard that the couple usually never eats on their wedding day because they’re so busy. She wanted something in here for them later. Plus, my guess is they’ll want to keep their energy up too.” Charlie laughed at her own comment. “And we put windows in.” She pointed at the once square cutouts that now housed makeshift windows. “They’re plastic, but they’ll do.”
“This is great, Charlie. Eva will love this.” Hailey turned around to face her.
“I hope so,” Charlie stated and then motioned for Hailey to climb down. “I’m going to finish up. I’ll meet you back down there.”
“Do you need any help?”
“No, I’m good.” Charlie lowered her head and walked around the bed. She didn’t look back up again until she heard Hailey’s footsteps fading away.
◆◆◆
Hailey went to the neighbor’s property, where the wedding would be held, and helped Anna and the others make the last-minute preparations for both the rehearsal dinner and the ceremony that would be the next day. Charlie and Ember had remained behind. Hailey felt much better now that she at least knew that what they were doing was to bring Ember and Eva joy and not to exclude her. She helped Eva’s mom with the cooking or mainly with the carrying the things she’d cooked outside to the tables that had been placed between the main house and the barn.
The rehearsal was less a rehea
rsal and more a dinner between friends and family. Ember and Eva practiced their walk down together with their fathers on either side, after Charlie and Hailey, each paired with a Granger, made their way down and stood in front of the reverend who would conduct the ceremony. It took ten minutes at most to get through and then came the time for the meal and some speeches. Hailey had been placed at one of the round tables on the opposite side of Charlie. While she’d thought it a good idea at the time because it meant they wouldn’t be side-by-side, she realized that being across from Charlie just meant she’d be looking at her all night long. They exchanged shy smiles throughout most of the night until the meal was done and the speeches had all been delivered. Then, Anna got the idea to have a practice round at the first dance. Ember and Eva were more than game, and after a few moments, others joined in. Eva’s parents were first. Ember’s followed. Hannah and Alyssa stood too. Hailey watched how all of the couples seemed to fit together so nicely. Anna and her husband stood along with Eva’s brothers and their wives, until the only people left at the table were children, Hailey and Charlie.
“Do you want to dance with me?” Eva’s nephew asked Charlie while Hailey looked on with a smile.
“Oh, wow. Thank you. I would love to dance with you,” Charlie replied and glanced at Hailey with a knowing expression.
Hailey watched on as Charlie allowed the small boy to stand on her feet while they moved slowly in a circle. She laughed silently along with everyone as he attempted to hold her about the waist. Hailey had turned around in her chair to watch the whole spectacle. After a few moments, Ember headed to the table to snag a drink, while Eva danced with her father.
“Having fun?” Hailey asked her.
“The time of my life, Hails. I’m marrying that gorgeous creature tomorrow.” She pointed at Eva. “Are you having an okay time?” She took a drink and looked down at Hailey.
“Yeah, it’s great.” Hailey was less than convincing as her eyes drifted toward Charlie, still dancing, but this time with one of Eva’s other nephews. “She’s a hit,” she teased and laughed.
Just Tell Her Page 25