by Ali Parker
“You guys ready to leave?” Kristo glanced around the room, and I could tell he was trying to get a read on how well—or otherwise—the conversation had gone. I smiled at him reassuringly.
“Yeah, we’re ready,” I told him. “And we’re good. Everything’s out there. She knows.”
“That’s amazing.” Kristo turned to Jolene with a smile that seemed set to crack his face in two, and then he jerked his head toward the door. “Come on, there’s something I want to show you outside.”
Jolene shot me a look, but I shrugged. I had no idea what he might have had out there. I wheeled Jolene down to the ground floor, where the van was meant to be waiting for her so we could take her back to the city. Instead, when we came out the doors, Kristo came to a halt next to a large black SUV.
“What’s that?” I asked. His smile widened, and he stepped inside. With a few buttons pressed, the car unfolded, displaying a ramp for Jolene and room for her chair. Kristo emerged once more, to find the two of us, open-mouthed, staring at him.
“I got a car specially made for Jolene,” he told the two of us. “So we don’t have to worry about the van anymore.”
“You’re serious.” I shook my head, and I felt the tears prick my eyes again. “Oh my god, Kristo.”
I practically leaped into his arms, Jolene laughing beside us, and he spun me around before he put me back on the ground.
“Thank you,” I murmured into his ear. He had no idea how much this meant to me. It was an indicator that he was ready for this with Jolene, truly ready, that her life and ours were going to be blended in a way I could never have dreamed before.
“Anything,” he replied softly back, and my heart sang in my chest before I pulled away.
“All right, which one of you lovebirds is going to help me with my chair?” Jolene asked excitedly, and the two of us went to help her. On the way back to the apartment, we talked about the logistics of moving her from the home down to our place, and the whole time, I had to keep reminding myself that this was real. It felt as though the ground was going to go swooping away below me at any second because there was no way life could be this perfect, no way it could run so smooth. I sat in that SUV, my fiancé driving with my sister beside me, and I felt giddy with the joy of it all. What could possibly puncture this?
55
I ran my hands through my hair and inhaled deeply. This was the first time I would be seeing the family since they’d found out about everything, and I was about as scared-shitless as it was possible to be.
“Hey, it’s going to be fine.” Amaya caught my hand and drew it down by her side. I managed to smile at her and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“Easy for you to say,” I reminded her. “They all think you’re the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“Aren’t I?” she vamped playfully, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Point taken.” I waved her into the house. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
As soon as I took a step over the threshold, my nonna descended on me. When she saw Amaya was there at my side, she slowed a little, and I could see her reconsidering the talk she’d clearly had planned in her head as soon as she’d heard I was back in the house.
“Amaya.” She gave her a quick hug. “So nice to see you. Come on, get something to eat. You look like you could use it.”
I remembered the flowers I was holding and followed my nonna into the kitchen to give them to her. She plucked them from my fingers and went to find a vase to put them in at once.
“This doesn’t make up for everything.” She wagged her finger at me sternly. “But it helps.”
“Glad to hear it.” I breathed a sigh of relief, and Amaya smirked at me, clearly amused that my nonna still had so much sway over me. Nonna arranged the flowers in a vase and then handed Amaya a small platter of food.
“Here, eat,” she ordered. “Need to make sure you’re filled out for the wedding.”
“Didn’t know we’d set on a date yet.” Amaya glanced over at me and cocked an eyebrow, but she clearly wasn’t annoyed. She knew I’d had to say anything I could to keep my nonna from blowing a gasket entirely when she had turned up at the apartment. If that meant handing over some of the wedding planning to her, I was sure Amaya would be all right with that.
“Soon.” Nonna eyed her, and there was a slight warning tone to her voice, as though she was letting Amaya know she was the one in charge of this thing. She turned to head out of the room, and Amaya gave me a look. I had to stifle a chuckle of amusement.
“What was that?” My nonna called, and Amaya caught my hand and squeezed.
“Nothing,” I called back, and I hooked my arm around Amaya’s waist, and we followed her back through to the living room. I stopped dead when I saw who was there waiting for me.
“Dad?” I greeted my father, trying to keep the obvious shock out of my voice. He got to his feet and stuck his hand out to me. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since everything had happened with the reveal of the contract, not since he had come by and told me he was leaving his wife. He looked surprisingly well pulled-together like he’d made a special effort today. Did he know how close he’d come to blowing my entire life apart? It had been him who had sowed the seeds of doubt in my head. Sure, I had been the one to let them sprout, but that didn’t mean I could shake the sense of uneasiness I felt around him, even now.
“Kristo,” he greeted me warmly and did the same for Amaya, giving her a tight hug. He was in a damn good mood for someone who was currently in the middle of another divorce, and I felt as though all of us were waiting for the penny to drop. And then it did.
“Karen,” I cocked an eyebrow as my father’s wife walked into the room. She had a nervy smile on her face like she knew the place she had in this family right now. Amaya exchanged a glance with me, mouth set in a hard line.
“I thought you guys were …?” I trailed off, not wanting to come out and say it when it so clearly wasn’t the case anymore. Dad smiled, and Karen leaned into his side. They were tentative but clearly happy.
“We decided to give things another shot,” Dad replied. I knew there was no point asking for any more than that. He would tell me when he was ready, if ever. I glanced between Karen and him and tried to imagine him giving any of the other wives a second chance like this. There would have been no way in hell. So there must have been something pretty special about this woman, and who the hell was I to question that?
I looked over at the two of them and noticed that the way they were standing seemed to mirror how Amaya and I were with each other. I couldn’t help my chuckle when I noticed that. All this time and distance and space between us and we seemed to have found love at the same time, albeit it with two completely different women. I had no idea what was going on behind the doors of their relationship, but I knew I was happy my father was happy, and that was enough.
“Dinner.” Nonna clapped her hands together and nodded toward the dining room. “Someone give me a hand bringing the food through, and we can eat.”
Amaya and I volunteered to take everything through to the dining room. I was glad for a little time alone with her. I seemed to be craving it any chance I got, drinking in these sweet little moments where she would tap my arm as though reminding me how she felt about me. I couldn’t believe how natural it felt to be near her like this, even now. I’d assumed at some point that novelty would wear off, but for now, I was just enjoying getting her to myself. After all this time feeling like she had one foot out the door, that I could never truly call her my own, it was just the two of us, and I couldn’t have been happier.
Cleo wasn’t coming for dinner, and I, for one, was relieved at that. We would have to start talking again eventually, but I was still too furious at what she’d pulled with the contract to face looking her in the eye without bubbling over with fury for the time being. She needed to learn that she couldn’t pull that shit with me. She might have enjoyed playing the bratty younger sister, but she was a grown-
ass adult and stirring up shit this way was going to cause problems in the whole family, problems she should have been keeping her big fat nose away from unless she wanted to stir up drama that we wouldn’t be able to fix with a bunch of flowers.
“So, when do you start planning the wedding?” Nonna asked as we finished up the food and worked on the last of our drinks. I looked over at Amaya and raised my eyebrows. We had been so focused on getting Jolene situated in the house that neither us had spent a whole lot of time thinking about the wedding thus far, even though we were going to need to get on it sooner rather than later. I shrugged and shook my head.
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “I’m sure Amaya has given it more thought than I have.”
“No chance,” she shot back. “Between work and my sister, wedding planning has been the last thing on my mind.”
“I’m sure your grandmother would like a say in this.” My father nodded to his mother, and I looked over at her to see her practically bursting at the seams with a keenness to offer comment on my wedding plans and lack thereof. I chuckled.
“And what exactly do you have in mind?” I wondered. I half-expected her to produce a folder from beneath the table, full of everything she had in mind for the wedding. Instead, she leaned forward, eyes shining, and I could tell she’d been waiting to have this conversation since the moment Cleo and I had turned eighteen. The fact that we’d made her wait so long to deliver had probably been driving her crazy these last few years, but at last, she had the excuse she needed to unleash all this wedding-planning mania on to the world at large.
“I want us to go to Greece to do it.” She glanced between Amaya and me. “Have the whole family there, and fly out whoever you want as well, Amaya, all expenses paid for everything.”
“Oh, that would be amazing,” Karen gushed, and I grinned. I hadn’t been to Greece in years, and I had wanted to show Amaya my home country since the day I’d met her. I looked over at her, and she pulled an apologetic face at me.
“You know I’d love to, but we have Jolene to think about,” she reminded me. “She can’t just hop on a plane the way the rest of us can. I’m not sure that much traveling would suit her.”
“You’re right,” I agreed at once. “We can’t do it abroad, Nonna. But we could invite everyone down here?”
“You know they’re always looking for an excuse to visit us in America,” my father reminded her, and I practically reeled in my seat. Was he taking my side with this? That woman had to have some kind of seriously amazing effect on him. I had never seen him so agreeable.
“Of course,” my grandmother replied. Even though I saw the flicker of disappointment at having her idea shot down, she breezed by it swiftly, not letting anyone catch on. “We’ll have it here. Maybe in the house?”
“That would be perfect,” Amaya agreed. “You already have the ramp for my sister. It would be ideal.”
“Then it’s agreed.” I nodded. “We’ll have it here. In the garden.”
“I’ll need to get the gardeners in to do it up,” Nonna muttered to herself, and I laughed.
“Have you seen it out there? There isn’t a single strand of grass out of place,” I reminded her. She shook her head solemnly.
“There won’t be a single leaf that isn’t where it’s meant to be by the time I’m finished,” she promised me, and she raised her glass.
“To Kristo and Amaya,” she toasted, and everyone else echoed her. I looked over at my wife-to-be and shared one of those sweet, secret smiles that only existed between the two of us, and I thanked God she was here to help me handle my crazy family. She had welcomed with open arms the thought of becoming a part of it.
56
As I walked along next to Darla, I found myself slowing as I passed by a flower shop, peering into the window and checking out the arrangements. I liked the ones with the blue in the forefront, especially the ones with those yellow flowers dotted so prettily through.
“Amaya? Earth to Amaya?” Darla waved her hand in front of my face, and I blinked and came back down to the real world. I shook my head and laughed at how ridiculous I was being.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I feel like I’ve got weddings on the brain.”
“Well, not long till you get married,” she remarked. “No wonder. How long now?”
“Oh, only a few months,” I replied with a sigh. It wasn’t that I wasn’t super excited about what was to come, just that it was a hell of a lot to take in, the full-blown, pedal-to-the-metal momentum of the marriage I was heading toward. At least I had more notice with this one than the last time I thought I’d been married. That had just been a matter of waking up in bed next to the man I thought I was married to. I liked it better this way, even with the stress.
“Honestly, I don’t envy you.” Darla shook her head as we made our way to the small café we were picking up lunch from. “The thought of organizing a wedding at this short notice? It makes me feel like I’m going to come out in hives.”
She ran her hands over her arms as though she could already feel the irritation on her skin, and I laughed.
“Yeah, trust me, I’d feel the same way, too, if his entire family hadn’t pitched in to help,” I assured her. “And the fact that he has all the money I could possibly want for a wedding helps too. No one’s saying no to his dad or his fortune.”
“Yeah, yeah, you don’t have to rub it in.” Darla shook her head. “What about the wedding party, though? You can’t just offer them more money to do what you need.”
“No, you’re right,” I agreed. “But it seems like everyone is all right with the date we’ve chosen. My little sister is my maid of honor, his sister is his best man, and we’ve decided not to bother with bridesmaids or groomsmen. Just keep it small. A family thing.”
“That’s sweet.” She grinned. “If I was marrying into the kind of money you are, I think I’d be inviting pretty much everyone I knew just to make a point.”
“Trust me, it’s tempting.” I held my hands up. “But I don’t have time for spite in my schedule right now.”
“What an enlightened way to look at it.” She nodded, and we arrived outside the café. Suddenly, all at once, the heat started to get to me, and I felt a rush of dizziness run through my system. I planted my hand on the wall next to the café and took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. I squeezed my eyes shut, forced myself to go in and out once more, chest rising and falling.
“Hey, hey, Amaya, are you okay?” Darla touched my arm, and I jerked back to reality, reminding myself I was out in the real world and I couldn’t just give in to my dizzy spells like this. They had been coming more and more regularly, but I had just put it down to the fact that I was trying to juggle work with wedding planning and didn’t have a whole lot of time for eating and sleeping.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I promised her. “Come on, let’s go get our food.”
We picked up our to-go salad boxes and headed back to work, and I went to hide out at my desk to eat it. I was still feeling a little under the weather, but I ignored it, reminding myself to take a little time off over this weekend so I wasn’t a complete frazzled mess by the time the wedding actually arrived. I massaged my temples as I finished up lunch, but before I had a chance to go back to work and distract myself, I felt a sudden wave of nausea rise over me. I clamped my hand over my mouth and sprinted to the bathroom. I just made it inside before I started throwing up everything in my stomach.
A minute or two later, when I was done, I heard the door open and a voice calling my name.
“Amaya?” Darla called to me. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied automatically, but then I flushed and opened the cubicle and shook my head. “Actually, I’m not.”
I washed my hands and splashed some water on my face, trying to cool myself. I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed the dark circles under my eyes. Dammit, I didn’t look well. I needed to get some sleep, and a decent meal, and—
> “You need to go to a doctor,” Darla told me firmly. “You just ate salad, right? You shouldn’t be feeling this bad.”
“Let me give Kristo a call, and he can help me figure things out.” I sighed. “Thanks, Darla. I guess I need someone to tell me when to take a damn break.”
“At your service.” She pretended to bow, and I managed to smile as I leaned on the counter and waited for the sickness to pass.
I talked to Kristo, who thought it better for me to grab an over the counter test. He picked me up and even went into the store to get it himself. We drove to a cute little diner that he loved, and I left him sitting at the table, his knuckles white and eyes a little wide. His words rang in my ears from the car ride over.
“I’m sure you’re fine,” he promised me. “Just a little food poisoning, that’s all.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him I hadn’t eaten anything heavy enough to warrant this kind of reaction the last few days and, instead, just waited with him until we were called in.
“Everything’s going to be okay, baby.” He squeezed my hand. “I promise.”
I was glad he was there by my side, but I was having a hard time believing him, even though I wanted to. My heart twisted in my chest as I tried to think about everything it could be—not food poisoning but maybe the flu? Perhaps just tiredness from working my fucking ass off since what felt like the beginning of our relationship, and now all that stress was catching up to me in the form of this meltdown I was having? Or maybe something worse, something serious.
My heart pitter-pattered in my chest at the thought, at the notion of having to leave Jolene behind if something really was amiss. I soothed my panicked brain as best I could, and walked into the bathroom. I closed the door and took the test quickly.
Moments later, I forced myself to look down at the little stick. The blue pregnant line was more than obvious. My heart almost burst and my stomach sickened.