“Hey!” Noah said, coming over to the window.
“Hi!” Abby replied with a grin. Please, please don’t let Christopher say anything stupid.
“Carol asked me to sit in on the meeting,” Noah explained. “We work with these guys a lot and it’s good to coordinate the cake with the flowers.”
“Right,” Abby said.
Noah looked past her at Christopher. “Hey, man,” he said.
“ ’Sup?” Christopher replied.
“Thanks again, Christopher,” Abby said as Noah opened the car door for her. “Call you later.”
Christopher cranked up the hip-hop CD in his stereo and peeled out.
“So, you and Johnny Rockets spend a lot of time together, huh?” Noah said.
He’s jealous! Abby thought, a thrill of excitement running though her.
“You know we do,” she said. “And you also know Christopher and I are just friends.”
“It’s impossible for guys and girls to just be friends,” Noah said.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Abby replied. “Besides, we were.”
Noah grinned. “Yeah, and look how that turned out.”
Carol flipped her cell phone closed and looked up. “Hey, Ab. That was Tessa. She said she and Missy are coming over tonight to try working on the shower again. You up for it?”
“I’m not going to go all Exorcist again, I promise,” Abby said. “I even set the meeting up myself.”
“Wow.” Carol looked impressed. “That’s great. Thanks.”
“Just trying to be a good little maid of honor,” Abby replied.
“You went all Exorcist?” Noah asked.
“Don’t worry. My head only spins around when I’m provoked,” Abby said, waggling her eyebrows.
“Okay. Let’s go look at some flowers,” Carol said.
“Cool,” Abby replied. “So where’s Tucker?”
“Oh, he stayed home to help Dad with the seating arrangements. He said flowers are not a guy thing,” Carol said. “No offense, Noah.”
“None taken.”
Abby shot Noah a look as they followed Carol into the flower shop.
“I know what you’re thinking and just because the guy doesn’t have an opinion on flowers, that doesn’t make him a bad person,” Noah whispered to her.
“Yeah,” Abby said. “We’ll see.”
“So . . . I have nothing to worry about with Johnny Rockets?” Noah asked. He glanced over his shoulder as if Christopher and his car were still there.
As Carol greeted Liam, the proprietor of Petals-n-Stems, Abby looked at Noah. His eyes studied hers intently as he waited for an answer and Abby’s stomach filled with dancing butterflies. Wow. Noah was really cute when he was threatened. And it was so sweet the way he was so willing to wear his heart on his sleeve.
Initiating physical contact had never been Abby’s thing, but on impulse, she reached out and squeezed his hand. Noah smiled.
“Nope,” Abby said. “Nothing at all.”
Abby sighed and dropped the spaghetti straps she was struggling with. She needed a moment to catch her breath. Cardio-dress-trying-on. At this rate she was going to be able to teach the class.
What was I thinking saying I wanted to shop for my own dress? she wondered, staring at herself in the dressing room mirror. At least if I had agreed to the plaid I wouldn’t have had to spend my first Friday off from school trying stu f on at Monique’s.
“Everything okay in there?” Carol asked from outside the door.
“I’m fine,” Abby replied. “I just can’t figure out how these straps go.”
“Here. Let me see.”
The door to the dressing room opened and the saleswoman, a big-haired chick with a pinched face who was about Carol’s age, stood in the doorway. She looked Abby up and down, amused. A couple of women strolled by and peered in at Abby’s half-naked body.
“Would you mind closing the door?” Abby asked.
“You have it on backward,” the woman told Abby. She put her hand over her mouth and shook her head like it was just so sad that Abby was so clueless. Didn’t these people work on commission? Shouldn’t this woman try being nice to Abby?
Carol’s face appeared over the woman’s shoulder. Abby shot her a pleading look.
“Forget that one,” Carol said, glancing at the fabric bunched up all around Abby’s waist. “It’s not you.”
“Thank you,” Abby said, shoving the dress to the floor.
She grabbed the door away from the saleswoman, slamming it shut. Three dresses down, two to go. At least Carol had agreed to let Abby get a regular dress from a regular store instead of going to one of those shops that sold nothing but bridesmaids’ dresses, most of which looked like wardrobe from an ’80s prom movie. At Monique’s they had a few normal dresses— i.e., clothes Abby might be caught dead in.
Abby looked at herself in the mirror. Thank God it was Friday. This week she had already had two meetings with Tessa and Missy to pick out color schemes and hors d’oeuvres for the shower. Then she’d addressed, stuffed and mailed the invites and taken the first few RSVPs. And now the week of wedding mayhem was being topped off by this. At least when it was over she had something to look forward to. Noah was picking her up from the dress shop in less than an hour to take her out on their first real date. His friends were having an end-of-the-school-year party and Noah had invited her to go.
“Which one are you trying on now?” her sister asked.
“The light blue one,” Abby replied. She stepped out to show Carol. “What do you think?” she said, giving a twirl. It felt slightly itchy, and the neckline was all wrong, but she was trying to give it the benefit of the doubt. “Is it that bad?” she said, taking in Carol’s glum expression.
“Please. It’s not that,” Carol said. She looked up at Abby and for the first time Abby noticed the big bags under her eyes. “Aren’t you worried about Mom and Dad?”
Abby chewed her bottom lip. Of course she was worried. Over the past few days her parents hadn’t just stopped talking about wedding-related matters. They’d stopped talking entirely. Abby had been hoping things would just somehow go back to normal. She’d been trying to convince herself that maybe it was no big deal. But the fact that Carol was bringing it up made the whole thing feel a lot more real.
“Don’t worry,” Abby said, trying to sound comforting. “Once the wedding is over everything will go back to normal.”
“That’s just it,” Carol said. “Ab, this is my wedding. I’d rather things go back to normal before I walk down the aisle. I don’t want Mom and Dad fighting on my wedding day.”
Abby swallowed hard and stepped back into the dressing room, her pulse pounding in her ears as she searched for the right words.
“I know it’s bad timing,” she said as she unzipped the dress and let it fall down around her ankles. “But they’ll work it out. It’ll be fine.” Maybe if she said it enough, she could convince herself too.
“Yeah,” Carol said unenthusiastically. “You’re probably right.”
Abby pulled the last dress off the hanger and slipped her arms through the sheer cap sleeves. She zipped it up and stepped out.
Carol immediately sat up straight. “Wow,” she said. “ That looks good.”
“Yeah?” Abby asked, feeling a little thrill of excitement.
She turned around and checked herself out in the mirror. The color was a bit more purply than she would have preferred, but the style flattered her shoulders and the length, just below the knee, was just where she wanted it. There was a lighter-colored ribbon around the waist that on the hanger looked cheesy, but on her person looked much better. It wasn’t the most perfect dress she’d ever seen, but Carol seemed to like it. And at that moment, Abby felt like doing something to cheer her sister up.
“Abby, you look really beautiful in that,” her sister said, standing up behind her.
“Great! We have a winner!”
At that moment the saleswoman sc
urried over and glanced at Abby. “That dress was totally made for you.”
“You don’t have to give us your spiel,” Carol told her with a smile. “We already decided to take it.”
“Good choice,” the woman said flatly. “Just tell them at the register that Annabelle helped you.”
“Commission does horrible things to people,” Abby said as the woman moved away again.
She and Carol both laughed. Just then the door opened. Noah walked in and Abby froze, her heart pounding. She wanted to dive back into the dressing room so she could change back before he’d see her. But it was too late. Noah found them with his eyes, then made a face that no one had ever made before while looking at Abby. He was stunned.
“Uh . . . hi,” Abby said.
“Wow,” Noah said. He ran his hand over his hair and pressed his lips together. “You’re gonna get that one, right? You look . . . good.”
Blushing, Abby ducked into her little closet and slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the gleeful laugh that had bubbled up in her chest. Apparently they had picked the right dress. Maybe being a bridesmaid wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Abby stood on the deck at Michael Randall’s house, smiling shyly at the people around her. She didn’t know many of Noah’s friends, and barely recognized anyone at this party, which was good and bad. Good because she wasn’t forced to make small talk. Bad because she felt totally out of place. Abby had attended the public school in Watertown up until eighth grade, so she recognized a few faces, but this was a graduation party. The few people who looked vaguely familiar were Noah’s age, two years ahead of her.
She leaned against the railing on the deck and looked out over the huge backyard. Directly below her were a pool and patio where a few people milled around talking, drinking and smoking.
Below the pool the backyard sloped down into a field where a volleyball net was set up. A bunch of kids were lazily punching a ball back and forth. Trees lined the yard on all sides and vines and bushes nearly camouflaged an old wooden fence.
This would be a pretty place for a wedding, Abby thought. She could picture Carol walking down the deck steps and along the side of the patio to an arch set up where the volleyball court now was. She smiled slightly, then caught herself and rolled her eyes.
Since when did her brain do that?
“Finally found the soda,” Noah said, reaching around her to hand her a plastic cup. “You’d think all Michael’s family drinks is beer. The whole refrigerator is full of it.”
“Well, it is a party,” Abby joked.
She clicked her cup with Noah’s and took a sip. Down below a couple of guys chased a miniskirted girl with a supersoaker water gun. She screeched and protested as they blasted her white T-shirt until everyone could see the flowered lace of her bra right through the fabric.
“You guys!” the girl whined, smiling all the way. “This is a party! Not a wet T-shirt contest!”
“It is now!” one of the guys said, dousing another girl as she passed.
“Wow. There is some great people-watching at this party,” Abby said. Note to self: steer clear of those particular Neanderthals.
“Yeah. There are some people I am not going to miss,” Noah said. He sipped at his soda and looked down. His face grew serious as the party raged around them.
“Did you—I mean—did you want to go away to school?” Abby hoped her asking didn’t seem weird. She didn’t want him to think she was presuming anything.
“Nah.” Noah placed his soda aside and shrugged. “I mean, not that I don’t want to see the world . . . I do. All of it. But for now I need to help my dad out. And I can take a few classes at RCC and maybe find out what I’m really interested in.”
“You don’t know yet?” Abby asked.
“No. You?” Noah asked.
“I’m thinking about being a nuclear physicist,” Abby joked. “Or maybe an eyebrow plucker. I hear you can make a killing in New York.”
Noah laughed. “Somehow I don’t see you as the plucking type.”
“I live to pluck,” Abby deadpanned.
They turned back to watch the scenes playing out on the vast yard below. “If your dad really needs the help, why don’t you guys just hire a manager and a delivery person?” Abby rested her elbows on the railing. “It’s not like you can’t afford it. I know how much those cakes cost,” she added with a narrowing of her eyes.
Noah smirked. “Yeah, we probably could. But this business means a lot to my dad. And he’s always been there for me. I mean, he raised me by himself after my mom died and he taught me everything he knows. Besides, I really enjoy the work, so for now I think I’ll just stick close to home.”
Abby looked at him and he smiled again. Here she was, trying to do everything she could just to get away from the Roost for a year, and here Noah was putting college on hold to stay home with his dad. How would it feel to really want to be at the Dove’s Roost? To crave a life of menu building, ribbon tying and place setting?
Abby let out a long sigh. If only she could get psyched about the weekly nuptials, she wouldn’t have to desert her family. She could stay home next year and be the model employee.
And besides . . . Noah was going to be here. The distance between Italy and Massachusetts would be a tough one to conquer even for a person who had experience with relationships.
It was definitely something to think about.
The stream that burbled through the center of Van Merck Park had never seemed like much to Abby. She’d kicked one of her favorite red Keds into it when she was in first grade and a Canadian goose had grabbed it and run off. That was about the only interesting thing that had ever happened in this spot. Up until now anyway. Tonight she was seeing the stream in a whole new way. With the dim streetlights flickering a few dozen yards away and the stars blazing overhead—with a couple of open Chinese food containers and not another soul in sight except for Noah Spencer—it was actually really romantic.
“Try the shrimp. It’s intense,” Noah said, spearing a piece with his fork.
He held it out to her, but Abby wasn’t exactly at the mushy feeding-each-other stage yet. In fact she hoped to never be at that icky stage with anyone ever in her life. Instead she grabbed the fork from his hand and plucked the shrimp off between her teeth.
“Jimmy’s is the best Chinese food I’ve ever tasted,” she said.
Noah laughed. “I bet it’s the only Chinese food you’ve ever tasted.”
Abby frowned. “Well, Jimmy’s is the only place in town, but there’s a reason,” she said. “No one’s stupid enough to try to compete with him.”
“Point taken,” Noah said. “You know, I think we got out of that party just in time. Ryan was about to suggest a game of strip water polo.”
“They would have had to kill me dead to get me to participate,” Abby said, taking a sip of her soda.
“Yeah, and I don’t think your dad would appreciate my bringing home nothing but your cold, stiff body.”
Abby laughed. “Probably not.”
They sat in silence for a moment, smiling and eating. It was so quiet and relaxed Abby almost forgot about what a war zone her life had become. Out here with Noah, it felt like peacetime.
“This is nice,” Noah said finally.
“What is?”
“This. Hanging out with you.”
“We hang out all the time,” Abby said. But she flushed nonetheless.
“I know . . . but this is different,” Noah said. “It is, isn’t it?”
Abby smiled. She knew exactly what he meant. It was different now because she was always wondering whether he was going to kiss her again. That stomach-clenching feeling of uncertainty and anticipation stayed with her the whole time. She used to hang out with Noah and wonder whether or not he was going to give her a wedgie.
“I have to say something and it’s probably gonna freak you out, but remember that if you run, I know where you live,” Noah said suddenly.
“Okay,” Abby
said. She turned toward him.
“Abby.” His face was very serious. “I think I’m sort of in love with you.”
Abby laughed—loud. She couldn’t help it. And she couldn’t stop. She put her hand over her mouth and looked at Noah, mortified. Maybe now he was going to run.
“Okay, not the reaction I was looking for,” Noah said.
“No! No! I’m sorry!” Abby told him. She moved a carton of kung pao chicken out of the way and slid closer to him on the bench. “I’m sorry—that was stupid. It was just a knee-jerk—”
“It’s okay, it’s cool,” Noah said. He was wiping his palms on the thighs of his jeans. Over and over.
“No!” Abby was overheating. “That’s not what I mean.”
She reached out and grabbed him by his cheeks with her thumb and forefinger. His mouth smushed into a pucker. It was ridiculous, but it was the only thing she could think to do to get him to look at her.
And then she opened her mouth and blurted it out, before she could let herself doublethink how it would sound. “I love you, too!”
Noah’s eyes lit up.
“Rearry?” he said, his face still squashed in her hand.
Abby finally let him go.
“Yes, really,” she said. “I know it feels fast, but—”
“But it’s not,” Noah finished for her. “Because we’ve known each other—”
“Forever,” she said.
They both laughed at the silliness of the moment, then Noah reached over and placed his hand on hers. Abby moved closer to him.
“I’m gonna kiss you now,” Noah said, looking deep into her eyes.
“You’d better,” Abby said.
By the time Abby got home the only lights on were in the catering kitchen and the ballroom, where the workers were cleaning up after that night’s event. Abby approached the house, giggling at nothing. She let herself into the residence, walked into the kitchen and paused. There, in the dim light from the overhead stove lamp, were Carol and Tucker, making out. Right in the middle of the room. Tongues and all.
Abby slammed the door to let them know she was there. They broke the lip contact and turned to look at her, but didn’t even have the decency to fly apart in embarrassment.
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