by K. C. Enders
I’m so caught up in enjoying these two hovering over me, I miss it when my mom’s tirade comes to a close. “…Lisbeth are you even listening to me?”
“No. I stopped a bit ago. So, Bliss Bridal is where you got the dress? I’ll consult with them for the color.”
“I have your dress here at my house, you’ll just have to make it work. You can pay me for it when you pick it up—” At her house? As if I didn’t grow up there. But it has never been home to me. Never.
“Yeah, no. Sorry, I’ll—” Is she for real? “I’ll see you Saturday.” I’m so over this mess.
“The rehearsal is on—” Can’t do it.
I disconnect the call, throw back the bourbon and turn to my sister of choice. “Shit. Wanna go shopping?”
Turns out, being a little bit buzzed is a great way to shop with Gracyn. Loaded down with dresses in the most boring shade of pink you could even imagine, I pull Gracyn into the dressing room with me. Much as I love my privacy, I need her in here with me.
“What the fuck is that?” She picks a dress from the hook and looks at it like it has personally offended her. “Nope. Not that one.” She rifles through my maybes and pulls four more dresses out, chucking them in the corner. “Those are nos too.”
Perfectly satisfied with herself, Gracyn rolls her hand at the remaining dresses in a “get a move on” gesture.
Miraculously, I find two dresses that look good enough. And while I don’t love the color, I’m stuck with it. Thank God for small favors—it at least complements my hair and skin tone.
I plop down on the chair opposite the fainting couch where Gracyn is laid out and put my feet up on the end.
“What do you think? Which one?” She offers me a Twizzler from the package she pulled from her purse. I grab two, because they’re Twizzlers.
“Any one of those look fine on you. Just pick one.”
I check the price tags and they are all way more than I want to spend. I shrug, not really excited about any of these options.
Gracyn chucks me the bag of candy and stands. “Hang on a minute.”
Six of the strawberry-flavored twists later, she comes back and trades the candy for a dress. Heaving a sigh, I push myself up and look at what she brought me.
It’s pretty. Like really pretty. Off the shoulder, rouched bodice, and a fitted skirt that ends just below my knee. It’s similar in style to the dress I wore when Aidan asked me to move in—the first time.
It fits perfectly and looks drop-dead gorgeous.
“Where’s the price tag?” I can’t find it no matter which way I twist.
“At the register. It fell off when I grabbed it out of the rack. I think it was like eighty bucks?” She’s doing her shifty thing again. “So, that’s the one. Let’s get out of here and get something to eat.”
“G, don’t lie to me.”
Hands on her hips, attitude in full swing, Gracyn turns and pins me with a look.
“Fine. Francie and the bar boys gave me a wad of cash to make sure you got something beautiful that would knock your mom and Maryse on their asses.” She puts her hand up cutting off my protest. “We all know you’re all about doing everything yourself, but just take it this time. Really. Strut into that wedding looking like a rock star with your beautiful man and let them know—rub it in their fucking faces—that you got your Prince Charming.”
Chapter 33
Lis
To celebrate finding something fantastic to wear to the wedding, and mostly because we are out of Twizzlers at this point, Gracyn and I head to the bistro. We grab a couple of seats at the bar, and order a shit-ton of food. Sangria, fried calamari, goat cheese and tomato bruschetta, eggplant au gratin—and tiramisu. The dress is forgiving, so thankfully this splurge won’t even matter.
“So, thank you, G—for today. I hate shopping unless you make me.”
“Lis, you hate shopping regardless. God, you hate doing anything that’s just for you. Seriously, be selfish once in a while. It’s okay, you know.”
“Yeah, I feel like I’ve gotten better at it—maybe? How are you doing?”
I scoop some eggplant onto some garlic toast, garlic and spices bursting in the air. “You miss me or are you liking living alone?”
“Mmm, I’m alright. I miss you always, you know that. It’d be nice to find another roommate though. I hate that you’re still paying rent and don’t even live there.”
Gracyn grabs a fork and divides the plate of calamari in half, leaving a huge gap between the piles.
“Yeah. I hate that I’m not paying for anything with Aidan right now. He keeps telling me not to worry about it, but it’s killing me, being dependent.” I reach past her for the lemon and squeeze it on my half of the calamari.
I lean back in my seat and look out the front windows, watching people go by. There are couples walking hand in hand, families getting ice cream from next door. There is love out there and my friend needs to find some.
“So, what about Gavin? Heard from him?”
The eye roll she gives me is epic—Olympic quality.
“And how would I hear from him, hmm? No contact. That’s—you know what? Forget it. He was fun, a fling. Just leave it alone already, please? Please?”
“Someday I’m going to get you drunk enough to spill. Are you dating at all right now?”
She grumps a no into her wine glass and grabs a lemon-less ring of squid, popping it into her mouth.
I shake my head and go back to staring out the windows, and watch as a girl crossing the street stops right in the middle. A car screeches to a halt, the driver yelling at her. She doesn’t seem to notice, focused intently on something in front of the gelato place next door.
“Holy shit, what is she doing?”
Gracyn’s head pops up just as the chick waves off the driver and dashes the rest of the way across.
“Weird. Hey, I’ll be right back, I need to check when I’m working again.” And she bolts for the back room with her phone clutched tightly to her chest. She’s so making my head spin. I swirl the deep red wine around my glass, lost in thought.
“Hey, can I get a margarita, heavy on the tequila? Rocks and salt, please.”
The girl from the street drops her clutch on the bar and slides into the seat next to me. Her phone vibrates inside the clutch, stops and starts in again. She pulls it out, swiping the screen angrily.
“There’s nothing you can say that will make this right, so stop. I don’t—” The last thing I want to do is listen to her phone call, but she’s right there. And pissed. “—no, you do you. It’s fine, I’ll figure something out and get my shit out.” She disconnects and tosses her phone on the bar.
She drains half her drink in one gulp and drops her glass back down on the bar. Gracyn wiggles back into her seat on the other side of me and looks back and forth from me to the girl with her eyebrows up in her hairline.
“Sorry, y’all didn’t need to hear my mess.” She slams down the rest of her drink and rattles the ice at the bartender. “Just keep ’em coming, sugar.”
As she downs the second margarita, tension seeps out of her and sanity finds its way back in. And we all realize that Gracyn and I are just sitting there, watching this poor girl’s shit show unfold.
She looks from me to Gracyn to me once again, empty glass and back up to me again.
“Wow. Um, sorry. Really.” She reaches out her hand. “I’m Kate, and honestly, I’m not a psycho, I just… Holy shit, my day has gone to hell in a hurry.”
Her Southern twang from earlier is working its way out of her voice, like she’s willing it to go away. She slides her glass toward the edge of the bar and taps the rim as the bartender looks over.
“You gonna be alright? That’s a lot of tequila,” Gracyn asks.
“I don’t know that there’s enough tequila in the world to take care of this day. Month, really. Shit.” She shakes her head and smiles. Then the giggles start, and by the time she’s worked up to a full-on laugh, the last thin
g I expect are the tears.
Not laughing tears, but the real ones.
“Kate, are you okay?” I hand her a wad of cocktail napkins and slide her water glass closer. “What happened?”
“Oh, my Lawrt.” She dabs at her mascara, not smudging it in the least. It’s a skill that I absolutely do not possess.
She looks out the window and sighs. “I’m a walking soap opera. I was early, meeting my boyfriend here for dinner. I’m never early, y’all. Never. And I guess he was banking on that, because”—she swallows hard and stares at the ceiling until she gets herself together again—“because I found him making out with his boyfriend at the gelato place next door.”
My hand flies to my mouth, trying desperately to hold in the shock. Just as the words whiz through my brain, I hear Gracyn bark out, “Well shit, Lis, you don’t have the worst breakup story anymore.”
The silence is deafening for all of ten seconds before Kate’s laugh fills the bistro bar and her perfectly preserved mascara runs down her face.
Gracyn dumps the rest of her sangria down her throat and I can’t hold it back anymore. The laughter bubbles out between my fingers, still firmly clamped over my mouth. We’re for sure making a scene.
“I’m so sorry,” I squeak out, “so sorry. It’s not funny, but—”
“Oh, it’s funny,” Kate spits out. “It just fucking sucks. I need to find a new place, too, now.” Sighing, she wipes at her eyes and mumbles, “Fuck.”
“Sorry, again.” Nudging Gracyn with my elbow, I ask—silently—and she agrees—less silently.
“I’m looking for a new roommate. I’m Gracyn and this is Lis. She just left me for the love of her life.”
“Are you serious? Because that would be amazing.” Kate leans over me to Gracyn. “I teach kindergarten, well, I start next month, but I can prepay rent until then. I don’t want you thinking I’m gonna mooch or flake or anything. When—how soon can I move in? God, I don’t ever want to see that asshole again. Can you believe I moved up here to be with him? Shoulda known a fine dressing, pretty Southern boy wanting to move closer to the fashion district was too good to be true.”
She’s killing me, all quick wit and Southern drawl. Kate pulls out her phone and shows us a picture. Pretty is most definitely the word for him. His hair is not just styled, but coiffed. His smile is all veneers and the boy is sporting seersucker shorts and original Penguin polo that so needs to be a size larger. I think I saw in Urban Dictionary that it’s referred to as a smedium.
“Isn’t Aidan covering part of fashion week?”
Nodding through my last gulp of sangria, Kate shifts her gaze to me. “Is that your man?”
I show her the picture I took of him at the beach. Shirtless, scruffy, and rugged. Holding his hair out of his eyes and a hint of his crooked tooth where he’s biting his lip.
I love this picture the way he loves the one of me from the reflecting pool. “Yeah, he’s a photographer…very straight, I swear.”
“Mmm—you hope.”
Gracyn is shocked silent before busting out laughing, covering up my giggled If you only knew.
Chapter 34
Aidan
She’s not answered one phone call. Not returned a single text. No one’s heard from her or seems to know where she is. She’s disappeared.
I’m not sure how I became the one in charge of finding her, but I am. Lorna’s been my best friend for years. I didn’t think twice about being there for her and Michael after his diagnosis. Didn’t flinch at helping her through the end. But I’m three thousand miles away. In another country. I can’t just drop everything and go ’round her flat looking for her.
I’m not sure what else I can do.
For Lisbeth, though, there’s no question. She’s been working her hours at the hospital during the day. Shadowing the nursing staff, and loving every minute of it. But she’s still putting in as many hours at the bistro as she can each week.
As hardworking as she is, she’s just as stubborn. I’ve told her the rent is paid. The bills taken care of. I’ve got us covered with this flat. I want to help alleviate some of her stress, take the load off and give her the opportunity to finish her school and training without having to worry about paying day-to-day bills.
I laugh to myself as I fix her coffee in the huge travel mug she likes. She takes hers to the hospital with her in the wee hours of the morning, so I bought a second one. One for me to treat and spoil her with.
Gracyn pulls up to the curb, just as I lock the door behind me.
“Thank you, for doing this.” I settle into my seat, and pinch the travel mug between my knees pulling the safety belt across me.
“No problem. I love that you’re taking care of my girl.” The drive to the hospital is slow with traffic at this hour. “We should get done at the same time. You don’t need to sit at the bar all night.”
Sliding my sunglasses down, I take a sip of coffee and shake my head.
“Erm, no. She’s my girl.” I wink at Gracyn forgetting that she can’t see past my aviators. “And since she insists on working so much, I’ll at least spend the evening in her presence.”
“Good answer. Why—forget it. Stupid question.”
“Why, what?” The red light gives her a moment to look at me.
“I was going to ask why she’s killing herself working—what? Seventy hours a week between the bistro and the hospital when she could just accept some help? But we both know that she’s not wired that way.” She brushes away her question.
The car behind us honks and Gracyn turns her attention back to the road. She pulls into the car park and drops me by Lis’ car.
“Thank you, Aidan. Thank you for seeing how amazing Lis is. Thank you for loving her the way she deserves.” Her voice is quiet and her knuckles pale as she grips the steering wheel tightly.
I wait for her to face me, but Gracyn doesn’t break her stare out the windshield.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you for taking care of her until I found her. She’s lucky to have you for her friend.”
I lean against the trunk of Lis’ car to wait for her, and as I watch Gracyn drive away, I swear I see her swiping at a tear.
The look of confusion on Lisbeth’s face turns to sparkling eyes and smiling face when she sees me leaning against her car.
“What are you doing here?” She hikes her bag higher on her shoulder as she steps into my arms.
“I’m here to take care of you.” Much as it pains me, I keep our kiss chaste, polite for her professional workplace. “You’re changed already for the bistro?” I take Lis’ bag and keys, and hand her the coffee.
“Yeah. I had to wash off the hospital germs before I go serve food and drinks. God, can you imagine?”
I settle her in the passenger seat and the relief washes over her as she takes her first tentative sip of coffee.
“You’re incredible, Aidan. I needed this so bad.”
I smile at the little humming sound she makes while she enjoys the moment to relax, to let the caffeine work its way into her system. To allow herself to be taken care of. She’s getting better at it, but I want to do so much more for her.
“How was it today?”
“Good. It was really good. I learn so much every time I’m there.” She sinks into the seat, head back, eyes closed. She needs this. Her alarm goes off before five o’clock every morning and she’s been running for the past eight hours.
As she relaxes into a quick nap, I reach over to stop the travel mug from sliding out of her hands. I tuck it between my thighs and reach back to take her hand in mine.
I need to check my schedule, between McBride’s and my expanding photography commitments, to make sure I can do this for her as much as possible. Make sure she has what she needs.
She blinks away the fog as I park and open her door. I offer Lis my hand, and she climbs out stretching the rest of the nap away.
“Do you need me to help you set up for the night?” I run my hand d
own her ponytail, giving it a little tug at the end.
“No, I’ll be fine.” She grabs at her coffee and leans in to brush a kiss across my lips. “Thank you, so much. I’ll have G drop me off when we’re done. But will you bring my bag in for me when you get home?” Home. It is home with her things strewn about.
“I will, but I’ll be back to fetch you home.” I stop her protest with a quick kiss to the lips that deepens into the promise of more. When I know she’s good and breathless, unable to protest, I pull back. “Let me take care of you, Lis.” My lips brushing hers with each word.
It’s hard won, but her whispered “okay” is the only thing I want to hear. With a final kiss, I send her on her way and head home.
I throw her scrubs into the washer, well aware that she likes to wash them separately to keep the hospital cooties away from our other things.
While I wait, I run around the flat straightening things and tidying up. I set a fresh towel on the edge of the tub, place her favorite candle on the windowsill. I straighten the bed and grab her robe to hang by the tub so she can wrap herself in it before she falls exhausted into bed.
As soon as the dryer makes its awful buzz, I pull out her warm scrubs and hang them so they are ready for her in the morning.
Done with the domestic shit, I grab my rucksack and head back to have dinner with Lis, needing to carve out whatever time I can to spend with her.
Chapter 35
Lis
I catch Aidan watching me in the mirror as I swipe on a final coat of mascara. He’s laughing at my mascara face, the one everyone makes—brows up, but lids half closed, mouth open, tongue out.
“Would you stop? Making me laugh is not gonna move this process along.” I screw the tube of black goop closed and chuck it in my makeup drawer.
I am doing my very best at dragging my feet. This wedding is the last thing I want to do on this gorgeous Saturday. I just don’t want to go.