Chapter 31
Thursday
Brooklyn
“I think Tanner owns the apartment beneath his or something too,” Matt said.
“That doesn’t really answer my question.” I paused on the footbridge and leaned on the railing to look at the water. A few fish swam by. “Is this even like…to code?”
Matt laughed. “Probably not. At least he took the tarp off. Usually it’s covered. I thought there were sharks under there for the longest time.”
“Hm.” I watched another colorful fish swim by. “No sharks. But it’s very cool.”
“A little flashy if you ask me,” Matt said.
I laughed. “Come on. I can’t wait to see the rest.” I pulled him across the bridge and knocked on the apartment door.
Nigel threw the door open. “Happy Thanksgiving!” He was wearing an apron that said “Kiss the Chef” with a little turkey stitched to the side. He was also wearing an Indian headdress, which was a pretty bold move. The feathers trailing down his back almost hit the floor. None of it made any sense over top of his lederhosen.
Matt shook his head. “What are you wearing?”
Nigel adjusted his headdress. “I couldn’t remember if you wanted a traditional Thanksgiving or a modern day one. I forgot to write it down. So I did a mix. This is my war bonnet.”
Matt shook his head again. “You maybe shouldn’t be wearing that, man.”
“Why? It’s a celebration! And this is a sacred headdress.”
“Not for you though.”
“It’s very sacred to me,” Nigel said. “I keep it with all my bonnets in locked boxes. I treat all my relics with respect.”
A strange smell suddenly hit me. My nose scrunched up and my stomach churned. Oh no. “Nigel, what are you cooking?” I took a deep breath through my mouth to try and calm my stomach.
“Like I said…it’s a mix between a traditional Thanksgiving and a modern day feast. So we have your classic turkey with all the fixings, including my world-famous biscuits. I even made a Jello mold which was all the rage in the 60s. One of my favorites. The dish. Not the era.” He shuddered. “And I also have the classics. Fresh hand-caught and butchered venison of course. A variety of fish. Cod and bass have been highlighted heavily. And eel. Those slippery devils were hard to catch. We also have an assortment of other wildfowl besides the turkey, fully plucked by yours truly. And so much corn. Corn bread, corn on the cob, corn off the cob, and corn porridge of course. There is no feast without a porridge if you ask me.”
Well, that explained the warring smells in the air. Especially the heavily highlighted fish courses. “Wow that sounds…yummy.”
Nigel smiled. “There’s a little something for everyone.” He straightened the straps of his apron, seeming to emphasis the “Kiss the Chef” written there. “I wanted it to be special for you, mademoiselle.”
“Thank you, Nigel.” I gave him a hug and kissed his cheek.
He was smiling ear to ear when I released him from the hug.
An alarm started going off.
“That’s the porridge! Hors d’oeuvres are circulating. Help yourself to a beverage. But don’t go into the wine cellar, it’s off limits. And Mr. Jacob is already in the other room waiting for you with the other guests.” He sprinted off.
Wait. Jacob? How did he get up here so fast?I must have heard him wrong. I shook my head. “There are a lot of smells in the air.”
“Are you okay?” Matt asked.
I nodded. The smells were making me super nauseous, but there was nothing left in my stomach to come up. “I think so.” I stared at one of the paintings on the wall that was covered with a sheet. “Why are all the pictures covered?”
“No idea,” Matt said. He grabbed my hand and started leading me down the hallway. “But usually there’s a lot more of them. And statues too.”
“Statues of what?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. They were all covered too. Tanner’s always doing renovations.”
We walked by the kitchen where Nigel was pulling something out of the oven. I held my breath. I’m sure the food was great. But it was way too many things going on at once. And he was lucky he wasn’t catching his headdress on fire.
We walked into the huge great room, with floor to ceiling windows that looked out at Central Park and the city. The sun was just setting, casting a beautiful glow over the city scape. But the decorations inside were just as breathtaking. There were white pumpkins and white candles in gold holders all over the room. And there was a huge white flocked Christmas tree that almost reached the ceiling. A white fur rug was wrapped around its base. It looked like it had just snowed in that corner of the room. There were little gold leaves hanging from the branches instead of Christmas ornaments. It was elegant and beautiful.
The open floor plan flowed into the dining room that had the biggest table I’d ever seen. It looked like one of those ones you’d see a king eating at, surrounded by all his loyal subjects. And there were several cornucopias on it. Actual cornucopias. I’d learned about them in school, but I’d never actual seen one before. Fresh fruit and vegetables poured out of them. The white candles and gold accents continued into this room too. But the real thing that brought everything together were the string lights stretching the length of the huge open floor plan. Strings of gold leaves and twinkle lights dipped from one side of the ceiling to the other. It somehow screamed Thanksgiving and Christmas all at once.
I swallowed hard. Maybe that was the point. Matt and I were originally supposed to get married around Christmas time. This tied everything together. But my eyes started watering at the twinkle lights. “It’s beautiful.”
“I know they were busy setting it up all day,” Matt said. “It’s perfect, huh?”
I smiled up at him. “So perfect.”
“Touchdown!” Jacob yelled. Jacob and Tanner were sitting on the couch watching football.
What the… We’d literally been standing in the entranceway. There was no way they’d passed us. And there were a million stairs they’d needed to climb.
“How are you two already up here?” Matt asked as he escorted me over to the huge white couch.
Jacob stood up on the couch and turned around. “The magic portal!”
Tanner laughed. “The stairs.”
“But Abuelo…”
“The stairs,” Tanner said again.
Jacob sighed like Tanner was exhausting him.
“We were standing in the hallway,” Matt said. “You didn’t pass us.”
Tanner shrugged. “We just beat you up here, I guess.”
“You’re on the 89th floor. That’s not possible. Is there another entrance to your apartment or something?”
“Ah yes, that makes sense.” Tanner nodded. “It was that one. I have many entrances to my apartment.”
“Just tell them about the portal, Abuelo…”
“How about you go play knights with your friends, little man?” Tanner handed Jacob one of his sticks.
“Okay.” Jacob jumped off the couch and ran over to Scarlett and Sophie who were sitting on the floor sipping juice boxes. He sat down between them and Scarlett handed him a juice box. The three of them did a cheers and all took sips.
It was the most adorable thing ever. Especially because Jacob was in a little suit and Scarlett and Sophie were both in frilly dresses.
“There you are,” Rob said and walked over to us.
“Hey, man,” Matt said.
Rob turned to him. “Oh, sorry, almost didn’t see you there. Congrats again.” Rob slapped him on the back and then turned to me. “A word, Brooklyn?”
“Ummm…” I really didn’t want a private word with Rob, because I was terrified of what he was going to say.
“I’ll go get us some drinks.” Matt lowered his hand from my back. “Is some ginger ale okay?”
“That’s perfect,” I said. But I cringed when he left me alone with Rob.
“You all set on your end?” Rob asked.
“What are you talking about?”
He laughed. “What do you mean what am I talking about? The prank, Sanders.”
“We’re not doing a prank,” I hissed.
“Yes we are. A classic Hunter Sanders mess around.”
“Stop saying that. I’m a Miller.”
“About to be a Caldwell, yadda yadda. I’m always calling you Sanders. This is going to be epic.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
An evil smile slowly spread across Rob’s face. “You’ll see. We really did a good job this time.”
“There is no we here!”
“Shhh, you don’t want anyone to know what we’re planning. Actually, wait, we need James to complete the original trio.” Rob turned around and whistled. “Yo, James!”
“Don’t you dare call James over here!” I hissed.
“Too late. He should be a part of it too. Like old times.”
“No old times. Just new times. New times that don’t involve inappropriate pranks. Do you not remember what happened last time?”
“You pretended to die because you were being overdramatic.”
“I was kidnapped!”
“See…all about the drama.”
“Robert Hunter, stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Everything!”
“Um…what’s up?” James asked as he walked up to us. He looked back and forth between us. “Is everything okay, Brooklyn?”
I was about to tell him no and that his brother was insane, but Rob cut me off.
“We’re golden.” Rob slapped him on the back. “We’re bringing back the pudding prank.”
James lowered his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“You know…the pudding prank. From our last Thanksgiving with Sanders. And this time it’s going to be even better.” His evil smile stretched across his face again.
“I know what pudding prank you’re referring to,” James said. “But you can’t be serious right now. It’s their rehearsal dinner, Rob.”
“Exactly.” Rob nodded. “So epic. I can’t wait to see Tanner’s dumb face covered in pudding.”
“Please make him stop,” I said to James. “He won’t listen to me. Maybe you can make him see reason.”
James shook his head. “Rob, this is completely inappropriate, even for you.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that, but I think you meant this is genius, even for me.” Rob smiled. “Just wait until you see the pudding.”
I groaned.
Rob rubbed his hands again. “I feel young again. Hunters Sanders mess arounds always do that for me.”
“Rob, I’m begging you. Not tonight. It’s my rehearsal dinner. And it’s my first Thanksgiving back with all you guys.”
“Exactly. It’ll be a night to remember. Thanks to all our hard planning.” He elbowed me in the side.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Sure.” He winked at me.
What was he talking about? “I didn’t. I’m not a part of this.”
“Of course you’re a part of this. Because you owed me that favor. And we decided this was how I was going to cash it in.”
“What favor?” James asked.
“When she screamed my name,” Rob said. “Did I never tell you about that?”
James shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. When did she scream your name?”
“When she was beneath me, begging me for more.” Rob raised his hand for a high five.
I shoved his arm back down. “False. That never happened. He pushed me into a dark room back in high school after betting me I wouldn’t scream his name. Of course I screamed his name. He was holding the door shut and I was terrified.”
Rob laughed. “I shoved her into a room with Matt. Definitely terrifying.”
“That wasn’t why. I didn’t even know he was there. I was just scared.”
“But you do owe me a favor. Facts are facts, Sanders.”
I sighed. “Why tonight, Rob?”
“Because I figured it was better than tomorrow night.”
Had he seriously considered doing this during my wedding instead? What the hell? “Don’t favors have expiration dates? It’s been 16 years, Rob.”
“Expiration dates? It’s not a gift card. It’s a promise.”
I pressed my lips together. I never liked breaking promises.
“This shit is really fucked up, Rob,” James said. “Can’t you just let this feud with Tanner go?”
“It’s not about Tanner. It’s so much bigger than that. You’re just not getting it.”
“Oh, I’m definitely not getting it,” James said. “You’re letting your beef with him ruin the rehearsal dinner of two of our best friends.”
I smiled. It was sweet of him to refer to me as one of his best friends.
“Ruin it?” Rob shook his head. “I’m making it a night to remember. Rehearsal dinners are always overshadowed and forgotten. But no one’s going to forget this shit.” He giggled. “So. Much. Pudding.”
“I still have nightmares from the last time,” I said. “I don’t want nightmares about my rehearsal dinner.”
“But Matt’s not going to be mad about this one. So it’s cool.”
“It’s like you don’t know Matt at all.” I stared at him.
James laughed. “She’s right. You know he has a terrible temper. And Tanner is one of his best friends.”
“But not his best. That’s me. This ends tonight.”
“Rob…”
“Sanders.” He put his hands on my shoulders. “We’re all haunted by what happened 16 years ago. This will erase all that with a good memory. I’m doing this for you. For all of us.”
It was sweet. In a weird way. “Wouldn’t my rehearsal dinner just being a rehearsal dinner erase all that hurt?”
Rob shook his head. “Didn’t you hear what I said about rehearsal dinners always being forgotten? This will make it unforgettable. Shit, Matt’s coming back over. Everyone be cool!” He tapped James’ chest with the back of his hand even though James was just standing there. “Not a word about this, Sanders. It has to be a surprise. And if you say anything, you’ll just owe me another favor. And I’ll cash in tomorrow instead.”
Good God.The only thing worse than today was tomorrow. “I hate you.”
“Love you too,” Rob said.
James shook his head. “This is a really bad idea, Rob. Just call it off.”
“It is a great idea, you’re right.”
Was Rob hard of hearing or something? Or did he just refuse to listen to reason?
“Here you go,” Matt said and handed me my glass of ginger ale. “What were you guys talking about? It looked like a very heated discussion.” He smiled, not at all aware that Rob was turning our rehearsal dinner into a shit show. Almost literally.
“Just reminiscing over the good old days,” Rob said.
Definitely not.We were reminiscing over one of the worst days of my life. We were supposed to be erasing all that today and tomorrow. That was the reason we’d chosen the day after Thanksgiving for our wedding. And Rob was just bringing it all back up.
“You look a little pale, baby.” Matt whispered. “Are you feeling alright?”
I felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach. But not because of morning sickness. I looked over at Rob.
He pretended to zip his mouth shut and then threw away the key. Which made no sense.
But I did believe his threat. If I didn’t let him do this tonight, he’d just do it tomorrow. And Rob was not going to ruin my wedding day. And I honestly kind of understood where he was coming from. Emphasis on kind of. I wanted to erase all the hurt, just like he’d said. But did he really have to make me promise not to tell Matt? I didn’t want to keep secrets from him. I’d learned my lesson the last time.
I cleared my throat. “Everything is great,” I said.
Rob smiled. “Yeah it is. And about to be better.”
“You know what I love?” I said. “Telling people stuff. Being open and honest. Best friends shouldn’t have secrets.”
“I agree,” Rob said. But didn’t offer any more information.
Robert Hunter was going to be the death of me.
A waiter walked up holding a tray of hors d’oeuvres.
I went to grab one.
“No thanks,” Rob said and grabbed my hand and lowered it. “We’re saving our appetite for the main course.” He leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Remember last time when people started throwing up? It’s better if our stomachs are empty so we don’t embarrass ourselves.”
Fuck me. I was already nauseous. This was going to be a disaster.