Not So Easy (The NOT Series Book 4)

Chapter 16

Sunday morning,we skipped our breakfast meet up to gather at Becca’s place to work on Megan’s wedding. Becca had been easing back into work over the last few weeks, and she certainly didn’t need our help, but Megan wanted to include all of us since we were all bridesmaids.

Her half-sister, Cassie O’Malley—who she discovered only two years ago—was the maid of honor, but she was a college student out of town for the summer and not able to join us in person. Megan included her through a video call, but she’d had to go after a half hour on the phone. Something about hiking and losing signal. As a devoted city girl, I did not see the attraction in climbing rocks or walking in ugly boots through dirt and trees.

But, to each her own.

Most of our meet ups had been held at Becca’s since the baby arrived. There was no reason to make her pack up Noah and come to us when we could go to her. The one time we all met for lunch, she’d left him with her mom and the rest of us whined about not getting our baby time. That made the location for future gatherings an obvious choice.

“I just don’t like the idea of dragging my dress halfway up my thigh so a man can remove an elastic band that serves no purpose.” Megan’s perfect little nose scrunched with distaste. “I get that it’s tradition, but I’m not doing it.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Becca assured her. “So we’re a go with the ceremony outside, and then everyone moves into the banquet hall. This means we won’t need the upstairs bar for cocktails in between, since they can have the reception set up and ready for guests immediately.”

“I like that better,” Megan said, swaying back and forth as she held Noah. “Not that the bar upstairs isn’t beautiful, but we aren’t cocktail party people. I want guests to feel relaxed and to enjoy the food and dancing right after the ceremony.”

“What about the pictures?” I asked. “If we do them before the ceremony, Ryan will see you in your dress.”

“That would be bad luck,” Josie said.

Lindsey scoffed. “That’s a superstition that needs to go along with the garter crap.”

Megan looked conflicted. “I don’t know. I’d rather not tempt fate. Can we offer hors d’oeuvres during the pictures?”

Becca tapped the pen on her notepad. “We can do anything you want. I’ll add that to the caterer’s schedule, and we’ll take the pictures right after the ceremony while the guests are getting settled in the hall.”

I needed to scope out picture locations so we wouldn’t be wandering around the day of trying to find the right spots. Since I had an in with the guy who ran the place, I’d set up another visit.

Yes, I was in the wedding, but I had no intention of letting someone else shoot those all-important pictures. Another photographer had been hired to handle the ceremony and reception, but I was handling the ones in between.

“We can knock them out pretty quickly once I map out the locations.”

“I trust you,” the bride said, handing the sleeping baby off to Josie. “Though I’d really like one in that gazebo. And the library. Oh, I wonder if we can get into the Speakeasy room?”

Those were all locations I’d already considered. “I’m way ahead of you.”

The next fifteen minutes were spent discussing the menu, and the program for the DJ to follow. Wedding party entrance, food, the bouquet toss—because some traditions were worth keeping—and the cutting of the cake. Then the party would kick off in full force.

Becca set the notepad and pen on the coffee table. “I’ll pass all of this on to Amanda for finalizing. Don’t forget about the fittings on Tuesday. We meet at the dress shop at five thirty.”

Oh crap. “I thought that was on Thursday.”

“No, it’s Tuesday. Didn’t you put it on your calendar?”

Checking my phone, I pulled up the week ahead and there it was. Five thirty on Tuesday. Dress fitting.

“Can we move just mine? I made plans for six o’clock.”

“Are you doing a late session?” Josie asked.

If it was work, they’d let me off the hook, but I couldn’t lie. “No, I have a date.”

“With Calvin?” Megan asked.

“Yeah. I’m really sorry. He asked me to dinner and my brain glitched and I said I was free on Tuesday.” Feeling like a jerk for putting a man before my friends, especially when it was something for the wedding, I took back my request. “I’ll tell him we have to go a different night.”

Becca looked at Megan. “It’s up to you. I can move her appointment with no problem.”

“Let her go,” Lindsey said. “We’ve all seen how good he is for her. She deserves this.”

Where did that come from? “What do you mean he’s good for me?”

The baby started to fuss so Josie rose to her feet and walked him around, bouncing as she went. “You can’t pretend you don’t see it.”

“See what?”

“How he makes your life easier,” Megan said.

The man was renovating my house. Whatever contractor I’d hired would have done the same. It’s not as if I’d planned to do it myself before Calvin came to my rescue.

“He’s doing a job I’m paying him to do. How is that making my life easier?”

“He’s done more than that,” Becca said. “Like help get your car fixed. Fought for that permit so you can have a studio in the house.”

“Came up with the French doors idea,” Lindsey continued. “Bent over backwards to make the house exactly how you want it.”

Focusing on the last statement, I said, “That’s what I’m paying him to do.”

“Don’t you remember all those other contractors? The ones who wanted to charge too much or claimed that what you wanted couldn’t be done?” Josie made a lap around the kitchen island while shifting the baby up onto her shoulder. “Has Calvin said no to any of your requests? Heck, he even found you money you didn’t know was there. Some contractors might have walked off with those boxes and you’d never have known.”

We’d talked about the buried money when I’d first arrived. My conversation with Aunt Jackie the day before hadn’t taken long. She’d laughed as Dad had, and told me the same thing. The money was mine.

“I doubt all other contractors are criminals.”

“Not all,” Lindsey said, “but she’s right. Calvin not only didn’t keep it, he brought in a metal detector to make sure they didn’t miss anything.” Brows arched, she added, “He did that for you. That man would do anything for you.”

The conversation with Mom and Dad replayed in my head. I wanted a man who would make my life easier, not harder. With every fiber of my being, I thought that would never happen. Calvin definitely challenged me at times, but he also made my life easier in countless ways.

I stared at the toes of my Nike sneakers. How did my friends notice this when I didn’t? And how was the most perfect guy I’d ever met still available after all these years? More importantly, what was I going to do with him?

“I’m rescheduling Donna’s fitting, then?” Becca asked.

“Yes,” the other three said in unison.

Annoyed, I crossed my arms. “Don’t I get a say?”

“You already asked if we could move it,” Becca reminded her. “I’ll make the call first thing in the morning. I assume you’re free on Thursday at the same time?”

I quickly checked my calendar again to be sure. “Yes.”

She reached to the coffee table to make the note. “That’s settled then. Now it’s time for little man to eat.”

“Speaking of your house,” Lindsey said, “when will the renovations be finished? Aren’t you moving in soon?”

“I move in the last week of August, but the completion date is still up in the air. Calvin tells me it’s on schedule, but that’s all I know. Early on, he mentioned middle of October, so I’m not expecting to have the house to myself until then.”

Buying the house had taken ten years, and I planned to live there for the rest of my life. What was a few months of construction if the result meant having the house exactly how I wanted it?

I couldn’t get past the do anything for me comment. Was that true, or would he go above and beyond for any client? His business depended upon creating happy customers who would either give him a good review or recommend him to others. Preferably both.

Yes, we were casually seeing each other outside of the project and we had a history. But they were making some major assumptions about a guy they barely knew. I didn’t remember any of them spending a ton of time with him on the fourth. At least not without me around.

They were seeing what they wanted to see because they wanted me to be happy. Maybe I could be happy with Calvin, but part of me said don’t get too excited. There was still a chance that once the house was finished we’d go our separate ways, and then I’d rarely see him outside of neighborhood events.

The thought made me grumpy, which was all the more reason to rein this romance-y stuff in now, before I lost my head entirely. Did I like Calvin? Yes. Did Calvin seem to like me? Yes. Were we on our way to a happily ever after like what my friends had recently found?

The jury was still out on that one.

“Living in a construction zone for that long is going to suck.” Lindsey passed Becca a burping cloth from the end table beside her. “How far along are they right now?”

Another good question. “I don’t know. I’ve been too busy to check in much, and Calvin wouldn’t let me go inside the day he gave me the money boxes.”

“Wouldn’t let you go inside? I don’t know if I want to hire him if he does that.” Megan and Ryan had decided planning a wedding was enough stress for one year and put off the house hunting until next spring. They were still determined to find a fixer-upper.

“Maybe he doesn’t want clients to freak out when things are only half done,” I said, defending him. “I’d be worried if I walked in to find wires hanging from the ceiling and walls still half open.”

The work had been in full swing for only three months. This project was more than making a few cosmetic changes. The renovations were major, and knowing how much the house mattered to me, I could understand him not wanting me to see it in rougher shape than how I found it.

“He said I can go in on Friday so I’ll let you know what I find. So long as I can see it coming together, I’ll be happy.”

“We expect a full report,” Josie said, taking a seat beside Lindsey on the loveseat. “On the house and the date.”

There likely wouldn’t be much to say about either. “Yinz need to lower your expectations on the date part. This is just casual for now.”

“For now,” Lindsey repeated, exchanging a glance with the others,.

Arguing with them would get me nowhere so I held my tongue and let the discussion roll on to other topics. Ones that had nothing to do with my love life, or lack thereof.

I was never goingto forgive them for this.

For two days, I’d been a nervous wreck. One minute everything was in perspective. Calvin and I were spending time together. No big deal. The next minute words like forever and in love and my person bounced around in my head.

The girls had planted these seeds, and I was the one choking on them.

I couldn’t even call them for a sanity check, since they were all at the dress fitting. Technically, this would have been a good time to get them on the phone all at the same time, but I wouldn’t ruin their evening by making it about me. Skipping out on them was bad enough.

I should have rescheduled the date. Or canceled it entirely. What was the point? Nothing was going to come of this, just as nothing had ever come of any of my relationships. Not that Calvin and I were in a relationship. We could be. Maybe. Eventually. But not likely.

The buzzer letting me know he was downstairs went off and I froze in place.

Did I buzz him in and let him come up, or should I meet him downstairs? I’d stayed up late the night before cleaning every inch of the apartment down to the baseboards just in case he did come in. Because that’s what a man checked out when he visited a woman’s apartment for the first time.

Her baseboards.

Seconds ticked by as I debated what to do. Finally, I grabbed my purse, tossed my keys inside, and locked the door behind me. My apartment was on the second floor so I took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. In the building foyer, I spotted Calvin through the thick glass door.

Butterflies burst to life in my stomach. Before Sunday, I saw this dinner as a fun opportunity to spend time with a guy I liked. Now I felt almost annoyed. Like he’d snuck up on me when I wasn’t looking and attempted to swipe my heart right out of my chest.

Who said he could do that?

“Hi there,” he said as I stepped through the door. “You look good.”

This was the fourth outfit I’d put on, and the only reason I stuck with the dark jeans, burgundy off the shoulder top, and knee-high boots was because with every change I grew more annoyed with myself. I’d also run out of time to try another.

“Thanks, you too.”

His dress shirt was a similar shade of burgundy and showed off his broad shoulders to perfection. Adding his dark jeans, we looked as if we’d planned our outfits together. A sudden urge to run back upstairs and change overwhelmed me. A sure sign of my growing insanity.

“Where are we going?” I asked, more snippy than necessary.

“I made a reservation at Kyoto Grill since you mentioned you like Japanese.”

“When did I mention that?”

“A few weeks ago.”

He remembered an off-handed comment I made weeks ago and took that into consideration for our date. A man who listened, remembered, and took action? There was no way.

I tugged my purse onto my shoulder and offered the best version of a smile I could muster. “Sounds good.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, astute as ever. “If you want something else, we can do that. We might have to wait for a table, though.”

“No, Japanese is fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

Was it?Because I did not sound fine.

Calvin watched me with concern. “You’re sure?”

Teeth locked, I nodded. “Where did you park?” The big white truck was nowhere to be seen.

“Right here.” He stepped off the curb next to a black sedan and opened the passenger door.

The loose tether holding my nerves together frayed to a dangerous degree. “That’s a Mercedes.”

With impressive patience, he said, “Yes, it is.”

“You have a Mercedes.”

“Yes, I do.”

“But, what about the truck?”

“My work truck? You’d rather go on a date in my work truck?”

If I didn’t get a grip, this man was never going to talk to me again, let alone want to go out with me. And as freaked out as I was, that was something I wanted him to keep doing.

“No,” I said, sounding as rational as possible. “I guess I thought the truck is what you drive all the time.”

He leaned an arm along the top of the door. “You’ve only ever seen me at work so that makes sense. I bought this about six years ago. She isn’t new but thanks to German engineering, she still runs like it.”

I had no doubt the car ran beautifully. Owning a luxury car wasn’t on my to-do list, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate a well-made machine. Which seemed like a good way to describe the car’s owner, as well.

Very well made.

Relaxing, I stepped around him and settled into the passenger seat. Dark tan leather eased beneath me, soft and welcoming, and I reached for the seat belt while Calvin walked around to the other side. Admiring the streamlined dash and pretty wood accents, I attempted to ground myself in reality.

We were two old friends getting to know each other again. Spending time with a man who made me feel seen and heard wasn’t the worst way to pass an evening. So long as I kept that in mind, whatever was happening here couldn’t get too far off the rails.