Chapter Sixty-Two
Jessica
Even though I didn’t work at the bakery on Saturday or Sunday, the weekend flew by. I’d been so busy, I didn’t even have time to go to church.
I hadn’t realized just how much there was to do to prepare for a wedding—even a backyard one. And even more to do for the reception afterward.
And while I was grateful for everyone’s help, it also meant Alan and I hadn’t had a minute alone together to pursue any follow-up activities of our date night.
Stolen kisses and small squeezes were all we got.
I’d met with the caterer and finalized the menu while Alan had been out of town last week but hadn’t made a decision about whether or not to serve alcohol.
I knew my parents wouldn’t approve, but they weren’t paying for it, so I wanted Alan to have the final say. Although I suspected he would be respectful of my parents’ wishes.
It turned out it wasn’t even a choice since Lainey didn’t have a liquor license. I was secretly glad because it felt like it’d have been just one more thing we’d have to worry about.
But then Alan asked me, “What about later when we get home? Do you want to have some champagne? Or something else?”
“I don’t know? I’ve never drank before.”
“You haven’t? Do you want to try it? Can you even—since you’re nursing Ruthie?”
I tilted my head as I considered his questions, then replied, “As long as I pump and dump, Ruthie will be fine. And yeah, I think I do want to try it.”
“Great, I’ll pick up a bottle this week and have it in the fridge for when we get home.”
Wow, I was going to be getting married and having my first drink all in the same day. And, fingers crossed, my first sexual experience that wasn’t missionary.
We were getting married on Saturday but decided not to leave for Massachusetts until the following Tuesday. We thought it’d be nice just to have a few days alone together without having to do anything or be anywhere.
“Not that we’re going to be doing a lot at the Cape,” he’d said. “But there’s the matter of getting there.”
“I agree. It will be nice just to take it easy for a few days before flying with an infant.”
Hopefully, taking it easy included lying around naked most of the time.
The Tuesday before the wedding, he came into the bakery with a FedEx envelope and a distressed look on his face.
I came around the work station located in the middle of the kitchen and put my hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”
“I just got the prenup from my attorney.”
“Is there a problem?”
“No,” he replied reluctantly, then burst out, “Actually, yeah. Yeah, there is.”
“What’s wrong?”
He let out a flustered sigh. “I don’t like the idea of a prenup. We decided we weren’t going to go into this planning on getting divorced. A prenup seems to contradict that.”
He had a point, but still…
“You need to protect yourself, Alan. You have a lot more to lose than me if this doesn’t work out.”
“I made sure you’re always taken care of, so you’d never have to worry about money. Honestly, you’d probably come out better than if we didn’t have one. But I don’t know… it still doesn’t feel right.”
I stroked his arm up and down.
“I think it’s the smart thing to do. If we never need it, then it’s no big deal that we have it. But if we do need it… we’ll be glad I signed it.”
He slowly nodded his head. “You’re right, but I still don’t like it. You should have an attorney look at it, just so you know you’ll be protected, too.”
I quickly glanced at the document. There was a lot of lawyer-speak that I didn’t understand, but he was right. In the event we divorced, I’d never have to work. He’d been very generous in making sure I was financially secure. And he set up a trust for Ruthie.
That was all I needed to see.
I pulled a pen from my apron pocket and smiled at him. “I trust you,” I said then signed it right there.
~~~~
The next day, Jade came into the bakery after closing time.
Kristy and Lainey were busy making croissants while I finished scanning the last of the found recipes.
I wanted to make sure I got that project done before I headed out on my honeymoon.
After all the help Lainey had given me, I owed her that.
“How’re things going with Alan?” Jade asked as she grabbed a freshly baked roll and sat on a stool at the work station. “Any more hot dates?”
I’d given the ladies the tea last Saturday about how things had gone with Alan. I kind of felt bad for kissing and telling, but I’d needed to thank Kristy for all her good advice. And there was no way they’d let it go with just my simple thank you.
I told Jade, “Unfortunately, we haven’t found time to be alone since then.”
“Well, fortunately,” Lainey observed, “you only have three more nights before you get married.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. There’s still so much to do!”
Jade dramatically swiped her cheek with her left hand and said, “Oh, hey… speaking of weddings…”
The three of us must have all noticed the sparkling new diamond on her ring finger at the same time because we squealed in unison, then Lainey grabbed her sister’s hand.
“Oh my god! When did this happen?”
Jade grinned from ear-to-ear. “He surprised me last night. He took me to Maxfield’s, saying he wanted to celebrate being cleared to go back to full duty—which turned out to be a big, fat lie, by the way. He’s still working the desk.”
“So, how did he ask?”
“Was the ring in your champagne glass?”
“Did he have the servers hide it in the dessert?”
Jade laughed. “No, he didn’t ask at the restaurant. That was just a ruse to get me out of the house so his parents could come over and spread out rose petals and light candles.”
Lainey pursed her lips. “Oh, his parents, huh? I guess having someone with recent experience doing exactly that was a bad idea. And they just left open flames at your house without a second thought?”
“First off, he knew you’d blab.”
Lainey’s mouth dropped open like she was offended. “I would never!”
Both Kristy and Jade looked at her with raised brows, so she conceded, “Okay, maybe. But you’re my only sister!”
“Which is why Brian didn’t ask for your help. And as far as the open flame—you’re right, probably not the safest, but the candles weren’t burned down very far, so I don’t think they were unattended for very long.”
Kristy came to Jade’s defense. “And the place didn’t burn down, so it all worked out.”
Lainey’s only response to that was, “Hmph.”
I asked Jade, “Did you pick a date?”
“Probably New Year’s Eve. He mentioned once that he wanted to get married then—something about it being better for taxes.
” She rolled her eyes. “Ya know, because my guy’s such a romantic.
After seeing how frazzled you are with this last-minute wedding planning—no offense—I told him last weekend that if he ever wanted to marry me, I was going to need at least six months to plan the thing.
I knew that’d light a fire under him. If he wanted his tax advantage on this year’s taxes, he’d have to act fast. I just didn’t expect him to act that fast.”
Lainey reminded her, “He told you that you’d never see the proposal coming.”
“I’ll give him credit, I was surprised. Although, I should have known something was up when he limped into the restaurant.”
Kristy asked, “So, I take it he didn’t get down on one knee?”
Jade grinned. “No. But he made up for it later.”