Chapter 22 Periwinkle and Tuscany #2
“Willow!” Tod cried, and yanked out a scrapbook, plopping it in front of me. “This is yours. Early days. But I got a picture of you from Jessie, and there are only certain shades that go with your coloring, so I felt it best to get a start.”
“Um…I’ve officially been with my boyfriend for four days,” I said.
“Is he a Hot Bunch guy?” Tod asked.
“No. He’s Hottie Squad,” I corrected him.
“Same difference,” Tod replied dismissively. “And is he a Stark?”
My attention flitted to Luke.
Yeah, on that, there was a half-smile.
I returned to Tod. “Yes.”
Tod waved a hand in front of his face. “Four days for these guys is like four years for others.”
I was getting that impression.
I tried a different tack.
“Um…I don’t know you,” I pointed out.
“Right, this is Tod and Stevie,” Luke finally waded in. “They’re Rock Chicks. I know they’re not chicks, but they are Rock Chicks.”
“Burgundy is more fully a Rock Chick, with her hot guy,” Tod declared and then gave Stevie a wink.
I didn’t know who Burgundy was, but I didn’t ask, even if it made the mention more confusing, because it was then I noticed their matching wedding bands.
Aw.
Sweet.
“Willow and Alexis,” Luke jerked his chin to both of us. “And Tod planned all the Rock Chick weddings,” he went on.
Tod’s eyes lit when Alexis’s identity was confirmed, but before he could say anything…
“Yo! Willow! You down to…?” Raye shouted out her door and then squealed, “Tod and Stevie!”
She came out of her house and started racing down the walkway.
Raye, Luna, Harlow and Jessie went up to Denver for New Year’s, so they were fully folded into the Rock Chick/Hot Bunch world.
I’d only met a few of them here and there when they came to Phoenix.
And now I was meeting more.
Raye arrived and gave both Tod and Stevie big hugs.
She then turned to the table and threw up her hands in excitement.
“Is this my wedding scrapbook?” she asked breathlessly.
“We’re filling it out, girlie,” Tod told her, flipping it open. “But we got work to do while we’re down here.”
“Oh my God! You have one too!” Raye cried, then opened my scrapbook, which started at a bunch of fabric swatches.
“You’re a genius!” she yelled, slamming a pointed finger down on a pastel purple-blue and deep-purple combo and turning to Tod.
“I wouldn’t have picked blue and purple for Willow, but in the wedding party photos, those colors will so complement her hair. ”
“That’s periwinkle and grape, darling,” Tod drawled.
“It’s perfect!” Raye said.
It kind of was.
She turned the page to expose a picture of a wedding bouquet that had huge periwinkle roses, smaller, slightly darker purple roses, some purple anemones and some other purple, blush and white flowers in an extravagantly feminine bouquet.
I gasped.
Alexis jumped to her feet, asking rabidly, “Which one is mine?”
“Let me see…” Tod was spreading the scrapbooks and slapping them open and closed. “Here.” He shoved one toward her.
She eagerly opened it, made a small noise that sounded like a sob and collapsed into her chair.
“They told me you were all sunshine and goodness,” Tod said. “But now that I see you, I’m wondering if we should—”
“No.” She was poking her finger repeatedly on a picture of big balls of buttercream roses and hydrangeas with minimal greenery in tall, thin, shining glass vases, all this on a table festooned with more elegant glass décor and candles. “I want that,” Alexis decreed. “Precisely that.”
“You’re blonde, girlie, it might be too much pale,” Tod advised.
Alexis put the tip of her finger between her teeth and bit down on it, gazing contemplatively (also longingly) at the scrapbook.
“What’s going on?”
Uh-oh.
Zach was here.
He made it to us, looked down at the scrapbook, then looked to Alexis. “Wait, are you planning something other than cakes without me?”
“I—” Alexis started.
“Who are you?” Tod asked.
But Zach was seeing Raye’s and my scrapbooks also opened on the table.
“Wait!” he snapped. “Are you all planning weddings? Willow,”—he homed in on me with his et tu, Brute? tone—“you just hooked up with Gabe a few days ago.”
No matter how insane what was happening was, I’d already decided on periwinkle and grape for my wedding, so I couldn’t quite tamp down my guilty look.
“I’m the officially unofficial wedding planner of all the Rock Chicks,” Tod grandly proclaimed.
No matter how grand the proclamation, Zach was unimpressed.
“Well, these aren’t Rock Chicks,” he shot back. “These are Oasis Babes, and as such, they’re under me and my partner Bill’s domain.”
“We can all work together,” Tod decreed.
“Since when do four wedding planners work together successfully?” Zach demanded.
“Don’t count me in,” Stevie piped up. “I only carry swatches. I’m out for the rest of it.”
“Except for the big day,” Tod contradicted. “You’re my assistant for the big day.”
“Yes, except that, but I have no creative or decision-making input,” Stevie made himself clear.
Zach turned to Alexis. “Lovely, we have diagrams. We have Pinterest ideas.”
“Pinterest,” Tod scoffed under his breath like he’d say amateur.
“Alexis has a lot of ideas,” Zach said hotly.
“Well then,”—Tod fluttered a hand over the scrapbooks—“let’s cull them then get them down in The Book.”
“You should see the diagrams, Tod,” Raye said. “They’re on big posterboards and they’re rad.”
Considering this seemed like a burgeoning situation, Tod fortunately appeared intrigued by the concept of diagrams.
“What’s going on?”
Fabulous, now Martha was there.
“Martha, this is—” Raye started to introduce.
“Are we talking weddings?” Martha cut Raye off to ask, then she sat down and dragged Alexis’s scrapbook to her. “No,” she stated instantly. “Too pale.” She saw mine and her brows formed a V. “I thought you just started things up with your man?”
“I didn’t do it,” I said and looked up at Tod. “But we’re totally running with this periwinkle thing.”
“Agreed,” Tod replied on a nod.
“Zach, do you mind going to get the posterboards?” Alexis asked.
“Not at all,” Zach replied, and immediately started jogging to his and Bill’s place.
“Who broke the cardinal rule of not bringing out the entire bottle?” Martha demanded, glowering at Alexis’s and my wines.
“I did, Martha. I’ll go get it in a second,” Alexis said, leaning toward Martha and flipping through her book.
“Before we dive too deep into this,” Raye said to me, “we got the thing. So we have an appointment at the man cave tomorrow night.”
Since she was talking in semi-code (“the thing” was Arthur’s report on Amy and Dexter), I just nodded, though deep down I was beside myself we were going to see Titus (and his man cave).
“And we’re on for Jinx tonight,” Raye continued. “We’re picking her up at eight. You in?”
“I’m in,” I said, grabbing my phone to text Gabe about this addition to the evening’s festivities.
“Jinx?” Tod asked, settling into his own chair.
Stevie was dragging another one over.
I looked for Luke and saw his back right before the security gate closed him from sight.
Guess we were done talking, and Luke wasn’t down with an impromptu wedding planning party.
Not surprised.
“Jinx is our friend. She’s a sex worker who had a client fall in love with her.
” Raye powered through Alexis’s shocked gasp and Martha’s shocked growl.
“She threw his offer to take her out of the life and build a home together in his face. She’s devasted seeing as, since, she’s realized her mistake. We’re forcing her into damage control.”
“Do you know this client?” Tod asked delicately.
“We’ve not met, no,” Raye said. “But we’ve seen him. He’s rich AF, looks like Clark Kent from the Christopher Reeves movies, and he brings her flowers and gifts on their dates.”
“Pretty Woman come to life,” Stevie noted.
“Exactly,” I said.
“What kind of flowers?” Tod asked.
“Roses,” Raye answered.
“Acceptable,” Tod pronounced. “We’ll go with you.”
Oh boy.
“Um…I don’t know—” Raye began.
“This one.” Martha was waving a yellow fabric swatch she’d ripped out of Alexis’s book. “Not this one.” She waved another much paler yellow one.
“I agree. Tuscany, not buttermilk,” Tod said.
“I agree too,” Alexis said.
“Martha, this is Tod and Stevie from Denver,” Raye introduced.
“Howzit,” Martha mumbled not looking up from the scrapbook, then she flipped a page.
“What are we agreeing?” Zach, who had both posterboards under an arm and was dragging both easels with the other, huffed up to us.
“Easels!” Tod cried, popping up to rush around to help Zach. “We are so totally finding a way to work together.”
“We agreed Tuscany, Zach.” Alexis now had the swatch, and she was showing it to Zach.
“Yes, my lovely. Perfection!” Zach yelped like the swatch bit him on the ass.
“Stevie!” Tod exclaimed. “Why did I never do big diagrams and easels?” He fanned an arm across one of the diagrams. “Look at this! It’s stunning.”
“Thanks.” Zach grinned.
Tod lifted both hands like he was reaching to God in front of his congregation while doing a three-sixty. “This space. You’ve captured it. It’s going to be remarkable.”
“What are you two doing, hanging with sex workers?” Martha surfaced from her perusal of Alexis’s wedding book to ask Raye and me.
“We have a wide range of friends,” I said.
“Like no-filter, nosy neighbors,” Raye added.
“Take your point,” Martha mumbled and went back to Alexis’s book.
We heard the security gate open, and we all turned to see Cap start to walk in.
“Cap!” Tod yelled.
We then saw Cap take note of the scrapbooks, the diagrams, the easels, turn on his boot and walk out.
Raye laughed.
“Men!” Tod groused.
“Are we partying?” Luna called from her open doorway.
“And party planning,” Raye called back. “Get your ass out here.”
“Bring booze!” Martha yelled.
“And snacks!” Zach added.
“Gotcha!” Luna returned.
“We need something so we can attach the swatches to the diagrams without ruining these beautiful illustrations,” Tod said, his index finger and thumb forming an L on his cheek and jaw as he stared at the posters. “Maybe Stevie will run out and get some Blu Tack for us.”
“Tod, I’ve flown in and out of Sky Harbor countless times, but I’ve only been to Phoenix to visit once, so I’d have no clue where to ‘run out’ to get Blu Tack,” Stevie remarked. Then to Alexis, Martha and me. “We’re both flight attendants.”
“Ah,” I said.
“No worries. Bill and I have some. brB,” Zach said and jogged again to his apartment.
I texted Gabe about the change in plans that evening, then grabbed my glass to take a sip.
Alexis was looking through Raye’s book.
Martha was saying to Tod, “You need lights on the bunting along the railings, so it’ll be seen when it gets dark.”
“Mental note!” Tod exclaimed.
Raye sat back smiling.
Stevie just sat, smiling at Tod.
Linda was making her way to us carrying a pitcher of margaritas in one hand and some glasses in the other.
I sat safe in the knowledge that Gabe was laughing and smiling again, and that gave his family relief.
And another evening descended on the Oasis.