Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
DECLAN
Iwonder how long I can hide out in my room before it becomes weird. Something that’s new with Alice.
Weirdness.
Had I not offered to help her unpack her shoes, I never would have discovered it.
Her vibrator.
Add that to the column of things I never needed to know about my best friend. Sure, I know she’s dated over the years, but I never thought about that part of her relationships.
Just like I’m sure she’s never thought about that in mine.
Glancing at the clock, I’m surprised to see it’s pushing ten. I never sleep this late. And given that it’s a Sunday, she’s not at the shop since this is the one day a week it’s closed.
Tugging a T-shirt on and a pair of shorts, I head out into the kitchen. The bitter smell of coffee perfumes the air.
Alice is sitting at the island with a cup in hand and her tablet in front of her.
“Hi.”
She sputters, spilling coffee over the granite countertop.
“Oh, um, hi.”
Based on the redness that spreads across her face, she’s still not over what happened last night. Given how fast she sprinted out of here once the pizza came, I shouldn’t be surprised.
“Mind if I have a cup?” I point toward the coffee pot.
“Sure. There’s plenty.”
“Thanks.”
I lean against the counter and take in the house. Pillows that I used to see at Alice’s studio are now on the living room couch. The flower book she loves is on the metal coffee table with a new set of coasters. The bookshelves that were pitifully decorated are now filled to the brim with pictures.
“Wait, did you do all of this today?” It wasn’t like this last night.
Alice looks behind her before turning to me. “Yes. Declan, you have absolutely nothing to decorate with. The place needed a little sprucing up.”
“Wow. It looks great.”
Before I can go and look at each frame, the front door bursts open. There’s only four people in the world who have the code. One is sitting here, and my cleaner isn’t scheduled to come for another week.
Shit.
“Declan Andrew Paddack. You got married and didn’t invite your parents?” My mother bursts inside in a whirl of anger and fury. “What is wrong with you?”
“Umm…”
She’s a good head shorter than I am, but stalks over and points her finger in my face. “Honestly, Declan.”
If her anger could make her hair redder, I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s not like I can tell her the truth, but would a white lie hurt? I don’t think so. The only other time I lied to her was in high school when I broke curfew. She made sure it was the last time I lied.
“Why are you guys here?” I ask, deflecting from her previous question.
Mom walks past me as Dad gives me a hug. “She was bent out of shape yesterday, so we drove all the way here so she could say congratulations.”
“Really?” I ask him. “Because I think she wants to bury me first.”
“I still might!” she yells from where she is now embracing Alice. “Honestly, Alice, you picked him. Really? A man who can’t even tell his mother before he gets married.”
Alice looks at me, a contemplative look on her face. “Well, maybe he’ll need to sleep on the couch for punishment.”
“Ha!” Mom points a finger at my chest as I walk around her. “I guess Alice is a keeper.”
“Well, if she’s a keeper, why don’t I make us all breakfast? I’m sure you’re tired from your drive and want to chat with Alice.”
Mom takes a seat at the counter and beams at me. “I guess I taught you something.”
Pulling the carton of eggs and a package of bacon out of the fridge, I turn the stove on to start cooking.
The bacon sizzles causing a rumble from my stomach. It’s already been a morning and I need sustenance.
“Tell me how he proposed,” I hear Mom ask.
I drop the egg that I’m flipping midair. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was not something the two of us discussed. Of course my mother would ask that.
Maybe if I focus on the pan in front of me, they won’t notice that I’m there.
“Well, Mrs. Paddack—”
“Oh no, call me Kathleen. You’re my daughter now. Please.”
“Okay, Kathleen. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, really. We didn’t plan it, but Declan looked at me and told me how much he loved me, and has since the first day we met.”
“What a romantic,” Mom croons.
“Declan is a hard man to say no to, so when he said he wanted to get married, I said yes. I didn’t even have to think about it. Even though he did say he wished you were there.”
I peek over my shoulder to see Alice sipping her coffee. She looks my way and winks at me. What a fucking angel my best friend is.
“Oh, I should have known. My sweet boy.”
“You know I wanted you there, but it was so fast,” I tell them, turning around with the messiest plate of eggs ever in hand.
Mom waves me off like it’s no big deal now. “Well, I’m happy I finally have a daughter with all these men around. We’ll have to go out and celebrate tonight.”
“Where are you staying?” I ask them.
Whatever goodwill Alice earned me is gone. The striking glare from my mom tells me I already know the answer.
“We are staying here. Why wouldn’t we?”
“Because you always get a hotel when you come. You say it’s a treat to not have to make the bed every day.”
“And miss this time with you two? Never.”
Dad sits quietly as he always does.
They are about as opposite as it gets. Mom, whose parents came here from Ireland to work, is the most outgoing, friendly person there is.
When she went to school in Kansas, she met my dad.
An engineering student, he is a bookworm and never talks.
Why add nonsense to a conversation if it’s not needed, he always says.
In looking at Alice, we’re the same way. Where I’m outgoing and love hanging around people, Alice keeps her circle tight. I love being in the spotlight, and Alice is the definition of a wallflower.
If she hadn’t puked all down the front of me that night in college, I don’t know if we ever would have met.
“I’ll get the guest room made up for you this afternoon. Maybe you can take a nap if you want, and I’ll get us dinner reservations for tonight. How does that sound?”
“That sounds great.”
“Declan, can I talk to you for a second?” Alice asks, nodding toward the living room. Mom and Dad are helping themselves to breakfast, so I follow her.
“What’s wrong?”
“The guest room? Is someone else staying in there?”
“Shit.” I scrub a hand over the back of my neck. “I completely forgot. No one is ever in there.”
“What are we going to do?”
This close, I can see the panic in her eyes.
“It’ll be fine. I’ll tell them we need to wash the sheets and they won’t know the difference.”
“Declan. Your mom is going to see right through me. I can’t lie to her.”
“You think I like this? I hate lying to my parents.”
“I’m sorry, I know you don’t. But it’s only for tonight right?” she asks. “Then they’ll go home and I’ll go back to my room.”
I nod. “Right. Back to normal.”
Or about as normal as it can get right now.
“We can do this.” Alice reaches out and squeezes my hand. “We’ve gotten ourselves into worse situations than this.”
“Like getting married?”
She laughs. “Yeah, like that. But I was thinking that time we tried to sneak into a concert in college and got caught by security.”
“I only did it because you wanted to go,” I correct. “I mean, who sneaks into a folk show?”
“Stop it.” She smacks me. “You had fun.”
“Until security got us. I’m lucky I didn’t get kicked off the hockey team.”
“Are you two going to come eat? Food is getting cold,” Dad interrupts.
“We’re coming,” I answer.
“We’ve got this,” Alice tells me before going back into the kitchen.
I guess if I have to fake a marriage with anyone, I’m glad it’s her.