Chapter 18
Chapter 18
“ARGH!” PAIGE SLAMMED THE phone down on the counter.
“The call didn’t go well, I take it?” I asked, my brows raised.
“That Eddie Whatshisface is virtually taking over all the catering business out there! We’ve only got another couple of small events since I fixed the problem on our website.”
“Really? What about the party for Susannah West? We were the front runner for that one, right?”
Paige pressed her lips into a line and shook her head. “Stolen, right from under our noses.”
I hung my Cozy Cottage apron up on a hook by the back door and turned to face her. “You’re telling me that other than Cassie and Will’s wedding next month and a handful of new clients, we’ve lost every booking to Devour?”
She nodded, her lips tight. “Yup. Oh, I am so annoyed!”
“But I’m sure things will pick up, now that you’ve fixed the website and we’re no longer handing our potential clients to Devour on a platter. If you’ll excuse the pun.”
Paige hung her head. “I’m such an idiot.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her, but there was no point in dwelling on it. “Paige, you’ve fixed it now, and what’s done is done.” I tapped my finger against my chin, an idea percolating. “You know what? I think we should meet him, this Eddie guy. Not as us, of course. We could give him a fake name, make up some event we’re holding.”
Paige knitted her brows together. “Why?”
“So we can look him in the eye, get the measure of the man, as my nona would have said.”
Paige’s face lit up. “Oh, yes. And tell him to stop undercutting us all the time and stealing all our business.”
I laughed. “Maybe we might want to be a little more subtle about it than that, honey. We could just arrange to meet him to get some more info on them.”
“I like the way you’re thinking, Ms . Bond.”
“Well, I’m hardly a spy. Just a woman who wants to protect her business.”
Paige pushed a few keys on her laptop. She picked up the phone where she had unceremoniously slammed it before and handed it to me. “You do the honors.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
She called out the number, and I dialed. It rang a couple of times before it went to answerphone. “Yes, hello,” I began, affecting my best posh British accent. “My name is . . . Claire Fraser.”
Paige had to stifle a laugh as I named the heroine in Outlander , a box set we’d watched together a couple of weeks ago on a particularly wet and gray Sunday.
“I’m looking for a caterer for a party I’m holding next month. It’s dinner for—” Paige mouthed one hundred, but I decided to amp it up a notch. “Five hundred.”
I wanted him to really want this.
“Please call me as soon as you can. Much appreciated.”
I left my personal cell phone number and hung up before Paige’s laughter came tumbling out.
“You sounded like the Queen of freaking England!”
“Do you think I was convincing?”
“Totally.”
“Well, now we just need to sit back and wait to hear from this slime-ball called Eddie Smith who’s been stealing all our customers.”
We didn’t have to wait long.
Later that evening, I was applying the finishing touches to my mascara, getting ready to meet Ryan, Josh, and Paige at O’Dowd’s for a “thank goodness the week is over” Saturday evening drink. My phone rang on the bathroom counter beside me.
The ring tone pulled me out of my head, where I’d been lost, thinking about Ryan. You see, tonight was our first date since my conversation with Meredith. Although she’d given me her blessing to date him, seeing her had unsettled me. Sure, Ryan and I had been texting, and I saw him when he came in to get a coffee at the café on Thursday.
But something had changed for me.
Gone was that almost euphoric feeling I’d first had at the ball, that certainty there could be something big between us. It was replaced by . . . doubt.
Although Meredith had made it clear she supported me seeing someone new, I was finding it difficult to allow myself to let go of the feeling I was doing something wrong. There was something in her face, something that contradicted her words.
Something that made me know beyond a whisper of a doubt that seeing Ryan was disloyal to Dan’s memory.
I tried to push it all from my mind as I slotted the mascara wand back into its case and screwed it in place. I picked up my phone. “Hello?”
“Hello, is that Ms. Fraser?” a female voice said on the other end of the line.
I almost told her she had the wrong number, but caught myself in time. “Yes, this is Claire Fraser.”
Paige would be so proud of my regal British accent.
“Wonderful. This is Siobhan from Devour Catering. We received your voicemail regarding a dinner for five hundred?”
“Yes. My husband, Jamie, and I are celebrating our anniversary.” Another Outlander character, the sexy Scottish hero.
“How wonderful.”
Lucky for me, Siobhan clearly didn’t watch the show.
“Yes. We want an intimate dinner with some of our closest friends.”
That’s right; all five hundred of them.
“How exciting. We would love to have the opportunity to cater that for you. What date is that?”
I gave her a date about seven weeks from now, figuring that was far enough away for it to be believable.
“I’ll arrange for Fiona Whitefield, one of our catering coordinators, to meet with you to discuss our options, pricing, and other points. Does that sound good?”
“Oh, I thought I would be meeting with Eddie Smith. I’ve heard such truly marvelous things about him.”
Like he’s trying to destroy Cozy Cottage Catering.
I knew I was hamming it up, but the whole point of this charade was to get to meet him, to look him square in the eyes, as I’d told Paige.
“Mr. Smith is super busy right now, but Fiona could meet you early next week?”
“Well, I don’t want to deal with anyone else. No offense to Fiona.”
“I see. Could you hold the line for a moment, please?”
“Of course.”
She must have put her hand over the receiver. I could hear muffled talking as I waited. I applied my lipstick, still holding the phone to my ear.
“Ms. Fraser? Eddie Smith would be happy to meet with you. Would Monday work for you?”
“Perfect.” We arranged a time for me to meet the famous Eddie Smith, and I hung up. I gazed at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, a nefarious smile forming on my face.
Game on.
“You’ve got balls, did you know that?” Ryan’s arm was wrapped around my shoulders, and he gave me a squeeze.
I flashed him a smile and tried not to tense up. Before my conversation with Meredith, this would have felt perfectly normal. We were dating, after all, and had been for a while now.
But that was before—before I started to feel the way I do, before Dan’s memory had come back to haunt me.
“I hope she doesn’t actually have balls.” Josh was sitting across the table from us. “That would be bad news for you, dude.”
I laughed, trying to loosen up. “It’s no big deal. I just put on a fake accent and made up a fake event. That’s all.”
“Yeah, but you’re going to do it in person on Monday,” Josh replied.
I bit my lip. He had a point. It was one thing to pretend I was someone else over the phone, quite another to do it in front of the guy—even if we had good reason to do so.
“I’ll be there, too,” Paige said. “Although I’m not sure I can do the whole fake accent thing.”
“I bet you can. Go on, give it a shot.” Ryan smiled at her.
Paige shook her head.
“Come on, babe. Who knows? You might be amazing at it.” Josh winked at her and she shook her head some more, her grin as wide as a Cheshire cat’s.
My belly twisted at the sight of them. They were so obviously in love with one another. It was an uncomplicated love, straightforward, easy.
I glanced at Ryan, who smiled back at me. I chewed the inside of my lip, wishing I didn’t feel this way, wishing things could go back to the way they were before I saw Meredith.
Before I got stuck in my head.
“Okay. Here goes.” Paige shook her shoulders out and lifted her chin. She cleared her throat.“Good evening. I’m Lady Crawley, and I demand you show me to your stables. I simply must see the horses.”
I tried not to laugh, but it was a truly terrible accent.
“Honey, what was that ?” Josh’s eyes danced, his grin broad.
“It sounded Irish and Kiwi and somehow almost like you were from New York,’ Ryan said.
“I was being English.” Paige looked affronted.
“Lady Crawley from Downton Abbey , right?” I said, and she nodded. “You men wouldn’t get it.”
“Chick show?” Ryan asked.
I cocked my head. “Both men and women have enjoyed Downton Abbey , thank you, Ryan.” I was pretending to be offended, although I was pretty sure the TV show’s primary audience was more than likely female.
“Is it set somewhere between New York, New Zealand, and Ireland?” Josh had a cheeky glint in his eye.
When Paige crossed her arms, clearly not enjoying where the conversation had gone, he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead. “Paige, you have so many qualities. It wouldn’t be fair on the rest of us if you could do great accents, too.”
That seemed to do the trick, and Paige loosened up immediately.
See? Uncomplicated love.
“Anyway, Paige and I are meeting this Eddie Smith guy at The Royal on Monday after we close up the Cozy Cottage for the day,” I said, naming one of the swankier hotels in Auckland.
“The Royal is very appropriate for the Queen,” Ryan said. “Just be careful, okay? You’ve got no idea who this guy is. And if he really has been targeting you, things could get tricky once he sees you.”
I smiled at him. Although it felt good to have a man looking out for me once more, I couldn’t shake this feeling. This feeling that something was wrong.
This feeling that I shouldn’t be with Ryan.
“More drinks?” I needed a breather, to try to get my head together. I knew Ryan was a great guy, and we’d had so much fun together over the last few weeks. I’d started to develop some real feelings toward him, feelings beyond simply being attracted to his Thor-like good looks and flirty charm.
Real feelings, deep feelings.
This thing between us was going somewhere, somewhere big. I couldn’t let my sense of disloyalty toward Dan stop me from finding happiness.
Paige, Ryan, and Josh gave me their orders, and I walked over to the bar. I’d only just ordered the drinks when I felt a hand on my arm. I turned and smiled at Josh.
“I thought you could use some help.”
“It’s only three drinks. I’m pretty sure this waitress can handle it.” I pointed my thumb at myself.
“Yeah, I know you can. I guess I just wanted to talk to you, just you. I know came to see you.”
My hairs lifted on the back of my neck at the mention of Meredith. “Yes, she did.”
“I’m really glad. She cares for you a lot, you know.”
I nodded, trying not to think of the look on her face, the way in which her words were at odds with her pained expression.
“We both think it’s awesome you’ve met someone new. Ryan’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
The bartender placed the drinks on the bar in front of us, and I handed over some cash. “Can you bring the last one?” I nodded at Ryan’s bottle of beer.
“See? You did need me.” Josh winked at me and we returned to the table.
No sooner had we sat down, when Nash, Marissa’s boyfriend, came over and stood at our table, grinning at us. “Hey there, party people.”
“Hey, Nash,” I said as everyone else greeted him. “Are you here with Marissa?”
“I sure am. We’re having a drink before dinner with some of her work colleagues.”
“Do you want to join us?” Josh offered. “If you’re happy hanging out with your kid sister on a Saturday night, that is,” he added, looking at Ryan.
“I’ve done it too many times to be bothered by it now.” Ryan shrugged.
“Cool. Be right back.”
I glanced over at the bar where Nash joined Marissa, who was ordering their drinks. I could see Nash talking with her, and she turned then smiled and waved at us.
I waved back. The last time I’d seen Marissa, she was warning me off her brother once more. I wondered how she’d react to seeing us together tonight?
Josh and Ryan pulled up a couple more chairs, and a moment later, Marissa and Nash joined us.
Marissa took a seat between Paige and me. “This is a cozy double date.” She shot me a look.
My insides twisted. Marissa had left me a voicemail, asking when we could meet to talk again. I’d meant to get back to her, but seeing Meredith had thrown me, and I’d pushed it to the back of my mind.
“It’s a triple date, now,” Paige replied.
“I guess it is.”
I chewed the inside of my lip, not sure what to do. In the end, Marissa made the decision for me.
“Can we go talk?” Her voice was quiet enough only I could hear.
“Sure. Ladies?”
“Good call.”
We excused ourselves from the table and headed across the floor. For once, I was thankful women had the reputation of always going in packs to the bathroom.
Once inside, the door closed behind us, Marissa launched straight into it. “We didn’t get the chance to finish that conversation.”
“No, I . . . I’ve been busy. And anyway, you’ve already told me Ryan’s too messed up right now. It’s sweet you’re worried about your brother, really it is.”
Marissa’s mouth twisted. “It’s not him I’m worried about.”
“It’s not?”
She shook her head. “It’s you, Bailey.”
I knitted my brows together. “Why would you be worried about me?”
She exhaled. “I found out he went to see Amelia, his ex.”
“He did?”
“I asked him about it, but he wouldn’t tell me what they talked about. Bailey, I wanted to tell you so you didn’t get hurt. I know you’ve been through a lot.”
My mind began to whirr. Ryan hadn’t said anything to me about seeing Amelia, and he’d made that speech at the ball about not wanting me to be a rebound girl. It had been convincing, honest. At least I’d thought it had been. We’d been seeing each other for weeks since then.
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Of course, him going to see her could be entirely innocent. They could be meeting to get final closure, to decide they could be friends, maybe even to return an old T-shirt or something?
But then again, it could be less than innocent, too.
“Bailey, I’m so sorry to have to tell you this. I just thought you should know.”
“No, no. It’s fine. Really.” I pressed my lips together, fighting the sudden and overwhelming urge to cry. Ryan was the first man I’d let myself fall for since Dan, the first man I’d thought I could have a future with. It had been a long time, and I trusted him.
Or at least, I had.
“Do. . . do you think they’re going to get back together?” I didn’t know if I wanted to hear the answer.
Marissa shrugged. “I’ve no idea. All I know is I saw them at that café downtown, Alessandro’s. Do you know it?”
I nodded.
“They looked, I don’t know, comfortable together. Amelia was bad news for Ryan. She kinda chewed him up and spat him out. It took him a long time to get over her.”
“I know.”
Ryan had told me about how she’d broken up with him, how he had thought she was the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
I knew first-hand how hard it was to get over a love you’ve had and lost.
“I asked him about it afterwards, and he told me it was none of my business.”
“Oh. Right.”
“I’m sorry.” Marissa rubbed my arm. “You thought he was your Last First Date, didn’t you?”
I nodded, my chest tightening. “I understand the need to go back. He was deeply in love with her. Believe me, I totally get that.”
And I knew if I could get a second chance with Dan, I’d grab it with both hands, too.