8. Ivy #2
I wince as dread floods my veins that had been warmed so much by the photos Cam left for me. “You’re shitting me.”
She lets loose a low grumble. “I wish I were.”
“Does she realize that her wedding is in five days?”
Marlo offers an incredulous snort. “ Apparently , she thinks that’s plenty of time for us to make the switch.”
“Jesus Christ.” I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose, annoyance already starting to form a headache right behind my eyes. “What does she want?”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“I’m sure I won’t.”
At this point, there isn’t anything I want to do besides get through my first wedding back at work quickly, quietly, and with as little drama as possible.
Unfortunately, this is the wrong bride for that dream.
“She wants to go back to the roses.”
I cringe. “Of course she does.” Letting out a long, slow breath, I try to tamp down my annoyance. “Did she say why?”
The woman has changed her mind four times in the past year that we’ve been helping her plan the ceremony, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that she’s waffled again, but this close to the big day, it could create a big problem for us.
“Said she realized it’s just what she’s always pictured in her head.”
I should be mad about that, but an image of my own ceremony, what it was supposed to be, flashes through my mind instead.
The white and red peonies I had planned to fill the church with, the beautiful corsages and bouquets we had already designed well in advance because I knew precisely what they looked like because they’d appeared in my dreams for years and years and years.
It was always easy for me, maybe because I was raised around flowers, but for Bridezilla, it’s likely harder.
“Okay…did you talk to the distributor we had ordered the lilies from and see if they can get us enough roses?”
Marlo huffs. “You’re not gonna try to talk her out of it?”
I drop my face into my free hand. “There isn’t any point. Let’s just give her what she wants.”
She releases an aggravated sigh that is filled with as much annoyance as I feel right now, but I can’t actually be mad at a bride wanting her day to be perfect.
Not when I wanted mine to be, and instead I got a nightmare.
“What are we gonna do with all the lilies we already ordered that are coming in?”
“We’ll figure it out, Marlo. Stop worrying.”
“Okay.” She reluctantly acquiesces. “And yes, I did talk to the distributor, and they said they can get the additional roses here, but not until Friday.”
“Shit.” I stand and turn to glance at the calendar hanging on the side of the fridge. “So, we’ll have to do it all Friday afternoon and evening.”
“Yep.”
I groan. “Well, I guess it’s not like I do anything else on Friday nights.”
Marlo snorts. “Well, some of us do, so I’ll be expecting overtime.”
“Shut up.”
She laughs. “Or at the very least, you owe me dinner. We’ll order in while we work.”
“Speaking of which…” My eyes drift to the fridge. “He was here again today.”
“Who?”
I make my way back to the office. “Who do you think?”
Marlo gasps. “Cam?”
“Yep. And get this, he replaced my burnt-out porch light and left me dinner.”
“He cooked?”
I laugh as I settle onto the couch. “No. He left me Dante & Luigi’s.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Eggplant parm.”
Another exaggerated gasp floats through the line. “With the side of baked rigatoni?”
“Yep.”
“How did he know?”
I release a flustered sigh, dropping my head back on the couch to stare at the ceiling. “I’m not sure. Maybe Drew told him, but…”
“Did you two go to Dante & Luigi’s before they had their big fight or whatever? When they were still talking?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to remember that since I walked in the door and saw it, but I really can’t remember. And somehow, he knew .”
“Well…” Marlo’s voice softens. “That’s actually really sweet of him.”
“It is.” And it shows he isn’t the heartless monster Drew made him out to be whenever I tried to bring up the topic.
“He also left me a stack of photos and a few other things I’m still going through with little Post-its explaining what they are.
Pictures of Drew, him…” I lift my head and scan the coffee table, snagging a plaque.
“This one looks like some sort of award Drew won for a science fair in eighth grade.”
Marlo laughs. “That sounds like Drew.”
I smile, the tears starting to well in my eyes. “It does.”
“And that’s also very sweet of him to do that for you. To give you those memories.”
“It really is.”
Because I’m not sure when, or even if , I would ever have had the courage to go through these boxes by myself, or even with Nancy.
I couldn’t even set foot in here, let alone consider looking at all his prized possessions, stuffed into boxes the way he is on my mantle.
A tear rolls down my cheek.
“So, maybe the brother isn’t such a bad guy?”
I stare at the spot where Cam sat next to me yesterday.
“I’m still not sure how to feel about it.
I told you he clammed up and basically ran out of here when I tried to press him about their fight, and he still hasn’t told Nancy he’s here, so he’s put me in a shitty position, but, yeah, maybe he’s not such a bad guy. ”
“Did he say anything about when he’s going to be back?”
I shake my head. “No. At least, I haven’t found any notes about it. Honestly, I think I scared him off with my questions yesterday. I’m a little surprised he came today.”
“He wants something out of those boxes, maybe the same thing you do. A connection to Drew, reminders of the good times. Of a life they shared that’s now gone.”
More tears fall.
But they aren’t all sad ones.
Cam has already helped in a way no one else has been able to. He got me to open this door. He forced me to come in and face the memories in these boxes. And he gave me new ones to clutch tightly in my heart that I never had before about the man I thought I’d be making new ones with.
“You should tell him thank you…”
“I would, but I don’t have his number, and it’s not like I can call Nancy and ask for it without raising a lot of suspicion.”
“Have you spoken to her recently?”
I toy with the hem of my shirt, twisting my fingers around it. “Not since the night he showed up on my doorstep.”
“What are you gonna tell her when you do?”
“I don’t know. I don’t wanna lie to her, but there might be a very good reason Cam doesn’t want her to know he’s here. So, I don’t feel right outing him, either.”
Marlo sighs, making a little tsking sound. “He did put you in a shitty position.”
Nodding, I snag the stack of photos he left again, flipping through them. “He did, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt until he gives me a reason not to.”
It’s the least I can do for the man who brought the first hints of laughter and joy back to my life.