Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
I ’m at work the following Wednesday when I receive the best news I’ve had in quite some time: Alexis isn’t coming in today. She’s sick with some cold that’s going around, and when I spoke to her on the phone, she sounded terrible. I hope that means she’ll be out the rest of the week. But since Alexis is a witch, she’ll probably cook up some spell that will magically cure her, so I’m sure she’ll be back tomorrow. For now, though, I’m going to enjoy this Alexis-free day.
Kim’s schedule is pretty light today too, so I’ve been spending my spare time catching up on a mystery book I started reading three months ago and only got to page fifty. It’s not that the book is boring—it’s actually been quite good so far. But sometimes when I get a spare moment, I’d rather watch something with Fern because I’m always trying to improve our relationship.
It’s ten in the morning and Kim has a half-hour gap between appointments, so I’m surprised when the office door opens. We don’t do walk-in appointments, so maybe this is someone trying to sell Kim something else she doesn’t need for her office. But I’m even more surprised when I see who enters.
“Wesley, what are you doing here?” It’s Wesley from the seminar, and he looks very good this morning. He’s sporting his square-framed glasses, and his hair is a bit unkempt, which is very sexy instead of looking disheveled like it might on someone else. For today’s outfit, he’s chosen a butter-yellow polo shirt with some dark gray dress slacks. He smiles when he sees me.
“I made an appointment with Kim last night for a spinal adjustment,” he says, leaning up against the front counter, allowing me to get a whiff of his cologne. Whatever the scent is, it smells expensive. Not like that cheap body spray that all the college kids used to wear. This is refined and shows that he’s got good taste.
“But I handle all of Kim’s appointments, and I don’t remember you calling the office.”
“Are you saying if I had called, you’d remember me?” There’s a twinkle in those brown eyes of his.
He’s fishing for a compliment, but I’m not taking the bait. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying I would’ve remembered someone calling at the last minute to schedule an appointment.”
He flashes me a grin. “I called last night, not realizing the office was closed for the day. You must’ve already gone home because Kim answered the phone. She said she had this slot open.”
Right at that moment, Kim comes walking up to the front counter and greets Wesley with a smile. “Dahlia, thanks for checking Wesley in. If you’d like to follow me back, we can get started.” She motions for him to follow, and the two of them walk down the hall.
During Wesley’s adjustment, I overhear some of their conversation and catch that Wesley is a general practitioner at a doctor’s office about a half mile away. He also rents an apartment in Wallingford and hopes to one day buy his own home.
I don’t mean to eavesdrop, and usually don’t, it’s just that there’s not much else going on in the office at the moment. And if I’m being honest, I kind of want to know more about Wesley. And maybe what I’m really listening for is any mention of Justin’s name because I still can’t get him out of my head. But he never mentions him, and soon, Wesley is standing at my desk, ready to book his next appointment.
“When would you like to come back? She has an opening in three weeks if that works for you,” I say, keeping my eyes on the scheduler.
Wesley doesn’t say anything. In fact, he’s weirdly quiet and I glance up to see what’s going on. He’s fidgeting with the business cards we keep on the counter, straightening the corners of the stack even though I know they’re already straight. I straightened them this morning when I was looking for something to do.
“Dahlia, I’ve got to be honest with you.” I wait for him to continue. “I didn’t come here for an adjustment. I mean, I got one, yes, but I don’t think I needed one.”
Where is he going with this?
He pushes his glasses up on his nose and tucks a lock of hair behind his ear. “I really came here because I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the seminar, and I’d like to know if you’d go out to dinner with me.” He waits, probably looking for some sort of reaction out of me.
When Wesley walked in here this morning, I certainly didn’t expect this to happen. The two of us barely talked at the seminar. Sure, he flirted with me a little bit, but I didn’t think I’d made an impression on him.
I guess moving on from Justin is going to be easier than I thought. I flash him a smile in return and say, “I’d love to go out to dinner with you.”
We exchange numbers, and he promises to contact me soon to schedule our date. Before walking out of the office, he throws me a wink. “See you soon.”
That night, as I pull up to the house, I see Brett’s car parked down the street from where I usually park mine. Instead of being slightly irritated that we have company tonight, I don’t mind because I’m still floating on the same cloud I’ve been on ever since Wesley asked me out.
But do I say anything to Fern? Wesley asked me out, yes, but we don’t have anything lined up yet. Does that still technically count as having a date? What if I tell everyone I have a date and he never calls? Maybe it’s best if I keep quiet. But can I go that long without saying anything?
I walk in and am greeted by Fern and Brett sitting on the couch. They’re eating from takeout containers and watching an action movie that, so far, has been nothing but two people shooting at each other.
Fern picks up the remote and pauses the movie. “Hey, Dahlia. I hope you don’t mind that Brett stopped by.”
“I brought dinner with me,” he says quickly, as though that would sway me. Am I really that easy to please? A free dinner is enough to get in my good graces?
I plant a hand firmly on my hip. “Smart. Bringing dinner is a good start. But what about dessert? Please tell me you brought something with you.”
He narrows his eyes and turns toward Fern. “I told you we should’ve gotten dessert! I asked you multiple times, and you kept insisting that we didn’t need it.”
I chuckle and wave him off. “Relax. We don’t need it. We have plenty of ice cream in the freezer. And thanks for bringing dinner. What are we having tonight?”
“Your sister picked Chinese. I’ve got some Kung Pao chicken, your sister wanted chicken fried rice, and she said you’d like the chow mein. I hope that’s okay,” Brett says.
“I think that’s perfect. I’m going to go change and join you two on the couch if you don’t mind.” I don’t know what the two of them were planning this evening, so I hope I’m not imposing. If so, I can always eat and then go run an errand or something that’ll take me away from the house to give the two of them some space.
“We’d love it if you sat down with us,” Fern says. She glances Brett’s way, and the two of them do that thing that couples do where they talk to one another without actually saying anything. Brett nods in response. “We have something we’d like to talk to you about anyway.”
I stop short. Oh, God. What is this about? Does Fern know about the time I caught her having phone sex with Brett? Actually, it was worse than phone sex. They were video chatting with one another because Brett was on a work trip. He was out promoting their company’s audiobook narration at a romance writer’s convention with Trixie Skye, a famous romance author. I guess Fern was really missing him and decided to show him how much. I wasn’t supposed to see…or hear…any of it because I should’ve been at work. But Kim had an open afternoon, and it was a nice day, so she decided to head home early. I thought Fern had heard me come in. I really thought I’d been loud enough. But as I was getting myself a snack in the kitchen, I heard some moans and sighs coming from Fern’s bedroom. I thought she was cheating on Brett and cracked open her bedroom door.
I don’t know why I did it. Looking back, I would hate it if Fern had snooped on me. But Brett is so wonderful, so if she was cheating, then it had better damn well have been Paul Rudd, her hall pass, in there. God, I wish I could get some brain bleach for that day. I really didn’t need to see a shirtless Brett on screen and my semi-naked sister. I got out of there as fast as I could before Brett could show more than just his chest.
Fern must see the look of shock on my face. “It’s nothing bad,” she says with a smile. “Go get changed, and then we’ll talk.”
I do as she says, then head to the kitchen to help myself to some chow mein. Not wanting all this food to go to waste, I put all our leftovers in the fridge before joining them on the couch.
“So what did you need to talk to me about?” I ask, trying to get whatever they have to say out of the way.
Fern, who has now scooted closer to Brett, takes his hand in hers and smiles at me. “Brett and I have talked a lot about this…and we’ve decided that we’re going to elope.”
Fern? Elope? I never would’ve guessed she would want to do that. I always pictured her as the type to want the grand wedding with at least two hundred guests. Maybe a destination wedding in the Bahamas, or she mentioned once getting married at T-Mobile Park. But to hear that she wants to keep things simple astonishes me. My face probably looks like that “Blinking Guy” meme right now.
“Do you mind me asking why you’re deciding to elope? And what about that dinner you were planning when you finally set a date?” Fern looks over at Brett, and it’s clear to me that this is not the reaction she was expecting. Her smile falters, and I feel a sudden urge to elaborate on my question. “I’m happy for the two of you, of course. It’s just that out of the two of us, I always expected you to have a big wedding.”
She shrugs. “There really wasn’t one thing that led us to this decision. We’d been talking at length about what kind of wedding we want, and we had a hard time envisioning what our perfect wedding was going to look like.”
“And then I mentioned that we don’t have to have a big wedding at all,” Brett chimes in.
“That’s when it clicked. I saw the two of us holding hands in front of just a handful of people, in a place that wasn’t a church or the ballpark,” Fern says.
I take a bite of my food that’s now only slightly warm, then ask, “Do you know where or when you’re going to get married?”
Fern shakes her head. “We don’t have all the details ironed out yet. And to be honest, I don’t think we’re going to plan anything. When it’s time, we’ll know.”
“Does Mom know about this?” I’m guessing our mother doesn’t know, because I know she’d have some words to say about it. Once Brett and Fern announced their engagement, my mother was quick to offer advice about where and when they should have their wedding. In fact, our mother might be the reason they opted to elope. Our mother means well, but she’s been not-so-patiently waiting for one of us to get married.
“You’re the first person we’ve told,” Fern says.
Me? I knew our relationship was improving, but I didn’t think it had improved that much. I really thought she would’ve told Julie first. “Well, thanks for letting me be the first to know.”
“You have to swear you’re not going to say anything,” Fern says, her gaze boring into mine. “We’re only telling you in case you don’t see us for a few days, you don’t think something bad has happened to us.”
“You’re saying that if you somehow disappear for a few days without notice, that I’m supposed to assume you’re eloping and that you didn’t get murdered or kidnapped? I don’t claim to be the smartest person in the world, but that seems like a really dumb idea.” I’m not the type to worry over the comings and goings of my sister, but if she disappears without a trace and I don’t hear from her for several days, eloping sure as heck isn’t going to be my first thought.
“You’re right. That’s probably not the best plan.” She thinks for a moment. “How about I text you our whereabouts once we know that it’s time? But you have to promise to keep it to yourself.”
“Mom is going to be devastated. She’s been looking forward to your wedding ever since you told her you were engaged,” I say around a bite of food.
“I don’t expect her to like it, but it’s not her day. It’s ours.” Fern glances over at Brett to make sure he’s in agreement. He nods along.
“Okay. I’ll keep your secret,” I say, then return to my dinner which is now cold.
“We appreciate it. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, how was work?” Fern asks.
“It was good,” I say, then remember that I’m trying to build a relationship with my sister, not keep her out. “Actually, it was really good. Alexis was out sick today, so I didn’t have to deal with her bad attitude. And one of Kim’s clients asked me out on a date.”
Fern’s eyes light up. “What? Tell me more.”
I glance over at Brett, trying to determine how much of my personal life I want him to know. Brett must sense my hesitation and offers to take my dinner into the kitchen to heat it up for me. While he’s away, I tell Fern all about Wesley coming in today, and how he came in specifically to see me because he hadn’t stopped thinking about me since the seminar. Brett comes back with my meal, and I thank him for his kind gesture.
“Do you know when you’re going to go out?” Fern asks as Brett returns to his seat on the couch.
“I don’t. He’s supposed to text me to set something up.” Right at that moment, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out to see Wesley’s number on the screen. A smile creeps across my face.
“Is that him?” Fern asks.
“It is. He wants me to call him when I’m free.” I take another bite of food and remain seated on the couch.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Fern says impatiently. “Aren’t you going to call him?”
“You think I should so soon? Isn’t that going to come across as looking too eager?”
“No. He’s already thinking about you, so hearing from you would be the icing on the cake,” Brett says, offering up his take.
“Okay, I’ll go.” With my dinner in hand, I get up from the couch and turn toward the hallway. “Don’t wait on me to finish your movie. This might be a while.”