Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
“ W ell, this is weird,” Wesley says.
I open my eyes to a very confused Wesley standing over our bed. Justin’s body is still settled up against mine, and his arm never left my waist the whole night.
Wesley rubs his temples. “Would someone please explain what happened? Why are we in this hotel room? And why is Justin here? But most importantly, why the hell is he with you?”
Justin and I both sit up in bed and turn to one another, looking to see who is going to speak first. Since Wesley was my date, I decide that it should be me who explains.
“I’ll give you the short version now, but when we take the ferry home, I’ll explain in greater detail,” I say. Wesley nods. “We went out to eat last night, you had way too much to drink, and you got so drunk, I had to call Justin to help me out because I wasn’t able to drive your car home.”
“But that doesn’t explain how you two ended up in bed together,” Wesley says.
I turn toward Justin. “Could you give us a minute, please?”
Justin nods and excuses himself to the bathroom. With the two of us by ourselves, it’s time for me to tell Wesley how I really feel about him.
“Justin and I were in a relationship before you, and I guess last night we rekindled that relationship.” Wesley’s head droops which makes me feel bad that we weren’t awake before him. We could’ve avoided all of this, but it only would’ve dragged out what needs to be done. “Wesley, you and I were never going to work out. We’re two very different people. You enjoy the finer things in life, and I’m comfortable being a simple girl. I’m flattered you asked me out, and you’re a great person. We’re just not great together.”
“I shouldn’t have taken you to that restaurant last night. All I could think about was my ex, even though I tried my best to forget her. The wine definitely made me forget her for the evening, but it also ruined things with you.”
I don’t mention that things were already ruined before he got drunk. “It’s okay. What’s done is done. I hope we can move on and be civil from here. I don’t want it to be weird if you need to come in for an adjustment from Kim.”
The barest hint of a smile touches his lips. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“How are you feeling this morning?”
“My head is throbbing. But if I was as drunk as you say, it makes sense.”
“Oh, yeah,” I say, suddenly realizing something I failed to address yesterday. “To answer your question from last night, no, I’ve never seen a pickle tornado.”
Wesley cocks his head to the side. “What?”
A laugh escapes my lips. “I’ll explain on the ferry.”
I spent the ferry ride telling Wesley everything. There were a few times when he cringed at his behavior, and he said it would be a while before he drank Marsala, or any alcohol at all. The one bright spot of the journey back was that before we all got back into our cars to depart the ferry, he wished Justin and I well, which I thought was considerate.
While driving back to my place, Justin asks, “Do you want to get some breakfast?”
“Maybe. But I’d like to go home first and at least change my clothes.” Back at the hotel, I returned Justin’s clothes to him, so I’m wearing my sweater and dress pants from last night.
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea for me too. What I’m wearing is suitable for fast food and that’s about it. And since we just had that last night, I don’t really want that again.”
“I should probably check in with my sister. I’m not sure if she’s home, but I should at least send her a text to let her know I’m on my way back to the house.”
“Does your sister usually keep tabs on your whereabouts?”
“No. I mean, she didn’t used to. But when I spent the night at your place after going out to the bar, I never sent her a text to tell her I wasn’t going to be home. She thought something had happened to me. So now she gets a little nervous when she doesn’t hear from me,” I say with a sheepish grin.
“That’s understandable. She’s just looking out for you.”
When we pull up to the house, Fern’s car is there, as well as Brett’s. That means he stayed here last night, and the two of them are home—alone. I send her a courtesy text letting her know that I’m here so I don’t interrupt anything that might be going on in there.
Justin pulls up to the curb and turns off his car. Unlike the last time he dropped me off here, he doesn’t have work to get to, or anywhere to be that I know of. That leaves the whole day for us to spend together. And I want that day to include meeting at least one member of my family, and Brett, who is my soon-to-be family member.
“Will you come inside and meet my sister and her fiancé?” I’m not going to force him to do anything he’s not comfortable with, but I really want him to say yes.
He hesitates, then looks to me for reassurance. “Are you sure you want me to meet them now? Look at me,” he says, plucking his sweatshirt. “I feel like a slob.”
“They’re not going to care.” He gives me a look like he doesn’t believe me. “I promise,” I say with a smile.
He stares ahead at the road for a second before reaching for the door handle. “Okay, but if this goes poorly, it wasn’t my idea.”
I can’t help but grin at him. The fact that he’s so nervous about meeting Fern is sweet. It shows that making a good first impression really matters to him. And it’s important to him that my family likes him. “You’re going to do fine. Brett is a really nice guy and my sister cares more about a person than their appearance.”
We walk together up the steps, and I knock twice before opening the door. Fern and Brett aren’t in the living room, but I do hear them talking and it sounds like they’re in the kitchen.
“Hello?” I yell, merely to announce my presence.
Fern pokes her head out of the entryway to the kitchen. “Hey, welcome home,” she says without much thought. She’s about to retreat to the kitchen when she sees my companion. She looks at me, then back at Justin. I can see the questions in her eyes. I didn’t tell her in my text that I was going to be bringing someone in. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision. She smiles warmly at Justin and introduces herself. She has to collect herself when he gives his name. I bet she thought he was Wesley since she has no idea what happened last night.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Fern says. “Have you two had breakfast yet?” When I shake my head, she says, “Good. You two should eat with us. We were just getting started making pancakes, and it wouldn’t take much to make a few extra.”
“Thank you. I’d love that,” Justin says.
“Justin, why don’t you join Brett and me in the kitchen for a cup of coffee while Dahlia goes and changes her clothes? She’s a little overdressed for this, don’t you think?” Fern says. She and Brett are still in their pajamas, so at least Justin doesn’t need to be concerned with looking like a slob. He fits right in.
“I think that’s a good idea. I’m tired of wearing these clothes,” I say. “When I get back, I can tell you all about my night last night.”
I hurry through changing my clothes so Justin isn’t alone in the kitchen for too long. I know he can handle himself, but he’s just met Fern, and I don’t know what embarrassing stories she’s planning on sharing with him.
When I get back, he’s sitting at the table sipping a cup of coffee while Fern and Brett are doing the cooking.
“I offered to help, but your sister said she didn’t need any,” Justin says to me.
“You’re a guest. You’re not supposed to help out,” Fern replies.
“I’m not considered a guest?” Brett asks.
“No. You’re practically family now,” Fern says, giving him a nudge. She turns her attention toward me next. “So, is someone going to explain how the two of you ended up together when Dahlia was supposed to have been on a date with a totally different guy?” She phrases this like she’s asking both of us, but really, she’s asking me.
While she and Brett make breakfast, I explain everything to them and show Fern the picture of Wesley. She doesn’t ask about the status of Justin and me, but I hope she can tell by the way I’m acting around him, and by the closeness that we’re sitting, that we’re back together.
Once she and Brett are almost finished preparing our breakfast, I make myself useful by filling everyone’s mugs with a refill of coffee. Justin lends a hand by taking everyone’s plates to the table. In front of us are pancakes with bacon and some blueberries to sprinkle on top.
“This looks great. Thanks for letting us crash your breakfast,” Justin says.
“You weren’t crashing anything,” Fern says. “You’re always welcome here.”
Brett takes a few bites of his breakfast, then looks over at Justin. “So, Justin, what do you do for work?”
“I’m in the process of completing my residency to be an ob-gyn,” he says.
“What made you decide to go into that field of medicine? It’s such a women-dominated field, I would think that would make it harder for you to find a career,” Fern says.
“It wasn’t just one thing. When I was doing my rotations, the moment I stepped into the birthing center, I knew. Being in the presence of so much new life was an amazing experience, and I wanted to be a part of it,” Justin explains. “And women make great patients because they don’t wait forever when something is bothering them.”
“Do you want kids of your own someday?” Fern asks. I’m glad she asked because I want to know too.
Justin nods. “I do—when the time is right. I’m way too busy, and have too much on my plate to want to have kids now. It wouldn’t be fair to the child.”
“Our mom always said there’s no perfect time to have kids, and you don’t always get to choose when it happens,” Fern says, basically repeating our mom word for word. It’s something our mom has said for a while, and whenever we’ve asked, it’s the line she used to explain why she and my dad had kids when they did. Fern and I weren’t planned—we just happened.
“I agree with that, but I’d like to be able to plan for it if possible. I just think it would be better that way,” Justin says.
“Agreed,” Brett says, chiming in on the matter. “You know people are going to expect us to have kids soon after we get married,” he says to Fern.
I chuckle. “Mom’s been pushing for you two to have kids for a while now. I’m pretty sure she hinted at it during Christmas dinner last year.”
“You’re right,” Fern says. “I remember that. She was talking about how she can’t wait to have a house full of grandkids.”
“If she wanted a house full of grandkids, she should’ve had more children. I don’t think the two of us are going to produce a boatload of kids,” I say.
“Do you know that a woman came into the clinic the other day, and she said she was on her sixth pregnancy. Sixth. And she was barely showing at three months,” Justin says.
Fern raises a brow. “That’s impressive. I’ll probably be massive whenever I get pregnant—which won’t be for a while. Let me make that clear.”
“You know I’ll still love you even if you’re massive,” Brett says, then leans in for a kiss. Fern obliges with a quick peck on the lips.
The two of them are so cute, and I want what they have with Justin. But I know it’s going to take time for Justin and me to get to their level. We’ve only just gotten back together, and I need to be patient.
“Enough talk about babies,” Fern says. “Do you two have plans for the rest of the day? If you don’t, Brett and I are going to take the ferry to Whidbey Island to spend the day there if you’re interested.”
Justin turns toward me and asks me with his eyes what we should do. I give him a shrug in response. I think it’s nice of Fern to let us tag along on their outing, and I think it would be a great way for Justin to get to know her and Brett. But on the other hand, the idea of having an empty house all to ourselves is hard to pass up. I’m going to let Justin decide this one since I decided his evening for him last night.
Justin smiles warmly back at Fern. “Dahlia and I would love to go along with you. Would it be okay if I went home and changed clothes first?”
“Absolutely,” Fern says.