Chapter 43
CHAPTER
FORTY-THREE
WES
Lindy and I sat at a table at the Meager Grand with a cappuccino for her and an espresso for me. The sun had just set and the votive candles decorated with wheat leaves were lit on the tables. In walked Zo? and her two moms.
I stood up. “Gail, good to see you.” I extended my hand, and Gail, Zo?’s mom, shook it while Lindy hugged Zo? and then Lenore.
“Wes, so good to see you. And you must be Lindy?” Gail extended her hand, and Lindy took it.
“So great to finally meet you, Gail. I’ve heard so much about you from Zo? and Lenore.”
“Good to meet you too, Lindy.” Smiling, Gail turned to Zo?. “Honey, you’re going to sit here with Wes and Lindy, and Lenore and I will be right over there, okay?”
“Okay.”
Lenore and Gail grinned at us and went down to the counter to place their order.
Zo? took a seat at our table as she scanned the room. “I’ve never been here at night before. It’s pretty with the candles.”
“I think so too,” agreed Lindy. “The Grand is only open this late on Thursday night. It’s special. Which is why we invited you here tonight.”
Wes waved his hand at Erica down at the front, who had been waiting for Zo? to arrive. Within moments she brought over a tray filled with six different slices of cake and three spoons.
“Enjoy, you guys. Take your time. And, Lindy, call me tomorrow and let me know.”
“I will, thank you, Erica.” Lindy handed Zo? a spoon and a napkin.
“So much cake, which one should I take?” asked Zo?.
“Zo, tonight we get to try all the cakes.” I grabbed a spoon.
Her mouth dropped open. “All of them?”
“These are all the different cakes that Erica makes here at the Grand, and we want you to help us choose our favorite.”
Holding her spoon in the air, Zo? eyed us both. “Why?”
Lindy pressed her leg against mine under the table. “I have wonderful news, Zo?. Wes and I are getting married.”
“You are?”
“We are,” I said.
“Finally!” Zo?’s voice was loud with excitement. Lindy and I burst out into laughter, as did Lenore, Gail, and Erica across the café.
“Look at the ring Wes gave me.” Lindy showed Zo? her ring.
Gasping, Zo? grabbed Lindy’s hand and brought it close, her lips parting as she studied it. “It’s so pretty. Good job, Wes.”
“Holy cow,” I chuckled. “Lenore said the same thing to me.”
Zo? blushed, her hands still gripping Lindy’s.
“And I’d like you to be a bridesmaid at the wedding. Would you like that?”
“Oh yes, please!”
“Yay!”
Zo?’s features grew serious. “You see, Lindy, just like I told you. The love didn’t leave. It couldn’t. It was too big, too true.”
I stilled at her words.
“You were right, Zo,” Lindy whispered as she leaned in and planted a kiss on Zo?’s cheek. “The love was right here all along. And you helped me see that.”
The emotion in their voices made my heart swell. The girls still held hands. This was family, this was connection, and Lindy craved it and honored it as much as I did, as much as Zo? did. My leg pressed back against Lindy’s under the table.
“Now we’re going to be sisters for real,” whispered Zo?.
“For real,” Lindy whispered back, her lips trembling, a tear sliding down her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb.
Letting go of Lindy’s hand, Zo?’s face lit up. She adjusted her glasses on her nose. “One big perfect circle.”
Just then the door to the Grand swung open, and Finger entered the cafe, greeting Gail and kissing his wife. Turning, he spotted us, a thick eyebrow lifting. He raised his chin at me, his lips tilting into something resembling a smile that shot warmth in my veins.
Lifting my chin, I smiled back at him. “You’re right, Zo. Together we’re one big perfect circle.”
Zo? dug her spoon into a thick slice of chocolate cake layered with caramel buttercream. “Time for cake.”