Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
TWO DAYS LATER
Emmy set the wedding gift basket down, then hoisted her suitcase onto the hotel bed, unzipped it, pulled the garment bag with the Garnet & Petticoat dress off the top of the pile, and hung it in the closet.
“Leave it to Adrienne to have an enormous wedding,” Madison said as she pushed her suitcase against the wall and opened it.
“The whole hotel seems to be here for it. Did you see the huge tables full of gift baskets? I’ll bet there are five hundred people here for the wedding.
That’s why there were no luggage carts.”
Emmy put her hands on her hips and took a moment to collect herself. They’d dragged their bags all the way from the car and down the snaking hallways to their third-floor room. “I’m glad she decided to have the wedding in Nashville, though. It’s nice.”
Madison crouched down and lined her shoes against the wall: two pairs of boots, a pair of sneakers, and a pair of high heels. “We were so busy at Dad’s that we haven’t even had time to chat. Have you spoken to Charlie? Is he coming?”
Emmy shook her head. “I haven’t called him in about seven months or so.”
Her sister looked up. “Why?”
“I don’t know... We talked pretty regularly right after Christmas, but then I started seriously job hunting and I got busy.”
“The job hunting was so demanding that you didn’t have time for a phone call? You called me.”
“Yeah, but you’re my sister.”
Madison shrugged as if she didn’t get it.
“I’ve been busy working all day and night and trying to get back on my feet.”
“So how is the job hunt going?”
She knew the answer. She’d been with Emmy along the journey.
For almost a year, Emmy had been living on her meager wages and what money her dad sent her, even though she’d tried not to take his handouts. She hadn’t been able to break into the marketing sector. The competition was incredible.
“You know how it’s going. Why are you asking?”
“Because maybe you should broaden your horizons. Look for a job in, say, Chicago.”
Emmy pouted at her sister, then went into the bathroom to unpack her toiletries.
Madison followed. “I’m just saying. You need to shake up your life. If you lived near Charlie, who knows what might happen? Maybe you two could go out on a date or two.”
“I can’t focus on that if I’m trying to build a career.”
“I think you could if you let yourself.”
“And it’s not as easy as it sounds to just up and move.”
“Mom did.”
Emmy rolled her eyes.
“Speaking of Mom, have you emailed Mitchell Augustine?”
Emmy shook her head. “No. I’m waiting until I’m home and can collect my thoughts.”
“I have some thoughts right now that you can pass along.”
Emmy grinned. “I need to figure out how to approach him. Even if we’re somehow wrong about the design—which I don’t think we are—he went dark when I told him Mom had died and then asked him to coffee. Meeting up for coffee after that news would definitely be awkward.”
“Fair enough. But he could’ve at least come back to you to shoot you down. He was too busy figuring out which design he wanted to use.”
“I did send him a follow-up, but when he didn’t respond to that, I didn’t know what else to do.”
“He clearly doesn’t care what you think. Unless... What if your messages went to his spam folder?”
“Would my messages go to spam? He responded to my first one just fine. Whatever he knows, he doesn’t want to tell us.”
“I’ll call him myself if I have to.”
“You haven’t considered the other side of things. He could know something awful! Do we want to learn shocking details about Mom?” Emmy set her hairspray onto the counter. “I want to remember her exactly as she was.”
“You should keep pressing him. At the very least, make him explain the dress.”
“Other than emailing him, I’m not sure what I can do.”
“Wear him down until he meets with you just to shut you up. At least, then we’ll know what happened.” Madison chewed her lip. “We could ask Dad if he knows anything more.”
“I don’t want to press the issue in case, God forbid, it’s something that could hurt him.”
Emmy fluttered her hands in the air. “We can’t solve it right now. I managed to get this time off work from both my jobs. We’ve got a night on the town tonight, and the wedding tomorrow. Let’s enjoy ourselves.”
“You’re so right,” Madison said. “It isn’t often that I get to leave Jack at home and spend the weekend with my sister.” She made a kissy face.
“When I searched for restaurants online, I found the coolest spot. It has outdoor igloo-covered tables on the rooftop, which happens to be on this hotel.”
Madison gasped in interest.
“They have signature Peppermintinis and Spiked Hot Chocolate. Everyone in Nashville tries to go. The wait to get in is over twenty-four hours.” Emmy made a face. “But two days ago, I reserved a table for us. It’s available in an hour.”
Madison’s eyes widened. “Say no more. Let’s get ready!”
Since Emmy already had the Garnet & Petticoat dress to wear to the wedding, and all she had to buy was a matching pair of shoes, she’d splurged on a cream-colored angora wool sweater to pair with her nicest pair of jeans. With her suede boots, wool trench, and a floppy hat, she felt festive.
The hostess showed them to their table under a weather-resistant igloo draped in white Christmas lights. They ducked inside and sat across from one another, a cinnamon candle flickering between them.
Madison scooted up to the table. “This is the coolest thing.” She waved her hand around the clear-domed structure that protected their table, a white shag rug, a small wood-burning stove, and two overstuffed chairs with throw pillows. “We can see the entire city from up here.”
“It’s pretty incredible.”
Madison picked up the menu. “What are you going to have to drink?”
“I liked the sound of the Peppermintini.” She read the option on the menu: “It’s peppermint schnapps, half-and-half, with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and crushed, sweetened peppermint candy on top. How could I not get that?”
“That sounds delicious. I might get that too.”
The waitress unzipped the igloo and entered with two waters. She took their drink orders and left them alone once more.
Madison peered over the menu. “You look so pretty tonight with your hair curled. I didn’t notice before, but did you do something different with it?”
Emmy fiddled with the ends. “Yeah. I had an appointment a couple weeks ago and I got a shine treatment—it’s subtle. But we are going to a wedding after all.”
“It looks nice.”
“Thank you.” Emmy scanned the food choices. “What are you going to get?”
“The baked brie sounds good.”
“That does. The loaded baked potato is calling to me.”
“Mmm.” Madison studied the menu.
Just then, a couple heading to another igloo caught Emmy’s eye. She blinked to be sure her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. But she was certainly seeing correctly because Madison piped up, “Is that Charlie?”
On his arm was a petite blonde in a cranberry-red figure-flattering boat-necked cocktail dress with a fur draped over her elbow. Charlie said something into her ear, and she threw her head back and laughed, her red lips curving upward around a row of perfectly white teeth.
Emmy yanked her eyes from the woman, trying not to gawk at her, and hid behind her menu. But not quickly enough as Madison caught her reaction. Her sister’s face rose over the edge of the laminated card.
“You looked freaked out just now,” Madison said.
Emmy lowered the menu. “Not freaked out. Just surprised.”
“I’ve seen you surprised. There was definite alarm in that look.”
Emmy hadn’t even had time to figure out what she felt about seeing Charlie with someone else. She glanced over at the couple, and to her horror, he was looking straight at her. Madison followed her gaze.
Charlie waved and offered a little smile.
Emmy waved back, her heart thumping.
He turned back to his date and said something just as the waitress returned with their cocktails.
“So, what are we feeling like?” the waitress asked.
Like this wedding might not be as fun as I’d imagined.
“I’ll have the baked brie,” Madison said.
Oh. The order... “I’ll have the same.”