Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Julia pushed open the back door and stepped inside her kitchen. She felt tired after work, but she was determined to make the chicken Marsala that she’d promised Cooper for dinner. She’d never made it before, but she knew it was one of his favorites, and she wanted to do something special for him.
I’m so glad we agreed to have a lovely dinner at home this evening, she thought. I’ve been so busy I feel like I hardly have any quality time to spend with Cooper these days.
She poured herself a cup of coffee, reflecting that it was probably her fifth cup of the day, and she should probably start cutting back on caffeine.
While she leaned against the counter and sipped the rich, invigorating liquid, she started to think through the recipe she was about to prepare.
As she considered it, her eyes roamed across the kitchen table, where her wedding planning materials were strewn haphazardly.
She’d bought all kinds of little goodies to put inside her bridesmaids’ gift bags, in preparation for her bachelorette party, and she got excited as she looked at the piles of face masks, foot scrubs, and other fun girly goodies.
She’d purchased a variety of scents for each small gift, and she was planning on choosing specific scents for each of her bridesmaids.
Hazel should get that lemon and lavender candle, she thought, feeling excited. Or, no—maybe Faith would like that scent more.
Feeling unsure, she approached the table and set down her coffee cup. She removed the lid from the candle and took a long sniff.
Oh, that’s definitely Faith, she thought with a smile. So then which candle should go to Hazel?
She sat down and began to smell the candles one by one.
Before long, she had organized them in neat rows, separated according to bridesmaid.
She glanced at the clock and decided that she had time to start sorting the bath bombs as well.
Those she couldn’t smell as well because they were wrapped up in plastic, so she mainly had to guess who would like what best based on the shape of the bath bomb and the description of the scent.
Before long, she was so immersed in her work that she’d completely lost track of time.
She had a row for each bridesmaid, and she’d chosen a candle, a bath bomb, two face masks, a foot scrub, body butter, and a miniature picture frame for each row.
She was feeling immensely satisfied with her work, and sure that each of her bridesmaids were going to love the gifts she’d picked out for them.
She was just starting to sort through the ChapSticks she’d bought when someone came through the back door.
It was Cooper.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he sang out cheerfully.
Julia squeaked and looked at him in dismay. “Oh no!”
“What is it?” he asked, sounding worried. He looked down at himself. “Did I ruin my shirt or something?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. I meant to have dinner ready when you got home. I haven’t even started cooking it yet. I got totally distracted working on these gift bags for my bridesmaids. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He kissed her forehead. “You’re doing important work there. And it looks like you were having fun too.” He chuckled. “I’m sure the girls are going to love their gift bags. I can wait a little bit longer for dinner. And this way we can make it together.”
She smiled at him. “Okay.” She stood up and started walking toward the refrigerator. She was halfway across the kitchen when she froze in dismay. “Oh no! Cooper!”
“What?” He hurried to her side and touched her arm as if he was worried she was in pain. “What’s the matter?”
She groaned. “I completely forgot to defrost the chicken. I can’t believe I did that.
” She shook her head at herself. “I feel like I’m barely keeping up these days.
It’s not that I don’t love planning our wedding, it’s that everything takes me so much longer than I think it will.
And I get so totally caught up in it that I forget about other things. That isn’t like me at all.”
Cooper laughed as he pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead. “It’s totally fine. I am used to you being the queen of organization, but right now you’re just acting like a normal person. It’s okay to get distracted and forget things sometimes.”
She sighed. “But I promised you the chicken Marsala you like so much, and I wanted us to have a lovely dinner together tonight. I feel bad for letting you down.”
“You didn’t let me down—it was so sweet of you to offer to cook dinner in the first place.
I know you have a lot on your plate. Come on.
” He led her back to the kitchen table and set her gently down in one of the chairs.
“You keep doing your work, and I’m going to make us grilled tuna sandwiches for dinner. ”
Julia’s stomach growled loudly. “That does sound really good. With cheese?”
Cooper chuckled. “Yes, with cheese.”
He set to work preparing their dinner, and she turned back to her work at the table with a sigh of contentment. She felt immensely grateful to have a partner as considerate and caring as Cooper.
“Aren’t these gift bags just the cutest?
” she said, surveying her rows of goodies proudly.
“I’ve organized each gift bag differently.
Sometimes it’s because I know one of my bridesmaids has a certain scent or color preference, and other times it’s because I just felt like that gift would suit them.
I hope they all end up loving everything they get. ”
Cooper smiled fondly at her as he mixed together tuna and mayonnaise. “I’m sure they will. I’m not a girl, but I’m sure that if I liked those kinds of things, a gift basket like that would have me over the moon.”
Julia chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you think so.
I agree—I know the girls are going to love these.
” She smiled down at her work for a moment, feeling pleased.
Then her eyes traveled to the rest of the items on the table—catalogues, address lists, and her to-do list. She sighed.
“I’m so behind on everything still. I like to be ahead on all my work—consistently being behind like this is very frustrating for me. ”
“It’s okay, you’re doing great.” He smiled at her. “I know you like to be ahead, but you still have plenty of time before our big day. And hey—at least you got those wonderful place setting cards. Those are going to be perfect.”
Julia stopped short, her hand suspended above her to-do list. “Oh no,” she groaned.
“No, I didn’t get those wonderful place setting cards, not yet.
I was in the middle of doing that when Mom called me and told me that I was late for work.
I completely forgot about ordering the cards after that.
I meant to do it when I got home from work, but I was so tired that it slipped my mind. ”
“It’s okay, sweetie.” He smiled at her reassuringly. “There’s still time to get it done. I know you feel behind, but that doesn’t mean you’re actually running out of time here. We still have plenty of time before our wedding.”
She sighed. “I guess you’re right.” She clicked her pen open with frustration. “Well, that’s one more thing on my list.”
She made a note on her to-do list, since she’d already scratched out “find place setting cards and order them.” Below that she’d written “find venue”—an item she’d scratched off days ago, before the pipe had burst in Turtle Dove Hall.
Tears filled her eyes. She tried to blink them away and take deep breaths, but Cooper immediately noticed her distress.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in concern.
She shook her head. “I’m trying not to let myself get too upset about it, but everything that happened with Turtle Dove Hall is so disappointing.
I loved it so much, and it seemed like a total dream come true.
And now with that pipe bursting—I know it’s so much worse for Lindsay, and I shouldn’t be so sorry for myself, but it’s so disappointing to get a perfect venue like that pulled out from under us.
” Tears slipped out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
“And now, unless a miracle happens with those repairs, we don’t have a venue.
I know places aren’t packed around here, but in New York, that’s the kind of thing you’d need to reserve at least a year early, sometimes earlier than that.
What if we end up without any kind of a venue at all?
What if we have to host our reception somewhere ugly, like the community room in the town hall’s basement? ”
“Oh, sweetheart?—”
“Or—” Tears filled her eyes. “What if we can’t find anywhere at all and we have to postpone our wedding?”
Cooper hurried across the kitchen and put his arms around her.
“Julia, don’t think like that. You’re overwhelmed, and you’re tired, and things look bleak right now.
” He touched his nose to hers. “But don’t worry about it like that.
There’s no need to be jumping to worst-case scenarios here.
I’ll tell you one thing for sure.” He smiled at her as he looked her right in the eyes.
“I’m going to marry you no matter what. We’re going to have our wedding, we’re going to have a venue, and it’s going to be beautiful.
You know that even if we did end up in the town hall’s basement, it would be beautiful.
We’d decorate it, and it would look wonderful to us because we’re going to be so extremely happy on our wedding day no matter what. Right?”
Tears were still brimming in Julia’s eyes, but now they were happy tears. “What did I do to deserve you?” she whispered with a smile. “Thank you. You’re right. No matter what happens, our wedding day is going to be beautiful.”
“That’s the spirit,” he told her warmly.
“Now I’m going to finish making these sandwiches before they burn.
We’ll have a nice hot meal, and then I’ll help you with some of the wedding planning.
What should we tackle? Seating charts for the reception?
” He looked almost excited about the idea as he returned to the stove and started to flip the sandwiches over.
She groaned. “Yes, that’s a good idea. And I’ll order those place setting cards now.”
“Hey, cheer up! We’re going to put a huge dent in that to-do list tonight. And we’re going to watch some old black and white movies while we work on the seating charts.”
She smiled adoringly at him. “Okay. Thank you. I’m so excited I get to marry you.”
He grinned at her from across the kitchen. “I’m so excited I get to marry you too. Don’t worry about a thing. We’ve got this.”
She nodded, feeling immensely grateful and reassured.
She might not have any control over things like burst pipes and lost venues, but that didn’t mean that their wedding wasn’t going to be wonderful.
It would be the day that she got to marry the incredible man standing in front of her, and nothing could ruin that.