Chapter 1 #2
The door opens, and there she is, looking better than I’ve ever seen her.
Her hair is usually long and shiny and straight down to the middle of her back, with a fringe of bangs.
No bangs tonight—it’s parted in the middle, with soft bouncing shoulder-length curls.
I like it. Now you can see her almond-shaped warm light brown eyes better, framed by her long eyelashes and perfectly arched eyebrows.
Delicately high cheekbones, cute little straight nose, full pouty lips, heart- shaped face with a barely noticeable amount of makeup and shiny lip gloss. Damn, I missed her.
She used to be about ten pounds lighter, and the extra weight looks good on her, especially in this dress.
Her smile is exactly how I remembered it, her smile bright and her face full of joy.
I pull her into my arms and hold her; I hadn’t realized how much I missed her.
I hear Chris’s voice as I’m taking my hand away from Cat’s hair.
“Dude, you were out there for a while, how long does it take to park a car? It can’t be that hard for you, you’re one of the top lawyers in New York.”
“I had to take a client call.”
“Get in here, man, you two have all night to talk. Your girl’s about to tell us something— she has everyone in the living room for some big announcement.”
Shit, this fucking girl. I hope she isn’t going to do what I think she’s going to do.
I should have told Cat about us, but I didn’t know how she was going to react…
yes, I do, that’s why I didn’t tell her.
Why tell her if she wasn’t coming back? It would only have upset her.
Then Kate tells me this shit days before Cat tells me she’s coming back from Canada to live in New York.
Cat
I turn around when I hear Chris’s voice. What does he mean by “your girl?” Since when has Kate been Nick’s girl? When we were kids they barely said two words to each other—and those two words were hi and bye.
The three of us walk into the living room together like when we were kids, Chris on my left and Nick on my right.
Everyone in the room, except for Kate and my parents, has found a place to sit.
Kate is standing in the middle of the room with a smile plastered across her face, and my mom and dad are standing next to her, looking bemused.
“Everyone, I have an announcement to make.”
Across the room from her to her right, James says, “We know that, cut the suspense. What is it?”
Everyone laughs, and I look up at Nick, who’s standing still as a statue next to me, looking at Kate with a tense smile.
“I’m getting married! Nick and I are engaged! Surprise!”
In the amount of time she takes to say those words I go through ten different thoughts, but they all culminate with what the hell did she just say?
I feel like I’m floating out of my body and watching the whole scene.
Like, what the fuck just happened here, am I hearing right?
I don’t even notice when Nick walks away to stand next to Kate.
Everyone is smiling and congratulating the happy couple.
My mother’s beaming from ear to ear, and my father and brothers are shaking Nick’s hand.
Someone takes out a bottle of champagne.
It’s flowing everywhere in crystal flutes.
I see Chris look at me with raised brows, and I make my way over to the newly engaged couple.
I force a smile on my face, looking at Kate then at Nick, and say, “Congratulations!”
I lean in to kiss my sister on the cheek. “So when’s the big day?”
“We’re not sure, but I think in January.”
“Wow! That soon?” my mom exclaims. “That’s only three months away. I think you’re going to need more time than that to plan your dream wedding.”
Kate waves a dismissive hand in the air. “Don’t worry, Mom, I have it all under control. Planning things like this on short notice is what I do for a living.”
“I remember when you were little and you had your wedding all planned out, from the roses down to the dinner menu. You would get dressed up in your white satin dress and pretend to walk down the aisle. You were beautiful then, and I’m sure you are going to be even more beautiful now.
Now that I think about it, you probably already know exactly what you want.
You always knew what you wanted. If anyone can pull off the most fabulous wedding in such a short time, it would be you. ”
Kate preens under the praise and gives Mom a kiss on the cheek. Mom looks at Nick, still smiling. “You were here so much when you and Chris were younger…it was like I had a fifth child. Now it’s going to be official! I have to call your mother so the four of us can go out to lunch.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Reed, she’ll like that.”
I can’t stand this Norman Rockwell painting come to life anymore.
“Excuse me, guys, I’m going to get a glass of champagne, I’ll be right back.
” I let the forced smile slide away from my face as I walk toward the kitchen, picking up a glass of champagne from the table and downing it in one shot.
I was never much of a drinker, but if there was ever a night to start, it would certainly be tonight. It’s a night of one too many surprises.
At this point, my mind is blank. I’m just trying to hold it together.
I take a cold beer out of the fridge lean against the counter, pressing the bottle to my cheeks and taking slow, deep breaths.
Once I feel a little more under control, I open my beer and slowly walk to the stairs in the kitchen that lead to my old room.
Maybe I’ll find an old CD that will tell me how to feel.
Nick
I’m standing next to Cat, and she’s staring at Kate, her smile gone. She doesn’t even look at me. I walk over to Kate, give her a quick smile for everyone to see, and stand next to her. What I really want to do is drag her out of this room and wring her neck.
Everyone in the room is smiling and congratulating us.
I should have told Cat; this is not the way I wanted her to find out, in a room full of people—including her family.
She’s putting on a fairly good show, but I can tell by the rise and fall of her chest that she’s upset. Jay comes over to shake my hand.
“Congrats, soon-to-be brother-in-law, this was unexpected. When did it happen?”
“About three weeks ago,” Kate inserts.
“Man, and she was able to keep news like this to herself for that long? That’s a miracle. She’s been waiting to get married since the day she was born. I’m happy for you two.” He turns to his sister, gives her a kiss on the cheek, and hugs her.
“Thanks, Jay, and for your information, I can keep a secret.”
“I’m sure you can, but you’ve been waiting for this for years. I thought you would be shouting it from the rooftops the day it happened.”
Kate smiles and rolls her eyes, but I think her cheeks turn a little pink. “Be quiet, you guys are making me sound desperate, which I am not.”
“You know I love you; I’m only joking. Like I told Nick, I’m happy for you two. Hopefully your marriage will last longer than mine. I’m going to get a drink to toast the happy couple.”
I need a damn drink myself. I turn to get one, and I see Cat move toward us. She doesn’t look at me, and she has a smile on her face, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Her eyes, they always give her emotions away.
She asks Kate when the wedding is. I wish I could take her out of here and explain everything, but I can’t leave my fiancée to find a private place to talk to her sister.
Her mother is talking about how Kate liked to pretend she was getting married when she was a little girl, white dress and all.
I never realized how much Kate wanted to get married.
There are a lot of things I don’t know about Kate, but I’m sure going to find out.
I know her, obviously, but not like I know Cat.
Sometimes she was around when I came over but we never really hung out.
We ran into each other about three months ago at a friend’s house.
I wasn’t going to go, but she was having a dinner party, and she wanted me to come because she hadn’t seen me in a while.
When I got there I saw Kate. I hadn’t seen her in a long time.
She looked good in a black pencil skirt that fit just right, a white sleeveless button-down shirt, and red-bottomed heels that added several inches to her height.
She had brown highlights in her hair, pulled back in a loose ponytail with a bang that reminded me of Cat.
I was going to say hi to her, but an old friend of mine started talking to me. Fifteen minutes later she walked up to me as my friend was leaving.
“Hi, Nick. You weren’t going to come over and say hello?”
“Actually I was; you beat me to it.” She tilted her head, looking up at me.
“I’m glad you weren’t trying to avoid me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know, but I’m glad that wasn’t the case. I haven’t seen you with Chris in a long time.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy and a little preoccupied with other things. I’m actually supposed to meet up with him and a couple of the guys tomorrow after work.”
“Speaking of my brother and people you haven’t seen, have you spoken to my sister lately?”
“No, not in a while. I have to call her.”
“She’s doing great. She really likes it over there.”
“Does she?”
“Yeah, when we talked, she said it’s starting to feel like home. Now that she’s finished with school, she’s been dating a lot, and it sounds like she’s finally found a winner.”
“She has a boyfriend? A serious boyfriend?”
“I believe so. I don’t think she’s coming back.”
“Huh. Well, that’s good. I’m happy she’s doing well. I guess she’s moved on.” I give her a sad smile. “You don’t think there’s a chance she’ll change her mind and come back?”
“No. She sounds happy, and as long as she’s happy that’s all that matters. Isn’t it?”
“You’re right; as long as she’s happy, that’s all that matters.”