Chapter Three
Do We Need Pizza?
Rachel looked over the crowded ballroom, trying to spot Lisa and Lottie. It had been nice of Alex to invite her to the wedding so she could witness the gown in all its glory. But not knowing anyone else made it hard to feel social.
She’d spent a good chunk of time walking through the spectacular gardens and then out to the ocean cliffs, trying to gain control of her emotions.
Arguing with Emerald Eyes, aka Gruff Guy, aka Owner Cal, had hit a nerve.
So much of Cal’s demeanor and dismissive, condescending ways reminded her of her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Chris.
And she refused to let Mr. My Name is Cal and My Ego is Everything derail what should be a great night with her friends.
She needed to concentrate on the positives.
Hopefully, Cal wasn’t lying and the dinner was in good hands.
He was many things she didn’t like, but she didn’t get the impression he was lying.
Especially since this was his place. It was in his best interest to ensure everything went according to plan.
If it didn’t, she could imagine Jennifer, Alex’s mom, would go up one side and down the other, berating Cal.
Not that the man didn’t deserve a little comeuppance.
She’d recognized Cal for who he was right away. She hadn’t seen past Chris’ confident, polished facade when he started dating her sister. She hadn’t recognized his manner as arrogant and domineering. He was older and just seemed worldly.
She’d missed all the signals she should have picked up. It wasn’t until much later that she realized who he truly was and the suffering her sister had endured.
Shoving away the guilt that always accompanied thoughts of her sister Jess, Rachel made her way through the crowd. Today was a celebration, and it was time to get with the program. Like the boisterous table of ladies she was approaching.
They were all decked out in finery, complete with hats or flashy fascinators.
They were toasting their long friendship, and of all things, their book club.
She couldn’t even imagine what the story was there, but she had to admire their obvious affection for each other.
Their laughter was infectious making Rachel smile.
As she passed them, she noticed a woman approaching, wearing a dusty blue dress.
The style was a simple A-line silhouette with a vintage flair.
The top was fitted with a sheer neckline and illusion sleeves and flared out dramatically at her waist. As the woman moved, it flowed and danced around her, making Rachel envious.
Glancing down at her knee-length, perfectly acceptable but predictably boring dress, she ran her hand across her stomach.
This dress was fine but sometimes, especially seeing the woman coming her way, Rachel wished she were comfortable wearing something flashier or more formfitting. She admired the woman’s ease and style.
Giving her head a little shake, she continued walking through the ballroom. Already out of sorts, today was not the day to reexamine her fashion choices.
Looking around again, she spied Lisa’s short cropped hair and made her way over to their table.
“Rachel!” Lottie jumped up and hugged her tightly. Looking over Lottie’s shoulder, she cocked an eyebrow at Lisa.
“Lottie may be celebrating with somewhat too much champagne,” Lisa provided with a laugh.
“Oh Rachel,” Lottie gushed. “I have a client. A real client. You all were right. This is a business. Second Chance Bridal is really a thing!”
Rachel extracted herself from Lottie’s arms with a quick squeeze for her friend. “That’s amazing, Lottie,” she replied, sitting next to Lisa. “But we always knew it was a proper business.”
“What she means,” Lisa supplied, “is that she has another client. A new one, and a non-relative client, no less.”
“That’s fantastic news,” she replied before giving it a second thought. “Wait. What? How did you get a new client so fast? What did I miss?”
“She’s Alex’s friend, and she’s amazing!” Lottie exclaimed. “She’s been searching for a gown that incorporates something of Sweden. When she heard what I’d done for Alex with the Scottish lace, she knew I was the perfect person to consult.” Lottie settled back with a tremendous smile.
Rachel glanced at Lisa. “You didn’t let her talk to a client with this much champagne in her, did you?”
“Oh no,” Lisa laughed. “She stopped by the bridal suite just after you left. Speaking of which, we want a detailed account of the kitchen crisis,” Lisa shook her finger at Rachel.
Apparently, Lisa had also been doing some champagne celebrating with Lottie.
“But we only had one more glass before the ceremony.”
“It was so beautiful,” Lottie sniffed. “I love all weddings, but this one was so amazing. And the dress, Rachel. The dress. It was the perfect choice for Alex.”
“It really was,” Lisa agreed. “Anyway, Lottie might have been a little… happy when she met the new client, but it wasn’t until the cocktail hour that we had a celebratory glass…”
“Or two,” Lottie interrupted.
“Or two,” Lisa picked up the narrative. “That’s probably what tipped the scales into tipsy.”
“Where were you, by the way?” Lottie interrupted again. “You missed the fun church part with the gown making its way down the aisle and how it looked all spread out at the front of the church.
“The maid of honor did a beautiful job fluffing the dress,” Lottie rambled on her eyes bright with excitement.
“She displayed the train perfectly. I wish every bridesmaid was that good. They should really teach a class on it. It’s so important.
And the lace cut outs in the train,” she sighed.
“All that artistry. The delicate lace surrounded by swaths of creamy white fabric looked incredible!”
God bless Lottie and her bridal gown obsession.
“Sorry about missing the ceremony. I hope Alex didn’t realize I was absent.”
“Oh, she’s too busy floating on cloud nine,” Lottie waved her hand dismissively. “But Lisa and I noticed. How bad are things in the kitchen that you took that long?” She looked around her before leaning in and whispering, “Should we order a pizza delivery?”
Rachel laughed and gave a little shake of her head.
Tipsy Lottie was way too much fun. Making her cousin’s wedding gown had been especially stressful.
With a very tight timeframe, Lottie had somehow taken a severely outdated vintage dress and turned it into a beautifully modern gown all while keeping the exquisite lace and embroidery work that made the gown so stunning.
To have it completed and a success, Lottie was owed a fun night out.
Before she could assure Lottie no pizza delivery was needed, Adam, Lottie’s boyfriend, arrived with drinks.
“Hey Rachel,” Adam said. “Lottie, I told them to make your cosmo on the lighter side.”
“Smart choice,” Lisa stage whispered, sending all of them laughing.
When Lottie laughed especially loudly, Rachel saw Katherine, Lottie’s mom, turn and glare over at her daughter. It almost sent Rachel’s exceedingly short temper of today into overdrive.
Katherine had appeared in the doorway of the bridal suite this morning like a specter from the underworld, dripping in disdain and condescension. She had proceeded to dismiss and belittled her daughter’s massive accomplishment of designing the wedding gown.
The damn woman had been in the room for under ten minutes, and even in that short amount of time, Rachel wanted to smack her. Lottie’s mother was incapable of seeing what an amazing daughter she had, and it was infuriating.
And unfair.
How was it that Lottie’s judgmental, callous mom, got to be around to be crappy to her kid when Rachel’s own mom—who was fantastic—wasn’t? In what world did that make sense?
Losing both her parents in a car accident when she was in college seemed like the lowest the universe could get.
When she was at an event like a wedding she’d be struck with grief all over again.
Her mom would never plan a wedding with her and her dad would never walk her down the aisle.
Sometimes it felt like losing them all over again.
She didn’t scowl back at Katherine even though it was very, very tempting to do so. The thing she had to do was get herself out of this funk. The argument with Cal had certainly sent her into a negative headspace.
“Shall I get you something from the bar, Rachel?” Adam asked, interrupting her train of thought.
“Oh. You don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
“That’s so nice of you,” Rachel said, contemplating what she wanted. A nice smooth bourbon sounded like exactly the thing she needed to turn this day around and get into a celebratory frame of mind. “I’d love an old fashioned, if you could. And can you make mine a double?”
Adam nodded and moved off toward the bar. “A double,” Lottie said. “Really?”
“Was the kitchen that bad?” Lisa chimed in. “You never answered Lottie’s pizza question. Should I be finding a place that delivers?”
“No. No,” Rachel raised her hand to stop them. “The kitchen was fine. I mean, the meal is fine. The guy I had to put up with wasn’t, but Alex’s wedding dinner will be.
“Ohhhh,” Lottie propped her head on her hand. “Do tell.”
Rachel sighed. How to describe her encounter with Cal? “He was… I just couldn’t… Well, he was an ass,” she stated finally. She didn’t like the way Lisa was looking at her. As if she were a puzzle Lisa was determined to figure out.
“I didn’t even get into the kitchen. Just as I was turning in, some guy ran me down and then wouldn’t let me enter.”
“I hate him,” Lottie declared.
Rachel looked at her friend, thankful the universe had intervened, so she and Lottie crossed paths. She was fun and thoughtful and a wonderful person, but tipsy Lottie might be her favorite person.
“Thank you,” Rachel said, dipping her head to Lottie and smiling. “I appreciate you taking my side.
“Anyway, I got into it with this guy about the dinner. I was simply trying to help, and he told me off.”
“Well, now I absolutely hate him,” Lottie said.
“I might be with you,” Lisa chimed in. “Not for nothing Rachel, we sent you because you’re the calm, reasonable one.” She smirked. “What’s his name? We’ll hunt him down and beat him. Or at the very least report him to his boss.”
“Yeah,” Lottie chirped. “What’s his name? I bet it’s something like Bronson Alexander or Xavier Maximus.”
“Xavier Maximus?” Lisa asked. “What the hell kind of name is that?”
“Well, it’s better than Reginald Aloysius Manfredjensen.”
“You think?” Lisa intoned sarcastically, making Lottie giggle.
Rachel couldn’t help it. She laughed which set Lottie off, and eventually Lisa. This is what she needed. The walk in the garden had been great, but what she required was a good laugh with friends to remind her of what was important.
“Oh my god,” Rachel said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “You two are too much. I love it, but just… too much.” She took a breath, feeling so much better about the night. “And we can’t report him. He owns the place. But it doesn’t matter. I never have to see Cal again.”
“Cal,” Lottie drawled. “What kind of name is Caaalll?” she drew out his name even more.
“Well, it’s better than Aloysius,” Lisa said, sending them all laughing again.
Adam arrived and set a drink down for Rachel. “This is what I love to see. My girl and her friends having a blast.”
Lottie’s eyes went wide as she looked up at Adam. Rachel swore she could see little heart emojis dancing around her head.
Popping up from her chair, Lottie grabbed Adam’s hand. “Dance with me?”
“Absolutely, beautiful,” he responded, his voice deepening.
Rachel felt herself melt into the seat. Those two together were just too sweet. Adam’s surprise appearance at the wedding and his declaration of love to Lottie was so romantic and tender, it made Rachel tear up just remembering it. She was so happy for them both and their newfound romance.
When the couple turned on the dance floor and Adam took Lottie in his arms, Rachel couldn’t resist the small sigh that escaped her.
That’s what she wanted. She wanted someone as nice as Adam.
Someone who looked at her like Adam looked at Lottie.
Like he was the luckiest man alive. Was that too unreasonable to request?
“Yeah,” Lisa sighed. “They’re so freaking adorable. I don’t know how I’ll manage to tolerate living with her like this.
Rachel chuckled. “It’s a blessing and a curse, right?”
“It is. It really, really is.”
When the groom Jason spun Alex out into the middle of the dance floor, causing her wedding gown to flare up dramatically and swirl around her, they both smiled at Lottie’s joyous reaction. They sat watching the couples for a while.
“But it would be lovely, right?” Rachel dreamed out loud. “To have someone look at you like that.”
Lisa took a beat before responding, “I think I could get used to it.” Lisa turned to gaze at her. “But you know, in order to get there,” she jerked her head toward the dance floor. “You actually need to start dating again. You get that, right?”
Leave it to Lisa to step right on the heart of the matter. She sampled her drink, enjoying the delicious smokey taste of the bourbon, letting it distract her.
“I hear you. And I understand your point. It’s just not the right time. You know, my transfer to the new team is an immense change.” Lisa and Rachel worked together at the same accounting firm, so if anyone could understand the pressure Rachel was feeling, it would be Lisa.
“I want to give it all my focus,” she continued. “Once I’m on solid ground, I’ll think about dating again.”
“That’s the only thing holding you back?” Lisa pushed.
Sometimes it was a real pain in the ass to have friends who knew you a little too well.
“Absolutely,” she said, trying to convince Lisa and herself.
Even as she responded, her eyes shifted toward the door where Cal was assisting the wait staff with bringing out the soup course.
He may be annoying, but the man did cut a fine figure in a suit.
You know, you can’t let what Matt said push you off dating,” Lisa responded softly. “He was, is, and always will be an ass.”
Rachel flinched, her automatic reaction these days whenever the name of her ex-boyfriend came up. All thoughts of ogling Cal forgotten. “I understand that you are right. It’s just that some days, the negative voices outweigh the positive,” she confided.
“That’s when you call me, friend,” Lisa said. “I’ll remind you of the positive, kick the ass of the negative, and then take you out for dinner to celebrate.”
Rachel laughed and lifted her glass toward Lisa. “Cheers to that! I knew I could count on you!”
They clinked glasses, both smiling as Lisa added, “Always. What are friends for?”