Chapter 9
Sunday night, Addison returned home after her date with Corey. She slumped against the door. Relief flooded her. “Glad that’s over.”
Lu brushed against her leg and purred.
“The only man in my life I can rely on.” She scooped him up and nuzzled into the fur. Her phone pinged. Setting him down, she checked the message.
Marti: You still on your date?
Addison: Just got home.
Marti: Come over to Laney’s. Cade’s out. We’re doing wedding stuff.
Addison groaned. Her gaze drifted to the stairs. After spending the day with Mr. Sports Fan, her comfy pants and a good book were calling.
Marti: We have wine.
She had wine. Her brows tugged in. She thought so, but now that she was standing here, taking a mental inventory of her kitchen, she wasn’t sure of it.
A ping signaled a picture coming in. Damn. An image of her favorite wine filled the screen. It was the big bottle too.
She dropped her head and then typed back: On my way.
In the kitchen, she filled Lu’s food and water bowls, then grabbed the car keys she’d just thrown in the basket by the door. If she couldn’t decompress with a book tonight, chilling with her friends and a good glass of wine was the perfect alternative.
Five minutes later, she was ringing Laney’s doorbell. A tiny, high-pitched bark sounded from inside the house. Addison smiled.
“Hey, come on in. Marti and I were just looking at bouquet options.” Laney held the door open with a wriggling pup in her arms.
“Aren’t we going on Saturday with your family to pick out the flowers for the wedding?” Addison ran her fingers through the puppy’s soft fur before accepting a glass of wine from Marti. She folded her legs beneath her on the couch and picked up a bridal magazine.
“Yes, but you know how my mom and sister are. I want to have something in mind before I arrive. What do you think of this one?” Laney showed her a beautiful bouquet of cascading lilies and roses in soft pinks and whites. Very Laney.
“Oh, what about this one?” The picture Marti held up had a rainbow of vibrant-colored flowers.
“Both are beautiful. But I think it depends on your dress and if you want the flowers to stand out against the white of the dress or not.”
“I’m not sure.” Laney set down the magazine and pursed her lips. Addison could tell her friend was deep in thought. After a minute, she turned to Addison as if just remembering something.
Addison shifted and scanned another glossy image. Nothing to see here.
“How was your date?” Laney asked.
Addison glanced up from the page. Now both Laney and Marti were eyeing her in anticipation.
She raised a brow, throwing the curiosity back at them like a mirror.
It didn’t work. Her friends were tough and had far more patience than she did.
She cleared her throat. “Fine. How about this bouquet? Mostly white and pink, but it has a few deeper purple blooms.”
“Just fine?” Marti’s brow climbed halfway up her forehead. The gesture was as clear as if she’d yelled “Bullshit” at the top of her lungs.
Man, Marti was like a dog with a bone.
Addison took a hearty drink, then set her glass on the coffee table. “Okay, it was worse than fine.”
“Taxidermy bad?” Marti asked.
“Different bad.” Both her friends settled into their seats, waiting for the recount of Addison’s date. “He’s a sports fan.”
“That’s right, he was going to take you to the Twins game. It was a great game. Cade and I watched it.” Laney stroked the dog, now lying between them on the couch.
“It was, but… there are sports fans and then there are sports fans.” She made air quotes with her hands when she said the latter. “The date started three hours before the first pitch.”
“Full-day date. You not cutting and running after the first hour means this guy couldn’t be all bad.” Marti’s face showed enthusiasm.
“I was trapped. We were tailgating. Brats on the grill in a hot, loud parking lot and grown men acting like frat buddies playing beer pong.”
“Not your usual date, but…”
Addison held up a hand, cutting off Laney’s optimism.
“Not only did he dress from head to toe in Twin’s gear, but he painted his face in red and blue.
I could live with that, but for dinner, we went to a sports bar that only served wings and hot dogs.
I can only take so much sausage-casing food in one day. ”
She was being petty and knew it, but when she asked about his family or life, he turned the conversation back to sports. It was like his whole life revolved around sports.
Addison liked sports, but not enough to know every stat.
Deep down, it came down to the fact that he wasn’t her type.
Wasn’t that the point? Internally, Addison groaned.
Laney’s sad expression was in direct contrast to Marti, who was chuckling under her breath. “Sorry, but I still don’t get why you’re dating these guys.”
Addison dropped her gaze to the magazine while she absently stroked Daisy’s soft, floppy ear. “I want a child.”
“And you can’t have one with one of those hot guys you usually date?”
“I don’t want to be a single mom.” She blinked back the sting of tears. “My mom worked hard to make up for my dad being a deadbeat. I don’t want that for my child. For me.”
Laney set her hand on Addison’s. “Oh, honey. You will find the right guy.”
“You always acted like you didn’t want kids. Your life was so full. What changed?” Marti asked.
Addison shook her head. “I’ve always wanted a family. I just don’t want to be a single mom. Did I tell you I had lunch with Mark last week? I thought he was going to ask me to come back to the office. Instead, he wanted to pick up where we left off with our relationship.”
“The asshole.” Marti spat out the words.
“I just can’t meet the right guy. The guys I date are…”
“Gorgeous!” Marti’s eyes turned dreamy. “Remember the drummer with the amazing ass? What was his name?”
“Lance, and yes, his ass was a sight to behold. But like the others, he was also irresponsible, self-absorbed, and commitment-phobic. I’m ready to find a regular someone who wants to be married and have kids.
A partner, not a guy who only wants me to support his career, or the guy who doesn’t have a job, never mind a career, and wants to live off me.
” Addison blew out a breath. “I never attract that type of man.”
“Oh, you attract them,” Marti said. “They’re just scared to death that you will crush them like a bug under your four-inch heel, so they don’t ask you out.”
“My mom has been pushing those guys at me since the day my divorce was final. Guys who are as bald as my big toe and about as attractive. But they were good providers, as my mom would say, and had a dental plan.” Laney rolled her eyes.
“Well, I’m ready to date those guys. Looks aren’t everything.”
“No, but it helps if you’re attracted to them for the baby-making part and if you plan to stay married for fifty years.”
When did Marti become the practical one?
Marti took a sip of her wine before pointing at Laney with her glass. “Who was the one with the magnificent hair and the wardrobe that cost more than my car?”
That could have been any number of Addison’s past boyfriends. “Could you be a little more specific?”
“Not yours. The guy Laney went out with.”
“Gary,” Laney groaned. “He wanted to take me shopping after dinner to give me a makeover. He said my shoes should be burned.”
“Which ones?” Marti asked.
“The black flats with the bows.”
“He’s right, sweetie. I’m pretty sure they weren’t in fashion five years ago when you bought them.” Addison patted her friend’s arm, trying to soften the blow.
“Okay, I’ll throw them out tomorrow. Anyway, can we get back to talking about you now? Do you want us to set you up?”
“No. Yes. Maybe? Not a pretty boy like Nash, but a normal guy.”
“I don’t know why you think Nash isn’t a normal guy,” Laney said.
Addison frowned at her, and Laney raised her hands in surrender.
Marti and Laney exchanged a look and nodded. After a minute, Marti said, “Frank.”
“Frank?” Laney tapped her lip. “No… well, maybe.”
“Frank?” Addison didn’t know a Frank. Did she?
Laney held up a hand, silencing Marti. “Let us think about it, and we’ll come up with a list of men who fit your criteria.”
Addison trusted her friends with her life, but could she trust them to pick her dates? Good question. She’d find out soon. Time to change the subject. “Where’s Cade today?”
“He and Nash were going to the park, something about a ball game tonight.”
Ugh! She’d had enough baseball for a while.
But the mention of Nash had her cringing. Typical of his type. Always hanging with the bros or working out. It was all about them.
No. Don’t think about him tonight. The last thing she needed when trying to find the right man was having Nash Steele on her mind.
“It’s okay, Cade knows nothing about flowers. But have no fear, he’s been involved in other parts of the planning. We’re going cake tasting in a couple of weeks.”
Laney must have misinterpreted Addison’s scowl. “I didn’t mean—”
“Hey, at least he’s doing something.” Marti laughed. “My brother didn’t even do that for his wedding. My sister-in-law, my mother, and I planned the whole thing.”
“Cut him some slack. He was stationed overseas at the time, wasn’t he?” Laney asked.
“True. I’ll give him that.” Marti and her brother had a competitive relationship, but she loved him more than anything. “But when I get married someday, I’ll elope. No way I could sit through flower and cake appointments with my mom. You guys would need to lend me bail money.”
Addison laughed. Marti’s mother was an army wife for years and a country girl through and through.
Marti may have been on a farm since middle school, but she was anything but a farm girl.
Addison dreamed of the day she and her mother could plan her wedding.
They were the best of friends. With a little luck, it would happen before her mom needed a walker to get around.
A loud chime rang in her ears. Anxiety coiled around her ribs, tighter with each tick of her internal clock. She downed the last of her wine. Time to go for broke. “Okay. Tell me about Frank.”