5. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
I t was just over a week until the wedding—Jane had just gotten used to the idea that there was going to be a wedding, and it was just over a week away!—and she and Haley were meeting their moms for lunch at a place called the Back Porch Café to go over last-minute details.
“How’s Auntie Miss holding up?” Jane said to Haley as they headed over to the restaurant. She’d known Haley’s mom Melissa her whole life. Jane called her Auntie Miss, the name she’d started using as a toddler when Miss was easier to say than Meliss , which is what her mom called her.
Haley rolled her eyes. Auntie Miss had not reacted well when Haley told her about the tight turnaround for the wedding. “You’d think I had told her … I don’t know. What’s the craziest thing you can think of? That was I was running off to start a beach umbrella business in Antarctica or something.”
Jane laughed. “A beach umbrella business?”
“In Antarctica,” Haley nodded. “Listen to this. I told her the thing about Gumby, you know, as one of the reasons we wanted to do it this year, and you know what she said?”
“What?”
“She said,” here, Haley paused for dramatic effect, “and I quote”—another pause—“‘Gumby has lived a great life. If something happened, she could watch from heaven.’”
Jane let out something between a gasp and a laugh and clapped her hand over her mouth. “No!”
“Yes!” Haley exclaimed. “I was like, Mom , that’s Blake’s great- grandmother , pull it together .”
“Auntie Miss,” Jane said, shaking her head as she laughed. “She’s ruthless.”
“She’s something, all right,” Haley said as she pulled into a spot.
Jane could see their moms at an outdoor table, on the veranda. Auntie Miss was talking animatedly to Jane’s mom, probably about the wedding, but it was anyone’s guess. Auntie Miss was something, that was for sure. What the something was depended on who you asked. Haley’s dad called her a firecracker. Tommy had called her a handful. Jane thought of her as colorful—as in, she colored in the lines of the otherwise ordinary world around her. She was a petite lady who packed a punch, and Jane loved her for it. There was nobody Jane would rather have in her corner, except for maybe her own mom.
Jane’s mom, who Haley called Auntie Jess, was a little less fire but no less feisty. People thought she was the quiet one next to Auntie Miss, which she was, but she had her moments. She played point guard on a coed intramural basketball team in college. Auntie Miss liked to tell the story about how Jane’s mom drove into the lane once and took out a guy defending her with an elbow that landed somewhere near his head. “She almost fractured the guy’s cheekbone!” Auntie Miss would exclaim. Jane’s mom would shake her head and say, no, it wasn’t that bad, and how do you “almost” fracture someone’s cheekbone anyway? But Jane was inclined to believe Auntie Miss on that one. Her mom might be quieter, but everyone knew not to mess with her. There was a reason she and Auntie Miss had been friends for almost thirty-five years.
The hostess led them to the outside and, as she always did, Auntie Miss got to her feet, took Jane’s face in her hands and left a “Raspberry Kiss”-colored kiss mark on her cheek. Auntie Miss had dark hair and Auntie Jess was blonde. When they went out shopping they usually bought the same, say, sweater in different colors, but they’d had the Raspberry Kiss lipstick in common for probably at least twenty of their thirty-five years of friendship. It was their favorite shade. They wore it in solidarity at big events and they wore it on sad days when they needed a boost and they sometimes just wore it when they were thinking about each other, their version of a matching friendship bracelet. “That guy doesn’t know what he’s missing,” Auntie Miss whispered in Jane’s ear.
The emotion—of being loved, of being seen—snuck up on Jane, like she was standing in ankle-deep water one second and covered by a wave the next. “Thanks,” she said, blinking away the tears that popped up at the corners of her eyes.
“Seriously,” Auntie Miss, giving her another quick squeeze before she pulled away, “he has no clue.”
Across the table, Jane’s mom was hugging Haley. “Congratulations, sweetie. This is so exciting!”
“Thank you, Auntie Jess!” Haley squealed in response.
They all ended up ordering some variation of berry salad and the restaurant’s famous corn chowder. Auntie Miss had a spiral-bound notebook and pen next to her bowl for her running list of last-minute to-dos. By the time the food arrived, they were discussing the attire. Navy, that’s what Haley had told everyone. It didn’t matter style, fabric, long, short—just navy. The flowers would be an arrangement of red roses and she, in her white dress, would be the final touch to what she called her “subtle but classic” nod to the Fourth of July weekend.
“Blake said Ashley might wear a jumpsuit,” Haley said, loading some lettuce onto her fork. Ashley was Blake’s youngest sister, and a bridesmaid in the wedding along with Blake’s other sister Maddie.
“A jumpsuit?” Auntie Miss said. “Really?”
“He showed me a picture,” Haley said. “It’s cute.”
“What’s Maddie going to wear?” Jane’s mom asked.
“She has a short navy dress from a wedding she was in a couple years ago,” Haley said. “Like, knee-length. She’s stoked she can actually wear it again.”
“I still think you should have had Jen be one of the bridesmaids,” Auntie Miss said, wagging her fork in the air. “I don’t like that Blake’s sisters are both bridesmaids and no one else. It’s your wedding, not Blake’s.”
Jane laughed, while Haley shook her head. “It actually is Blake’s wedding too, Mom,” she said.
“Right,” Auntie Miss said, “but not really.”
Haley waved her arm. “It doesn’t matter. I couldn’t ask Jen and not Amber and Brittany,” she said. Amber and Brittany were friends of both Jane and Haley’s from high school. “It would have been awkward.”
“And Tori,” Jane said.
“And Tori!” Haley exclaimed. “I mean, how many bridesmaids am I supposed to have?”
“Well, on two weeks’ notice, I suppose you have a point,” Auntie Miss said, sort of rolling her eyes. Haley had told Jane that, quote, her mom had “completely freaked out, like, Jurassic Park -style” when she’d told her the news. Jane wasn’t sure if that made Auntie Miss the velociraptor or Laura Dern/ Bryce Dallas Howard in that scenario, but either way, she thought Auntie Miss had rebounded admirably since under the circumstances. “No change on Traitor Tommy, huh?” Auntie Miss said, shaking out her napkin across her lap.
“Unfortunately, status quo on Traitor Tommy,” Haley sighed. “It is what it is.”
“I said something to Blake, you know,” Auntie Miss said. “I said, I don’t think that was the most appropriate thing for your cousin to do at that moment.”
“No, you didn’t,” Haley and Jane exclaimed at the same time. Jane’s mom just laughed.
“Of course I did,” Auntie Miss said.
“What did he say?” Haley said.
“He mumbled something about how he didn’t know he was going to do it, he was surprised it didn’t work out with him and Jane, blah blah blah.”
“Well, I’m not surprised,” Auntie Jess said, reaching for a piece of bread from the basket in the middle of the table. “I never really liked him for you long-term.”
“That’s not true,” Jane exclaimed. “You never once said that.”
“Not to you,” her mom said. “But I did to your Auntie Melissa.”
Auntie Miss shrugged, noncommittal. “She never said anything to me,” Haley said to Jane.
“I don’t believe either of you,” Jane said.
“I kind of believe it,” Haley said.
“I know Tommy’s part of the family Haley’s marrying into, and they’ve been very sweet about welcoming her …” Auntie Miss said, then trailed off into a stage whisper. “But he’s no Blake, let’s just say that.”
Haley threw up her hands. “Oh, brother, here we go.”
“I hope Tommy knows he won’t be ruining this weekend,” Auntie Miss said, the no-nonsense tone back in her voice.
“I’m sure he knows,” Haley said.
“Well, make sure he knows,” she said.
“How would you suggest that?” Haley said. “You know what, never mind, don’t tell me.”
“Your dad is happy to have a conversation with him if necessary,” Auntie Miss said. “A little man-to-man chat.”
“Oh, my gosh ,” Haley said.
“Or maybe Blake should have a talk with him,” Auntie Miss said. “I’m just saying.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t mention it to Blake yourself,” Haley said. “During your little teatime for two.”
Auntie Miss raised her eyebrow, her gaze laser-focused on Haley. “There’s still time,” she said.
“Mom,” Haley said, exasperated. “Tommy is thirty years old.”
“And?”
“It will be fine .”
“Mm-hmm,” Auntie Miss said, in a tone that meant otherwise. “Now, where’s this jumpsuit Ashley’s planning on wearing to the wedding? Do you have the picture?”
***
“Well, that was fairly unproductive,” Haley said as they pulled out of the parking lot.
“I wouldn’t call it unproductive,” Jane said. “I’ve never gotten a chance to break down the merits of a jumpsuit like that before.”
Haley rolled her eyes. “Ughhhhhh,” she said. “You’re still wearing the long dress, right?”
“Unless you tell me you want me to wear the shorter one.”
“No, that’s what Maddie’s wearing, so keep it,” she said. “Then Maddie can wear her dress and Ashley can wear her jumpsuit. They’ll all look a little different but still go together. It will all look fine.”
“It will all look fine anyway,” Jane said.
“Exactly!” Haley exclaimed. “The important thing is navy. As long as everyone wears navy, it will be fine.”
“Better than fine,” Jane said with gusto.
“Yes!” Haley said. “Better than fine. Why am I letting my mom get in my head?”
Jane smirked. “Because you owe her for springing a wedding on her with two weeks’ notice.”
“Not you, too,” Haley groaned. “At least you have a reason to be upset about it.”
“I’m not upset.”
“I know you’re not,” Haley said. “Because you’re loyal and supportive and my best friend. I’m just saying you have reason to be.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jane replied, trying to keep it light.
Haley stopped at a red light. “I don’t want it to be weird for you,” she said earnestly, turning to look at Jane. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this. It is not going to be a good wedding for me if it’s not a good day for you. We will figure out everything we need to so that it’s not weird for you.”
“It will probably be weird,” Jane said. “At least a little bit.”
Haley sighed. “Okay, less weird, then.”
Jane smiled at her. “Less weird is a good goal to shoot for.”
The car behind them gave a quick tap of the horn. Haley looked up at her rearview mirror and made a face as she hit the gas pedal. “It just turned green. Settle down.” She turned her attention back to Jane. “Blake thinks maybe once things calm down …”
“What.”
“He doesn’t have, like, any factual information to back this up, but, just, knowing Tommy and knowing you … he said, you never know,” Haley said.
“ I know,” Jane said.
“You don’t know,” Haley said.
“I do know,” Jane said.
“You guys were good together,” Haley said. “You were.”
Jane made a face. “I think you mean fine .”
Haley winced. “Ouch,” she said.
“He wouldn’t make it so awkward if he was on the fence,” Jane said. “He wouldn’t make this into a whole thing, a whole dramatic, awkward thing, if he wasn’t sure about how he felt.”
“He would too,” Haley said. “Have you met the guy? He can deal with awkwardness. He can’t deal with serious stuff. He’s probably more afraid of the possibility that this whole situation will make him feel something real.”
“Maybe,” Jane said.
“I just think, maybe he’ll change his mind.”
“Maybe,” Jane said again. She paused, debating whether she wanted to say the next part. “I don’t know. Maybe I don’t want him to change his mind.”
Haley’s foot slipped off the gas for a second as she looked at Jane. “Really?”
Jane exhaled and looked out the window, away from Haley’s gaze. “I don’t know.”