Faithful (9 page)

“Since we’re pressed for time and you and I have a big deadline, the wedding plans will be simple. Leo wants us to do one last outing together before we get married, like a camping trip,” she explains, and this is where my mind goes into a foggy state of ‘
oh fuckerooni’!
Lauren rambles on about dance classes and some state park, and I only hear verbs: dancing, grilling, and hiking.

“Did you say dance classes?”

“Yes, we want to have a quartet at the church and to open the reception. Our first few dances will be waltzes, so Leo and I decided the wedding party, our best friends, will take dance classes together. It’ll be a blast!”

“You don’t want to take the easy way out with a DJ and let people shake their booties any which way they want?” I ask, hopeful.

“That will happen later. But I want to have classical music and start the dancing with that, and …” she trails off. “I see your big noggin spinning, Imogene. Can you handle being paired up with Cooper for this? He’s Leo’s best friend, and you’re my best friend.”

It’s not like I can say no to her. “Yes, Cooper and I can boogie the night away and handle a little waltzing. Anything for you and Leo.”

“Thank you.” Lauren hugs me. “I’m getting married and having a baby!” she squeals.

“Yay!” I reply with some extra punch. As nervous as I am, I manage to drum up some enthusiasm. “So who’s delivering the baby, me or Cooper?”

Lauren laughs. “This will be a hospital baby with all the highly qualified professionals on duty. I’d like you there when it happens, but we can talk about that later. Let’s deal with our big order for Sasha’s and the wedding first.”

“Good.” I nod. “Excellent plan.”

The more I think about it, the more a lump catches in my throat and tears pool in my eyes. I’m losing my best friend to that exclusive club of married people. Married people with babies is even more discriminating, too. I will be the pathetic outcast, invited to parties and questioned at length about my single status. I’ll have to start declining invitations and hang out with the senior crowd: Archie, Lois, and Eleanor. It won’t affect Cooper. There are plenty of single women who will escort him to parties as well as Pilates and yoga instructors who will want to bang the living daylights out of him to prove their prowess in bed and in all things domestic in hopes of snagging the most eligible bachelor in Hera.

Kcuf!

“Did you tell Imogene the great news?” Leo shouts, barreling through the door.

“Oh, she sure did,” I exclaim. I stand up to give him a loving embrace, giving myself a chance to wipe my runny eyes and nose on his shoulder.

“I told Cooper and gave him the run down on our plans,” Leo says to Lauren.

I grab a tissue and blot my eyes then toss the box to Lauren who is blubbering away. As Leo hugs her, I take in how perfect they look together.

They’ve been dating for a year and a half, living together for most of that time. I’ve never seen these two hold a grudge or say cruel things to one another. No flying dishware or dramatic exits from the house. Their disagreements have been civil, miraculously always ending in compromises and sealed with embraces. A marriage ceremony and a child are the next logical step for people like them.

I compose myself and sigh, exhausted.

“Oh, I forgot,” Leo says and bolts out of the studio. He runs downstairs and returns with an armload of velvet trays. My heart has a spasm as I recognize the black velvet shadow boxes holding the treasures I was coveting earlier at the estate sale.

“What the…?” I say, standing up as Leo places all the trays on the worktable.

“Cooper bought all of this. He said you were eyeballing them.”

“I thought he just bought that stupid sword,” I say, reaching for an expensive Georgian locket.

“He told me he paid for all of this while you were buying your things, but he didn’t want to tell you. He said you’d blow a gasket, so I’m supposed to tell you both that this is a wedding gift for Lauren’s share of the business,” Leo says apologetically to me.

“Oh, really?” The snark is back.

“My God, this must have cost a small fortune,” Lauren whispers, touching as many beautiful beads and lockets as she can.

“He bought six lots. This cost a few thousand dollars,” I snap. “They even gave him the kcuffing trays!”

“The what?” Leo asks, confused.

“She’s trying not to curse,” Lauren explains quietly as an aside. “Kcuf is fuck backwards. Don’t ask.”

“Oh, all right. Good for you,” Leo says warily.

While I lean on the table, studying the assortment of jewelry, the only thing missing is the steam coming out of my ears. “That sneaky …”

“It’s a gift, Imogene,” Leo reminds me.

“Don’t start a war with Cooper, at least not until after our wedding,” Lauren warns in an authoritative tone. “This was very generous of him, and you and I both know this is really going to help.”

These are non-returnable items. How clever of him
, I think. He’s put me in a position once again where I feel appreciative of his benevolence, although then there’s the downside in that I’ll have to thank him and continue to be charmed by him. He is good friends with Lauren; therefore, maybe this was all for her benefit. However, the part of me that is a little enchanted with Cooper is telling my ego that he’s on more than a friendship crusade with me.

“I’m going to call and thank him,” Lauren announces.

That feels wrong. It is my responsibility to thank him since I was the one ogling all the jewelry at the auction.

“No, I’ll do it,” I say. “Put his number in for me.” Pulling out my phone, I hand the phone to Leo, who quickly obliges.

“Well, that’s new,” Lauren says, eyeing me with suspicion. “You’re not going to give him a hard time, are you? You two have to dance together, and you have to look happy,” she demands. “I don’t care if you have to fake it for the next month.”

I sigh, take the phone from Leo, then head downstairs for some privacy on the front porch where I settle into one of the wicker chairs and call Cooper.

“Hey, sunshine,” he answers in a sexy, deep voice.

“Don’t call me that. How did you know it was me? Or did you think it was one of your acrobatic girlfriends calling?”

Even through the phone, his velvety chuckle tickles my ear. “I figured you’d be calling to chew me out.”

“I thought about it, but Leo and Lauren seem to think you’re
fantastic!
” I say mockingly. “So I’m supposed to thank you.”

“I knew you’d be a little angry at first since you don’t like me giving you things, but I thought you’d get over it and feel relieved to have some work.” He sounds guarded and maybe a little hurt by my reaction.

“Cooper, I’m sorry. I was rude, and you have been … You’ve been very nice and extremely generous, and I really do want to thank you,” I say into the phone, a slight, nervous tremor zipping through me. This guy is starting to go to my head. I may end up in another ignite and burn situation, which would be bad for the wedding, the business, and me.

I hear him exhale slowly. “Imogene, I know you’re stubborn and strong and resilient, but my gift doesn’t diminish your strength in any way. It’s just a gift. I like you, and even if you don’t want to admit it, you like me.” I can hear the smile in his tone.

“I don’t know where you come up with these ideas, but for the sake of Lauren and Leo, I’m going to be nicer to you. We’re going to stick to this wedding agenda they have planned for all of us, and then we’ll be free to go back to being ourselves.”

“Jesus, woman. You’re so hard on me,” he laughs. “First of all, I’ve always been myself with you. And, secondly, it’s not just a wedding, baby. You and I are walking down the aisle together, we will be dance partners, there’s the camping trip we’ll have to discuss, and you and I will probably end up in the delivery room with their newborn.” He’s laughing, but I’m still thinking about the way he said we’ll be
walking down the aisle together.
Camping?

“Wait, did you say camping? What camping trip do we have to discuss?”

“Ah, you didn’t hear about Leo’s grand plans for the wedding party? Since Lauren’s pregnant and can’t really party, he wants to do something different and decided we’re all going on a camping weekend together. Carson and Jess, Dylan and Emma, Leo and Lauren, and that leaves you and me, so—”

“Are you kidding? I’m not a camping person. Exactly how is this going down?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s tents, which means couples in tents, doll.”

“Blech, don’t call me doll. Couples in tents? What about you and me?”

“Exactly,” he says smugly, his grin clearly evident once again.

Nine

I missed my opportunity to interrogate Leo on this camping trip idea of his because he and Lauren were already in bed by the time I got back upstairs. I didn’t want to walk in on any embarrassing celebration sex, so I went to bed and stared at the ceiling most of the night, concocting various excuses to get out of this camping debacle.

The next morning, Leo was still asleep when Lauren and I left for the diner; as a result, now my plan is to corner him at lunch or at the furniture factory and get this issue of me, tents, bugs, and Cooper resolved.

“Why camping?” I drill Lauren on the way to work.

“Because Leo loves it. He grew up in a family that went camping all the time, and he thinks it will be a nice way to bring us all together for a relaxing weekend without phones and other electronic devices. It will be really fun. Campfires, walks in the woods, fishing—”

“Fishing? Who fishes? Not me.” I’m not a morning person, and putting on my grease-stained apron from the day before, which I forgot to wash, only makes me crabbier than usual.

“You don’t have to fish if you don’t want to. We’ll make s’mores, sit around, and gossip with the girls.”

Lauren parks her dumpy little car behind the diner, and when we enter through the back kitchen door, we’re greeted by my parents and grandmother. All three are standing expectantly at the door, fairly jubilant for six in the morning before the arrival of the demanding breakfast crowd.

“Surprise!” says my mother, Pam. “Nina and Garth told us the wonderful news!”

“My parents are pretty thrilled.” Lauren shines with the news that her parents have been calling everyone about the wedding yet discreetly leaving out the pregnancy bit.

My grandmother gives Lauren a big, squeezy hug, the painful kind. “Girls, we’ve decided we’re giving you your notice. Your last day is this Friday.”

While Lauren’s face drops, I don’t know whether to be happy or cry.

“I don’t think we’re ready to leave,” Lauren says desperately. “I have wedding expenses, and Imogene and I can’t live off our business yet.”

“We’ve taken that into consideration,” my father adds. Mark Walsh is a quiet man, a sweet father who makes decisions after giving them a lot of thought. I trust him, but at this moment, he’s scaring the shit out of me. I wonder if dementia is setting in early in his forty-nine-year-old brain. “We’re giving you the break you need, the kick in the pants to get you moving along.”

With that, my mother holds out two envelopes to us. Lauren and I reluctantly take them and rip them open.

“It’s a check with four zeros,” I say, looking at them and then at Lauren. This is a shitload of money for me and my family.

“Mine, too.”

“It’s just enough to get you through the next two months so you can work full-time on the jewelry,” my grandmother adds. “And Lauren’s parents are paying for her wedding since it will be small.”

“And Leo’s parents are going to help with the wedding expenses, and of course, he has a good job with Carson, so you have living expenses covered,” my mother assures us. She married my father and had me when she was younger than I am now; therefore, she must have some sense about these things. She regards us for a moment, waiting for us to look excited.

“It’s a really big check,” I say, looking down at it again and then turning back to Lauren, gauging her somber face for a reaction. She’s my barometer by which many things are measured. If she’s thrilled about this, I’ll feel more certain.

“Yay!” she blurts out, and then the cheerleader smile spreads across her face.

I breathe a sigh of relief. “Yay,” I laugh nervously.

The end of my lunch shift doesn’t come soon enough. I’m at the counter with my regular teens, Kelly and Samantha, gabbing away while I fill salt shakers when Leo, Carson, and Cooper finally walk in the door for a late lunch. As they pass the girls to sit on the other side of them at the counter, both girls giggle to each other.

“Mr. Yum’s got swag,” Kelly whispers to Samantha and me.

“Mr. What’s got what?” I ask loudly, seeing Cooper smirk at me before he settles onto the stool next to Kelly who is about to have a heart attack at his proximity.

“Swag,” Lauren adds as she comes by with napkins for the dispensers.

“What the heck is that?” I ask Lauren.

“Swagger, I guess. I think it means he’s cool.” Lauren smiles at Cooper who’s enjoying this little drama over him.

“You should be worried if Mr. Yum has an STD,” I whisper loudly and wave the back of my hand at the girls.

“Hey, not my fault if they’re talking about me. Man, you’re cruel,” he says jokingly to me with a little smile that makes the girls gasp.

“Yeah, it’s not his fault the girls think he’s yummy,” Lauren pipes up.

“God, I do not want to hear this,” Carson mumbles as he scrolls through his phone.

Red-faced, the girls pretend to be studying the ice cream menu.

I lean on the counter in front of Cooper, close to his face. “I bet, if you cut your hair short, shaved, and wore khakis and a polo shirt, those girls wouldn’t give you a second look. You’d be just another old yuppie dude to them.”

“Maybe so.” Cooper leans on his forearms towards me. “I really don’t care, Imogene. You’re the one who seems bent out of shape over what they call me.”

I scoff. “You care.”

“Really? Okay, I’ll go for the clean-cut look on one condition. You go on a hike with me this weekend. It will be a little practice run before the camping trip.”