Loving You (The Bridesmaids Club Book 2) (26 page)

Sally laughed. “It wasn’t just when I was a kid. Sean found a huge spider in mom and dad’s barn last week. He dropped it on my shoulder and ran for cover.”

Molly snorted. “Did you let him live long enough to tell anyone what he’d done?”

“I did better than that.” Sally’s grin turned mischievous. “I waited until later that night when he’d fallen asleep on the sofa. I dropped the spider on his nose. I’ve never seen him move so fast.”

Tess’ mouth dropped open. “You didn’t?”

“I did. He’s going to have to stretch his imagination to beat that one.”

Annie had met Sean quite a few times since she’d become friends with Sally. He’d be plotting an ever bigger prank to get even with his sister. And if he got his other brothers involved, Sally’s days of worrying about one brother at a time would be over.

Sally sipped her coffee. “Do you know what the best thing about choosing dresses tonight would be?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“No brides in sight, except Tess. It will be fun.”

Molly smiled at Sally. “I like how your mind works, spiders and all. Who wants to choose their bridesmaid’s dress tonight?”

“I’m in,” Sally said.

“Me, too,” Annie added. “Give me ten minutes to clean this mess up and I’ll be right with you.”

Tess reached for the plates in front of her. “It’ll take half that amount of time with all of us pitching in to help. Where do you want the leftovers?”

Annie looked at Molly. “You’d better wrap them up for my amazing food photographer. She’ll starve to death if we don’t feed her.”

Molly patted her tummy. “I’m profoundly grateful, even though I haven’t taken any pictures of the food yet.”

In a blur of motion, everyone started clearing the table. They filled the dishwasher until they couldn’t get another plate inside and cleaned the counter until it gleamed.

In less time than she thought would have been possible, Annie looked at her spotless kitchen. “You guys are amazing. I’ve just got to feed Dylan’s kittens and then I’m all yours.”

“I’ll take you to Logan’s home in my car,” Molly said.

Tess picked up her car keys. “I’ll take Sally with me. We’ll see you in fifteen minutes.”

Annie locked the front door after Tess and Sally left, switched most of the lights off, and helped Molly take the leftover food into the garage.

“There are some empty boxes on the shelf over there.” Annie nodded to the metal shelving unit she’d bought from Walmart. Boxer, Blinky, and Boots started meowing as soon as she got close to them.

Molly looked down at the kittens. “How cute are you?” she crooned. She put the plates of food in the boxes and patted the little kittens at her feet. “How is Dylan going to send these adorable kittens back to the shelter?”

Annie poured a cup of food into the kittens’ bowl and gave then some fresh water. “I don’t know. They’ve grown on me and I’ve only been looking after them for two days.”

“Maybe he’ll change his mind?”

Annie hoped he would. “Maybe. If not, I’ll look after them myself. It would be heartbreaking if the shelter had to split the kittens up to go into different homes.” She picked up one of the boxes of leftover food and looked down at the kittens.

Boxer jumped on top of Boots and started licking her fur. Molly smiled at the loud purring coming from both kittens. “If you run out of options, come and see me. My sister’s not too keen on having pets in our apartment, but I might be able to change her mind.”

“Sounds good.” Annie walked toward a door on the far side of her garage. “We’ll have to leave quickly. Blinky can sense freedom faster than Boots or Boxer.”

Molly stood behind Annie, slipping quietly out of the garage. Once the door was locked, she looked through a small window at the kittens. “Three kittens accounted for. Let’s go and choose our bridesmaids’ dresses.”

Annie walked down the driveway beside Molly. She thought about the kittens, about Dylan and the race he’d be competing in tomorrow. It was a big deal for him. He’d been training hard, pushing himself beyond what most people could ever achieve. She had a feeling there were other reasons he was competing in the race. Reasons that had nothing to do with the physical endurance he’d need.

Molly unlocked her car and they put their boxes of food in the trunk.

On their way over to Logan’s home, Annie decided to text Dylan and wish him good luck for his race. Then she’d concentrate on choosing a bridesmaid’s dress.

Worrying about more than six hours of tough endurance racing could wait until tomorrow.

***

“How’s your head?” Tess asked Annie as she stumbled through the door of Angel Wings Café the next morning.

Annie tried to smile, but she wasn’t feeling entirely sure that would be a good idea. “My head’s still attached to my shoulders, so I’m doing okay. I’ll be better once I’ve had a cup of hot chocolate.”

Tess, Sally, Molly and Annie had stayed at Logan’s home until after midnight. They’d tried on so many dresses that Annie couldn’t remember what most of them looked like. They’d also drunk a couple of bottles of wine and devoured Tess’ secret stash of peppermint cremes. It was the chocolate that had decided Annie’s fate. With half a ton of sugar running around her body, she hadn’t slept much at all.

By five o’clock in the morning, she’d had enough of tossing and turning in bed. Instead of wasting more time, she’d jumped on her bike and pedaled around Bozeman before most people were out of bed. By six-thirty she’d had a shower, eaten breakfast, fed the kittens and put a load of washing on her clothesline.

And now she was at work, getting ready for another busy Saturday morning. She hoped like crazy that Dylan had gotten more sleep than her. “What do you want me to start on first?”

Tess took a large mixing bowl off a shelf and passed it to Annie. “Savory pinwheel scones with bacon, cheese, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.”

Annie started measuring out the flour she’d need. “No problem. Did Logan get some sleep with all of the noise coming from the loft?”

Tess nodded. “He said he didn’t hear us. It’s probably because his snoring is so loud.”

Annie smiled. “I hope you took that into consideration before you agreed to marry him? A lack of sleep can be serious grounds for divorce.”

“If it’s only his snoring that keeps me awake, then there’ll be more important things we need to discuss.”

Annie groaned. “It’s too early for smutty talk. I need a hot drink.” She put the kettle on and while it was boiling, cut up the bacon and onions, ready to put in the scones. “I love the dresses we settled on.”

“They are lovely, aren’t they?” Tess’ smile filled her face with joy and made Annie appreciate what true love could do to a girl’s outlook on life.

Annie and Molly had chosen dresses from the Cinderella Collection. They’d decided to relive every childhood wedding fantasy they’d ever imagined. And top of their fantasies had been bridesmaids’ dresses with enough sparkle, tulle and satin to decorate the auditorium at Bozeman High for a Senior Prom. Neither of them had ever worn dresses as big and flouncy as the ones that were now hanging in Tess’ closet.

Sally had chosen a dress from the Grace Kelly Collection. She’d found a beautiful bridesmaid’s dress in aubergine silk. It clung softly to her body, dipping in and out in all the right places. Even though their dresses were different, they looked amazing together.

Annie took a sip of her hot chocolate and sighed. “Did Molly find the tiara she was looking for?” The next bride they were helping had chosen a stunning tiara to go with the dress her mom had made. Molly had spent a lot of time trying to find it, but it had disappeared.

Tess shook her head. “I don’t know where it’s gone. We’ll have to see if one of the other tiaras will work.”

Annie opened the fridge door and took out the bacon. Within minutes she’d finely chopped an onion, sautéed the bacon and onion together, then set them aside to cool. She hummed along to the radio, mixing the flour, milk and butter without having to think too hard about anything.

“Have you heard from Dylan this morning?” Tess asked.

“I told him to focus on his race.” Annie glanced quickly at Tess before sprinkling flour on the counter. She lifted the scone dough out of the mixing bowl and started rolling it flat.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Annie knew she hadn’t. There was a good reason for that. A better reason than why Dylan had texted her an hour ago, letting her know he was heading down to the start area. Tess would see more into their friendship than what was there. She was in wedding mode and wanted everyone else to feel the sting of Cupid’s arrow.

Annie, on the other hand, was in duck-and-dive mode. Cupid’s arrow wouldn’t be getting anywhere near her. “Can you pass me the pesto?” She bit her bottom lip and tried not to smile at Tess’ frustrated glare.

“When are both of you going to admit there’s more to your relationship than friendship?” Tess slid the jar of pesto along the stainless steel counter and waited for Annie to answer her.

“Your pancake batter is ready for the griddle.”

Tess’ eyes squinted into narrow slits. “One day you’re going to regret not grabbing hold of him and never letting go.”

Annie’s smile broke free. “If I did that he’d be hyperventilating all of the time. Dylan wouldn’t know what to do with me.”

“I’m sure he’d think of something,” Tess said dryly.

Annie thought so, too. But she wouldn’t admit that to Tess. She looked at the clock on the wall. The rolling start for the first part of the Half Ironman race would be starting soon. Dylan would be swimming in the Boulder Reservoir for more than a mile, biking for fifty-six miles, then finishing off the race with a thirteen mile run.

Annie didn’t care about how picturesque the Ironman website had made the course sound. It would be over seventy miles of hard, body breaking work. And that didn’t even touch on the mental strength needed to push your body through all of the pain.

With the pinwheel scones rolled and sliced, they were ready for the oven. Annie glanced at the clock. This time she wasn’t worried about what was happening in Colorado, she was more concerned about not being ready for their first breakfast customers.

The tables were ready to go and Tess would have organized the cash register as soon as she arrived. All Annie had to do was make sure the glass cabinets were full of yummy food.

Tess put a plate of pancakes in the oven to stay warm. “There’s a lemon cake in the pantry and a tray of chicken and Camembert paninis in the fridge.”

Annie took the lemon cake out of the pantry and headed into the café. Two smiling faces were waving at her from the sidewalk. She poked her head in the kitchen door. “Mrs. Dickinson and Mrs. Delaney have arrived for breakfast.”

Tess glanced around the kitchen. “We’re ready to go. I’ll bring the paninis out while you open the café.”

Annie hurried across to the front door and turned the closed sign around. She opened the door and smiled at two of their regular customers. “Good morning,” she said as Mrs. Dickinson headed to their Saturday table.

“And it’s such a beautiful morning,” Mrs. Delaney said as she came through the door.

The newspaper must have been delivered sometime between Annie arriving at work and when the two Mrs. D’s arrived. Mrs. Delaney divided the weekend edition into two equal parts, passing one section across to her friend. “Here you go. Just don’t fill in the crossword until I’ve finished reading the news.”

“Would I ever do that?” Mrs. Dickinson asked.

Mrs. Delaney sent her a loaded smile. “Of course you would. That’s why I’m not paying for breakfast until we’ve finished the crossword.”

Mrs. Dickinson smiled at Annie. “Now you know why we’ve been friends for over fifty years. Margaret knows my one weakness in life.”

Mrs. Delaney looked up from the sports section. “Do you mean men, crossword puzzles or food?”

“We’re seventy-eight years old, Margaret. Of course I mean men.”

They both chuckled as they sat at their table. Annie brought two mugs of coffee out of the kitchen with four small gingerbread cookies on another plate. For as long as she’d been working at Angel Wings Café, the two Mrs. D’s started each Saturday morning in exactly the same way.

“Can I ask you a question, Mrs. Dickinson?” Annie waited for Mrs. Dickinson to nod before she continued. “Why do you like gingerbread cookies with your coffee before breakfast?”

“Ginger’s good for your digestion. Isn’t that right Margaret?”

Mrs. Delaney smiled. “It’s true. They brew ginger infused tea at our retirement village. And a little bit of sugar always makes things sweeter.”

Annie couldn’t fault their logic. The two Mrs. D’s had once told her that they hadn’t been sick in more than ten years. They’d never broken any bones, arthritis didn’t cripple them and they still had their own teeth. All good reasons for them to have gingerbread cookies at seven thirty in the morning.

The kitchen door swung open and Tess walked in with two plates of fresh blueberry buttermilk pancakes in her hands. “How are my two best customers doing this morning?”

“Better now that we’ve seen you both,” Mrs. Dickinson said. “How are your wedding plans going?”