The Wedding Agreement (8 page)

Community Relations

Cass hadn't been to the zoo in years. Despite having nieces and nephews, she'd managed to avoid the place. It wasn't that she didn't like animals. It was that her idea of a good time didn't necessarily involve hundreds of tiny humans running amok. But Cass realized that she needed to get to know Nina a little better, and this was what Nina and Alex had decided to do with their day.

Alex had expressed his reluctance—constantly—about Cass and Nina spending too much time together. But to Cass, little trips like this were necessary. And, ultimately, she was just tagging along on an excursion Alex had already planned. What could be the harm in that?

She arrived at Alex's at nine-thirty Saturday morning so that they could get to the zoo right as it opened. When Cass rang the doorbell, she heard a squeal through the door before it flew open.

“You're here! Now we can go.” Nina ran down the hall, yelling for her dad.

Cass let herself in and closed the door behind her. She saw Alex walking down the hall toward her a minute later. “Hey, come on in. We're almost ready.”

Cass smiled. “Seems like Nina's been ready to go for quite a while.”

Alex shook his head, but his lips twitched into a smile. “She's been going crazy all morning. Let me just grab her bag and then we can hit the road.”

Cass decided to wait by the door as Alex disappeared briefly. Minutes later, he and Nina were back. Nina grabbed Cass' hand and began pulling her out the door.

As they waited for Alex to lock the front door, Cass' phone rang. She looked down at it, the caller ID showing that it was her boss. “Good morning, Mr. Pritchett.”

“Morning, Cass. I'm sorry to bother you on a Saturday, but we have a bit of a situation.”

Cass rolled her eyes. Like her boss would be calling her for a friendly chat on a Saturday morning. “It's okay. What do you need?”

“Lydia was supposed to go to an event today that one of her clients is hosting. The client is known for putting her foot in her mouth, and they're expecting a lot of press. Lydia was supposed to make sure she didn't say anything damaging, but she had a death in the family and won't be able to attend. I was hoping you could fill in.”

Cass hesitated for a second—not because she was contemplating what to do, but because she didn't want Nina to hate her for what she was about to say. “Sure. What time is the event?”

“It begins at noon. It's at Regalli's Catering on Broad Street. I'll forward you the pertinent information now, so you can review it before you go. Thanks, Cass. I can always count on you.”

Her boss's words filled her with pride. She liked being his go-to person. As much as she didn't want to work on a Saturday, doing him this favor could go a long way in helping her advance in the firm. “My pleasure. Enjoy your weekend.”

“You too.”

Cass hung up and turned to Alex and Nina. “That was my boss. I need to go into work.”

Nina looked like she was about to cry. “You mean we can't go to the zoo.”

Cass didn't know what to say. Thankfully Alex stepped in and kept her from having to say anything. “No way, kiddo. You and I are still going.”

Nina immediately brightened. “Oh, okay. Bye, Cass. Let's go, Daddy.” She started running to the car.

Cass turned to Alex. “Sorry. Duty calls.”

Alex looked at Nina for a few seconds before murmuring a “Yup.” He turned back to Cass. “Well, I guess I'll talk to you later, then.”

Cass couldn't help but feel like Alex was irritated with her, but she didn't understand why. It wasn't like the zoo trip hinged on her attendance. And Alex had a demanding job as well. He of all people should understand needing to go to work when your boss called. It was one of the reasons they were in this whole fake-wedding mess to begin with. “Yeah, I'm sure we'll talk this week.”

“See ya,” Alex said before he turned and walked to his car.

“Bye,” Cass replied before doing the same.

*   *   *

Alex pulled out his black leather chair and sat down for the first time all day. He let out a long sigh. Though it was only Tuesday, he already felt spent. He'd worked the previous night, trying to wrap up some paperwork for one of his cases. And today, after spending two hours apprehending some motherfucker he was sure was guilty, he'd interrogated him for over an hour. But the asshole wouldn't give him anything.

Alex looked at the files spread across his desk, some opened, with the contents covering the majority of the glass surface. He rubbed a hand roughly on his forehead and took a sip of his coffee, hoping to relieve the headache he'd had for the past forty minutes. He'd get to the paperwork eventually, but right now he needed a break. He turned toward the window, letting the early-afternoon sun hit his face. But he enjoyed it for only a second before he was interrupted by the ding of his phone.

He unclipped it from his belt, happy to see that it was only an e-mail from Xavier and not something work related. He'd deal with his work in-box later on. Alex clicked on the e-mail—which was titled “NSFW”—and reclined back in his chair. He knew the warning had been meant for him and not Scott, who owned his own medical practice and could look at anything he wanted in the privacy of his own office with no repercussions. But Alex didn't have that same luxury. There was no way he would open any e-mail that Xavier sent on a work computer—with or without the NSFW disclaimer.

And the image staring back at him reminded him exactly why. He clicked on the video, lowering the sound since his door was open slightly, so he could watch some old woman gyrating on a dance floor
until one of her boobs popped out. And “popped” might have been a generous term. It was more of a falling motion, and one that had Alex laughing, since the woman clearly noticed but did nothing to tuck it back in, even with a crowd standing around her.

But what really made Alex laugh was Xavier's caption.
Your grandmom's really got some moves, Scott. Maybe I'll take her as my date to your wedding.

It was exactly what Alex needed to clear his mind. With a smile, he clicked out of the e-mail and went back to his in-box to check his mail before getting back to work.

Most of it was stuff he didn't need to look at now: coupons from a few children's clothing stores, a notification that the payment for his monthly gym membership had been processed, and a few others that he deleted immediately. Only one caught his attention: an e-mail from the venue he and Cass had chosen. Since he was insisting on paying for most of the “wedding,” he'd provided his e-mail as the primary contact. He'd put a deposit on the place when they'd looked at it a little more than a week ago, but until now he hadn't seen the pricing specifics. He gave it a cursory glance and then forwarded it on to Cass so she could take a look. Then he set his phone on his desk and prepared himself for another long afternoon of paperwork.

Interrogation

Cass put the beer bottle to her lips and took a slow sip as she relaxed on Alex's brown leather couch. “I don't understand men. This movie's awful, but every guy I know loves it and can recite it practically verbatim,” she said, pointing at the TV.

Alex's head whipped to the right so he could get a clear view of her expression.
Yup, she's serious.
“
Billy Madison
's a classic. If the guys were here, they'd agree with me.” Alex knew Scott and Xavier loved the movie. Cass was right; what guy didn't? They'd watched it countless times in college when it was on TV. “It's probably the funniest movie Adam Sandler's ever done.”

Cass shook her head. “No, it really isn't. You don't find it at all strange that a teacher is making out with a grown man who not only sounds like he's in second grade but
is
?”

“No.” Alex stared at her as if the question was
ludicrous. “And that's his
third-
grade teacher. Haven't you been paying attention?

“You're just saying it's not weird because you probably think the teacher's hot, and it's, like, every guy's fantasy to bang his teacher.”

“That's ridiculous.” Alex let out a loud laugh. “That's only, like . . . seventy percent of the reason I'm okay with it. At most,” he joked. “So, if you don't think this is one of his best movies, then which one do
you
like? And you'd better not say
Grown Ups
or something.”

Cass put her beer down on the coaster and turned toward Alex, placing a hand on his. “I'm going to say something, and I need you to really hear me.”

“I swear to God, if you say
Grown Ups
2
, I'm kicking you out,” Alex said, pointing to the door. “Right now. You'll leave, and I don't think I can ever let you come back. I mean it. This friendship, it'll end right here.”

“I wasn't going to say
Grown Ups 2
.”

“Thank God, because the best part of that movie was Taylor Lautner. And I'm saying that in the straightest way possible.”

Cass' expression lightened and she let out a soft laugh. “I'm not saying
Grown Ups 2
because I have no favorite Adam Sandler movie. They're all horrible. They actually make me wish I were blind. Or deaf. Or both, actually.”

Alex inhaled sharply and put a hand to his chest, as if Cass had physically wounded him. Maybe she was crazier than he thought.

“For real, Alex. Those stupid voices he does—I can't even listen to them, let alone think they're funny. ‘Back to school, back to school,'” she said, poorly imitating the famous line. “Please. That's so annoying.”

“I think I have to break up with you,” Alex said. “I mean it. The wedding's off. I can't pretend to marry someone who feels this way about Adam.” He tried to keep a straight face, but he couldn't contain the smile that spread across it. And Cass returned it with one of her own. “So,” Alex said, “if you don't think any of Adam Sandler's movies are funny, what movies do
you
like?”

Cass thought for a moment. “
Bridesmaids
was good. I'll watch that anytime it's on. When Melissa McCarthy leaves the bridal shower with the van full of puppies . . . that shit's hysterical.” Cass folded her hands on her torso, looking relaxed. “What else? What else?” she said, running her tongue across her upper lip. “Oh, oh, and
Titanic
! I die laughing every time I see Billy Zane running around the ship with a gun, like some tuxedoed psycho. And then Kate doesn't even let Leo lie on the door . . . I love it.”

“You know that's not a comedy, right?”

“Says who? The entire ship was flooded with seawater, and Billy's eyeliner never even smudged.”

“Okay, okay,” Alex said. “So favorite comedies are
Bridesmaids
and
Titanic
. What about TV? Last three shows you've watched full seasons of . . . Go.”

“
Breaking Bad
,
Dexter
,
Shameless
. Your turn.”

“The ending of
Dexter
was a cop-out. And I thought I was the one asking the questions here?”

Cass ran a hand through the top of her hair and let it fall to one side. “If you plan on asking a lot of questions, let's make this more interesting. Ever play Know It All?”

Alex shook his head. “What is it?”

“My roommates and I used to play it in college. One person asks a question to the other. If the person doesn't want to answer truthfully, they can lie or say
‘pass.' But then they have to take a shot, and the question goes back to the person who asked it for them to answer.”

Alex smiled before getting up. “I'm in,” he said. “Tequila okay?”

“You have any limes?”

“I think I have lemons,” Alex said, heading for the kitchen. There was something intriguing about this game. Though Alex and Cass had been seeing a lot of each other lately and he'd known her for more than a year and a half, he realized that he'd never really gotten to
know
her. At least not in the sense that he now felt he should.

“Lemons'll work,” Cass called.

Alex chopped up the fruit and grabbed the bottle of liquor and two shot glasses from the cabinet. “You sure you want to do this? You know I interrogate people for a living, right?”

“I'll take my chances,” Cass said, as Alex put the plate of lemons, the bottle, and the glasses down on the coffee table. Then he filled each glass.

“I'm assuming you're going first?” Cass asked.

Alex rubbed his hands together in excitement.
This is going to be fun.
“I'll start off easy,” he said. “What was the first concert you ever went to?”

“No Doubt.”

“No Doubt makes my skin crawl.”

Cass laughed. “We actually have that in common then. I was never really a fan, but my sisters were going and they actually wanted to take me. I was eleven. There was no way I was passing up a night with my older sisters and no real adult supervision.” Cass put a finger to her lips. “My turn,” she said. “How many women have you slept with?”

“Oh, come on,” Alex said. “I went easy on you.”

Cass shrugged, a pleased smirk on her face.

“Four,” Alex lied, before throwing back a shot and refilling it. “I feel like there's no right answer to that one. Question goes to you now.”

“One,” Cass answered simply.

Alex's eyes narrowed in confusion. “You've only slept with one person? You can't pass. You have to be honest.”

“I was. I've slept with one woman.”

A slow smile crept over Alex's mouth. “Fair enough. You go again?”

“Yeah, because you passed last time, so the one I just answered counted as your question.” Cass toyed with the label of her beer bottle, peeling it and resticking it while she thought. “Okay, what pets did you have growing up?”

Alex was surprised by the question. Why would Cass want to know about his pets? But he didn't bother overanalyzing it; he was happy it was so innocuous. “I had two dogs: a chocolate Lab named Tootsie and a German shepherd named Mitchell.”

“Mitchell?” Cass let out a laugh. “Who names their dog Mitchell?”

“Hey, Mitchell's a solid name. My sister named Tootsie after the candy. So when we got another dog a few years later, my parents said I could name him. I think Mitchell's a cool name. Strong, you know?”

“It reminds me of one of those guys from Best Buy who comes to your house to fix your computer so you don't have to bring it to the store.” Cass squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Shit. What are those guys called?”

“The Geek Squad.”

“Yes.” Cass pointed at him. “Mitchell's part of the
Geek Squad. I mean, not your dog. You know what I mean.”

Alex stared at Cass. “I named him after my grandfather, who died tragically the summer before we got the dog.”

“Oh.” Cass' face sobered. “I didn't mean . . .” Cass cleared her throat as she seemed to stumble for the right words. “You're right. Mitchell is a strong name—”

“Cass.”

“Yeah?”

“I'm kidding.”

Cass inhaled deeply and let her shoulders fall in relief. “I could really kill you sometimes.”

“Well, don't kill me yet because it's my turn.” Alex got up to go to the fridge to grab another beer for each of them. Cass had only a few sips left in hers, and though she'd been playing with the bottle and still taking a drink every so often, he knew it was probably warm. Alex took off the cap and handed the beer to her.

“Thanks.”

“Okay, what's your best memory?”

“I don't know.”

“So, are you passing?” Alex held up the shot glass as an offering.

“Not passing. Just thinking,” she said, taking a long drink from the new beer. “I guess I'd say it was a trip to Disney World when I was eight or so. We'd gone a few years before that because Rachel and Amy were older. But I was too young to remember. So when I was about six I started begging my parents to take me. I was obsessed with fairy tales. I wanted to be one of those princesses who lived in a castle, you know?”

Alex nodded, thinking that Nina was the same way. He was sure most little girls were.

“I remember getting to take pictures with all the characters: Snow White, Cinderella, Minnie. That was the last big vacation we took as a family. After that we just did smaller trips to the beach or whatever. I'm sure in a one-income household it was a financial stretch for my parents to take a family of five to Disney twice, so it meant a lot that we all got to go.”

Cass smiled at the memory, a light in her eyes that Alex wasn't used to seeing. Not that she didn't usually look happy. She did. Cass was one of the most cheerful people he knew. But he'd never seen her look so . . . content. Peaceful, even. He let her stay that way, not wanting to interrupt her tranquillity.

After a few seconds of silence, Cass spoke. “What about you? What's your favorite memory?”

Alex was sure he must have looked similar to Cass as he thought back to seven years ago. It was always so strange to him how something that seemed so foggy could still be so clear. “The day Nina was born,” he answered. He wasn't sure he wanted to elaborate, but Cass remained silent, her expression urging him to continue. “Tessa's water broke on a Tuesday night, and Nina wasn't born until almost ten p.m. the following night. I was up for, like, two days straight. I'm actually surprised I remember any of it at all.”

“You didn't sleep while Tessa was in labor? My sister Amy was in labor for a long time with her first, but she got to rest a bit until the contractions really started getting bad.”

Alex let out a short laugh through his nose. “Tessa slept a little, but I didn't. I was too nervous. I was worried about Tessa and about this life inside her that I
hadn't even met yet. We didn't even know if we were having a boy or a girl.” Alex ran a hand through the back of his hair, feeling some of the same anxiety he'd felt that night. “I didn't know how to be a father, and I was worried I wouldn't be a good one.”

Cass put a hand around Alex's forearm and massaged his arm gently. “Nina loves you.”

Alex knew that was true. But that didn't mean he was a good parent. Kids loved shitty parents all the time because they didn't know any better. In his line of work he'd seen it more times than he'd like to admit. “I know,” he said, not wanting to get into the nuances of how love didn't always equate to good parenting. “Anyway, Tessa pushed for hours. They kept flipping her into all these different positions. She was yelling at me, at the nurses. It was pretty intense,” he said on a laugh. “It looked like a scene from
The Exorcist
in there at one point.”

“Stop.” Cass gave him a playful shove.

“For real. I seriously don't know how women go through all that.”

Cass smiled. “Me neither.”

“After, like, the twenty-second hour, I was so dizzy and sick, but I didn't want to let Tessa know because she had to have been in worse shape than I was. I just kept telling her everything was going to be fine. They almost had to do a C-section, but they were able to get Nina out without one.” He remembered how it felt to see his daughter for the first time, to feel like he had someone he needed to protect at all costs. “It's the craziest thing,” he said with a goofy grin, “how one second you have no one you have to worry about other than yourself, and the next second you feel like you have everything.”

Cass' eyes narrowed. “You had Tessa though. Before Nina. That was something.”

Alex shook his head. “It's different. Even though we loved each other then, a love for anyone else is different from the love you have for your own child, you know?” Alex realized Cass probably didn't. Or maybe she did in theory. But no one could truly understand until they'd had children. “The best way I can explain it is this: no matter how much you love someone, deep down inside you know if you lost them, you'd be okay. It'd be hard, but you'd get through it.” He felt his body tense just thinking about what he was about to say. “But not with your child. If something ever happened to Nina, the last thing I'd ever be again is okay.” He inhaled deeply, realizing for probably the millionth time how much she meant to him. “When they put her tiny body onto Tessa and told me I had a daughter, a switch flipped in me that I'll never be able to shut off. And I don't want to.”

“Wow,” Cass said. “I've never heard anyone describe childbirth like that. When my sisters talk about it, they mostly just focus on epidurals and stitches.”

Alex chuckled. “Guess I can't really relate to that part.”

“Guess I can't either,” Cass said.