I Thee Wed (Wedding Dreams) (18 page)

I cut her off with the last one.
“Mom, stop. Just take a breath for a second. I have everything under control.
You don’t need to call anyone; this is a very small wedding. I have a couple of
dresses here at the shop you can choose from if you don’t want to wear
something already in your closet. I don’t want you to worry about any of this.”

“Dear, you know I can’t help but
worry. It’s less than a week away and I just found out about it! You should’ve
given me more notice so we could get everything done.” Her voice is so high and
squeaky I’m sure only dogs can hear her.

“Mom, I told you Drew and I just
decided to get married last week. That’s why it’ll be a small ceremony. Please,
Mom, please just calm down. It’s going to be okay. How about we meet for lunch
today and we can talk about it in a calm, civilized manner.”

“Lunch sounds great, dear. Can we
go to Callahan’s? You know how much I love their sandwiches.”

“Yes, we can go to Callahan’s.
How about I meet you there at noon? We’ll get a corner booth and talk all about
the wedding plans.” I roll my eyes, but I know the only way to calm her down is
to make her think she’s helping.

“All right,
dear.
I’ll see you later then.” Thankfully, she hangs up.

Sierra comes back to my desk with
a wide smile. “I can’t believe it took her this long to bug you. How are you
going to handle her?”

“I had my phone turned off all
weekend, so I’ve avoided her so far. I guess I’m just going to let her think
she’s helping. I’ll bring her by the shop on Wednesday or Thursday to pick out
a dress. Looking for shoes and accessories should keep her occupied for the
rest of the week.”
At least I hope it does.

“I guess we’ll see. Now, let’s
talk about how you want this day to flow,” Sierra says as she sits down again.

We work on mapping everything out
for the rest of the morning. Unfortunately, there weren’t any customers to
interrupt us. I know Monday is usually our slowest day, but I’d have liked the
phone to ring or something. Feeling down about how the business is going, I go
meet my mother for lunch.

Callahan’s is a local lunch place
that’s frequented by many in the area. They have great food and an atmosphere
of semi-privacy with the tall booths that line three walls. A lot of people
come to do business over lunch, so it’s fairly busy when I get there. I look
for my mother, but I don’t see her as I make my way to a corner booth that’s
just opening up. Sitting down I look over the menu, which is silly because I
get the same thing every time I come. Katy, my favorite waitress, comes over. I
order a Diet Coke for me and coffee for my mother.

As Katy walks away, I see my mom
enter the restaurant. Well, everyone sees her. She’s wearing a bright green
blazer over a red sweater and white pants. She looks like Christmas threw up on
her. Her black patent leather heels and gold purse complete the outfit. I shake
my head as I wave to get her attention. She smiles as she heads to the table.
When she gets to me I notice she’s drawn her eyebrows on with black eyeliner
and she’s wearing green eye shadow. She completes her makeup with fake
eyelashes that aren’t quite straight. I love her, but sometimes I want to
pretend like I don’t know her.

“Lily, darling, I’m so excited to
see you. We have so much to talk about.” She’s nearly shouting, as she tends to
do when she’s worked up about something.

“I’m happy to see you, too, Mom.
But let’s not let the entire restaurant know what we’re talking about, okay?”

“Oh, sorry, I just get excited.
I’ll try to keep my voice down.” She smiles as she picks up the menu.

Katy comes back with our drinks
and we place our orders. Chicken Caesar wrap for me and pastrami on rye for my
mother. Katy smiles as she walks away, I’m sure she’s wondering why she doesn’t
just bring this order every time we walk in.

“So, tell me all about your
wedding plans. What do you need me to do?” It’s like we didn’t have this same
conversation a few hours ago.

“Mom, what I really need you to
do is stay calm. Sierra is helping me pull it together. We thought you could
come by the shop on Wednesday and pick out a dress. Do you want to do that or
do you have something at home you’d rather wear?” I know she loves to dress up and
she’ll want to wear a new dress, but I feel like she needs the choice.

“I want a new dress, dear. I
can’t have my only daughter getting married while I’m wearing a dress I’ve worn
before. Don’t be silly. I can come by and see what you have. Is Sierra going to
wear a bridesmaid dress?”

“No, she’ll just wear something
nice. Drew isn’t wearing a tux, so nobody has to be too formal. It’s just a
small ceremony at his house.”

“Is his house big enough? How
many people will be there? Are you sure you don’t want me to contact some of
your relatives?” She’s asking questions in rapid succession and getting louder
with each one. I reach over and take hold of her hands.

“Mother, please calm down. We
want it to be small, remember? Right now it should be you, Sierra, Drew’s
mother, his best friend, a few of the partners in Drew’s firm, and the judge
performing the ceremony. I don’t anticipate there being anyone else.”

“That’s not much of a wedding.
Lily, you always wanted a big wedding with a poufy dress and train, a long
aisle, and all the extras. What’s going on with you?”

Shit.
I was hoping
she wouldn’t remember my childhood dreams. As goofy as she acts most of the
time, she
is
perceptive.

“Dreams change, Mom. At this point
in my life, small and simple are just fine with me.”

“Well, I guess I can understand
that, but it just doesn’t seem like you.” She pauses and looks into her coffee.
Suddenly her head snaps up and she stares at me with wide eyes. It’s a scary
look, and I’m not sure what she’s going to say next.

“Lily Ann, are you pregnant?” She
practically screams the last word. I want to die of humiliation right now. If
the floor could just open up and swallow me at this very moment, I’d be a very
happy girl.

“Mother!
Stop
screaming,” I whisper loudly. “No, I’m
not
pregnant. I can’t believe you
would even ask me that!”

“Well, what other reason could
there be for you to be getting married in a week and not telling me about it?”

Thankfully, Katy brings our food.
I ignore the question as I study my wrap, doing anything to avoid eye contact
with the crazy woman sitting across from me. I’ve never been good at lying,
especially to my mother. I’m going to have to come up with something that
resembles the truth without giving everything away. I wait until she has taken
a bite of her sandwich before replying.

“I’m thirty-two years old. I own
a wedding planning business and I’m not married. I want to marry Drew and I
don’t want to wait for a year to plan a big ceremony. Is that so wrong?” I look
back at my lunch, and I’m not feeling very hungry now. My life is sad, really.
Just hearing
myself
say that makes it all so real,
just how pathetic I really am. To top it all off, I’m pretty sure I’m falling
in love with Drew, the man who says he doesn’t want a real relationship. This
sucks.

“No, Lily, that’s not wrong. I
just want you to be happy.” I look up and my mother has tears in her eyes. I
give her a small smile.

“I’m happy, Mom. It’s going to be
a great wedding.” I do believe the wedding will be great. I’m not so sure about
afterward.

We finish our lunch in relative
silence. Mom mentions what’s going on with some of her friends, but we avoid
talking about the wedding and I’m grateful. Once I pay the bill, I walk my mom
out to the parking lot.

“Come by in a couple days, Mom,
and we’ll help you find a dress. Okay?”

“Of course,
dear.
I’ll be in on Wednesday. Thank you for lunch. I’m glad you’re happy.” She pats
me on the cheek and gets into her car. I go before she can see the tears in my
eyes.

*
* *

Drew

 
I knew there
would be a ton of work to catch up on after being gone those few days, but I
had no idea how long it would take to get caught up. I had to ask Kelly to
order lunch in so I could continue to work. Now that I feel like I can see the
top of my desk, I’m exhausted. I look at my watch and it’s already six o’clock.
Shit.
I was going to be home by now. I’ve thought about Lily off and on
throughout the day, but now I can’t stop thinking about her. I stuff a file in
my briefcase to work on at home. As I rush past Kelly’s desk, I notice she has
Lily’s business card under her keyboard. I only notice it because it’s bright
pink and black. I’ve never seen another business card like it. I’ve no idea what
Kelly’s doing with it, but I forget about it as I walk out the door.

When I get to my car, I see
something on the windshield.
What the fuck?
I pull the piece of paper
from under the wiper and get in the car. It’s a note from a woman, judging by
the handwriting.

Drew,

I want you to know I love you. I
don’t want to let you go. Please let me
be
the one you
want to spend the rest of your life with. You know I can make you happy and
we’re meant to be together. Give me another chance, please.  

I love you,

Brandy

This woman is fucking crazy. I
crumple the note and throw it out the window before driving off. I can’t
believe I slept with that
skank
, and now I’m paying
for it. She was terrible in bed and an even worse person. I try to calm myself
as I drive, but I know Brandy is bat-shit crazy and she can be ruthless if she
wants to be. I don’t want to say anything to Lily, but I also don’t want Brandy
to harass her. I’m going to have to figure out how to deal with her and get her
out of my life for good.

I pull into the garage and see
Lily’s car. I hope she’s not upset that I’m just getting home.

Wait, I actually care what Lily
thinks?
I have to stop and think about this for a second. I’ve never cared what a woman
thought, except for one woman, and she didn’t care what I thought. Does Lily
care about me? How would I feel if she didn’t? Disappointed, that’s how I’d
feel.

Well, that’s something I never
thought I’d feel again
. It’s thrilling and terrifying at the same time. If
I care what she thinks, then she has the power to hurt me. I don’t think I can
handle being hurt again. It’s probably easier to keep things simple, treat this
like a roommate situation.
Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.

Having made my decision, I walk
into the house. Lily’s not in the kitchen or dining room. I call her but
there’s no answer. I decide to change my clothes before I search for her so I
head upstairs. Her bedroom door is closed and I pass it by.

When I reach my room, I stop
short at one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen.

Lily is curled up on my bed, her
hair splayed out on the pillow, and she’s sleeping. She looks so peaceful and
content; my dick twitches at the thought of burying myself inside her. My heart
rate speeds up and I realize I really like this view. I want to see it every
day.
Fuck.
There go my plans to keep things simple. I’m falling in love
with Lily. I didn’t see that coming, but I kind of like the idea. As I change
my clothes, I wonder how this woman got under my skin so quickly.

I know I should let her sleep,
but I have to touch her to figure out if what I’m feeling is real, if I want to
put my heart on the line again and risk it being crushed. I climb carefully on
the bed and she rolls toward me, but doesn’t open her eyes. I brush a few
strands of hair away from her face and she smiles. That smile pushes me over
the edge. I know I want this woman in my life, and I’m going to do what I can
to keep her. It’s a foreign feeling, one I’ve fought for years, but it feels
right. I pull her into my arms. She makes a small moaning sound and curls into
me. She’s soft
where
I’m hard and we fit together
like we were made for each other. I relax and get lost in the rhythm of her
breathing. Soon, I’m
dozing
, too.

Something’s tickling my nose. I
don’t think it’s a dream, but I can feel something there. I touch something
hairy. I open my eyes and see the top of Lily’s head. Neither one of us has
moved. I can’t help but smile and squeeze her closer to me. She wakes up and I
roll her under me while she’s still half asleep. I start kissing her neck while
I reach under her shirt, touching her stomach lightly. I feel her muscles
contract as my hands move over her skin.

Lily pulls on my shirt and I help
her remove it. Hers follows and lands on the floor somewhere behind me. I can’t
get to her skin fast enough. I start at her neck and kiss my way down to her
cleavage. Working my hand over one breast, I pinch and pull on her nipple until
it’s standing on its own. I put my mouth over the other one, licking and
sucking it to a point to match the first one. I can’t help myself as I push her
breasts together and kiss them at the same time. Her skin is delicious. Soft,
supple, and she tastes like oranges. Lily’s hands are in my hair, pulling just
a touch. I can’t help my low growl and I move up to claim her mouth.