Mistaken Gifts (6 page)

Eva caught the waitress’ attention and had her coffee cup filled before calmly answering him. "A wedding is a celebration of love, don’t you agree, Mr. Williams?"
 

He nodded.
 

"And Bonnie and Val are in love, just as you and Roxanne are. So my suggestion to you would be, if the boys ask, which I’m not sure they would since five-year-old boys aren’t known for their interest in adult relationships, you simply tell them that all of Andi’s parents are happy and involved in loving relationships and you all wish that for Andi and Colin as well. But as I said, I doubt very much the question will come up."
 

Andi flicked a smile in Eva’s direction, but both of them remained serious.
 

"But—"

"Dad," Andi interrupted. "It means a lot that you are all willing to be here for me, and I would love it if I could have all my family sitting together. As you know, it’s not a very big place and the wedding is really quite small. It seems silly to have you all spread out in the room."

"And it really would throw everything off as far as the seating arrangements go," Eva chimed in. "I’m sure you agree, Mr. Williams, there are far more important details to take care of for the wedding. Especially with it only being days away." Eva smiled sweetly and stirred some sugar into her coffee.
 

Andi’s dad cleared his throat and took the napkin from his lap. "Yes," he said. "You’re both absolutely right. I’m sure the seating arrangement will be fine. As long as it’s okay with Bonnie, it will be fine with me."
 

"I’m sure Mom will be okay with it," Andi said. "But Roxanne?" she asked, getting to the heart of the matter.
 

"I’ll handle Roxanne," he said. "Now, if you’ll excuse me. I need to get the boys to the Cub Club. I understand they’re going to be doing some snowshoeing or something."
 

"Sounds fun," Eva lied. "It was nice to see you, Mr. Williams. We’ll talk more later about the details of the ceremony."

"Absolutely," he said. "Have fun, girls." And with that he was gone, leaving Eva and Andi alone.
 

She waited until he was out of sight, but then Andi let out a deep sigh and said, "Thank you. Honestly, I don’t know if I could have handled it so calmly if you hadn’t showed up."

"Sorry I was late," Eva said. She took a sip of her coffee. "But he seems okay now. What got him so worked up?"

"It’s not him. It’s Roxanne," Andi said. She dropped her head into her hands and squeezed her temples. "I swear, if I knew it was going to be so difficult just handling my family all in one place, we would have eloped. This is too much."
 

The waitress delivered a basket of muffins to the center of the table before leaving them alone. Eva waited and watched her best friend for a moment. Something was wrong. Something more than the stress of the wedding. Andi was a professional and she knew better than anyone how to handle a difficult family when it came to planning an event. Andi never shut down. "Are you okay?" Eva asked her.
 

Andi nodded, but didn’t look up. "Of course I am."

"You’re sure? I can’t remember the last time I saw you so worked up. I mean, it’s just a seating arrangement. We’ve handled a whole lot worse."
 

Andi’s head shot up and she stared at Eva. "We’ve never handled my wedding before," she said. "It’s different. It’s totally different. And now I know what the bride feels like when she loses her mind and starts crying over stupid things like music choices and centerpieces."

"Speaking of centerpieces…"

"We weren’t," Andi snapped. Her face crumpled and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "I’m sorry, Eva. You don’t deserve that. You’ve been absolutely wonderful. I’m just really on edge right now and I need Colin to wrap up his business meetings and get here already. I’m just feeling really overwhelmed."
 

Eva reached out and squeezed Andi’s hand. "It’s okay. Just let me handle things, okay? Maybe we can book you into the spa for a massage while I sort out some details."
 

Andi nodded. "That sounds good."
 

It did sound good. Eva made a mental note to book her own massage for the day after the wedding. The way the week was shaping up, she wouldn’t have a spare moment to breathe until everything was over. "Good," she said. "I’ll get Carmen to book it for you." She reached for a muffin and split it in two.

"And what are you going to do?" Andi asked. "There’s still such a big list. I’m sorry, Eva. It’s not fair for me to leave everything to you."
 

Eva waved her protests away. "It’s totally fair. If the roles were reversed, you’d do the exact same thing. As for me, I have a plan for the day. I was actually going to tell you that I figured out the perfect addition to the centerpieces this morning. Holly berries. I just need to find someone around here to help me gather enough of them and then I can finish those up. I did a sample one, but I left it in the banquet room, sorry."

"I trust you." Andi swiped at her face with a napkin and took a deep breath. "Holly sounds beautiful," she said. "That’s perfect. Why didn’t we think of that earlier?"

"I know. That’s exactly what I thought." Eva finished her coffee. "But I’ll need a whole lot more if I’m going to make it work, and I have no idea where to find them."
 

"You need Bo," Andi said. "Remember, I told you about him? He’s Morgan’s new boyfriend."

"I remember." How could she forget? Morgan had left their business Party Hearty, and come to the Lodge, where she, too, had found love. There seemed to be a running theme.
 

"Anyway," Andi continued, "he’s the activity director and he leads the treks into the woods. He’ll know exactly where to look. Have you met him yet?"
 

Eva shook her head and took another bite of a muffin. "The only outdoorsy guy I met was that cowboy you told me to go talk to."

"Jeff?" Andi’s face lit up in a smile and she tipped her head to examine Eva.
 

"That’s the guy. I still don’t understand why you want a horse. It would be so much easier if you just walked."
 

"Easier for who?"
 

Eva tossed the rest of the uneaten muffin on to the plate. "For me obviously." She wouldn’t bother telling Andi about the troubles she might have securing a horse for the ceremony. No need to stress her out even more. "Have you even met Jeff? He’s a total piece of work and— "

"Hot."
 

Eva glared at her friend, who, judging by the look on her face, was enjoying Eva’s discomfort.
 

"He’s not my type," Eva lied.
 

"But he is hot."
 

She couldn’t deny it. If you could look past his behavior and the whole horse thing, Jeff did have a certain appeal to him. A sexy cowboy in tight jeans appeal. An appeal that she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about. Not that she was about to admit it. Not even to Andi.

"He's totally full of himself, and he seems to take a certain pleasure in making me feel like an idiot. And I won't tolerate that in anyone, let alone some guy." Eva crossed her arms and looked away in what she knew was a pout.

"Please don't tell me you fought with him," Andi said.
 

"Fought with him?" Eva turned back to look at her friend, who had tears glistening in the corner of her eyes again. "I didn't fight with him. Well, unless you call a little stomping, and just a bit of arguing and…okay, I fought with him. But there's no reason to get upset. It was mostly good natured and… Andi, don't cry."

Her friend wiped at her face. "I'm not crying."
 

Eva knew better than to argue with her.
 

"I just really can't handle any more fighting. Not with anyone."

"He's the horse guy, Andi. And I promise, it’s not fighting fighting. It’s more like…" What? Eva thought. Flirting? She pushed the thought from her head. "Anyway, it's not like I'm arguing with your fiancé."

Andi blew her nose and focused on Eva. "I can't handle it with anyone, Eva. Not anyone. Jeff is part of the Lodge and with everything else that's going on…I just don't need one more stress, okay?"

"Andi, it's—"

Eva broke off when Andi started sniffling again.
 

"I don't know what's gotten into you," she said instead. "I've seen you cry more in the last few days than in the last few years combined. Maybe the stress of the wedding is too much."

"It really is a lot to get all the family together. I knew I should have eloped."

"Stop saying that." Eva reached out and squeezed Andi's arm. "It will be amazing, and I'll take care of everything. Don't worry about a thing."

"And you'll get along with Jeff? Because I really think it would help if you two got along…please."

Isn’t that what she was worried about? Getting along with Jeff? If she wasn’t careful, she’d want to get along with him too well. She stared into her coffee mug for a few more seconds to be sure her feelings weren’t showing on her face. When she looked up, she said, "Fine. I’ll do my best."

And just like that, a switch was flipped and Andi broke into a huge smile. "Oh, good," she said. "Because I really thought you might like him."

"Like him, like him? I thought you said I would like Troy?" Eva smiled at the inside knowledge she had on Troy but there was no point telling Andi that right away. "I'm beginning to think you're willing to set me up with any man as long as he has a pulse."
 

Andi waved away her protests. "Oh, come on," she said. "You know that's not it. Besides, you have to admit, Jeff’s hot."

"Who’s hot?"
 

Both women startled at the voice and looked up to find the subject of their discussion looking down on them. Eva flushed what she knew would be an unflattering shade of pink and busied herself with her coffee cup to keep from looking at him.
 

"You must have some sort of radar," Andi said. "We were just talking about you." Traitor. Eva risked a glance in Andi’s direction so she could glare at her, but Andi was ignoring her. Likely on purpose.
 

"Well, when it comes to pretty ladies, I do try to make it my business to pay attention," Jeff said. He winked in Eva’s direction. Coming from anyone else, it would have looked creepy. Eva hated winkers. But there was something about the way Jeff did it that made it look easy and, even if she didn’t want to admit it, hot. Her pulse raced, and Eva had to look away to calm her traitorous body.

Eva cleared her throat and tried not to focus on the flutter of desire that Jeff’s presence had unwillingly stirred in her. "Don’t get too excited, cowboy. I was just telling Andi that you were looking for the perfect horse for her wedding." She stared at Jeff, hoping he’d pick up on her cue. She didn’t need Andi worked up again, especially over a horse.

Unaffected by her abruptness, Jeff slid into the empty seat at the table and casually crossed one leg over the other. "About the horse—"

"We’ll talk about it later," Eva cut him off and narrowed her eyes at him. Leave it to Jeff to not pick up on her signals.
 

He gave her a strange look in return and Eva watched as realization finally hit. "As a matter of fact," he said slowly. "I think I may have found a few horses that will work perfectly." He spoke to Andi, but his piercing gaze didn’t leave Eva. "I was hoping you would come down to the stables to choose. I usually recommend that you get a feel for the animal before making any big decisions about it."
 

What the hell did that mean? Did he change his mind about his stupid policy?

"I agree," Eva said, before she could stop herself. "It’s like judging someone based on first impressions. Sometimes you need to take a deeper look before making any decisions."
 

They locked eyes, Eva challenging him to look away first. His gaze didn’t waver and it wasn’t long before he was the only thing she was focused on. Her breaths deepened, and Jeff was matching her breath for breath. Neither of them would look away.

"What are you two talking about?" Andi interrupted. The spell broken, Eva sat back and fiddled with her coffee cup again.
 

"Nothing," she mumbled.

"Just that sometimes first impressions aren’t the only ones," Jeff said. "Which is why I think Eva should come check out the horses for herself."
 

"Sounds perfect," Andi said. "I totally trust Eva. And frankly, relaxing is going to be my priority right now. Didn’t somebody say something about a massage?"
 

Jeff laughed. "Sounds good," he said. "I think if a massage was an option for me, I’d gladly take it." He looked directly at Eva when he spoke, and she had to work hard to keep from turning red again.
 

Men didn’t have that type of effect on her. Not ever. She was in charge, in control and never had she let a man get the best of her before.
 

"Keep dreaming," Eva said.
 

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.
 

"But I’m sure Eva can fit that in to her schedule," Andi said.
 

Both Eva and Jeff swung their heads around to look at Andi.
 

"Sounds like a great—"

"There’s no way—"

They both spoke at once.
 

Eva shook her head and spoke again before Jeff had a chance. "I can’t. I’m way too busy."

"Too busy to come look at a horse or two?" Jeff challenged. "Because I have this policy…"

Damn him and his policy. "Fine," Eva said. "I’ll look. But I’m too busy today."

"Really?"

"Actually, yes." Eva straightened up in her chair and tossed her napkin over the mostly uneaten muffin. "I have to go find Bo so he can take me to gather holly for the centerpieces."
 

Jeff sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. "You won’t find him."