The Good Luck Potion (The Good Luck Series) (23 page)

“Can he grow up?” Alex asked.

Brandon looked contrite. “I’m sorry. I’ve apologized to Kimberly and Phil. I’m apologizing to you and I’ll apologize to Sue when I see her again. It was a stupid and immature move and I take full responsibility for my actions.”

“Yes it was and you are just lucky no one was seriously injured by it. But I’ll accept your apology. And I’ll keep a truce because of the wedding
, not because I particularly like you at the moment.”

“Good. Let’s go order. I’m starved.” Phil urged them from the booth. “I don’t recall the two of you butting heads so much before Alex went to Alaska.”

“No. It’s just since he met Sue,” Brandon said. “He’s become very touchy.”

“No
, I’m not.”

“Actually, yes you are,” Phil said. “I think you’re in love with her.”

“Maybe I am. Would that be so bad?”

“No. I’d say she’s a very lucky girl if you are.” Phil stepped up to the counter and placed his order.

Brandon kept silent and waited for his turn to order.

Friday morning came and Sue sat through the interviews, but she found none of the applicants were right for the job. She shared her thoughts with Keely as they drove to Jama’s for lunch.

“Am I being too picky?” she asked, getting out of Keely’s car.

“No. You want to find someone like you to take your place, but none of these girls fit the bill. I agree we need to try another round of applicants.
”

A gust of wind stirr
ed fallen leaves along the walk as they headed toward the house, reminding Sue it was getting closer to the end of October and Halloween. Kimberly’s wedding was next week.

“
I’ll have Pamela call the temp agency again and see what they can find for us,” Keely said, ringing the doorbell.

“Why not place an advertisement in the paper?”

“The temp agency vets the application pool for us, making the process easier.”

They didn’t have to wait long for
Jama to open the door. She greeted them with a smile. “Adult contact. Oh I’m so glad you could come.”

“Is it that bad?” Keely asked as they walked into the
spotless house.

“It feels that way. I love my babies, but I’m a workaholic. You know that. I thrive on business. Kyle does his best when he is here in the evenings, but the days seem to drag on for me when I’m alone with James and Klarissa.”

“I’m sure your mom would come over during the days to give you some company.”

Jama made a face. “I love her to death, but come on. She’d have me in bed resting while she took care of the babies.
I couldn’t stand that. I’d rather be back at work than to have that.”

“Where are they?” Sue asked.

“In the nursery taking a nap. Come on and I’ll show you their room. It’s adorable. I hired a decorator to do it because I wanted something special, but I’m just not that crafty.”

When Jama opened the bedroom door it was like walking into fairytale land. The soft hues gave a serene feel about the room.
The fairy tale murals on the walls were carried into the bedding. Even though the baby beds were cream colored, it was clear which belonged to each child. Klarissa’s bed had a pink sheer netting gathered like a canopy at one end with a fairy mobile, while James’ bed had a dragon mobile.

“They are so precious,” Sue whispered as they slipped back out of the room.

“Thank you. Are you and Alex in a hurry to have children?”

“No. No. We’re still trying to get used to the fact we’re married.” Sue hurried down the hall
, back toward the living room.

“How did that happen anyway?” Jama asked.

Keely shook her head at Jama. “What’s for lunch? I’m starved.”

“Chicken salad sandwiches on croissants
with marinated pasta and a fruit salad. Kyle picked it up at the deli for me yesterday and I got the croissants from the bakery down the street this morning before he left for work.”

“Sounds yummy.”

Sue helped herself to a plate of food and a glass of tea and sat down at the dining room table with them, but she felt odd not answering Jama’s earlier question. “We were drunk. That’s how it happened.”

Keely dropped her fork and it clattered against the
side of her plate. “Lucinda didn’t tell me that.”

“She didn’t?” Sue asked.
“But you said she told you how and when.”

“Well that must have been a shocker
to wake up married,” Jama said.

“It was. I can’t remember it. I’ve watched the wedding DVD over and over again, but I can’t remember the ceremony.” She began to cry. “I love him. I want to be with him, but I can’t get past the fact that we were drunk when we did it.”

“Oh honey,” Keely finally said, rubbing her on the back. “It’s okay.”

“Sure it is. You can just get married again.” Jama got up and
brought a box of tissue from the living room. She removed several from the box and handed them to Sue.

“But I made such a big deal the morning after about not needing a church wedding. What will he think if I suddenly tell him I want to redo our vows?”

“I think my brother will understand. He loves you and he will want whatever will make you happy.”

“Yeah. I haven’t met Alex yet, but I’m sure he’d agree with you.”

Sue dried her eyes and excused herself to the bathroom. When she returned she told them about their honeymoon plans over Christmas.

“I think that sounds wonderful,” Keely said.

“You aren’t upset that Alex won’t be here for Christmas?”

“No. I
won’t be upset. And you shouldn’t worry about me either. It’s your first Christmas together. You should spend it however the two of you want.”

“I don’t want to take your brother away from you.”

“Honey you aren’t. He’s your husband first. My brother second now. You are making a family together and that is what matters.”

Later that afternoon Sue carried a few bags of groceries into her apartment to prepare dinner for her and Alex. He was coming over for the night and she wanted everything to be perfect. Once she had the food on to cook she spread her best tablecloth on the table and arranged the plates, silver ware and glasses. She even added two candlesticks to make the setting more intimate.

She glanced at her watch and hurried back into the kitchen to check on the food, knowing he should be arriving soon. When she heard the knock at the door, she stuck the bread in the oven before going to answer the door.

Finding her sister standing there was not what she expected. “Hey. What’s wrong? You don’t look happy.”

“I’m not. I went to use my credit card and it was declined.” She came into the apartment and Sue closed the door behind her. “So I thought about what we’d charged on it for Vegas. Three tickets, the hotel room, the spa trips, but I should have had more line of credit than that.” Kimberly opened her purse and pulled out a folded sheet of paper as she sat down on the bar stool. “I went online at home and checked the statement of charges to be sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. And I hadn’t. Except there were two charges that I didn’t know about.”

Sue listened to her and went over to the stove to turn the eyes down to low so the food wouldn’t burn until Alex got there. “What were they for?”

Kimberly laughed and shook her head. “Well that’s the funny thing. One is to a wedding chapel and the other is for a very expensive hotel room with room service. Since Phil and I aren’t getting married until next weekend and you had my credit card until after you returned from Vegas that leaves me with only one explanation. Is there something you forgot to tell me?”

Sue swallowed and stared at her almost forgetting to breath.

“You are wearing that ring on your left hand that wasn’t there before the trip.”

Unable to find her voice
she ran from the room to her bedroom and opened up her drawer searching for where she’d put the DVD. Kimberly followed her.

“Sue. Did you and Alex get married?”

Still unable to form words she handed the case to her sister and nodded.

Kimberly looked down at what was in her hands.
“Oh, my lord. You did.”

“We did those shooters and…and…and I woke up in a Doris Day movie.”

“Yeah, but Alex is no Rock Hudson. He’s better. He’s straight.”

Sue laughed.
“Whatever the charges are on your credit card I’ll pay for. I didn’t know I used it. I don’t remember anything about that night.”

“You don’t?”

She shook her head. “I’ve watched that DVD so many times and I still can’t remember saying ‘I do’. But I did and I so do.”

“Oh, Sue,” Kimberly hugged her. “This is all Brandon’s fault. You just wait until I tell Phil what happened.
”

“No. Don’t. Alex and I need to figure out some things first. I’d rather limit the people that know about Vegas, especially if we decide to have a wedding with family and friends. I don’t want to upstage you either with people talking about my scandalous wedding. And we definitely can’t mention this to
Mom and Dad.”

Her sister nodded. “Whatever you want. So can I watch this?”

“If you have to.”

“I do.
” She went into the living room and turned on the television. “So tell me, how’s it like being Mrs. Jones?”

“Great.”
Sue walked into the kitchen to check on the food and to get the bread out of the oven.

“I bet he’s good—”

“Kimberly, don’t make me tell Phil that you’re having naughty thoughts about my husband.”

Her sister laughed and she heard the music on the DVD start. She placed the bread in a
cloth lined basket and covered it with a clean dishtowel to keep it warm until Alex arrived. He was running late which wasn’t like him.

“Wow. You may not remember it, but I’ve never seen you look happier in all my life.”

“Really?” she walked back into the living room

“Yes. Didn’t you notice that silly grin on your face
?” Kimberly searched the footage on the DVD to show her what she was talking about. “Actually, it’s been there for weeks so maybe you didn’t realize it. You love him. Admit it.”

Sue sat down beside her on the sofa.
“I do. I whole heartedly do.”

“That’s fabulous.
” Kimberly hugged her. “I knew it was going to happen to you from that first night you met. Aren’t you glad I paired the two of you up with that lock and key game?”

“I knew it!” Sue
jumped up. “I knew you did that on purpose.”

“Sorry. But you had already met all of Phil’s friends and no sparks flew so I took a chance it might be different with Alex. Boy was I right.”

Sue shook her head. “I can’t be mad about it because you were right.”

Kimberly dug in her purse and found a pen. She circled the total on the credit card statement. “That is how much you owe me
. You can either give me the money or pay the balance to my caterer.”

Sue sucked in her breath at the figure. No hotel room was worth that price a night and they weren’t even there a full night. “And I guess you need that now?”

“I have to pay my caterer.”

“How about I write you a check, but you don’t cash it until I go and transfer money from my savings to my checking first thing tomorrow?”

“That’ll work.”

She numbly walked to get her purse glad she was getting a nice pay raise with her promotion so she could afford to make such a dumb move.
As she understood it, she had insisted on paying for the wedding, but had she also insisted on the room or was that a package deal, but two charges? The credit card statement didn’t make a distinction. And she didn’t have a receipt for the wedding or the hotel charges to compare. Oh why did they do those jello shots?

Chapter Eighteen

Alex woke with Sue curled up next to him.
She looked so beautiful and peaceful lying there asleep. Unlike the pain he’d seen in her eyes when he finally showed up last night. He’d been extremely late getting home, ruining the dinner she’d cooked and the evening they’d planned. But he’d gotten held up at work, and a wreck on the interstate had traffic backed up for miles. He couldn’t even call her because he’d dropped his cellphone in the grass while playing with the dogs on Thursday night and Queenie had destroyed it, mistaking it for a chew toy by the time he noticed it was missing.

S
ue tried to act as if everything was fine, but he could tell she was upset, especially when she reheated the food and the chicken was dry. They didn’t argue, but she’d gone to bed early. It wasn’t the way he’d planned to end their first week married.

He reached out and pulled her to him, holding her. She stirred, laying her head on his chest.