by Jacie Floyd
“No need for that. You’ve got plenty to do in Sunnyside. I’m looking into it, okay? You’ll probably need an attorney, but I’ll scout around a bit more first. And we’ll utilize that technology I was talking about earlier if you need to do anything immediately.”
Sitting around waiting in Sunnyside when her future was being decided in New York didn’t feel right. In her experience, people responded more positively from in-person discussions than they did on the phone.
“No. I’m coming back. At least for a few days. Line up an attorney, whoever your firm would recommend. I’ll book a flight for tomorrow.”
The local situation wouldn’t get worse if she left town, and distance might give her a better perspective.
“You’re not nervous, are you?” Liam leaned back in his chair as Zach paced the floor of the fitness center’s office.
“Nervous, no. Anxious? Yes. Ten kinds of anxious. This whole wedding thing is outside my area of expertise. I want every detail to be perfect.”
Of course, he did. If Zach ruled the world, everything would be perfect. Always. In Liam’s world, hardly anything ever was. In Liam’s world, life leaned more toward shit-show fodder than perfection. Except for kissing Jillian. That was as close to perfection as anything had ever been. But that wasn’t likely to be repeated. “Harper seems to be taking it in stride.”
“Her mother and sister have taken all the girly-details in hand. They consult with Harper on her preferences, but they’re used to a lot more grandeur than Sunnyside can offer. That part is all on me. We could have gotten married anywhere in the world, from Chicago to her father’s home in Philadelphia, to one of a half-dozen homes owned by her step-father, to any island destination, but Harper insisted on getting married here in Sunnyside.” Zach groaned and threw himself into the visitor’s chair. Shelby loped over to park herself at his feet and nudge him for a neck rub.
“There’s nothing to worry about. We’ve got it all worked out.” They’d been over it a dozen times. Sure, Liam had screwed up his own life, career, and marriage, but he was pretty capable at handling lesser details like transportation, tux rental, and getting a groom to the church on time. Or to the library in this case. He didn’t give a flying fig about emotional ceremonial crap but having the wedding ceremony and reception at the library had been a stroke of genius.
“We’ve got less than two weeks,” Zach emphasized.
“I am aware.”
“You’ve picked up the rings in St. Louis?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’ll check with Jameson’s about getting the extra chairs to the library on Saturday morning?”
“Already have.”
“But you’ll check again, right?”
This was the problem with having a Type-A, anal-compulsive for a best friend. But Liam would cut him some slack, since Zach cut Liam plenty. “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ve got my check list, and I’m checking it twice.” Just like Santa. “I’ll take care of everything.”
Zach blew out a deep breath and sighed. “What about the weather?”
“We can’t control that, but I don’t see it being a problem.”
Flipping open his iPad, Zach scrolled to a section that was probably labeled “atmospheric conditions.” “I’ll check the guest list to see how many of them would be affected by slick roads or a snowstorm.”
“According to your briefing sheet, Harper’s family and personal friends will get here ahead of time. On the day of the wedding, I have every farmer in the county ready to roll with a snowplow. Mick will order out the salt trucks at the first sign of ice.” Liam stifled a yawn. Not that these wedding details weren’t riveting, but he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. “Tell me again. Why am I the best man instead of Josh?”
Zach huffed at the question. “Since I’ll be off the clock, Josh will be on call. I can’t have the best man walking out in the middle of the ceremony due to a medical emergency.”
“Right.” Although, Liam suspected, Zach already had a backup scheduled for Josh for that day, too. The best-man duty was another bullet-point in Zach’s master plan to regain Liam’s acceptance in the town. He thought the plan was pointless, but a little part of him, the part that had kissed Jillian silly the night before, hoped for success.
Looking up from his iPad, Zach leaned back and stretched casually. “The Wedding Council women are working on seating arrangements for the reception. I was told to find out if you’re bringing anyone.”
Jillian’s face flashed to mind, but that was an unlikely hope. “Nope.”
“Why not?”
“The only women I know whose reputation wouldn’t be ruined by going out with me are the dancers.”
“Nobody’s reputation would be ruined by going out with you, but you could bring one of the dancers if you want to.” Zach scrolled through a document on his iPad. “Are you interested in one of them?”
“No.”
“There are other women from other towns. You can’t tell me you haven’t been out with anyone since you came back to Sunnyside.”
Hell, no, he wasn’t going to tell his friend that. Mostly because he didn’t want Zach to worry about him more than he already did. And frankly, Liam’s interest in the opposite sex had nose-dived until Jillian’s return. “It’s not up for discussion.”
“Chicken.” Zach’s cheeks puffed out with a bwak-bwak-bwak chicken impression. “You know you want to ask Jillian.”
“Jillian who?”
“Jillian who-you’ve-been-hung-up-on-your-whole-life. That Jillian.”
“Right.” He nodded and rolled his eyes. “The one who’s been sticking pins in a voodoo doll that looks like me for the last twelve years. That Jillian?”
“I saw you looking at her last night. And I saw her looking at you.”
“Looking at me like dog poop on her shoe.”
“You’re crazy, man.”
“You’re crazy if you think I could bring someone like Jillian to your wedding. Or that I would want to.”
“You want to.”
Liam scowled. “I’m doing you a favor by agreeing to be the best man. I’m not going one step further by bringing a socially acceptable date just to keep your numbers even in the table settings.”
The cell phone on Liam’s desk chirped. Adam’s picture came up. “I’ve got to take this call.”
“And I’ve got to go.” Zach got to his feet with one last pat for Shelby. At the door, he turned back and shot Liam with a thumb-and-forefinger gun. “Just think about Jillian.”
Like he ever thought about anything else. “Not going to happen,” he said before answering his phone. “Hey, gorgeous. How’s it going with you and my favorite eleven-year-old?”
“Adam’s the only child you know, isn’t he?”
“I know Jimbo’s little girl, Maisie, pretty well.”
“She’s a baby. That’s not the same thing as knowing a kid.”
“She’s pretty cute though.” He smiled just thinking about her chubby cheeks and angelic blue eyes.
“How was Bert’s funeral?”
He should have expected Leah to question him about that. “The whole town turned out. Most of the businesses were closed for the day. They held the wake at his house. It rained.”
She flicked her teeth with her thumbnail. He could hear the soft tick-tick. “Were my parents there?”
“Didn’t see them.”
“Did Jillian come home for it?”
As he tensed up, Shelby rested her head on his knee. “Yes.”
“That gave the old biddies something to talk about. How does she look?”
“Good. Sad. Tired.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“Some.”
“Did she ask about us?”
“No.”
“Are you going to tell her the truth?”
He remembered the moment after Bert’s funeral when he’d almost told her. He should have forged ahead, but it hadn’t been the right moment. S
he was already crushed by her father’s death, and she sure wasn’t in the mood to rehash their sorry past. Anytime he got close to it now, she shut him down. And he hadn’t been sure how Leah felt about letting Jillian in on their secret. “It’s not my story to tell. You, Caleb, and Adam are part of the story, too.”
“You should tell her. You have my permission. And Adam’s. And Caleb would have told her himself if he could have.”
He should’ve been relieved but found that he wasn’t pleased at the loss of one of his more viable excuses. “Is this what you called to talk about?”
“No. We need to talk about Thanksgiving. There are a couple of problems.”
Okay. He could handle current problems a lot better than an inquisition about the past. “Give ’em to me straight.”
“I’m leaving for Guatemala on the Monday after Thanksgiving instead of the week after. I had to trade some days with one of the other nurses and working for her on Thanksgiving was the price I had to pay. Sorry, but I won’t be able to cook for you.”
“You weren’t cooking for me. You were making Thanksgiving dinner for Adam, your fiancé, and a bunch of other people. I was just going to be one of the guests.”
“Maybe so, but the other people are willing to fix Thanksgiving dinner for themselves, Adam, and you. But since you don’t know them, I didn’t think you’d agree to go. Leaving you as the only one who won’t have Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll have dinner with friends and family, too.” Probably. He could join Jimbo’s family, or Zach’s. Or maybe the dancers would want to cook the way they had when Bert died. Or he could volunteer at the soup kitchen. “I was coming to your house in St. Louis because you make cornbread dressing just like Gram used to make, and we’d both get to spend the day with Adam.”
“Yeah, that would have worked out great, but things have changed. When is Zach’s wedding?”
“The Saturday after Thanksgiving.”
“So, do you think you could come and get Adam on Sunday?”
“Don’t you want to spend your last day at home with him?”
“I do, but that’s the other problem.” He waited her out while she gathered herself to share the rest of it. “I don’t have anyone to watch him while I’m gone.”
“What about Mrs. Brown?” As far as Liam knew, the regular babysitter was going to keep him while Leah was on her humanitarian medical mission. “Didn’t the change of schedule work for her?”
“It was all set, but she fell yesterday and broke her hip. She had to have surgery this morning, and she’s going to be laid-up for a while. If I can’t line someone up, I’ll have to cancel, and you know how long I’ve been planning this.”
He did know. With her big old heart, she’d wanted to go on a humanitarian mission ever since she’d gotten her nursing degree. Since she was planning to get married next year, this might be her last chance to go before other commitments took precedence. “I’ll help anyway I can.”
“It’s a lot to ask, but could you keep him the two weeks I’ll be gone?”
A tsunami of panic struck him in the gut. This sounded like primary-care stuff, and he was only capable of secondary child-tending duties, at best. Ballgames, pizza parties, and overnights. Those were his areas of expertise. Not the heavy-duty, day-to-day stuff. “I don’t think I can be gone from work for that long.”
“Aren’t you the boss of you? At the strip club and the fitness center?”
“Yeah, but the two businesses don’t run themselves you know. They both require time and attention.”
“But you set your own hours. Can’t you watch him in Sunnyside for a couple of weeks?”
The question was a conversation stopper. Bringing Adam to Sunnyside could open a whole new can of worms. He didn’t even want to consider Jillian’s reaction. “Aren’t you afraid your parents would see him?”
“You don’t really hang out with them, do you? They don’t work out at the gym or frequent the strip club, and I don’t picture you at church. They’ll never even know he’s there.”
“You must have forgotten about the hyper-active Sunnyside grapevine. It’s a small-town. I run into them sometimes. What if that happens?”
“That would be awkward, but that would be their problem, wouldn’t it?”
And his, but okay, he’d wing it if he had to. “What about school?”
“To be honest, I’d like him to have a break there. He’s having a problem with some bullying, and it would be good if we didn’t have to worry about that when I’m gone.”
“Bullying? Who’s bullying him? And why?”
“It’s all elementary school crap. You know what a great kid he is, but he’s small and bookish, and not athletic. We’re working on the bullying issue with the school, but it takes time, and I can’t bear to think of him dealing with that while I’m gone. I think it’ll be good for him to spend time with you and see how a man handles problems.”
That statement almost knocked him out of his chair. He doubted if anyone in Sunnyside considered him a good influence in any situation. But there might be ways he could advise Adam. Just getting him in the gym and teaching him a couple of self-defense moves might help. “And the school’s okay with him being gone for two weeks?”
“You’ll need to make sure he’s doing his assignments, but he can submit them online. He’s pretty good about keeping up on his own.”
Grasping at straws, he threw out the next one. “You don’t want him staying above the strip club.”
“No, I don’t. He can hang out with you at the fitness club, but I’d rather you keep him away from The Kitty Kat.”
“That’s where I live.”
“Isn’t there any place you could rent or lease short term in Sunnyside?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll think of something.” Maybe he could get his grandparent’s old place into livable condition. He’d been thinking about fixing it up as his next project anyway. He had, what, ten days, to work on it? “I’ll pick Adam up the Sunday after Thanksgiving and keep him with me till you get back. Just out of curiosity, why am I doing this instead of your fiancé?”
“He’s leaving for a radiology conference the day after Thanksgiving. And his name’s not on Adam’s birth certificate. These are the kinds of things you’re expected to do when you sign on to be a father.”
No kidding. He’d been lucky to get off easy this far.
“Well, lookee who’s here.” Lenore, Sunnyside Up’s crusty owner paused in wiping down the diner counter and gave Jillian the once-over. Looking for flaws, probably. “It’s the Sunnyside Princess come to visit the regular folks.”
Jillian wasn’t sure why she’d ended up here of all places. The diner looked exactly as it had twelve years ago, except less prosperous than it had been then. Instead of being a shining example of retro-cool, it was shabby without the chic. The faded black-and-white linoleum squares, dingy red-checked curtains, and chipped Formica tables said old-fashioned and tired. But did anyone in Sunnyside want even one little detail of the place spruced up? No, they didn’t. The diner was considered as much of an institution as the Gothic town hall, Carnegie library, and classic gazebo.
As she stepped to the counter, the typical handful of customers gave her side-eye glances. But she needed to eat, Sunnyside Up was a town fixture, Lenore was an old friend of Dad’s, and Jillian was curious about the cook who’d made the scones for the funeral lunch. And honestly? I can’t stand another night alone at the house with the restaurant disaster hanging over my head . But she should have been prepared for Lenore to start sniping at her first thing.
“And famous TV chef, Lenore,” Sadie, one of Lenore’s dependable waitresses, piped up. Sadie bustled around the counter to give Jillian a hug. “We don’t want to forget about that.”
“As if we could.” The diner owner sniffed. “Her daddy, God rest his soul, reminded me about it pretty near every day of the last two years.”
/> “Being a Chopped champion is a major accomplishment for a Sunnyside girl.” Fred Johnson, a truck driver perched on a counter stool, felt free to join in the conversation. “We were all real proud of you, Jillian.”
“Thanks.” Touched by their support, she squeezed Sadie’s hand and patted Dean’s back. “But I’m hardly famous.”
“You here to eat or not?” Lenore cut the discussion short. “Grab a seat wherever you want.”
Just as she headed for a booth in the back corner, Zach, Harper, and Rachel arrived, bringing a cold gust of wind through the door with them.
Chapter Eight
Along with greetings from the two women, Zach swooped Jillian up in a hug. “I was going to call you tonight to see how you’re doing.”
“Can you join us for dinner?” Harper asked.
“Yes, please do,” Rachel insisted. “Unless you’re meeting someone?”
“Or don’t find wedding planning endlessly fascinating.” Zach tugged her toward a booth in the back. “In which case, do what I do. Just nod and agree to everything.”
Harper laughed and beamed up at him. “You know we value your opinion.”
“Value, consider, and disregard.” He shrugged out of his jacket and helped Harper with hers. “That’s fine. At least, I’ll have someone normal to talk to tonight when you two go deep into the wedding zone. Please, Jillian. Rescue me from having to weigh in again on the great debate regarding candle colors.”
“Don’t let him scare you.” Rachel gestured for Jillian to slide into the booth beside her. “All color choices were made long ago.”
“In fact, we have everything planned down to the minutest detail,” Harper explained. “From music to food to rose petals.”
Zach groaned. “Then what’s tonight’s planning session about?”
Harper wrinkled her nose. “Drilling down beyond minute to microscopic detail.”
“And don’t pretend you aren’t as bad as we are,” Rachel challenged. “Ask to see his spreadsheet, Jillian.”
