Bridesmaid for Hire

by Marie Ferrarella

  She woke up early because that was a habit she’d developed from the time she was in grade school. Back then it was because life was an exciting adventure to her and she was afraid of missing anything, even a moment of it. She grew up, but she never outgrew that feeling.

  Taking a quick shower, she made herself a slice of toast and then got down to work.

  She checked her refrigerator to see what she needed to get at the store—and found that she didn’t need to get anything. Her shelves were full.

  “You have got to get another hobby besides me, Mom,” she murmured. But for once, she wasn’t upset about her mother dropping by with groceries. It saved her time. She found that she had all the ingredients she needed—carrots, celery and a whole chicken.

  She was going to make old-fashioned chicken soup just the way her grandmother had taught her. It wasn’t going to be anything elaborate, just basic ingredients, mixed in an oversize pot with water, salt and love.

  Smiling, Gina got to work.

  Dutifully, she turned up the flame on her stove, brought everything she’d put into the pot to a boil, then turned the flame down again until it was on medium. She partially covered the pot, then sat down in the kitchen to keep vigil for the next hour and a half. She knew the old adage about a watched pot never boiling, but she was also aware of the practical fact that unattended pots sometimes had a way of boiling over and then having their contents boil away.

  Finding the timer she had stashed in a drawer, she set it for ninety minutes, then forced herself to be patient.

  It was much easier said than done.

  While the ingredients she had thrown together were busy becoming soup, Gina searched for something to carry it in once it was finally finished cooking and had cooled down enough to transport.

  Finding something appropriate to use took her more time than putting the soup together had. But she finally found a clear airtight container she could use to bring the soup to Shane.

  If Ellie was all better—and kids really did bounce back with amazing resilience—then Shane and the little girl could have the soup for lunch anyway. And if Ellie was still sick, then if the little girl was anything like she’d once been, Gina was confident that the soup would be incredibly welcome.

  Gina dug a box of egg noodles out of her pantry and prepared them to go with the soup. The noodles were ready a lot sooner than the soup was. Straining the noodles, she packed them up in a separate container and went back to waiting.

  Once the soup was ready and was placed, along with shredded bits of chicken, into its own container, there was only one thing missing from this meal.

  But for that, Gina knew she needed to stop at a bookstore.

  She glanced at her watch. Today was Sunday. The bookstores in her area didn’t open until ten thirty.

  Perfect timing, she thought as she moved around and got ready. Everything would be packed up and ready to go by ten thirty.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “But I’m all better, Unca Shane,” Ellie protested, her lower lip protruding in a pout as she looked up at her uncle.

  In an effort to strike an acceptable compromise with Ellie, Shane had told his niece she didn’t have to stay in her bed as long as she remained on the sofa he’d made up for her in the family room. He’d placed three multicolored pillows at her back, propping her up into practically a sitting position. Shane had also tucked Ellie’s favorite princess blanket all around her small body.

  To keep his niece occupied, there was a collection of popular cartoons playing on the TV courtesy of the Blu-ray disk he had inserted earlier.

  “Humor me, sweetie,” Shane requested, ruffling her soft, silky hair. “You weren’t all better last night,” he reminded her.

  “But that was then. This is now,” Ellie insisted with the budding logic of a little woman. “I wanna play, Unca Shane.”

  “You can get up and play tomorrow,” Shane told her. He finished his sentence quickly because he could see that Ellie was already starting to throw off her princess blanket. She gave all the signs of being ready to hop off the sofa at the slightest provocation.

  “But tomorrow’s school,” she complained as he tucked the blanket back around her.

  The sharpness of Ellie’s mind never failed to amaze him. Half the time Shane felt he had trouble keeping track of what day it was, yet this little munchkin whose care he’d found himself entrusted with always seemed to be on top of everything.

  “Preschool,” he corrected, although he knew that to Ellie it was one and the same. “Tell you what. You stay on the sofa today like a good girl and you can stay home from preschool tomorrow.”

  Shane knew he had to make arrangements with Barbara, the nanny he usually had watching his niece when he worked, but that was really the easy part. Getting Ellie to stay put today was definitely going to be the difficult part. Luckily, since it was Sunday, the bakery was closed and he could stay with Ellie.

  “So do we have a deal?” he asked his niece in all seriousness.

  Ellie puckered up her mouth as if she was thinking over his proposition. And then she nodded, announcing with a resigned smile, “Okay, deal.” Having made her declaration, she put out her hand to her uncle, wanting to shake on it.

  Caught off guard, Shane realized that Ellie felt it was part of the agreement because she had witnessed him shaking hands with one of his suppliers after a delivery had been made. He knew that reinforcement had become very important to the little girl. She needed it to make her feel secure.

  Smiling at Ellie, Shane shook her hand. Just as he did, the doorbell rang. Surprised, he glanced over toward the front door.

  “You expecting someone, Ellie?” Shane asked his niece, doing his best to keep a straight face.

  Ellie appeared to seriously think about his question, then shook her head, her blond hair swinging about her face. “No.”

  “Stay there,” he instructed when he saw that, prompted by her boundless curiosity, Ellie was starting to get off the sofa again.

  He heard Ellie sigh mightily as he walked to the door, as if he were trying the last of her patience.

  She was going to be a handful when she got older, he thought.

  Preoccupied, Shane didn’t look through the peephole when he reached the front door. Instead, he just opened it, and then stared in absolute surprise at the woman on his doorstep. His surprise doubled when he saw that she was holding what looked like a picnic basket and using both hands.

  “Can I come in?” Gina asked when he didn’t say anything. “This is getting heavy.”

  Coming to, Shane reached for the basket. “Here, let me take that.” The first thing that hit him was that Gina wasn’t exaggerating. The basket really was heavy. Stepping to the side, he let her in, then turned to follow her. “Did I forget we were supposed to meet today?” he asked Gina, confused.

  “No, you didn’t forget anything,” she replied, hoping that she hadn’t made a mistake and overstepped some invisible boundary line Shane had drawn. They were making progress and she didn’t want to take a chance on ruining that. But at the same time, she did want to go with her instincts. “I just thought, since you said that Ellie was sick, that I’d bring her—and you—some chicken soup. Homemade,” Gina added quickly. She didn’t want Shane to think she had just opened up a few cans of soup, warmed them up and then dumped them into a container. “That always made me feel better when I was Ellie’s age and got sick.”

  He looked down at the basket he was carrying. The scent of hot chicken soup was beginning to waft up to him through everything.

  “You mentioned that,” he recalled. “You also said something about a comic book.”

  Smiling, now that her hands were free, she pulled out several comic books she’d stopped to pick up at a nearby bookstore. She had painstakingly pored over them to find just the right, age-appropriate ones to give Shane’s
niece.

  “She doesn’t already have these, does she?” she asked him.

  “She doesn’t have any,” Shane told her.

  “No comic books?” Gina asked, surprised. But then, she supposed that things like that were probably no longer in vogue for the short set. She could remember spending hours reading all sorts of comic books as a kid, everything from the adventures of a park bear and his faithful sidekick, to the ongoing crusades of an entire slew of superheroes. “Well then, she’s in for a treat,” Gina promised him.

  “Who’s there, Unca Shane?” Ellie called out, craning her neck and getting up as far as she could on the sofa without actually coming off it. She knew her uncle wouldn’t be happy if she did.

  “Hi, Ellie, it’s me,” Gina answered, peeking into the room.

  The little girl’s eyes lit up as soon as she heard Gina’s voice.

  “Gina!” Ellie cried, overjoyed. And then her eyes shifted to what her uncle’s friend was holding in her hands. “Did you bring me something?” she asked Gina eagerly.

  “Ellie,” Shane admonished. “What did I tell you about asking that?”

  Ellie dropped her head. “Not to,” she mumbled in reply.

  Gina pretended not to pay attention to the exchange between Shane and his niece.

  “Of course I brought you something,” she told Ellie, walking into the family room. “I brought you chicken soup.”

  Ellie’s face fell. “Oh.” Then, because her uncle had made it clear how important manners were, the little girl politely said, “Thank you.”

  Wow, Gina thought, clearly impressed. Shane should be giving parenting lessons.

  Ellie was still staring hopefully at what Gina was holding in her hands. Not wanting to prolong the torture a second longer, Gina said, “And when you’re finished eating your chicken soup, I brought you these comic books to read.”

  Ellie’s forehead wrinkled, conveying that the little girl was slightly confused by the term she’d used. “Comic books?” Ellie repeated.

  Gina sat down on the edge of the sofa, facing Ellie. “Comic books,” she repeated, holding up one as a visual aid. It was a copy of the adventures of a band of friendly dogs who helped people. “See?”

  Clapping her hands together, Ellie squealed her thanks, then she took the comic book from Gina. “This is for me?” she asked hopefully.

  “All yours,” Gina assured her.

  Ellie’s eyes crinkled as she leaned forward and hugged Gina. “Thank you!”

  Looking on, Shane realized that he was still holding the basket Gina had brought.

  “I’d better put this in the kitchen and get a couple of bowls. Three bowls,” he amended, correcting himself.

  “Three?” Gina questioned. Was he entertaining? Had she come at a bad time?

  “Sure. You’re going to have some with us, aren’t you?” Shane asked.

  “There’s not all that much soup,” Gina pointed out. “And I made it for you.”

  “Stay and have some,” Shane urged her.

  She didn’t want Shane to feel obligated to share it with her, but she wasn’t about to argue over it either. After all, this was what she secretly wanted. To become part of his life again and he part of hers. Ten years had passed since they’d been together but all that meant was that she had a loss of ten years to make up for.

  “Can I help?” she called out.

  He didn’t answer her. Instead, he came back a couple of minutes later carrying a tray with three servings of soup and three spoons. He set the tray down on the coffee table that was right next to Ellie’s sofa.

  “I’m perfectly capable of ladling out three bowls of chicken soup,” he told Gina.

  “Of course you are,” Gina replied. “I just like to help, that’s all.”

  He looked down at the bowls, then back up at her. “You already did,” he told her quietly.

  There was that warm feeling again, Gina thought, reveling in the way it washed over her.

  * * *

  All three of them had soup for lunch. Her appetite nudged, Ellie even had seconds, although her bowl was slightly smaller than theirs was.

  Clearing the bowls away, Gina wound up reading the comic books she had brought out loud to Ellie. After she had finished reading all of them to the little girl, they went on to play a board game. Shane attempted to beg off, but Gina and Ellie ganged up on him and he had no choice but to agree to play, too.

  He was a reluctant participant at first, but Gina watched his resistance dissolve when Ellie looked up at her uncle with her big, soulful eyes.

  With a sigh, he murmured, “I can’t say no to you.” Triumphant, Ellie clapped her hands in delight.

  After that, they played one game after another until, completely tired out, Ellie fell asleep with one of the characters they were using on the board game clutched in her hand.

  Gina rose slowly, taking care not to wake the little girl. She waited until she had walked out of the room before she risked saying anything to Shane.

  “That little girl has more energy than any three people I know,” she told him.

  Shane smiled fondly as he looked back at Ellie over his shoulder.

  “I wish I could tap into that,” he confided honestly. “Thanks for bringing the soup and the comic books. And for helping out today,” he added.

  “I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” Gina protested, although truthfully, she liked being on the receiving end of his gratitude.

  “You kept her entertained,” Shane pointed out. “Ellie was just about ready to jump out of her skin when you got here just like the cavalry.”

  “Then I’m glad I could help keep her in her skin,” Gina teased, loving the warm feeling that was spreading all through her just because of the way he was looking at her. “That’s a wonderful little girl you have there. You’ve done a great job raising her.”

  “Half the time I think she’s just raising herself,” he confided.

  “Don’t kid yourself. I can see you in her,” Gina told him. “The way she holds her head when she’s thinking. That crooked smile on her lips when she’s about to spring a surprise. She even phrases things the way you do. There’s a hint of a lisp, of course,” she added with a grin, “but it’s definitely you.”

  “You’re imagining things,” he told her.

  “No, I’m just very good at observing things. And at remembering,” Gina added.

  Because the moment had gotten so serious, it made her a little uneasy. She was afraid of having any sort of a serious conversation with Shane, afraid of any recriminations he might bring up.

  Clearing her throat, she turned away, saying, “I’d better get my picnic basket so you can take advantage of the moment and get some rest. Something tells me that ball of fire in the next room will wake up raring to go.”

  “You’re probably right,” he agreed. “It was all I could do to convince her to rest one more day. We compromised on the sofa, but she was about to abandon it when you came over.”

  In the kitchen, he took a look at the container she’d brought. It was less than half full.

  Gina saw the way he was looking at it and guessed at what he was thinking. “No need to transfer anything. You just keep the container until Ellie finishes the soup. I will take back the basket, though.”

  “Hold on. I can’t have you leave with an empty basket,” he told her. He opened the refrigerator and rummaged around.

  Because his back blocked her view, she didn’t know what he was doing until he was finished taking things out and putting them into the basket. Shane closed the lid before he turned around so that she wasn’t able to see what he was doing.

  Curious, Gina opened up the basket and saw that Shane had put about half a dozen pastries into the basket, just like the ones he’d brought to the bridal shower.

  She raised her
eyes to look at him. “You want me to get fat, don’t you?” she asked. Gina was only half-kidding.

  “It’ll take more than half a dozen pastries to make you fat,” he told her.

  “Maybe, but it’s a good start.” Debating, Gina made up her mind and pushed the basket back toward him. “I can’t take these.”

  Shane didn’t understand. He thought she liked them. “Why not?” he asked.

  “Because Ellie might want to eat them.” It certainly wasn’t because she didn’t like them.

  “It’s not like I can’t make any more of them,” he told Gina. He nodded at the pastries in her basket. “I was just practicing with these.”

  That didn’t make any sense to her. “You have to practice?” she questioned.

  “Sure. Concert pianists have to practice,” Shane pointed out, then shrugged. “Chefs aren’t any different.”

  “I never thought of it that way,” Gina admitted. In her opinion, you couldn’t improve on excellence.

  The room felt as if it was getting smaller to her. And warmer. Gina realized that somehow, Shane was standing closer to her than he had been a few moments ago.

  Or maybe she was the one who was closer to him than she had been before.

  However the logistics had gone, the end result was that her skin was beginning to tingle and desire was firing up within her like a newly lit display of fireworks against the darkened sky.

  Gina knew she was asking for trouble because things were going so smoothly, but she found herself wishing Shane would kiss her again the way he had yesterday in the parking lot.

  Except longer this time.

  And then, the next moment, she wasn’t wishing any more.

  Because he was.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gina wasn’t aware of the basket sliding from her limp fingers. All she knew was that her hands were now free to go around Shane’s neck.

  Her heart pounding, she threaded her arms around his neck. Rising up on her toes, Gina allowed herself to sink into the kiss, reveling in the heated sensations that were being released throughout her entire body.