by Stone, Nora
“I’ve always loved how Izzy and Char keep up with the people that they write about. The good ones, that make good on their promises and really seem to be doing something with the exposure they’ve been given,” Patrick said. I smiled.
“They know what it’s like to struggle,” I said. “They make friends with people and they stick around. I don’t think that will ever change for either of them, even if they go international.”
“Good. People who stay grounded are the ones who make it.”
We walked through the exhibits, stopping to look at a few and find out who the artists were and peek at a few of the prices for the ones that we really liked. Finally we made it to the back, where the sculptures had been moved to the sides, and tables now occupied the majority of the space. A good sized crowd of people that I knew and people that I didn’t milled about, mingling and talking quietly.
“There you are!” Charlotte came up beside me before I’d found her and Joey. She grinned, then leaned forward and waved.
“Hi Patrick,” she said in that sing-songy voice that you use when you’re 14 and you catch your friend with her crush that she hasn’t had the nerve to confess to yet.
“Hey Charlotte,” he said with a grin and a slight reddening of his cheeks.
“You two look wonderful,” she said. The teasing was over, thankfully. I’d probably hear about it later, but that was all for tonight.
“Are they flying you and Izzy out to New York for the office opening?” Patrick asked, obviously trying to take her focus off of the fact that we were there together before she started teasing him again.
“Nah, Jade wouldn’t do that with Al being so little and Joey’s schedule being so hectic right now. Isobel said she didn’t want to go,” she said with a shrug.
“That reminds me…” I said, taking her shoulder gently and moving her away from the crowd a bit. Patrick took the hint and wandered off, presumably to find Joey.
“What’s up?” Char said, lowering her voice and changing her stance so that we looked like we were simply talking instead of gossiping in the corner.
“Isobel came to see me at work last week, and she looked really down,” I said. “I tried everything that I could think of, all of the things that normally would make her smile again and nothing worked. I’m really starting to worry about her. I’m starting to worry that she’s crossing over from mourning into unhealthy.”
Charlotte frowned and nodded slightly. “Yeah, I noticed that she doesn’t really seem to be coming out of this funk either.”
“Good, then it’s not just me being a paranoid, over-protective friend,” I said. Char shook her head.
“We need to spend more time with her. Maybe doing things a bit less… crowded,” she said, glancing around.
“Right, she doesn’t really seem to want to be around people right now.”
“We could maybe do a spa day next week? That new one down by my old place that I go to put in childcare.”
“Right, I’m off on Wednesday and Friday,” I said.
“Wednesday. Friday, Joey will be home and has already called dibs on Al, so we can go out and do something that night. A movie or a book signing, or wine tasting… something.”
“That sounds like a great plan,” I whispered. Char and I shared a look and a smile.
“I’ll be at home most of the week, I’ll find out what’s going on Friday and let you know,” she said, just as Isobel walked up.
“What’s up?” she said. Charlotte was instantly smiling as she tossed her arm around Isobel and grinned.
“We were thinking, we should go to the spa,” she said. “We haven’t done that in forever, and all three of us deserve some pampering.” I’d give it to her, she made it totally sound like just a day out together. Not at all like an intervention over Izzy’s mental health. Then again, she’d always been better at sugar coating than I was.
“Oh? You’re right we haven’t,” she said with a grin.
“Awesome, keep Wednesday afternoon open. Jacinta’s off that day and I know you have that interview in the morning,” she said. Izzy nodded.
“Jade doesn’t have anything else for me that day.”
“Good! I’m excited,” she said, doing that girly squeal thing that she and Isobel did way more than I did, though I had my moments.
“Hang on, what’s up with you showing up with tall, blond and hunky over there?” Isobel asked with a smirk and a wink. That was closer to the Izzy I knew, and I couldn’t help but grin.
“What? What’s wrong with my bringing Patrick with me tonight?” I asked. Izzy shrugged.
“Nothing at all. I just thought you guys were working so hard not to be ‘a thing’ that you’d never come out in public like this. Some place where you will no doubt be photographed together,” she said. Charlotte stifled a giggle and I rolled my eyes.
“I just wanted him to come with me, okay?” I said.
“Calm down, sheesh. It’s not like we’re worried or anything. Patrick is a great guy,” Char said, that teasing look back on her face.
“Speaking of which…” I said, using that to extract myself from the conversation and go find him before the two of them teased me to death.
The dinner party was a huge success and everyone there completely enjoyed themselves, myself and Patrick included. Afterwards, we walked through the outside exhibits, wanting to see the others before we left together for the night. The area was dimly lit with Chinese lanterns here and there, giving just enough light to see the stunning sculptures and those quietly walking amongst them.
“I’ve been thinking,” Patrick said all of a sudden. I smirked.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” I said. He laughed.
“Hush. I was thinking about us more.”
I glanced up and him and nodded. “Oh yeah?”
“Mmhm. And I think I know what we should do next,” he said as I bent down to look at the artist’s name of the piece that we were standing in front of.
“What’s that?” I asked. I stood back up and turned to face where he stood behind me, only to be faced with a man on his knees.
“I think we should get married,” he said. I almost fell backwards.
“What?” I said, a bit more breathy than I’d meant for it to come out.
“I know that I can’t live without you. I tried and it didn’t work, I was miserable. You know that you can’t live without me for the same reason. Why should we live without each other, then?”
“Wait, this is so… sudden,” I said. Patrick laughed at my shock.
“It’s like everything else that we’ve been and done our entire lives, even before we got together,” he said. “It’s passionate and hot. It spreads quickly, like wildfire. That’s what we are, Jacinta. That’s what I want for the rest of my life.”
“I’m not even your girlfriend!” I squealed, tears now running down my cheeks. Happy tears, but tears none the less.
“Details. I don’t want you to be my girlfriend. I want you to be my wife.” He took my hand in his and slipped a small jewelry box from the inside breast pocket of his suit jacket.
“You have a ring?” I said, my voice almost a whisper now. Patrick nodded.
“Of course I do. You are the only woman in my life that I can honestly say that I am in love with. That’s not something that I say lightly, Jacinta. I planned to be the consummate bachelor, cool uncle Patrick who never settles down, and then you came along and completely derailed that life. You are all that I think about, all the time. I miss you when you’re not around and when you are, I want you closer.”
I jumped up and down a little, and then threw my arms around his neck. “I love you too, Patrick.”
He laughed and picked me up, swinging me around.
“Does that mean that you’ll marry me?” he asked again, putting me back down on my feet. I sniffed and nodded.
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” I said. Patrick gently opened the box and pulled the ring out, slipping it gently on my finger befor
e sweeping me up into another tight hug that had my feet dangling.
“You’ve just made me the happiest man alive.”
“You’ve just made me the happiest woman.”
Chapter 13
We left the party almost immediately after the proposal. Patrick raced us through the streets, back to my apartment since it was closer to the museum. Once we’d arrived, he pulled my clothes off of me on our way through the apartment, leaving a trail until we finally arrived at the bed. Then he lay me back and wouldn’t let me do anything but enjoy what he did to me. It was amazing, and he seemed to know exactly what I wanted and needed at exactly the right time. By the time we’d showered and settled back into bed together, we were happy and exhausted.
“So, when do we tell people? You know we have to at least tell Joey and Char,” I said.
“We can tell them, we know that they can keep it a secret, but as for the rest of the world, let’s wait until after the first big away game,” Patrick said.
“This weekend?” I asked. I felt Patrick nod against me.
“Yeah. The last thing I need while I’m trying to get my head in the game is the media whipping itself into a frenzy around me because the news just broke that I’m engaged.” He laughed. I grinned; he had a point. And with this being the new Coach’s first season with them, he had something to prove.
“Right, that makes sense,” I said.
“Thinking about you during games is enough of a distraction as it is.”
I playfully smacked at his chest. “Shut up, you do not.”
“I do, I swear. Even when I’m trying not to, I still do,” he said. I rolled my eyes.
“Whatever,” I said with a laugh.
“As soon as I get back, we’ll go see Nick and decide the best way to release this without anything detrimental happening to you. I don’t want the media stalking you or putting you in danger.” He kissed my forehead gently.
“You’re so sweet,” I said, looking up at him. He smirked.
“Sometimes.”
Chapter 14
Charlotte and I decided to meet up before the agreed upon time to meet with Isobel at the spa. We’d made a whole package deal out of today, opting to book the lunch and relaxing afternoon package for the three of us. We met up thirty minutes beforehand, a few blocks away at a small coffee shop that had scones that were to die for.
“Over here!” Char said, waving as Al tried to copy the motion from her lap. I grinned and nodded, stepping up to the counter quickly to order us a few pastries. I could almost see her rolling her eyes, and I wasn’t even facing her.
“Shut up,” I said as I sat down across from her and pushed one of the scones across the table to her. She shook her head.
“I didn’t say a word, did I?” She snorted. Al immediately began reaching and she gently pushed the treat from his grasp quicker than I would have been able to manage. She was getting good at this mommy thing.
“So, what is the plan for today?” I asked. Char sighed and sat back a bit.
“I’m not sure. Do we just come out and tell her that we’re worried about her? Or do we pretend that this is just a friendly outing?” she asked. I shrugged.
“I don’t want to alienate her from us, and you and I both know that the normal default response to someone poking at something you aren’t ready to talk about yet is anger and some variation of storming off.”
“Right. That’s the last thing we want for her to do,” she said. We sat there in silence for a bit, nibbling at our food.
“Maybe we could kind of test the waters, you know?” Char suggested. “One of us says something about being a little concerned and then we see if she starts getting red, like she does when she’s about to blow a gasket.”
“True, it’s pretty easy to tell when she’s about to be upset. We should take her tanning sometime, she really is alarmingly pale,” I said with a laugh.
“She doesn’t tan, she burns, remember?” Char said. She had a point, Izzy went from ghost white to tomato red in nothing flat.
“There has got to be a way around that,” I said softly, not really to Charlotte. More to my thoughts.
“Later. Today, we need to see how close we can get to telling Isobel that she’s in a pretty deep funk,” Charlotte said. Al let out a wail as she put the last bit of scone in her mouth without giving him any, and she looked down at him with a smile, reaching in her diaper bag and pulling out a small bottle that Al immediately took and shoved into his little mouth.
“We ought to get going,” I said. Char nodded and slipped Alton into the stroller beside the table. The diaper bag hooked over the back and Char’s purse slid into the basket underneath. I grinned, standing.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing. You just have totally become a mom, haven’t you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You put your purse farther out of reach than the diaper bag. You hand Al the bottle because you know that he can hold it himself now, so you’re not worried about it anymore. You put him in the stroller like it’s nothing, when a few months ago, putting him in the stroller required a few minutes of thought and some finagling.” A few months ago, it had been almost a ten minute ordeal for her to get Al plus all her bags and things arranged to leave the house. I’d timed it once.
“I guess I’ve just gotten used to it now.” She shrugged. We laughed as we walked out of the shop and started walking towards the spa.
“I’m really glad. I’ve always thought you’d make a good mom, but that first bit right after Al was born made me worry,” I said. Charlotte bumped hips with me playfully.
“Shut up, taking care of a little human being is not an easy task.” Al screamed, but it was the scream that was the happy one, not the crying one. We’d gotten pretty good at telling the difference without having to look at him.
“You take care of Joey, isn’t it pretty much the same?” I giggled.
“The smells aren’t quite the same, though there seem to be just as many of them,” she said. I wrinkled my nose.
“Ew, that’s gross!”
Char grinned. “Boys are gross, Jacinta. Haven’t you figured that out by now?” She said.
I sighed. “Patrick isn’t gross.” She tossed a disbelieving glance at me.
“See, that is how I know you’re in love. I’ve seen that boy lean over the sideline and do a farmer’s blow. He is most certainly gross,” she said. I laughed; I remembered that game. She was right, that was gross. But he’d never done anything like that with me around.
“He was on the field during a game, what was he supposed to do?” I asked with a laugh. Char rolled her eyes.
“I’m just pointing out that you not thinking he is gross is clearly a case of love goggles,” she said. I sighed.
“Maybe.” I murmured.
“Definitely.” She chuckled.
~~~
Izzy met us in the lobby of the spa a few minutes after Charlotte and I had arrived. We’d been there long enough to get Al settled into the daycare center and grab two arm chairs by the door. She came in with a wide grin and the tension in my chest eased a bit. She was having a good day, that was promising.
“Hello ladies,” she said, sitting on Char’s lap and hugging her with a giggle.
“Hey Izzy,” I said. The three of us stood and Isobel came and gave me a tight hug.
“So, we have to pick a package, right?” she said. Charlotte shook her head.
“Nope. We picked the full half day package.”
Izzy’s eyes widened. “The one that includes lunch and everything?”
“Yup,” Char said. Izzy bounced a bit and clapped.
“Awesome, because I am starving.”
“Well come on, we already let them know that we’re here, so there should be a table for us soon,” Char said. The three of us linked arms and walked into the spa restaurant.
Chapter 15
We settled into our outside table as a warm, gentle breeze blew ar
ound us. Char ordered the three of us a bottle of wine to split and an appetizer, giving us a bit of time to talk before the waiter came back to take our lunch orders.
“So,” Char said. Izzy looked up and smiled.
“So?” she asked. Char and I shared a look.
“How are you feeling, Isobel? We’ve been so busy that we haven’t been hanging out as much as we used to.” I asked, watching her face carefully.
“I’ve been okay. I’ve been having a hard time, so I went to my doctor and got a recommendation for a therapist. That’s been helping a lot,” she said. I gave her a surprised look.
