"Yeah, I know," Tabitha said. "The marriage motto now is, 'there's other fish in the sea.' It's sad, I know. But still, you can't think the majority vote is the only one, Cam. Marriage is still real for some people. Look at the examples we have to follow."
"Mmhmm, that must be why we're not married yet, and I'm planning Drew's wedding before my own," Cameron retorted glumly, dropping her deep brown eyes to her coffee.
"Well you know," Tabitha said, reaching over to drop a new file on Cameron's desk, "always the planner, never the bride."
"Still, it'd be nice though," Cameron muttered, watching Tabitha wrap her red hair up into a neat bun with a pencil. "Even for someone like me, with the little tiny bit of faith that I just barely hold on to. Even I'd like having someone to go home to. Even if he is eventually going to cheat, or I will, or one of us will have to leave and go do something stupid like 'find ourselves.'"
"Jeez, such a cynic," Tabitha answered, looking into a mirror as she pulled tendrils from her bun to frame her face. "Get off it. You might find that someone if you didn't shut them all out. You just tend to have this vibe that tells men to stay away. So hopeless."
"I know, and I don't mean to be such a downer, you know? I just keep thinking; this is what I do every day. I call the florists, and I call the venues, and I remind the brides to breathe. I counsel the grooms to hold out, that their new wives are just nervous. And me? I wait, and I check the calendars to see how long until they come back to me with the next wedding request. Some of these people are getting married yearly, you know? Like birthdays and weddings are the same now. And I’m scared to put my toes in the water, because they’re all sharks out there."
"Oh, stop, it's not that bad," Tabitha laughed, rolling her eyes again. "Don't you remember why we started this? Where's the romantic in you?" Tabitha pursed her lips and blew her feathery bangs out of her eyes, sighing when they fell back to dust her eyelashes.
"I remember," Cameron answered, opening the file and starting to input the budget numbers.
"Remember us, when we were kids? Six years old and planning our weddings? We had it all worked out, you know? We knew what he'd look like, and how he'd act, and how he'd talk. And I just remember when we started all this, thinking that planning a wedding is like writing someone else's romance."
"Or like being a fairy godmother; you get to wave your magic cell phone and make someone else's fairy tale wish come true. We were really something else back then, hmm?" Tabitha laughed, dropping her pen on the desk and leaning forward to brace her cheek on one long-fingered hand. "Little dreamers, we were."
"Exactly. But part of growing up is waking up. That first wedding we did? Tab, I was riding high for months, remember? Those two were so young, and so beautiful together, and so in love. And they had a great story, so sweet. And they didn't last three years, and now I've planned their second weddings, watched their children nervously accept step-parents. I don't want that, not for myself. And now I’ve held out for so long, I wonder if children are even in the cards for me."
Flipping her mirror closed and tucking her lipstick into her desk drawer, Tabitha laughed. "It's so easy to wish for the fairy tale though, Cameron, you know that. That's why they come to us, even the ones that didn't get it quite right the first time around. They come back to us because they still believe; they still love the idea of love." She rolled her eyes dramatically to the ceiling, clasping her hands under her chin and grinning ridiculously at Cameron. "They all want their very own hero," she sighed. “And you’ll have one someday, too. We both will.”
Cameron scoffed. "Heroes aren't real, though, are they? Maybe all princes are just toads in disguise, and princesses are all wanna-be's. All of them desperate to achieve some impossible standard. I mean, isn't that why they keep trying, why they keep coming here?" Cameron waved her arms, indicating the office they worked in every day.
Pale creamy walls with barely visible silver swirls surrounded them, a touch of glitter in the paint to make the room sparkle. Elegant silver lamps were covered in sparkling cream shades, dotted with sparkling crystals. Throughout the room, various fabrics brought splashes of color to the room, their thick and rich textures giving weight to the light colors of the room. Perfumed with a rainbow of fresh flowers, it was a light atmosphere, a comfortable place for Cameron and Tabitha to meet clients and do the daily chores of wedding design.
"So what's on the agenda for today?" Tabitha asked.
"Actually," Cameron said with a grin. "I'm meeting with Drew. He's bringing his fiancé, Cassaundra, to get an early start on their wedding prep. They've been together for a little less than a year, so it’s still really odd to think of them as getting married. But you’ve seen them, how in love they are. I still don't know her very well yet though, as far as wedding planning, so it's all ground up on figuring out what they want." As she spoke, Cameron stood and walked around to the front of her desk, angling the two guest chairs so that they faced the desk.
"Uh oh," Tabitha laughed. "Giving them the straight angle, are you?"
"I have to," Cameron sighed. "When they're in the same room together, all they see is each other. How can I get them to focus on me and get them planning the wedding if they spend their appointment staring romantically into each other's eyes, planning what will happen when they get back home?"
"Right," Tabitha laughed, throwing a wadded sheet of paper at her friend. "Like they don't all do that! If that works, I’ll treat us for a spa day!"
***
"Hey, guys!" Cameron exclaimed, welcoming Drew and Cassaundra into her office. With a wink, Tabitha took her cell phone and tablet computer from her desk and breezed from the room.
"I hope we're not chasing Tabby out of here," Drew laughed, watching her settle into a comfortable chair in the lobby area of the office.
"Nope, not at all. That chair is actually where she spends most of her time when we're here," Cameron answered, reaching out to give Cass a quick hug. In a black wrap dress, Cass looked professional and lovely, but her eyes were soft, revealing a quick glimpse at her nervousness.
"Hey Drew, there's a little diner right next door," Cameron said, hoping to get rid of him for a few minutes. She wanted to talk to Cass alone before they got down to business and try to calm her nerves a little. "Can you go over and talk to the owner for me, tell him we need three of the usual? He'll know what you need, and it goes on my tab."
"Sure, no problem," Drew said, dropping a quick kiss on Cassaundra's forehead before turning to leave.
"Nervous, huh?" Cameron asked, reaching out to rest an easy hand on Cass's shoulder.
"It shows, then?" Cass lowered her eyes, her glossy bottom lip finding its way between straight, white teeth.
"It's normal to be nervous, Cass. You're getting married. But is it the wedding you're really afraid of? Or is there something more than just bridal jitters?"
"I don't know," Cass said, her voice low but strong. She lowered into one of the chairs in front of Cameron's desk, waiting as Cameron walked around to take her own chair. "I think I'm still just surprised that he wants me. Is that stupid?"
"Cass, there is nothing wrong with you. You have charmed my entire family, including me, and I’m the skeptic. You are a beautiful person. And aside from that, which you likely won't believe anyway, because it sounds trite no matter how much I mean it, every bride feels this way."
"Really?" Cass raised her dark eyes, pools of liquid milk chocolate in her round, tanned face.
"Absolutely. Every woman who walks in here for an appointment with me believes that she has scored the best man on the planet. And every woman who walks in here also believes that she doesn’t deserve what she has. They all think they’ve been blessed by some magical genie or fairy godmother, that they’ve somehow achieved some unattainable goal. And each one is unbelievably in love, convinced that she is blessed beyond measure. Generally, the men feel the same way, and that's what leads them here. It's what led you here, with Drew." Cameron leaned back in her
chair, propping her elbows on the armrests.
"You're probably right," Cass said, smiling a little as her cheeks flushed. "It just feels silly to even feel like that. I know I'm worthy of any man, you know, and I've come a long way in the past year, believing more in myself and being able to stick up for myself. But I also have to admit how much Drew has been a part of that, just in being here for me. It’s scary, feeling that sense of need, that I need him in my life."
"That's how it should be Cass," Cameron said, opening a drawer and removing a silver photo frame. She reached out, handing it to Cassaundra. "Every day, I sit right here at this desk, in this room with people who are madly in love. Sometimes, I think they can make it. Others, I know even before they sit down that they won't last."
"And these two?" Cass asked, holding out the photo frame. The picture was of a plump, dark-haired girl with sparkling emerald eyes, her arms around the waist of a slender boy slightly taller than she was, a boy who smiled down at her as if she were the only other person in the world.
"Those are my parents." Cameron grinned when Cass met her eyes in surprise, and they laughed together. "I've seen them work hard over the years to make it through different things, Cass. My mom used to have a lot of the same insecurities that you had when you met Drew."
"Maybe that's why he's so patient with me," Cass murmured, her eyes on the photo in her hands. "Do you think Drew and I can make it?" She kept her eyes on the photo, her fear of Cameron's answer showing only in the tension of her pouty lips.
"Cass," Cameron said, and waited until Cassaundra's dark eyes rose to meet her own. "I think my brother loves you. I think you love him. And I've seen you both working to stay strong as a couple. I can't predict the future, and you guys haven't been together for very long," Cameron continued, raising a finger to stop Cass from getting worried. "But I think you have a good start. If you keep trying, and he keeps trying, then it will work."
It was then that Drew came back in, bearing lunch bags from the diner, and as he unpacked food and exclaimed over the size and quality of the burgers, Cameron was free to think. Observing her brother and his love silently as she ate, Cameron prayed that they had what it took, that they didn't end up like so many other couples. Still, she set it in her mind to find a chance to talk privately with her brother sometime very soon.
Watching them together, Cameron laughed as Drew poked the tip of Cass's nose with a French fry, leaving a smear of ketchup behind; she laughed with her soon-to-be sister-in-law when she caught Drew unaware and slapped a warm pickle slice to his smoothly shaven cheek.
As she saw them interact and play together, Cameron could see what led Drew to love this girl, what brought them together and held them in love. And sneaking in at the outskirts of her mind, there was a prayer that someday she would find what Cass and Drew appeared to share.
Shaking her thoughts aside, Cameron stepped in to stop her mental chaos before it could get too bad. "You two are like children," she laughed, drawing her focus back to the couple at hand, watching Drew wink at Cass and pop the pickle slice into his mouth. "Are we planning a wedding, or what?"
"Oh, we're planning a wedding," Cass laughed, wiping mustard from Drew's cheek with a napkin. "And no food fights allowed. I am not getting dolled up just to have cake shoved in my face.” For emphasis, she jabbed a finger at Drew, who tried to look innocent in spite of his devilish grin.
"You won't do the cake-face thing?" he asked.
"Absolutely not! Have you got any clue how much a wedding face costs?" Cass crossed her arms, struggling to create an indignant look despite her amusement.
"Not really," Drew teased. "I was just planning to wear my own face; I can do that for free."
"Very nice choice," Cameron broke into their banter with a laugh. "Do we have a date?"
"Oh, yeah, we want our anniversary," Cass said, sipping the water that had come with their meals.
"Exactly. Less chance of me forgetting an important anniversary if we try to keep them all on the same day," Drew said with a chuckle.
"Nice. Efficient," Cameron answered dryly. She turned to Cass, propping her chin in her hand, and whispered mockingly, "Are you sure about him? There is this other guy that I know, very romantic. And he knows how to use a calendar --"
"Hey!" Drew exclaimed, throwing a French fry at his sister. "You are not being helpful." Still, he couldn't help laughing.
"Aww, he's romantic when he wants to be," Cass laughed, reaching to link her fingers with Drew's. "I actually like the idea of getting married on our anniversary."
"Okay, so you guys got together in the summer, right? July?"
"July eleventh," Drew answered smoothly, bending into a mock bow. "That is the day her tire was flat and we had our first official outing. To Michael's shop. Very romantic."
"Oh, yes, highly," Cameron teased, spreading her appointment book on her desk and noting the date they'd chosen in her calendar. "I bet someone, somewhere is writing a romance novel about some dude fixing some chick's flat tire."
"Hey, it's the classic damsel in distress, Cam, don't mock. I was a top-notch hero that day," Drew laughed, nudging Cass's elbow with his own.
"Yes, it was a highly romantic encounter. Between blood loss and the creepy gas mask in the SUV, I was just swooning, let me tell you." Cass brought her hands together under her chin, fluttering her eyelashes at Drew.
"Last time I fix your tire," Drew grumbled, struggling not to break into a grin. Cameron laughed, putting her calendar aside and pulling a photo book close.
"How sweet," Cass retorted, leaning back in her seat and crossing her legs. "Will you marry me?"
"Well, I guess. You are kind of cute, anyway," Drew muttered, finally losing the battle with his laughter.
Eventually, Cameron was able to get them focused on planning, and they spent the next two hours looking through various books; they pointed out what colors they liked or didn't like, flowers they wanted or didn't want, and by the end of the appointment, they even had a list of venues they found appealing.
***
"I feel like I can’t get a handle on how I’m feeling with all this; I don't know what's wrong with me," Cameron was saying. She was sitting together with her brother Michael and their little sister Harmony, in their favorite booth at the diner. They'd gotten together for their habitual pre-tournament breakfast, something they'd done since Harmony was just getting started in gymnastics. The company always varied at the pre-meet breakfast, as various members of the family had their own obligations, but there was always someone to give Harmony their support. She may have grown into a strong competitor with a bedroom full of trophies, but she still couldn't go to a meet without her sibling pep talk.
"There's nothing wrong with you, Cam," Harmony answered, neatly skewering a bite of sliced banana. She was eating her typical pre-competition diner breakfast: yogurt, fruit, and a piece of toast with almond butter. "You have the right to be concerned about Drew. Still, I think Cass is great. And they look so happy together, don't they?"
"They do. Because they are. Stop seeing your client list, Cameron. You're too cynical for your own good sometimes," Michael said, leaning back to allow their server to refill his drink.
"I don't know if I am. Keeping myself from falling and getting serious about someone has kept me out of divorce court, after all."
"Yeah," Harmony retorted. "Because it keeps you out of the wedding gown, duh."
Cameron rolled her eyes at her little sister, spearing a bite of steak and chewing it before answering. "Maybe I don't want the wedding gown," she lied.
"And maybe you're scared of it," Michael said gently. "Commitment doesn't always lead to pain, you know."
Deliberately ignoring his comment and her urge to remind him of his recent divorce, Cameron turned her gaze to Harmony. "Well, anyway," she said. "We're supposed to be here for you, anyhow. Pre-meet pep talk and all. So how's the practicing coming? Do you feel ready today?"
"A little," Harmony hedged, lowering
clear blue eyes to her plate.
"What's up?" Michael asked, sliding closer in the booth to drape an arm around Harmony's slender shoulders.
"There's this other girl, and she's coming in for the meet. Everyone's talking about her," Harmony grumbled.
"Why? Does she have three boobs?" Michael asked, tightening his arm to pull Harmony in close to his side.
"No, she has the best aerial abilities any of the coaches have seen. They don't talk about it with us, of course, not in class. But I heard some talk the other day, and I'm really nervous now."
"Really? I've never known you to be afraid before, Harm," Cameron said gently, pressing her own issues to the side as her concern for her sister took over. "Is this meet so much more important then?"
Prescription For Love (The Kingsley Series) Page 2
