The Groom Wanted Seconds: A Novella

by Shirley Jump

  Okay, one huge mistake, one she wouldn’t make again. No matter how much a part of her wanted to just go back in time and erase the summer by letting Jeremy back into her life and her heart. She could pretend it was old times, that she hadn’t fallen for a total Mr. Wrong over the summer, and gotten scorched in the process. Almost ruined the rest of her life, too.

  You dodged a bullet, her mother would say.

  “You sure you should go out?” her mother asked. “You really don’t look like yourself.”

  “I’m fine, Ma. Really.”

  “Well, maybe you just need a little pick-me-up. You know, I think there’s one box of Thin Mints that your father hasn’t found.” She grinned, then drew Rebecca into a quick hug. “I’m glad you’re home, honey.”

  “Me too, Ma.”

  Her mother headed into the kitchen, back to the HSN-tuned TV and its continual parade of Beanie Baby bargains. Rebecca grabbed her car keys from the dish by the door, but still the haunting feelings persisted. Rebecca paused for only a moment, then hurried behind her mother, who smiled, and pointed to the cabinet above the fridge. Ma knew her well.

  Rebecca yanked out the box of Girl Scout cookies, tore open the flap and the plastic sleeve inside. The scent of chocolate and peppermint wafted up, tempting. Promising peace and a sugar high. She stuffed one in her mouth, then closed her eyes and let out a long, satisfied “mmm.”

  Thin mints, do your magic.

  *~*~*

  Candace Woodrow had a secret.

  Rebecca could tell she was hiding something the second she walked into the coffee shop and headed for the big round table at the back that had been their meeting place for all four years of college. “Okay, what’s up?”

  Candace grinned. “Can’t tell you yet. Not till Maria gets here.”

  Rebecca slid into the seat beside her, before taking a sip of the zebra latte she’d bought. The entire sleeve of Thin Mints she’d eaten hadn’t made everything better, but they’d helped. Maybe with the latte, Rebecca would have enough of a sugar rush to forget seeing Jeremy earlier, and also forget all the doubts and regrets that had dogged her for most of the summer. Everyone made mistakes, and she couldn’t keep beating herself up for something that was in the past—and would stay there, buried with the recollections of middle school drama and holiday family meltdowns.

  “Well, I hope she hurries. I want to know what you’re hiding.” Rebecca reached for the yellow piece of paper under Candace’s hands, but her friend snatched it back.

  “Nope, not going to happen. Not yet. Maria should be here soon.” Candace laughed, then took a sip of tea, while keeping a secure grip on the papers with the other hand. Blond and naturally thin, Candace had inquisitive hazel eyes and a ready smile, along with a mischievous streak that made the occasional appearance. “Besides, you know Maria. She’s never on time for anything.”

  “Except a shoe sale and a date with a hottie.” Rebecca had met Candace and Maria during freshman year at Suffolk University and the three of them had become fast friends. As the friendship grew and they discovered more and more common interests, they’d signed up to work on class projects together, one of which was creating a mock small business. When they were done, someone had thrown out the idea of going into business together for real. And now—

  They were making the first tentative steps toward that direction.

  The bell over the coffeeshop door tinkled, and Maria breezed in, her arms filled with bags from discount stores. A buxom dark-haired beauty with deep brown eyes and a quick wit, Maria was the loudest and most outspoken of the three. She dropped into one of the chairs at the table and plopped her purchases into the seat beside her. “One of these days I’m going to marry rich and then I’ll never look at another price tag again.”

  “I can’t help but look at the numbers on everything in a store,” Candace said, a hand on her chest as if the very thought caused her to hyperventilate. “Not to mention doing all the math, figuring the return on investment, the wear per dollar, before I buy anything.”

  “You are a sick, sick woman, Candace,” Maria said. “You need to live on the spur of the moment. Live large. Buy some Jimmy Choos and pay full retail.”

  “Never. I’m planning everything. That keeps me on track.” Candace pulled out the red leather planner that was as much a part of her as her right arm. “If all goes right, you won’t need a rich man, Maria. You’ll be able to fund your own shopping insanity.”

  Rebecca leaned forward. “If all what goes well?”

  “Our first order.” Candace grinned, then pulled out the yellow piece of paper she’d kept from Rebecca earlier, smoothing it on the table before the other women. “We are officially in business, ladies. Granted, working out of my dining room, and on a shoestring budget, but we’re on our way.”

  “Our first order?” Rebecca echoed. The dream they’d had in that college class, the brainstorm that had sprung around this very table months ago, was coming real. They’d taken a leap, together, and it was coming to life. “Wow. Really?”

  Candace nodded. “Thanks to you, Rebecca. Remember that realtor you talked to a few months ago? That turned out to be a great lead.”

  “She called you?” When she made that connection at a party back in May, Rebecca didn’t know how it would work out. She and the realtor had talked for a half hour, with Rebecca tossing out ideas on ways to increase word of mouth advertising and repeat business. “That’s awesome.”

  “You said it, sister. Now we have to do the hard part.” Maria tapped the page. “Perform.”

  “We will. And we’ll knock their socks off,” Rebecca said. “Before you know it, we’ll be the biggest gift basket business in the city of Boston. No, on the entire Eastern Seaboard.”

  Maria leaned back and gave Rebecca an assessing glance. “Someone had their Wheaties today, with an extra serving of confidence.”

  Heat flooded Rebecca’s cheeks. “I just did a lot of thinking,” well, she’d done a lot more than thinking, but she wasn’t getting into that now, “while I was away, and I decided that I’m tired of waiting for change. I’m going to be the change I want to see.”

  “Who said that? It sounds familiar.”

  “Ghandi.”

  “Isn’t that the guy who starved himself? Pretty deep thinking, considering he was operating on an empty stomach. Me, I can’t think if this says empty.” Maria patted her stomach and got to her feet. “I’m ordering some chocolate cake. I think a little celebration is in order, don’t you?”

  “It is indeed,” Rebecca said, giving the order another look. Twenty gift baskets. It wasn’t a huge order, but it was a huge step forward. One of many, Rebecca thought. Who knew where the path ahead would bring the three of them? All she knew was that she was glad she was on the same road as her friends.

  And that she had become the change she wanted to see. Professionally, at least. She thought of Jeremy’s heartbroken face this morning, and how close she had come to relenting, to making yet another foolhardy mistake, and realized she had a ways to go personally. The best way to do that was to stay far, far away from Jeremy.

  Correction—stay away from all men. Relationships muddied the waters, and if she got any deeper into the muddy mess she’d already made, she’d be wearing waders every day. Not the fashion statement a woman working on a new life wanted to make.

  3 Ready Made Pizza Crusts (use the ones in a can, unless you are some glutton for punishment who makes your own from scratch)

  1 small jar pizza sauce

  8 ounces shredded pizza blend cheese (or Italian blend)

  Parmesan cheese

  Pizza toppings of your choice

  Yeah, you can buy those tiny pizza things from the frozen section, but sometimes a man needs a real meal. These are easy enough that even you can make them, I swear. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Unroll pizza crust. Spread about 4 tablespoons of pizza sauce on each crust, within 1/2 inch of pizza dough edge. Top with cheese, then add toppings.

>   Roll up pizza, jelly-roll style (which means roll it from one side to the other, like wrapping a body in a blanket.) Pinch seams together. Pinch ends together, to seal. Don’t worry about being exact—it’s junk food, not a blueprint. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for five minutes on a wire rack before slicing. Serve with beer, rum and Coke, or whatever makes you forget her the fastest.

  CHAPTER 3

  The beer sat in front of Jeremy, growing warmer by the minute. He had his hands wrapped around the mug, but had yet to take a sip. He’d done a pretty damned good job of hosting a one-man, one-beer pity party so far.

  On the screens above him, the Red Sox played the Orioles, which had the other guys in O’Toole’s cursing and cheering. Jeremy barely saw the game, and wondered for the hundredth time why he’d agreed to come here tonight. He could be miserable at home. Hell, he’d pretty much perfected the art of being miserable this summer.

  “You going to drink that or commune with it?” Dan asked.

  Jeremy jerked his head toward his friend. “Huh?”

  Dan gestured toward the beer. “You’ve been staring at that Bud for the past ten minutes. It only gets in your bloodstream if you drink it, not teleport it.”

  “I’m just not in a drinking mood. Sorry. I should have stayed home. I have that project to work on for the firm and—”

  Dan mocked a yawn. “Man, if you keep working this much, you’re never going to have a life. You’re twenty-three, Jeremy. That’s time to live your life, not spend it stuck in a cubicle, doing the boss man’s bidding.”

  “It’s called building a career.”

  Dan spun on the stool, holding his beer in one hand and resting his elbows on the bar while he surveyed the room. He’d gone all out tonight on his appearance, which for Dan meant wearing his favorite Red Sox shirt, a clean pair of jeans and a pair of scuffed Nikes that looked like they’d been through a war zone. His brown hair stayed in a perpetual shaggy mop, but he’d at least shaved off the last few days’ worth of stubble.

  “It’s also called avoiding the real world,” Dan said. “What is up with you, anyway? For about five minutes there, you were out, having a good time, but you’ve gone back to your ostrich impression again, burying your head in the work sand. I would have thought you’d have enough of that, after spending all those years in school, getting the bachelor’s and the master’s. It’s time to party, not pout.”

  Jeremy took a long gulp of the beer. Room temp, it tasted like crap. He pushed the rest away and signaled for a fresh one. “I saw Rebecca today.”

  “Yeah? You guys get back together?”

  “She wants nothing to do with me.”

  Dan arched a brow. “Really? I thought she was wild about you. I swear, I never saw a girl light up like she did when she was with you. It was disgusting, man.”

  “Well, that light’s off now.” Jeremy thanked the bartender for the fresh beer, took a long swig, then held the beer between his palms again. “I should learn my lesson and move on. You know what?” Jeremy said, smacking his hand on the bar, “I don’t need her. There’s millions of women in the world.” The words came out flat, hurting his throat. “Correction. Billions. What’s the world population now? Six billion? That means there’s at least…two billion women. Plenty of other fish in the sea.”

  Dan glanced at Jeremy, and shook his head. “Oh, hell. You are in bad shape, my friend.”

  “I’ll get over it.” He hoped.

  “You really like her, huh?”

  Jeremy nodded, because a lump had sprung up in his throat. Damn, what was wrong with him? He never got emotional. Must be the beer. He needed to get a grip on this. Letting his emotions rule his decision would be a stupid choice. He had to think with a clear head, not with the hurt churning in his chest. “I thought I did. Hell, I even thought I’d marry her. I proposed and everything.”

  “You did? When? You never told me.”

  “That’s because she broke up with me when I did it. Not exactly something I want to broadcast to the world.”

  “What’d you do? Set her hair on fire with the candlelight dinner?”

  “No, nothing like that. I merely said that we should get married a year from September because she’d be done with school, have a year of the business under her belt, and I’d have a year of work myself which should let me save enough for a down payment on a condo. And, we’d avoid the June rush of weddings, and thus the higher expense.”

  Dan snorted. “I’m surprised you didn’t suggest a courthouse elopement.”

  “I did. It’s far cheaper and more efficient than to have a full church wedding.”

  Dan smacked his forehead. “Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy. Are you using the Accountant’s Handbook as your guide for romance? God, that couldn’t be any more practical if you tried.”

  “What’s wrong with practical?” Though even Jeremy had to admit that his proposal had been lame, one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time. If he ever got a second chance—

  Well, given the way things had gone between him and Rebecca today, he doubted he’d get another shot at proposing.

  “Women don’t want practical. They want hot. Memorable. Amazing.” Dan leaned in and lowered his voice. “Tell me you didn’t treat sex the same way as you did your proposal.”

  Just the mention of sex with Rebecca sent a fire racing through Jeremy’s veins. From the first moment he’d touched her, after a chance meeting when her bike got a flat and he stopped to help, he’d wanted her. He’d turned too fast to the right and she too fast to the left, and the sparks between them had been quick and hot. He’d wanted her then—and wanted her now. Kissing her, touching her, making love to her, had all been amazing. She always seemed to taste like candy, sweet and delicious, and just a little wicked. And in bed…she’d been an incredible lover, adventurous, giving, and sexy as hell.

  His face heated and he cleared his throat. “That, uh, was never a problem between us.”

  “Then go after her,” Dan said. “Guns blazing.”

  “I don’t think an AK-47 is the way to Rebecca’s heart.”

  “I meant pull out all the stops. Sweep her off her feet, a la Prince Charming. If you want the girl, you gotta go all in.” Dan studied him for a long second, then guffawed. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

  “No, I hear you. Send her flowers, write a love note. That kind of thing.”

  Dan laughed. “Dude, that is the lame way. When I say go all in, I mean you need to take it to the limit. Make it public, make it big. Think outside the box.”

  “That’s the trouble,” Jeremy said. “I’m an engineer. All I do is think inside the box.”

  “Gotta get out of your comfort zone, my man. And who knows? Maybe it’ll be good for you.” Dan grinned, then slipped off the stool. “Speaking about going out of your comfort zone, there’s a blonde over there who definitely looks like the kind that’ll ride me hard and put me back wet.”

  Jeremy rolled his eyes, then watched Dan head across the bar to a buxom blonde beside the pool table. Within seconds, he’d managed to get her to laugh, two seconds later, she had her hand on his arm and her face so close to his, they could have been conjoined twins.

  Jeremy signaled for the tab, paid his bill, then waved at Dan and headed out of O’Toole’s. The warm late summer night greeted him with the salty tang of an ocean breeze, kicked in off the Harbor.

  It was a perfect night, the kind he normally would have spent with Rebecca, the two of them cozied up on his sofa, him working on some college paper or a project for the firm, her sketching ideas for her business while some home show played on the TV in the background. They’d had a comfortable, easy relationship, as predictable as snow in the winter. He’d thought she’d been perfectly happy with that, and even now, it still surprised him that he’d been so wrong. Or maybe he just needed to find a way to get them back to that cozy comfortableness.
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  Yeah, that was what they needed. To find the stable middle ground from before. Rebecca wasn’t a big, public, outside the box kind of girl.

  Was she?

  *~*~*

  The first bouquet of flowers arrived early the next afternoon. Gorgeous red roses, just beginning to bloom. A second bunch arrived the next morning, white roses this time, with white baby’s breath. The cards were short but sweet, Thinking of you, Jeremy. Miss you. Call me, Jeremy.

  Nothing wrong with any of them, Rebecca thought. It was just that when she looked at the flowers, she felt…

  Nothing.

  Maybe it was because she had closed off her heart long ago. She glanced at the cards, noting one very visibly absent word—love. Jeremy had proposed to her, without ever saying he loved her. He could have been leasing a car for all the romance and heart he put into it. No, if she married a man, she wanted him to truly love her. And not be afraid to show it.

  “More from Jeremy,” her mother sang, sailing into the kitchen with a box of white and red roses. “These are even more beautiful than the last ones, I think.”

  “More roses.” Rebecca left the box on the table. Already, the small space was filled with the flowers’ cloying fragrance. “Why don’t we give these ones to Grandma?”

  “You don’t like them?”

  “They’re beautiful, just not…” Rebecca sighed, and pushed the box of roses to the side, “me. I’ve never been a roses girl. I told Jeremy that a couple times, but he didn’t pay attention.”

  Gloria’s hand covered her daughter’s. “Most men don’t pay attention, dear. If they did, they’d have to do what we tell them to do.”

  Rebecca laughed. “True. It’s just…he says he cares about me, but how can he if he doesn’t really know me?”

  In the year she’d dated Jeremy, she kept hoping the spark between them would turn into something deeper, and it had, on her end, but clearly not on his. There’d been no whirlwind of romance, no breathless moments that would put a Hallmark card to shame. Analytical Jeremy had buried himself in his work, and after a while, she realized the only thing keeping her with him was attraction. Sex was one thing—a relationship was another. She couldn’t keep eating the frosting and hoping the lack of a good cake would satisfy her appetite. Jeremy had brushed off her concerns, telling her everything would be fine after he graduated, then after he finished the internship, then after he got his first job…