I hadn’t made a peep either.
"This is weighing down on me, T," I admitted.
“I can imagine. It’s a lot of pressure. But...you have a wedding planner right? Ask Grands what all she hopes for and be straight with her about whether or not you want to make those things happen. Then what you do wish to incorporate, tell your wedding planner.”
To be several years younger than me, Teagan suddenly seemed very mature in my eyes.
“You’re right, you’re right,” I was responding to her and convincing myself. “I’ve already talked to her today, so I’ll wait and call her tomorrow when I’m back on the road and have some extra time on my hands. I have to blog and plan when I get to the hotel.”
I had been driving for some time after my unexpected car issue and was getting closer to my next candy shop destination. I was on their schedule for a private tour the next morning, so my evening could be spent working on Blaire's checklist and making my list of wants. I had to confront Grands, gently of course, and tell her how we wanted this to be low key. Easier said than done.
Gail always found me fun bed and breakfast type spots to stay in or booked me a swanky hotel. I enjoyed both for different reasons but tonight was thankful for the luxuries of a five-star hotel in Salt Lake City.
After valet parking, expedited check-in and a lovely basket of goodies waiting for me in my room, I ordered room service, put on my fluffy bathrobe and slippers and sat down on the bed. Long drives were much more enjoyable with company. Nik and I had done the ice cream blog tour together, and it was when we fell in love. The memories filled me with warmth, and I was almost asleep when my dinner arrived.
I ordered a spinach salad, French fries with a side of mayo to dip them in and a scoop of homemade ice cream: tonight’s choice was obvious, given my location...Salt Lake City Caramel. I figured the salad would balance out the treats.
“Thank you so much,” I said to the gentleman who brought my dinner cart. “Your staff has been so hospitable and I really appreciate it.”
“No problem, ma’am,” he said. “I also brought you a little bowl of mint candies from the shop downstairs.”
"What a treat!" I thanked him again and checked out the candies first. Gooey white mint centers were surrounded by a thin crunch of dark chocolate. They were delicious. I immediately thought they would make nice guest favors and could potentially fill the bill of Grands' request for white wedding mints.
Then I remembered. Wedding planning. It was time to get back to it...
Chapter Ten
To be so young, I remember the time after Teagan was born like it was yesterday. I was in elementary school, and Mom typically picked me up from school. That particular day Grands was waiting for me, instead.
“Today is the day, your little sister will be born,” Grands told me, took hold of my hand and patted it several times as we walked to the car. “We’ll have a little sleepover at Grands’ house tonight and hopefully they’ll get to come home tomorrow...if not then surely the next day...and you’ll get to meet her.”
The weekend went by, and I was still at Grands’ house Monday morning when it was time to go to school. She did a good job hiding from me something was wrong, but my little brain knew that too much time had passed. Mom and Dad should have brought Teagan home by now, and I should have met my baby sister.
“Grands,” I said in the car on the way to school. “How come I haven’t got to meet my baby sister yet?”
“Oh darling, worrying isn’t for sweet little girls. You’ll meet her soon, it’s just taken longer because a few things hadn’t gone as we expected.”
She promised to pick me up from school that day and she did. She picked me up from school every day from there on out. A few days later, I missed school and distinctly remember the outfit Grands had picked out for me: it was a black dress with black patent leather shoes and white socks with lace around the cuffs. She specifically said I needed to look presentable and black patent leather shoes were a simple, classic choice. A pair of shoes that could go with anything for any occasion, she had said. She was right, of course.
There were a lot of sad people there. And a few weeks after that Daddy brought Teagan home from the hospital.
But no Mommy.
When I got older and they had the means to talk to me about it, I found out Teagan had a rough start; she had to stay a few weeks longer than Mom did. On the way home from the hospital, Mom and Dad were in a terrible car accident. A driver ran a red light and barreled into the passenger side of our car. Daddy was okay.
There were orange tiger lilies at the funeral. The casket was closed, and at the time I didn’t even know what it was. But I remembered the pretty flowers. Grand had kept two, one for me and one for Teagan. She plucked the petals and dried them, then later having them set in glass. It was a paperweight I kept in my desk at home.
After that, Grands moved into the guest bedroom of our home. Daddy worked more. I know now that was to help us have extra money to live on since we had become a one-income household. Grands picked up a job as an aide for a nursing home while Teagan and I were at school.
We were blessed she was able to immerse herself in our lives. She was the only mother-figure Teagan had ever known.
Thinking back on Teagan’s arrival and when I said goodbye to my mother, I knew I wanted tiger lilies in my wedding.
Chapter Eleven
“Hi, Grandmother!” I said the next morning as I was on my way to my first candy shop of the day. I had two to visit while in Salt Lake City.
“Hello, darling, I take it you made it to your destination safe and sound?” Guilt trip Grandma, that’s Audrey.
"Yes, ma'am. It was late and I didn't want to wake you," I said.
“I trust you’re planning on doing some wedding planning while you’re on this tour, or whatever you call it?”
“Of course, it’s not going to plan itself, that’s for sure. And the blog tour is what’s paying for it, so I have to be sure to do a good job.”
We chatted a bit, and I was trying to coax out any other requests Grands might have for the wedding, but she didn’t volunteer any like I was expecting since Teagan said she had a list.
“I had the loveliest little candies last night,” I told her, describing the mint chocolates from the hotel. “I thought they might make nice favors for the guests at each table setting.” She liked the idea.
“Have you found any white wedding mints?” Yep, she still wants those.
“Nope, not yet,” I said.
“We must have gourmet white wedding mints and the finest nuts set out on the cake table. It’s a tradition we must include. Your mother and father had mints and nuts at their wedding.” I was beginning to understand she had thought about all these things as Teagan and I grew up. Things our mother might have wanted, not just things she wanted for us.
Grandmother Audrey was the only grandparent Teagan and I knew. Our maternal grandparents had passed before I was born. And Grands never talked about her husband, our Dad’s father. I honestly never asked either, not wanting to bring up any pain for her. I assumed he either died or they divorced.
“Don’t you worry, Grands,” I reassured her. “I’ll find the best mints...I’m bound to! I’m on a candy shop tour of the best places in the nation!” We both chuckled. “Could you do me a favor, Grands? Could you take care of ordering the nuts? Maybe from that little shop by the bay that has those candied pecans I like so well?”
“I can certainly do that,” she said. “I’d be happy to help!”
I could hear her excitement over the hands-free speakers in my rental, and I realized I needed to make her feel more included. Before hanging up I made her promise if there were other things that we could do that would make her happy, that she needed to tell me so we could plan. She agreed but didn't disclose any other requests.
I’d have to talk to Teagan again later in the day to compare notes.
But then, I had candy to sample.
&nbs
p; ***
"The gala is Saturday?" I said into the hands-free to Nik as I was driving back to the hotel. "Uh, let me call Gail and see what I can do."
"I'm so sorry, Gus forgot to put it on my calendar. I honestly think he didn't think I'd be back in D.C. by then, but nevertheless, I have to go," he explained.
“No, it’s okay, I understand,” I told him.
"And if you can't rearrange to make it up here, that's fine too. I can go alone, I just thought it might be a good time to show you off if we could make it work." I could tell he was smiling on the phone. He liked showing me off and I didn't mind it one bit either.
We hung up so I could call Gail and see if it was even a doable thing.
“I’m sorry I’m such a pain!”—was what I led with when she answered the phone.
“I know how to deal with you being a pain though, so it’s not as bothersome,” Gail said and laughed.
“Well, I’m glad to know you know me,” I said and explained to her about the D.C. gala that had suddenly made it on the radar.
Gail had the best travel agents and assistants working for her. They had re-routed my trip so that I'd turn in my rental when I made it to Louisville in two days and fly up to D.C. for the weekend. They'd even worked in an extra night with Nik, which I appreciated.
“One more favor, Gail?” I asked quietly.
“Of course, honey, how can I help?” she said. Gail was genuine 100 percent of the time, and I loved that about her. She also never bullshitted me, and I appreciated that too.
Since our relationship began with my first cookbook before the big ice cream adventure where I met Nik, she had taken very good care of me. Gail always said I had something special to give the world and supported all my endeavors. Even when they involved wild recipes and spur-of-the-moment road trips.
“Uh, any chance could you help me with a dress?”
Chapter Twelve
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Nik said when he met me at the airport. “And it hasn’t even been a week, has it?”
“Nope, but if it’s any test at all for how much I love you, absence sure does make the heart grow fonder!”
The gala was simply lovely, and so was the dress that Gail had picked out for me. Well, her staff had picked out. There was no way I'd have had time to find something on such short notice. The plunging back gown was black satin with a little bit of iridescence to it so that it looked blue when the light hit it. Amazingly enough, it hugged in all the right places and fit well.
She sent over a pair of strappy heels that matched also and a large rhinestone alligator clip for an easy updo.
At dinner that night, Nik introduced me to more executives than I could keep track of nor remember their names. I think he thought I was his arm candy, but boy was he mine. The man looked like a god dressed in sweatpants, but I swear I caught myself drooling looking at him in a tuxedo.
The black suit with a long black tie was stunning on him. He cleaned up nicely as well, leaving just a little intentional dark stubble on his sharp cheekbones and hella styled hair.
Damn, I was lucky to find this one.
I excused myself to go sit with Gail for a bit that evening. She had been invited to the gala as well as a guest of someone Nik knew. It was nice to find a friend in the crowd.
“You look lovely, Noey,” Gail said as I sat down next to her.
“You as well, Gail!” Life had treated Gail well, and she took excellent care of herself. Margaret Colin could have been her celebrity doppelganger, and I was envious of her beauty and ability to rock the business world as she had done.
“I’m not sure who compliments whom more, you or Nik,” she said and put her arm around my shoulders for a quick squeeze.
“Well, he most certainly makes my jaw drop when he walks into a room!”
“I’d say that happens a lot at home!” Our banter back and forth was welcomed and enjoyed. It was nice to talk to my friend.
“I don’t want to ruin the night by talking business, but I do have an idea I’d like to run by you?” she said. Business with Gail was fun for me anyway. It took me on adventures and made me money, which I certainly didn’t mind.
“I’d like to send a photographer out with you on the remainder of the trip,” she said. And my interested face must have prompted her to tell me more, which was she proceeded to do. “I think these blog adventures have been fun for you, no?”
“Of course they have,” I agreed.
“So I want you to finish out this candy shop tour as planned, but I’d like to send a professional photographer with you to take some photos along the way. I think we could turn this into an expose and maybe even another book for you when it's all said and done." Gail explained the behind the scenes that she wanted to capture, and how she wanted to focus on me as a businesswoman: running a blog, juggling wedding planning, being a fiancé to a high profile D.C. executive and still managing to take time for my family and take care of myself in the process.
“It’s an interesting idea,” I agreed.
"So other than the rental, you won't have to share anything, of course, we'll have separate hotel rooms and all that...and at the end of the trip when you land back in Bay City, we'll fly the photographer back to D.C., so it won't really be anything different than the schedule we had planned for you. I figure you can get to know each other in the car and notes can get sent back to me for the bigger picture story." Gail went over a few more logistics and said she'd be upping my stipend for the tour since I'd technically be a little more "put out" by having a passenger along. I couldn’t help but agree as long as they were ready to see my crazy, and I was able to okay anything that might have come out of the summer project.
“I’ll get my assistant to work on the details, and you guys can just leave from the office Monday morning around 10 a.m., how does that sound? It’ll give you a little more Nik time too, and we can chat a bit more before you leave?”
I trusted Gail; she wasn’t going to do me wrong, so I was up for the challenge.
Chapter Thirteen
All the nonsense Grands had said about staying pure so I could wear a white wedding dress had started to weigh down upon me.
Nik asked me if I was stressed out about the wedding or if the summer blog trip was too much for me. I shrugged it off and said that the tire issue on the rental just had me flustered at the beginning of the trip and rearranging plans for the gala had made things interesting. But I didn’t want him to think that the wedding planning was too much for me.
I also wanted to be the high profile wife he needed when times like this came along.
Back at his house on the outskirts of D.C., we were able to have a little alone time that I was desperately trying to savor before more weeks spent apart.
He changed out of his suit and helped me unzip my ball gown before we settled in for the evening. It was late, already in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and we were both exhausted.
“Wanna stay up and watch a movie downstairs in the living room? Or just head to bed? Can we watch TV in the bedroom and snuggle?” His grin was contagious, and I wanted every inch of this man but couldn't stop thinking about Grands.
And let me tell you, thinking about my grandma when it’s time to get frisky completely deflated the mood.
“Yeah, I’m tired...and,” I cut myself off as I went over and wrapped my arms around him. "And as much as I want every inch of you right now, I can't stop thinking about Grandmother Audrey and her wedding plans. It's really a turnoff."
Nik chuckled and squeezed me against him. Bare-chested and only wearing his grey sweatpants I so dearly loved, the man of my dreams was understanding enough to just love me and agree to go to bed.
“Maybe tomorrow we can have a romantic Sunday?” he offered.
“That sounds lovely, what did you have in mind?” I inquired further.
“I dunno, but we’ll think of something,” he took my hand and off to the bedroom we went.
“I do have on
e tiny suggestion that might be a little romantic?”
“Tell me more…”
I suggested that we visit the first spot where we set off on our ice cream adventure that led to us falling in love. The special D.C. shop had a flavor called Washington MonuMint Julep, which was, of course, lovely, but the one that caught my eye and led me to Nik's office...U.S. Mint Chocolate Chip. I wanted to get The Mint's permission to publish their namesake flavor in my blog. Thankfully, The Mint's Deputy Director gave his blessing and was now my fiancé.
“Of course I’d love to go with you, but I thought this was a candy shop tour this time?” Nik didn’t miss a beat.
"You're right, and it is," I clarified. "Since we've visited, they started selling the homemade candies they make and put in their ice cream. It's quite sensible."
“It really is! Good for them!” Nik was always genuine and wanted the best for everyone.
“Let’s go snuggle,” I suggested as we headed up to his bedroom. I wanted to savor the time I had with him before we’d be apart for so long.
Chapter Fourteen
“About four weeks?” Nik asked as we parked in the parking garage of his building early Monday morning. I just tagged along with him and planned to walk over to Gail’s office from Nik’s building. He was kind enough to walk with me, with my luggage in tow.
“Yep, less than a month,” I reassured him. “With the schedule rearranged, it’ll be a little bit tighter, but luckily I’ll have a companion who can hopefully help with some of that too.”
“I’m glad, I like that better than you going on the trip alone,” he said. Nik walked me inside Gail’s building, and we left my luggage with the concierge. "We're early and I don't have to be at work for a few more minutes, let's walk down and grab a coffee, whaddya say?"
“Sounds good to me,” I said, squeezing his hand and pulling our bodies together as we left the building and went back outside. Saying goodbye this time felt a twinge harder than it had in San Francisco. My attachment to Nik was new ground for me, unexpected.
White Wedding Mints Page 3
