“Oh man, my back hurts like a bitch.” Rubbing her back, she shifts in her seat. “Enough about me. Tell me everything. I want to hear all about your trip and the fashion line and wedding plans. Hit me with all of it. But be quick, because after I eat, I tend to fall asleep.”
“Let’s start with fashion.” I reach for my bag on the chair next to me and pull out the latest sketches and fabric samples. “The head designer on the project, Lennie, and I worked on these on my last trip to New York. They still have to run it up the chain of command, but if all goes well, they’ll be out next spring.”
She flips through the sketches. “These are amazing. And I love the fabrics you’ve chosen. These are great colors for spring.”
“Thanks, I’ve been working like crazy to find fabrics I feel good about and that meet their quality and comfort standards. It’s trickier than I would have imagined finding cruelty-free materials to work with. There’s casein in everything!”
She furrows her brows. “What’s that again?”
“The protein in milk. It’s used in dyeing and textile processing. It’s everywhere. When I decided to take on this line, I went in knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep it entirely cruelty-free. The execs were upfront about that. It’s just not in the budget, and the limited options don’t meet quality standards. I thought I’d avoid leather and suede and down and be fine. I had no clue how many animal products are used in the clothing manufacturing process. I’m not sure how cruelty-free I’m logistically going to be able to be.”
“Cut yourself some slack. I’m sure you’re doing the best you can do. Just because you’re vegan doesn’t mean you have to take it to the furthest extreme.” She holds up a page with an A-line shift dress. “I love the pinks. Feminine without being too girly.”
“That’s what I’m going for. The fabric’s really expensive, and cruelty-free, so there’s a chance the executives may reject it and make me go with something cheaper.” I hold it up to her cheek. “But isn’t it fabulous?”
She purrs like a cat. “Ohh, can I get sheets made out of this? Or maybe you can make me a muumuu? Oh, strike that.” She shows me the Yankees Blue halter dress. “This, I need. When my ass is smaller than a Volkswagen anyway.” She lets out an enormous fart, and her face turns bright red.
I cover my nose. “Damn, Charlie.”
“I’m a baby building factory—gas happens. Deal with it! Although, between the burping and farting, it’ll be a wonder if Spencer ever has sex with me again.”
“Somehow I doubt that’ll be a problem. He looks at you as though you float on a cloud of sunshine and happiness.”
She smirks. “Yeah, maybe.” She skims through the rest of the sketches. “Are they actually letting you do stuff, or is it like ‘take your tennis star to work day’? You sit and look pretty but aren’t allowed to touch anything.”
“They’ve let me take as active a role as I want. I’m probably annoying the hell out of them with my millions of questions and ideas, but they’re great about it.”
“So are you enjoying playing fashion designer? If these are any judge, you’re damn good at it,” she says, gesturing to the book.
“I love it. I’m not sure it’s what I want to do forever, but I’m enjoying every second of it. The design, the business aspects, I love the entire process. The only downside is that I wish I had more time to spend in New York. I’ve been twice and each time has felt way too rushed. I need at least a full week next time!”
“You’re not moving to New York.” She grabs my hand. “That wasn’t a question. It was a statement. You are not moving to New York. If you have bigger fashion dreams, you’ll be pursuing them here.”
I put my hand over hers. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
She grips my hand tighter, so hard her nails break the skin.
“Charlie, I swear, I’m not moving.” I try to wriggle my hand free, but she just grips tighter.
Her breath quickens as her face turns ashen. “I think that was a contraction.” Panic splashes across her face. “But it-it-it can’t be. I’m not due for a week.”
“Maybe it was Braxton Hicks? That’s really common, I think.”
Tapping her fingers on the table, she takes a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m sure that’s it.”
I reach into my bag for my phone. “Let’s call the doctor anyway.”
She grabs my arm. “Nah, I’m sure it’s nothing. I don’t want to be one of those women who overreact to every little thing. I’m going to ignore it and see if it goes away.”
On the sly, I pull out my phone and text Spencer anyway, just in case.
Rubbing her stomach with one hand, she waves me on with the other. “Keep talking. Maybe I just need a distraction. What’s going on with the wedding plans? Did you settle on a wedding planner? I hope you went with Mindy. I liked her portfolio the best. Although, all of the celebrities she’s planned for are now divorced.” She taps her chin. “Maybe it’s better if you don’t go with her.”
“She wanted two years at a minimum, so Chase nixed her right away. We went with Bryan, though he wasn’t my first choice. He does a lot of black tie, kinda stuffy events and I didn’t think he was the right fit for what we have in mind. But Shelly really likes him because all of his events are for celebrities who value privacy above all else. He has a no-cell-phone policy at every event, and has patents on some sort of state-of-the-art security system. Plus, he and Chase hit it off. It turned out to be a great decision, because Bryan’s fantastic at reeling Chase in. He was able to convince him to abandon the pre-training-camp wedding idea in the first meeting.”
“That’s a relief. So you guys are looking at March now?”
I reach into my bag and pull out my laptop. “At this moment, I have no idea. Bryan put together a list of locations that could potentially work, and Chase hates them all.” I slowly flip through the pictures with Charlie. “We could rent out a cruise ship, which Chase and I both vetoed. This one is a defunct time share resort in Colorado. The property has a thousand condos and the owners are willing to give us the whole place for a week. If we do it in March, there’s still spring skiing. If we wait till May, there’s tons of golf and a really cool zip-line course and we can use the luge run like a water slide, but the place needs some serious work.”
“It’s pretty though. I could see Colorado really working well for what you guys have in mind.”
“Chase hates all of it. He wants luxury and privacy. Not just for a day—for the whole week! And he wants to invite every person we’ve ever met. He’s turned into groomzilla. Bryan keeps telling him his expectations are unreasonable, but Chase doesn’t listen. He was actually shocked when the Ritz at Half Moon Bay said they’d be happy to give us the hotel for a week in March—in 2022.”
Charlie winces again.
“Another one?” I ask, mentally taking note of the time. Ten minutes since the last one.
“I’m fine. It could just be indigestion.” She takes another sip of her ginger ale. “So do you have any real prospects?”
“I’ll show you my choice.” I pull up the pictures.
Her jaw drops as she clicks on the picture to enlarge it. “Oh, that’s gorgeous. Where is that?”
“Vespers Island. A private island off the gulf coast of Florida that’s only accessible by ferry. The island was bought in the late eighteen hundreds by one of the Vanderbilts. In the twenties, he started building. Two-hundred fifty rooms, and a nine-hole golf course. Then Black Tuesday hit, and the money ran out. He and his wife were killed in a robbery a few years later, and the place was essentially forgotten about until the late nineties, when a husband and wife bought it for a steal. They’ve been renovating it ever since. The original house was intended to be over-the-top opulent, like everything else the Vanderbilts built in the twenties, but this couple has taken it in a completely different direction. It’s now Cuban style, very Hemmingway. Dark wood, large windows, soothing paint tones. Casual, clean, and elegant. They’re hoping t
o open sometime next year, and they’re willing to let us have the wedding there as their opening event in April.”
She wrinkles her nose. “You don’t want to be their guinea pig. Not for your wedding. Something goes wrong at every wedding, even at the best places. This place is beautiful, but the electrical system could go out. They could have cockroaches. Or worse—rats! The roof could leak. Have you seen The Money Pit? This has disaster written all over it. There has to be somewhere else.”
“That’s what Chase and Bryan said, but I have a feeling about it. I think it’s perfect for us. Jet skis, bocce ball, volley ball, a huge lawn for football, and a golf course. The owner, Holly, even said she’d be willing to let us have a paintball war. It has everything we could want, and we could help them launch this amazing resort. If my celebrity is going to cause a stir, at least in this case it could really do some good.”
“You really like this place, huh? Despite the risk?”
“Honestly, it has everything I could ever want. It’ll be private with no worries about paparazzi party crashers, because you’ll need an invitation to get on the ferry. The size of the hotel is big enough but not too big, which will help keep the numbers reasonable. Holly and Ned are both low-key kind of people. Their goal was to create a resort with comfortable, casual elegance, and that’s all I want. I don’t want some stuffy black tie affair. I’ve been to enough of those. This place is perfect.”
Digging her nails into the table, Charlie winces again.
“Okay, now I’m concerned.” I hand her her phone. “Call your damn doctor.”
Spencer rushes in the front door while she’s on hold, waiting for the doctor.
Charlie glares at me. “You texted him? You’re such a traitor.”
Spencer sits on the chair next to her, then puts his arm around her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“Whatever’s going on hurts like hell.” She touches her stomach. “Crap, I have to pee. Do you think the doctor will think it’s rude if I pee while on the phone with him?” She holds up her hand. “You know what, I don’t care. My bladder can’t wait. If he hears a tinkle, he’s just going to have to deal with it.”
Spencer offers her his hand to help her up. As she stands, I see blood on the seat of her pants.
“Um, Charlie?”
Spencer follows my eyeline. “Go to the bathroom, then we’re going to the hospital.”
She cranes her neck, trying to see what we’re looking at. “I can’t see around my ass. What are we looking at?”
“There’s blood, babe. Not a ton, but there’s blood.”
The phone drops from her hand. “No! I thought I’d just peed myself a little. There can’t be blood! I’m not ready. I’m supposed to have another week.”
Spencer puts his arms around his wife. “Babe, we’re ready. Everything’s in place. We have everything we need. Remember, this morning you said you’d give anything to get this kid out of you?”
“I’m ready to stop feeling like an over-stuffed sausage in too small a casing. I’m not ready for the pain and the pushing and…”
We hear a faint voice from the floor. “Hello. Is anyone there?”
Spencer picks the phone up off the floor and fills the doctor in.
I put my hands on her shoulders and gently lead her to the bathroom. “It’s going to be fine. It’s going to be better than fine. Your baby is almost here. After all the years of trying and shots and hormones and months and months of disappointment, he’s finally here.” I open the bathroom door. “Now pee. This may be the last time you get to do it in peace for the next decade or so.”
******
I put my fingers to my lips as Chase enters the hospital room. He glances at Charlie asleep on the bed and Spencer passed out in the chair next to her. Laughing quietly, he places the boxes of pizza on the table, then sits next to me on the sofa.
He runs his finger along the baby’s soft cheek. “Hey, little guy,” he whispers, then kisses Calder’s forehead. Calder’s eyes peek open for a split second before he closes them again. “He’s perfect.”
I look over and see the huge smile on Chase’s face. He’s so smitten with this baby, and Calder isn’t even a day old yet. It’s adorable.
“Yeah, he really is. It’s not surprising though. He comes from really good stock,” I say.
“Did the pediatrician stop by while I was gone?” he asks quietly.
The entire Brennan-Fairchild clan has been in a panic, worried that Charlie’s early labor was an indication of something wrong.
“Yes, she did, and everything’s fine. He was just ready to come into the world a little early, that’s all.”
Chase breathes a sigh of relief. Calder squirms a little. His face scrunches and turns red as though he’s about to scream. I bounce him lightly, and his face relaxes. The potential scream turns into a yawn, then he closes his eyes again.
“You have the magic touch with him.”
“It must be so hard for you that he already likes me better,” I tease. When Chase held him, Calder screamed the whole time. He needed a diaper change, but still. Obviously the kid is a genius and can already tell I’m the cooler one.
“That’s just because you have boobs for him to rest his head on. I’m solid muscle, rock hard, and you’re soft and pillowy. If I had my choice, I’d rest my head on your boobs too.”
I can’t help but shake my head and laugh.
“So with all the excitement earlier, I forgot to mention that I called Ned and Holly.”
Shocked, my eyebrows pop up. “Oh yeah? What sparked that?”
“On the way to the hospital, Charlie texted me and said I was a moron and she’d disown me if I didn’t sign off on Vespers. I think her second text was supposed to say she wouldn’t attend my wedding unless it was there, but with auto correct, it came out more like I won’t apprehend your wheelbarrow unless it’s thirsty.”
Charlie rocks!
“Is it really your first choice?” he asked. “I know I poo-pooed it pretty hard when you brought it up. At the end of the day, I want our wedding to be perfect for you. If this is the place that makes you happy, then I don’t have to look any further. But the last thing I want is for you to settle on it because we’ve seen so many duds.”
“We should still go check it out in person, but from everything I’ve seen and heard, it has everything we want. They can even do a Jimmy Buffet Tiki Bar themed rehearsal dinner. Coconut bras and all.”
He kisses my temple. “Now that Calder’s here, let’s fly down for a night next week before I leave for camp. If you still love it as much after seeing it in person, then we’ll sign the contract and get things rolling.”
“If I didn’t have a baby in my arms, I’d tackle you!” I kiss him. “This is going to be perfect, I can feel it. I love you.”
“I love you too,” he replies.
All at once, I’m hit with a rush of excitement. I’ve never really been into weddings. Almost every wedding I’ve been to has turned into a circus, full of pomp and forced formality. In the end, the event is a huge production that has nothing to do with the couple starting their lives together.
I’m excited to be married to Chase. The wedding just seems like a required step in the process. But I think Holly and Ned and Bryan will help us put together exactly what Chase and I want. I’m not sure if it’s because it finally feels real or if it’s just because we’re going to actually get what we want, but I’m so excited. I’m smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.
“Do I smell pizza?” Charlie sits up and rubs her eyes. “You let me sleep through food? I just pushed a person out of my body. I need to replenish!”
Chapter Five
Chase
Come on, baby! Don’t give up on me now!
We’ve been together too long for it to end like this!
I turn the ignition one more time. The engine turns over, then stalls. Smoke seeps out from the cracks in the hood. I think she’s dead. I slam my fist on the steering wheel and fume
for a minute.
I’ve had this truck since I was sixteen. All of my friends got cars for their birthdays that year, but I wanted to buy mine myself. It may have had something to do with the fact that Ari bought her own car, and I couldn’t let her outshine me. Granted, my used Ford F-250 isn’t the silver Bentley she bought, but I mucked a lot of stalls and mowed a lot of lawns for years and years so I could pay for my truck. I was damn proud of it. Still am. My truck is probably the oldest vehicle in the lot at the stadium. The janitor even drives a fancier car than I do, but it’s never phased me. I love my truck.
The last time I brought her in, the mechanic said she was on borrowed time. She’s got over 350,000 miles. Now… I guess this is it. I fish my cell out of my pocket and call a tow truck, then I ask Mom to come get me.
I was kind of hoping to avoid my mother. She always likes to have dinner after I finish training camp, but I’m sore and tired and bummed that Ari’s in Paris for the weekend for some fashion thing. I just want to go to bed until she gets back. Over the last month, I worked out harder than I ever have in my life. Right now, every muscle in my body is yelling at me because of it. As good as my mom’s ribs are, they aren’t as good as sleep.
I only played a few downs in the pre-season games, but that doesn’t mean I slacked off. In fact, this was my most hectic training camp yet. I spent most of training camp helping the backups get up to speed, working with the new receivers and running backs, and burning the midnight oil with the offensive coordinator, coming up with plays and strategies. Everyone wants that third ring, and they expect me to get it for them. A fact that has kept me up most nights. Well, that and the coil sticking out of the mattress. I really need to talk Jeb into springing for a nicer hotel. He served in the military and thinks roughing it together will make us stronger. I know he doesn’t want us getting spoiled, but this economy lodging is brutal.
I lean my head back on the headrest and close my eyes until I hear the seductive hum of a high performance engine. I open my eyes and see Ari in short cut-offs and an off-the-shoulder shirt, leaning against her Spider. I swear she gets sexier every time I see her.
Love To Love You (Love/Hate #3) Page 4
