by Beth Ehemann
I rolled toward her and grunted without opening my eyes, not yet fully awake.
“Brody!” She smacked my shoulder. “Wake up.”
“Huh, what?” I sat up, trying to focus.
“Your phone is ringing. Again. It’s rang like three times in the last twenty minutes.”
“Oh.” I reached for my phone and squinted at the screen. “It’s my mom.”
“Hello?”
“Do you have any idea how it feels to go to my monthly book club and have the ladies there tell me they read online that my only son is engaged? Let me tell you something, Mister, it feels really shitty!” My mom yelled into the phone.
Crap. She never yelled. She never swore. Double whammy.
“Mom, I’m so sorry. We were gonna come by today and tell you,” I lied, shrugging at Kacie, who was glaring at me now that she realized I hadn’t told my mom. “It just happened a couple days ago, and we’ve been so busy since then.”
“Busy? You’ve been busy?” She drew out each word and emphasized each syllable.
Fuck.
“You’re right.” I sighed, feeling awful that I’d forgotten to call the one person who should have received the first call. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Mom.”
Kacie lay down and snuggled into me as I begged my mom for forgiveness.
“So.” She sighed in defeat. “How’d you do it? Propose, I mean.”
She was done yelling at me, but I could actually feel her sadness through the phone. I pictured her sitting at the kitchen table with a crinkled, tear-soaked tissue in her hand. My chest ached. Putting my hand over the phone so she couldn’t hear me, I whispered to Kacie, “Do we have any plans today?”
She rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Mom, what are you doing today?”
“Nothing, just some picking up around here, maybe a little weeding if the rain holds off.”
“Remember when I was little, before we traveled for hockey all the time, and every summer we would go to the Chocolate Festival in Long Grove?”
“Mmhmm, that was always fun.” Her voice sounded a little more upbeat at that memory.
“Well, it’s this weekend. What if me, Kacie, and the girls come get you and we all go to that? Just like we used to, except now instead of you and your kid, it’s me and my kids?” Kacie threw her arm around me and hugged me tight while I continued, “Then Kacie can tell you about the proposal in person while I feed Lucy and Piper so much chocolate their bellies will ache for a week.”
“Brody,” my mom spoke softly, “that sounds absolutely wonderful.”
“Great! We’ll pick you up in a couple hours?”
“Perfect.” I could tell she was smiling now when she talked. “See you then.”
Two hours later, we were in Kacie’s Jeep, heading toward my mom’s. I liked when Kacie drove. Her tan legs reached out toward the pedals, the sun glistened off her copper hair as it whipped round and round her head, and don’t even get me started on the way the seatbelt sat so perfectly right in the middle of her breasts. With my sunglasses shielding my eyes, she had no idea I stared at her constantly. Sometimes I got so wrapped up in watching her movements, I forgot where we were going—and who we were with.
“Did you hear me?” Lucy squeaked from the backseat.
I turned to the side so I could hear her better. “I’m sorry, baby. What did you say?”
“What is Chocolate Fest?”
“The Chocolate Fest… Well, it is what it sounds like. Long Grove is this little town that’s full of shops and restaurants and toy stores.” Their faces lit up when I said toy stores, but I just kept going. “During the festival, they close off all the streets and people set up different carts and they sell all sorts of chocolate desserts and chocolate-covered things. There are magic shows and dancers and pony rides. It’s gonna be so much fun!”
Piper gasped. “Pony rides?”
“Yep, pony rides. Do you like ponies?” I asked.
“I love them.” She sighed.
I looked over at Kacie, who glared at me out of the corner of her eye. “Absolutely not,” she warned sternly.
“What?” I laughed innocently.
“I know you, Murphy. I know what you’re thinking and the answer is absolutely, one hundred and fifty percent no.”
She called me Murphy. That had the same effect on me as when I said something about the barn to her.
“There she is!” Piper yelled as we pulled into my parents’ property. My mom was standing on the porch, watering her flowers. When she saw us pull up the long driveway, she put the watering can down and waved at us.
Kacie parked her Jeep and we all hopped out as Mom made her way down the steps. Lucy and Piper ran right over and threw their arms around her waist, nearly knocking her down.
“Hi, girls!” She bent over and hugged them back. “How have you guys been?”
“Good,” Piper answered.
“We’re gonna live in a castle!” Lucy yelled in excitement.
My mom’s head snapped up as her eyes darted back and forth between Kacie and me. “Something else you forgot to tell me?”
Kacie crossed her arms across her chest and cocked her hip to the side, staring at me. “Go ahead, big shot. Tell her what you did.”
“I didn’t do anything.” I laughed, narrowing my eyes at her. “When we told the girls we were getting married, to make it easy for them to understand, I compared us to Cinderella and the prince.”
“So then,” Kacie piped in when I refused to tell any more, “they started dancing around and cheering that we’re all going to live in a castle. I stopped them and explained that no, we won’t be living in a castle, and all they had to do was look at him and…” She paused and motioned for me to finish.
“And I promised them a castle.” I shrugged.
“Brody Michael!” my mom shouted. “You can’t promise things like that to little kids. They’re never going to forget it.”
“Thank you,” Kacie said to her, clearly feeling vindicated.
“You know me, I never think that far ahead. I’ll figure something out. Just watch me.” I waved off both of those skeptical women as I walked past them into the house. “I gotta take a leak real quick and then we’ll go.”
When I came back outside, Lucy and Piper were hanging upside down from the swing set my mom had put in. My mom and Kacie were sitting on the wicker couch on the porch, facing each other and holding hands.
Kacie had tears in her eyes. Mom’s face was soaked. That couldn’t be good.
“What… uh… Are you guys okay?” I stuttered nervously.
When Mom heard me, her face instantly softened into a smile and she stood and walked over to me. She cupped my face in her hands. “My sweet, sweet, romantic boy. Kacie was just telling me about your proposal. Amazing, Brody.”
I felt my face flush. “Thanks. I wanted it to be special for her.”
“Well, I’d say you nailed it.” She sniffed. “Let me run in and grab my purse.”
Once she was inside the house, I looked at Kacie, who was wiping her eyes with a tissue. I smirked at her. “I sure did nail it that night, and I’m not just talking about the proposal.”
“Brody!” she scolded quietly, looking toward the door to make sure my mom was gone.
“Sorry, I can’t help it. I’m all revved up.” I walked over and sat next to her on the couch, leaning in to kiss her neck.
“Chocolate festivals excite you that much?” She giggled.
“No.” Kiss. “But.” Kiss. “You called me Murphy.” Kiss.
The wooden screen door creaked as my mom came back out. Kacie pushed my chest away from her, standing up quickly.
“I think I’m gonna drive separate, if that’s okay?” She pulled her keys out of her purse as we walked down the steps.
“Okay.” I was confused. “How come?”
“Hey, guys!” my dad bellowed as he came out th
e front door. “Want me to lock this?”
“Yes, please,” Mom called back.
I put my hand on my mom’s arm and stopped her. “What’s going on?”
She turned around and looked down at my hand and back up at me. “What?”
“Dad. Why is he here? You guys are divorced,” I said, more accusatory than I meant to.
“Brody,”—Mom’s eyes searched my face as she sighed—“we were married for thirty years. Whether we’re still together intimately or not, we’re still friends and we still care about each other. He was here working in his shop. I told him we were going; he asked if he could join us.” She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed my cheek. “Simple as that. Now let’s go.”
She spun on her heel and started toward her car. Kacie hooked her arm through mine and yanked on it to get my attention. “Come on, Murphy.” My eyes dropped to hers quickly and she winked at me, tugging me toward the Jeep. “Girls! You wanna swing all day or you wanna eat chocolate? Come on!”
The fair was hopping.
People everywhere. Chocolate everywhere. Games everywhere.
I kept my hat pulled low and sunglasses on so that I could enjoy the day with my family without being mobbed by fans.
The girls had already binged on chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate-covered potato chips, chocolate-covered Rice Krispies Treats, and frozen chocolate-covered bananas, but they were still asking for more.
“Can we go over there?” Lucy pointed to a stand that sold chocolate-covered nuts and raisins.
“How can you guys possibly have any more room in those little bellies of yours?” my mom teased.
I looked out over the crowd and leaned into my mom. “Hey, would you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
I whispered in her ear and handed her some money.
“Lucy, Piper, come on. Let’s go get something off that cart.” My mom held out her hand and her and dad walked away with the girls.
Kacie started to follow them, but I reached out and caught her hand, pulling her in the other direction. “This way.” She narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly in confusion, but didn’t argue.
The air smelled like chocolate and cinnamon as we walked hand in hand through the hoards of people stuffing their faces with food. The closer we got to our destination, the tighter Kacie squeezed my hand.
“Brody…” She tugged back hard, forcing me to stop and turn around. Her hands started to shake as she stared at the Ferris wheel behind me. “Don’t make me do this.”
“Come on. You can do it.”
“No. I can’t.” She looked so tiny and terrified standing in front of me, hugging herself.
“Come on.” I reached out and took her hands again. “You trusted me once. Trust me again.”
She covered her face with her hands as a heavy sigh crept out of her. “Fine,” she snapped, dropping her hands, “but I’m closing my eyes, and you can’t bitch at me about it.”
I laughed at her adorable tantrum and nodded. “You got it.”
We got in line and I stood behind Kacie, wrapping my arms around her waist just in case she got the idea to make a run for it. The Ferris wheel stopped, people started filing out of the exit, and we started inching forward. Kacie dug her heels into the ground and fought me, so I smacked her on the ass and she jumped ahead. “There we go. Now you’re moving,” I teased.
We got up to the ride attendant and I handed him our tickets.
“You want inside or outside?” I asked.
“What does it matter? If our basket breaks free and we tumble to the ground, we’re both gonna die anyway,” she barked.
“Way to be positive, babe,” I joked, pushing her gently into the seat.
She sat and I slid in next to her, lowering the bar over our laps. Once the attendant started the wheel to advance to the basket behind us, Kacie’s hands flew up over her face again. I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her into me, feeling a little guilty that she was so terrified while I was completely relaxed with her head on my shoulder.
A few more stops and our ride started spinning round and round. Kacie burrowed further into the nook of my arm and hid her face like a squirrel does when it doesn’t want to be seen. We were past the dock when the ride came to a stop, so I knew we’d have a few minutes before we got off.
“Hey,” I whispered. “Where do you want to go on our honeymoon?”
Kacie loosened her grip on me a bit. “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. Have you?”
“Not until we got on here.”
She lifted her head a little and looked up at me, crinkling her brow and blinking in confusion. “Huh?”
“Your hair. It smells delicious—like coconuts—and makes me want to kidnap you to an island for a couple weeks.”
Sitting up, she looked at me with wide eyes. “A couple weeks? Brody, the longest I’ve been away from the girls was two nights when we went for that quick weekend in Chicago. I don’t know if I can do a couple weeks.”
“That was a great weekend, wasn’t it?” I growled softly as I stuck my nose in her hair again, taking a deep breath. “I think we set a new record for number of times people can have sex in a two-day time span.”
She giggled and leaned back into me. “That was fun. I think it took a week before I could walk right.”
“Then let’s do that again, but on some wonderful island with fruity drinks and white sand beaches,” I suggested.
The ride jolted to a start again, and Kacie nearly jumped out of her skin, squeezing my hand so hard I thought she might break it. Once we stopped, she relaxed a bit. “Okay, let’s do it. But… I can’t do two weeks, Brody. It would be too much. I think a week is perfect.”
“Deal.”
“Are you mad?” I couldn’t see her face, but her voice sounded concerned.
“No way.” I shook my head. “As much as I want you all to myself, I get it. I’m gonna miss them too.”
She squeezed me tight and leaned up, planting a kiss on my neck. “Thank you.”
Wedding planning was in full swing and I was on a roll.
- Invitations picked out? Check.
- Flowers picked out? Absolutely, mostly by Alexa, but she had fantastic taste.
- Band picked out? Done.
The day I’d been most excited about was finally upon me. Wedding dress shopping! We had an afternoon appointment in the city at one of the most sought after shops in all of the Midwest, but first my mom, Alexa, Lauren, and I were having lunch at the cutest little tea shop right down the street. Tea, scones, and chicken salad sandwiches were just what I needed to calm my nerves about finding a dress.
“I’m sorry again, guys,” Lauren apologized for the twentieth time that morning as Max’s hand barely missed the water glass he’d swung for.
“Lauren, stop it.” I laughed. “It’s really fine.”
“I just had no idea that Tommy had agreed to work. I thought he’d be able to keep Max.” She wiped the drool from his chin.
Reaching across the table, I scooped Max out of her arms and set him in my lap. “Are you kidding? I’m glad my godson gets to be here on wedding dress day. Let’s just hope I can make a decision before he’s walking, huh?”
“You’ll be fine,” Alexa said confidently. “Trust me, when you put it on, you’ll just know.”
“That’s good, because right now I truly have no idea what I’m looking for.” I sighed.
“And that’s okay,” my mom reassured me. “Like Alexa said, when you see it or try it on, you’ll just know.”
Alexa huffed and raised her water glass at me. “See? Alexa’s always right.”
“So, wait. Who’s with the girls today?” Lauren reached over and handed Max his favorite plastic key ring.
Mom and I looked at each other and laughed, most likely thinking the same thing.
“Brody and Viper are babysitting,” I answered nonchalantly, planting a bunch of kisses on Max’s chubby cheek.
&nb
sp; I looked up and Alexa’s and Lauren’s mouths both hung open as they stared at me blankly.
“What? Stop looking at me like that.”
Alexa started to giggle while Lauren shook her head quickly. “Sorry, I’m just trying to picture Viper watching the girls, and the things that are popping into my head are scaring me.”
That only made Alexa laugh harder. “Yeah.” She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. “They’ll probably know how to spell the F-word by the time you get home.” She whooped louder than she had before.
I rolled my eyes. “Brody’s there too. They’ll be fine.”
Was I trying to convince them, or myself?
We walked into Belle’s Bridal, and it was like walking into a fairy tale. What the off-white walls lacked in color, the chandeliers, fancy chairs, and ambiance made up for ten times over.
A woman in her mid-thirties, who clearly had it all together, met us at the door. “Hello. Welcome to Belle’s Bridal. How can we help you?” Her pale pink suit jacket and matching pencil skirt were completely wrinkle free, and not one hair in her perfectly executed bun was out of place.
“Hi, we’re a little early.” My heart thumped nervously in my chest. The place was intimidating. “We have an appointment at two. My name is Kacie Jensen.”
“Oh!” Her eyebrows shot up and her smile got a little wider. “You’re Kacie Jensen.” She said it like she knew who I was. “Come in, come in. It’s so great to meet you. I’m Kate Porter, the store manager.”
She extended her hand and I shook it happily.
I introduced her to my mom and the girls before she led us down a long hallway. The smell of roses filled the air, though I wasn’t sure where it was coming from, and huge pictures of the most elegant brides I’d ever seen hung on the walls. She opened a big white door and stepped back, waving us in. “Come on in. This will be your private bridal suite for today.”
We stepped in and I immediately loved the room.
