Stuck in the Moment

by Tracie Puckett

  Chapter Nine

  We were two days away from the big night, and there was no time to waste. I’d lost days of planning, which felt like weeks, and I couldn’t afford to waste another second. The moment I saw Mel and Roz at school, I informed them of our emergency party-planning meeting for the evening. Five o’clock. Delta’s Diner. Don’t be late.

  I needed to know what I’d missed in my absence, but I also needed to get back in charge, call the shots, and make sure we pulled this off in the grandest fashion possible.

  Roz held the door as I crossed into the restaurant—my eyes immediately sweeping the room to look for our other friend. There were no signs of Mel yet, but I knew she’d be here soon. Even on her days off, she didn’t mind hanging out with us at the diner, where she’d taken a part-time waitressing job over the summer.

  Roz and I maneuvered through the aisles of crowded tables and took opposite sides of our booth.

  While we waited for Mel, I watched the door, hoping Roz wouldn’t see how eager I was for Jasper’s arrival. I’d left him a note to join us, and I wondered if he’d seen it. I wanted to see him as badly as I wanted to resume planning this party.

  “So here’s a question,” Roz said. “We’re two days out from the party. When were you planning to tell me Jasper was working with us?”

  “Oh,” I said, the realization hitting me hard and fast. I’d remembered on Friday that I needed to say something, and then after everything happened with Dad . . . “No excuse is a good excuse, Roz, I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, well, Mel told me. Which was good, since it would’ve come as a complete shock when Jasper took over on Saturday to spearhead the project.”

  “He took over?” I asked, wondering what that meant. Had he changed my plans? Made things worse? Made them better? What was I up against going into this meeting? I hated that I’d been out of the loop for so long, and I had no idea what to expect.

  “Yes,” she said. “And I can’t help but wonder why I was the last to know?”

  I bit my lip, scared to tell her the truth because I wasn’t sure how she’d take it. “Actually, I told you first.”

  “Really? Because I don’t recall having that conversation.”

  “Remember when I came over last week?”

  “No.”

  “Monday night.”

  “You came over last Monday night?”

  “I did. For dinner,” I said. “We ate leftovers.” She shook her head, unable to drum up the memory of the night I’d walked over to her house. “You don’t remember the food?”

  “I don’t remember you or the food.”

  “You were watching Where You Belong.”

  “That I remember.” She smiled that same cheesy smile she always wore when she thought about anything remotely associated with her celebrity crush. “Okay. Good. Continue.”

  “I told you then. I told you before Mel found out.”

  “While I was watching my show?” She quirked a brow.

  “Maybe . . . ”

  “Yeah, sorry. I was happily oblivious.”

  “I know.”

  We both smiled.

  It was cute how Roz wouldn’t let us call her obsessed, but she was definitely infatuated. Head over heels infatuated with the notion of someday living out the fantasy of a happily ever after with a man she’d never meet.

  “There’s Jasper.” Roz nodded to the front of the diner.

  Carter’s cousin had just walked in, spotting us as we turned to look at him. He walked back and slid into the booth next to me.

  “You’re free.”

  “I’m free,” I said, beaming. “Glad you could make it.”

  “I’m guessing you left the note on my windshield then?”

  “Yup, that was me.” I remembered how quickly I’d shot across the yard to the driveway next door, hoping Dad wouldn’t catch me sneaking the note beneath Jasper’s windshield wiper last night before bed. I hadn’t even taken the time to sign it.

  “Well, here I am,” he said and recited the note. “Wednesday. Meeting. Five o’clock. Delta’s Diner.”

  “I’m glad you could make it.”

  Jasper’s smile widened, still holding my gaze with those big beautiful blue eyes. I couldn’t believe how only a few short days ago I’d hated the way he looked at me, and now I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live without feeling his eyes stare in my direction.

  I loved looking at him, and I loved the way he looked at me.

  I loved the way he cared to protect me—the way he hugged me on Friday night and offered to stay by side. Our conversation in the barn, the way he opened up to me, the way he allowed me to open up to him . . . that was all so incredible, but it was his nightly visits to my window that became the game changer.

  He promised to look after the people he cared about, and that’s exactly what he’d done.

  And then to take the reins on the party so that it wouldn’t go to waste . . . mad respect. Unbelievable admiration.

  Roz cleared her throat. “Yo, lovebirds, can we start this thing?”

  “We’re waiting for Mel.”

  “I’m here.” Mel slid into the seat next to Roz. “Delta called, and they need me to cover a shift this evening, so I just clocked in. I only have a few minutes. Let’s do this.”

  Knowing we were short on time, Roz jumped straight to it.

  “Cake is canceled,” she said. “No thanks to Ally.”

  “Shut up,” I tore my gaze away from Jasper and scrawled a note on the clipboard. “Mel?”

  “Yeah?” She perked up.

  “How much time does the band need to set up before the party?”

  “An hour, tops.”

  The three of us looked to Jasper.

  “What?” He met each of our stares slowly. When none of us answered, he asked again. “What?”

  “You’re up,” Roz said. “She needs information. Give her the lowdown. What do you know? What’ve you got? What’s the deal with the guest list? Who’s coming? Who isn’t? Is the menu set? What’s the cake plan, Cake Man? She has questions, you have answers. Give the girl what she wants.”

  He smirked. “Right. There are six confirmed guests from Cedar Lake—the closest of Carter’s friends, and most importantly, all Jasper-approved.”

  Roz groaned. “Only six?”

  “From Cedar Lake,” he said. “I’ve also talked to her coworkers at the animal shelter, and they’re all on board, as well. Between all of us, friends, and family, and the original Sutton Woods invites, we’re looking at a healthy turn out.”

  “And the cake?” I asked.

  “Will blow your mind,” he said. “Also, I wanted to ask about costumes. Are we doing that?”

  “Witch,” Mel said.

  “Princess,” Roz echoed.

  “Cat,” I said, snickering. “An Ally-Cat. Get it? I’ve had my costume for months. Ally-Cat. Come on, guys. That’s funny.”

  “No, it’s awful.” Roz shook her head. “That’s like the worst kind of dad joke.”

  The three of us turned to Jasper.

  “My turn again?” he asked, sitting straighter. “I’m starting to see how this works. Okay, yeah. I’m not dressing up.”

  “Lame!”

  “Oh, come on, you have to.” I cut Roz off before she could insult him again. “It’s a costume party.”

  “It’s a fun idea but that’s more Carter’s thing than mine. I never got into Halloween. Besides, between the cake, and the food, and the—”

  “Excuses?” I asked. “You’re no fun.”

  “Yeah?” he asked, leaning closer. “I’m no fun?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Sounds like a challenge.” He grinned. “Care to make this interesting?”

  “I mean, if you really think you can,” I teased. “What do you have in mind?”

  “What makes a good costume? Something bloody? Gory? Terrifying?”

  “No way,” I cringed. “Maybe for Carter, but I
go for the cutesy, happy, fun stuff—clowns, kittens, cupcakes. The funnier the better.”

  “Okay, then we wager,” he said and leaned in. “If I show up Friday night, and my costume doesn’t make you smile at the very least, then you can . . . ” He stopped, searching his mind.

  “Smash a pie in your face?” I asked.

  “Okay.” He nodded. “I could survive that. But if you lose—”

  “Which I won’t—”

  “But you probably will,” he said, still smiling. “One laugh. One chuckle—one tiny little glimpse of a smile, and I win.”

  “Win what?”

  “A kiss.”

  I don’t know who gasped louder—it was probably Roz. But my gasp definitely won out over Mel’s stunned silence. Not a single one of us saw that coming.

  “Oh my god,” Roz said, fanning herself. “Marry him. Marry him now.”

  “Okay,” Mel said, sliding out of the booth. “On that note, I’m going to get to work.” She leaned back into Roz. “Let me know how this plays out.”

  Roz nodded. “Will do, but there’s no chance they make it away from this table without sucking face.”

  “Take notes.” Mel winked at our friend before she turned away from the table, rounding the counter and disappearing into the kitchen.

  I couldn’t even look at Roz; I knew she was staring at me—her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. But I couldn’t look at Jasper either, because God only knows what I would say or do in response to his proposition.

  I looked down to my hands, and Jasper nudged me with his shoulder. I still couldn’t look at him, but I smirked, because I couldn’t do anything else. As if he knew exactly how much I wanted to be closer to him, Jasper threw his arm around me and pulled me over. I giggled, turning my blush-stained cheek into his shoulder.

  “I guess our biggest issue now is finding a venue on such short notice,” Roz said, trying to ease back into the conversation, which made it clear she had no idea how to move forward.

  “Oh, right,” I said, peeling myself away from Jasper. I sat straighter and looked between the two of them. All I could hope was that my face didn’t look as red as it felt because I swear my cheeks were on fire. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves, and then I focused. “I talked to Dad last night. He’s not taking The Red Barn from us. He said we can still use it Friday night.”

  “You’re serious?” Roz asked. “I don’t believe that.”

  “I didn’t either,” I said. “Not at first.”

  “What’s his angle?”

  “I don’t think he has one,” I said. “He knows how much this means to us, and . . . he said we’re still on. I can’t exactly argue that, can I?”

  “Of course not,” Jasper said, but there’s no way he could possibly know how huge it was that Dad hadn’t vetoed the entire thing.

  “This is amazing.” Roz beamed. “I wasn’t expecting that for a second. So what are we going to do about the decorations? Surely you spent some time planning while you were locked up in that room day after day?”

  “I didn’t,” I admitted. “I never thought . . . I didn’t think I’d be ungrounded by then, so I was certain I’d miss it . . . if it even happened.”

  “We were going to make sure it happened,” Jasper said.

  “But now we’re down to two days,” Roz said. “We have food, a band, a few guests, and . . . an empty barn?”

  “It won’t be empty,” I promised. “I’ll take care of it. I have everything I need back at the house.”

  “Can I help?” Jasper asked. “I put in some balloon orders, so maybe we can figure out how we’ll tie those in with what you’ve got.”

  “Yes, that’s good. I could use the extra hands.” I lowered my voice. “I’m going to skip school tomorrow so I can get everything ready.”

  “Ooo, can I skip too?” Roz asked.

  “No, that’ll look suspicious. And I don’t want to wait until Friday evening after school—that’s cutting it too close. Tomorrow’s my best chance.” I turned to Jasper. “Does tomorrow work for you? I can let you know when Dad’s left for work.”

  Considering he still had a job to go to. Today was his first day back after he’d taken Monday and Tuesday off, so I’d know by the time I got home whether or not this plan was going to work in my favor. As long as Dad left tomorrow morning for his six o’clock shift, I could sneak into the basement, grab what I needed, and get it out to the barn without being caught.

  “So we’ll call this meeting adjourned until tomorrow?” Jasper asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “Until tomorrow.”