Wedding Haters (Event to Remember Series-Book 2)

by Melissa Baldwin

  “OMG! Tell me!” she yells. Just then, my first client Jocelyn arrives, and I’m saved from sharing details from my younger, wilder days. I love when Jocelyn comes in; she’s a divorce attorney, and her stories are the best.

  After a full day of doing hair and lots of great chats with my clients, I think I’ve managed to avoid Caycee and her interrogation. However, the girl doesn’t give up, and after much begging, I tell the details of my brief encounter from almost a decade ago.

  “Dang, girl! You were ca-razy!” She holds her hand up to slap me five.

  “We’ve all had our wild days and that was a very long time ago. Very.” I try to remind her of that fact and usually I don’t kiss and tell.

  “Hmm . . . people don’t change that much.” She raises her eyebrows and turns away. Ahhh . . . whatever. I’d rather not take another walk down memory lane. I wonder where that term even came from? Considering certain memories from my past, memory lane is not a place I love visiting. It’s not that I have a lot of bad memories; it’s just that . . . well, we all make poor choices when we’re young. Although, I suppose this conversation is better than going home to deal with Sienna and her silent treatment. She’s a master at the silent treatment, so good that she could teach a class on it.

  Admittedly, the guilt is starting to set in, and I totally understand why she’s taking her time with Ace, but I just don’t want her to miss out on a good thing. My guilty feelings are interrupted by a call from Cole; apparently, his parents have asked us over to dinner, and they want to talk to us about something important. An important talk with my soon-to-be in-laws, every possible scenario goes through my head and then I start to panic.

  ~*~

  A few hours later, I’m sitting in Susan’s beautiful kitchen, and as usual, I offer to help, but she won’t let me touch a thing. I’m convinced the woman doesn’t want me to touch anything. I’m a little confused because she has to know I’m not a complete disaster in the kitchen. After all, she loves my cookies.

  “So, honey, tell me how the plans are coming? Are you getting along with your family?”

  I was hoping she wouldn’t ask. I don’t want her to think I’m being completely ridiculous, and I can’t possibly tell her that I continue to doubt the sincerity of my cousins or the fact that I wish I didn’t have to invite any of them to the wedding. I know I’m acting like a brat because, other than a few snide comments, they haven’t done anything horrible, at least not yet.

  “Everything seems to be going well so far, other than a few tiny issues.” I tell her about the bridesmaids’ dresses and fun-filled bachelorette party that’s being planned despite me not agreeing to it. What I really want to talk about is why we were invited tonight.

  “It’ll all work out I’m sure,” I say nonchalantly. “So, Cole says you wanted to talk to us about something, is everything alright?” I tried to wait until she brought it up, but of course being the most inpatient person on the planet, I had to ask.

  “Of course, dear, everything is fine. Why do you ask?”

  “I told you, babe,” Cole exclaims as soon as he walks in. “Mom, she’s freaking out about whatever it is that you want to tell us. She has called me about fifty times asking if I know what you want.” I’m so going to kill him! Sometimes he never knows when to shut up.

  “I’m not freaking out!” I give him the shut up or else look.

  “Don’t worry, you two. It’s good news; I promise.” She hugs both of us and rushes back to her cooking.

  Cole walks over to kiss me on the cheek, and I lean away. He thinks this is absolutely hilarious, and right now, I think he is absolutely annoying. When, and if, Sienna starts talking to me again I need to ask her to teach me how to give a good silent treatment.

  I’m so anxious I can hardly eat my dinner. What’s the big freaking deal? Just tell us already! I can’t believe they haven’t said anything yet. Cole hasn’t asked either, and now I have another reason to be mad at him. Finally, after dessert, Cole’s father asks us to join them in the living room. My heart is racing!

  “We were going to wait until the wedding to give you your gift, but we thought sooner was better.” He hands Susan an envelope. OMG—an envelope?

  “We’re so excited about this that we just couldn’t wait any longer,” Susan says as she hands Cole the envelope. I wonder what’s in that envelope. It has to be money or maybe plane tickets?

  “Here you go.” Cole hands it to me

  “You want me to open it?” I slowly take it out of his hand and hold it in my hand as if it’s a fragile family heirloom. Cole tells me to hurry, but I feel as if I’m moving in slow motion. As I take the contents out of the envelope and read, I’m almost speechless.

  “What?!” That’s all I manage to spit out. I’m in complete shock. “Is this for real?” I hand it to Cole.

  “It’s a house!” I shout. “You gave us a house?” I don’t even know what to say; I think Cole is in as much shock as I am. He grabs the paper out of my hand. I jump up from my seat and give both of them a huge hug.

  “We gave Mike and Sara one as well, so it was only fair,” Susan says. “Just wait until you see it, it’s gorgeous. The best part about this is that you will only be three houses down, so now you can join the garden club. The ladies will all be ordering your cookies, so you know you will be extremely busy. And when you have a baby I can babysit for you.”

  Wait? What did she say? Something about the house being practically next door, the garden club, and me having a baby? It all kind of mixed together.

  “Whaaat was that?” I ask slowly.

  “The house is the one on the corner. It’s been up for sale for months, and they just redid all of the floors, hardwood, as well as brand new bathrooms. Here are the keys, it’s all yours!”

  Cole and I look at each other; I know exactly what he’s thinking because I’m thinking the same thing. It’s a free house! That is a free house living practically next door to my in-laws. Not to mention an invitation to join the garden club, which would be ridiculous because I don’t garden. Every time I’ve ever had a plant, I’ve killed it. The truth is I know that most of the ladies in the club don’t actually garden; they have gardeners. Most of the time they just gossip and try to one-up each other. There is not a chance in hell I would be able to hang out with those women on a regular basis. Not only that, we are nowhere near ready to have kids yet.

  “So, are you ready? We can see it right now.” Susan takes a huge leap off the couch and makes a beeline for the door.

  “Mom, can you give us a second?” Cole says abruptly. Finally! I was wondering when he was going to speak up.

  “What’s the matter?” she asks, looking completely crestfallen. “Are you not happy?”

  “Of course we are,” I practically yell. “This is the most unbelievable, amazing, um gift.” I don’t want them to think we are being ungrateful. We can’t possibly tell them that we are super excited about the house but not the location.

  “Mom, can you give us a few minutes to talk?” Cole’s parents leave the room and immediately Cole starts asking me if I’m OK with all of this.

  “Well, I admit it’s a little bit of a shock. I mean, we already have a new apartment near work and our friends.”

  “What are you saying? You don’t want to move over here?” he asks worriedly. “Babe, I know it’s not ideal, but this is pretty great.”

  “No, not at all. I just, it’s just . . .”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you ready to see the house?” Susan interrupts. I can see the excitement pouring out of her; she’s practically bouncing off the walls. Cole looks at me and raises his eyebrows.

  “I’m definitely ready! Let’s go see our new house.” I practically sprint for the door.

  As we are waking down the perfectly manicured street, I start thinking about how I could be so ungrateful. Maybe I am acting like a spoiled child. Maybe my cousins are right. I’m starting to feel so guilty; as we arrive in front of the beautiful
house on the corner, I stand there staring at it. This is the one? I have driven past this place more times than I can count, and now it’s mine. It really is breathtaking, a grand front door with manicured bushes and flowerbeds, and no doubt the former owners had a gardener.

  “This is it?” Cole asks, interrupting my thoughts. “Wow.” I’m sure he has ignored this place just like I have.

  “Who wants them?” Susan asks, holding out the keys. I glance at Cole, and I can see the sparkle in his eye.

  “You take them,” I say, the excitement building intensely. Cole grabs them and makes a run for it, with his parents and I close behind.

  I’m completely speechless as I walk through this house that I guess really is mine. I let out a gasp because I just don’t know what to say. I have hugged Cole’s parents more times than I can count. The floor plan is big, open and cozy at the same time. There is an adorable little room/alcove right off the kitchen that will make the perfect cookie room. Susan has told me about several ideas she has for decorating. Luckily, Cole stepped in and reminded her that we would love the chance to decorate our first home. I tell her that I’ll definitely need her help because I plan to stay on my mother-in-law/neighbor’s good side. We spend what seems like hours walking around. After a while, Cole’s parents head home and leave us alone. We’re sitting down in the huge living room talking about everything we want to do.

  “So, what do you think?” Cole asks as he places his hands behind his head. “I bet you’re happy you decided to marry me now. I knew being a mama’s boy would come in handy someday. Could you imagine what they would have given us if I finished college instead of doing comedy?”

  I lean in to give Cole a kiss; he starts kissing me back passionately.

  “Thank you for marrying me,” I tell him as I somehow manage to release myself from his grasp. “I love you so much, and no, I’m not saying this just because your parents just gave us a house.”

  “I should be thanking you. Let’s be serious; you are way too good for me.” He always says this, and it’s simply not true. Cole is the most sincere man I have ever met. He never has an agenda, he’s confident, happy, and he loves to share that with others through his work.

  I finally head home after planning out every paint color and décor theme for every room. Despite my being ecstatic about our new house, (Our house! I still can’t believe I have a house!) there is a looming feeling of dread. I have to break the news to Sienna that I will not be living around the corner from her. I just feel so horrible because I even helped her pick out her place so we could live near each other. I know that no matter what Sienna will be supportive because that is the type of person she is. We haven’t really spoken much since the Ace/wedding party dilemma. I’m not even sure if she is ready to talk to me.

  When I get home Sienna is already in bed, but she did leave me a note. When I read it, I feel a little sad.

  Hey.

  I’m sorry, I know I overreacted. Everything is ready for the shower.

  Still Best Friends Forever?

  -S

  And now I’m crying; it starts out with just a few tears and ends up big and ugly. Why can’t I just leave this poor girl alone? My intentions are good, but I still continue to meddle after she has asked me to stop. From tonight on, I promise I won’t say another word about Sienna’s love life. Ever.

  Chapter 6

  Nothing irritates me more than when people don’t return calls or messages. I have left several messages for Bev to see how things are going with my cookies. I haven’t heard much from her other than her customers were very impressed with them. So what? What does that even mean? I’m starting to wonder if she’s purposely ignoring me. Maybe they aren’t doing as well as we had hoped. I’m bordering on stalker mode by continuously calling her. I know I need to stick to the two-day rule like in dating; apparently, that rule applies to everything. Who knew? I remember the two-day rule from my dating days. Nothing was more tortuous than that: the waiting, wondering, and second-guessing. Ugh!

  On a good note, Sienna and I hugged and made up. We’re best friends again, and it’s a good thing because tomorrow is my bridal shower. I can hardly contain my excitement! All has been quiet with my cousins, so that’s even better news. I’m just praying that they stay on their best behavior tomorrow. Caycee and Lauren, my wild and crazy co-workers, keep warning me that they’re giving me massage oils and toys at my shower. This isn’t really a surprise because they gave me lingerie and handcuffs at my engagement party. Susan and the garden club ladies all gasped in horror; no doubt they’re the ones who have these items hidden in their bedrooms. Grandmother just shook her head and gave me a look of pure disapproval. I know that look very well. Anyway, I try to remind these girls that this is a bridal shower and not a bachelorette party. They seem to find it hilarious that my poor grandmother may have a coronary at the sight of anything sexual, and I’m sure Ellie would love to blame me for something happening to her.

  The next morning I wake up early and finish several loads of laundry. I even do a little packing. While I’m curling my hair, I realize I still haven’t told Sienna about the house. It’s not really that I’m avoiding it; it’s just that we’ve both been busy. OK, so maybe I’ve been avoiding it. Anyway, I’m planning on telling her about it tonight.

  My peaceful morning is abruptly interrupted by a phone call from Ellie. I’m going to have a positive attitude. I repeat this over and over out loud.

  “Good morning, Ellie,” I say cheerfully.

  “Madie, can you please talk to Sienna? I have been asking her what I can do to help today. She refuses to let me help; she keeps saying that everything is done. What are you going to do about this?” she demands, all without even saying hello.

  “Ellie, I really appreciate you offering to help. Honestly, this shower has been planned for months. I hired her, and she’s just very particular about her events. I promise it’s nothing personal.” I already know how this is going to go. I learned a long time ago that Ellie doesn’t like not getting her way.

  “So, that’s it. You really don’t want me or Stephy being a part of this day, do you? Well, maybe we just won’t come at all.” And with that, she hangs up on me.

  “Good, please don’t come,” I say out loud. I really wish she were still on the line to have heard that, but of course, she’s not.

  I call Sienna to let her know about the lovely conversation I just had with my dear cousin. She apologizes for all of it being her fault. I remind her that this issue goes back way before my shower or wedding plans. Needless to say, we are both praying that she will follow through on her threat of not coming. I should be so lucky!

  When I arrive at the Korral House, I’m very impressed. Sienna and her team have outdone themselves once again. I had requested a Hawaiian luau-themed shower. I know some people may think the luau theme is overdone, but I have always loved luaus, and because we are going to Hawaii on our honeymoon, it seemed like a fun idea. As soon as I walk in, I’m welcomed with an authentic Hawaiian lei. Not the cheap party store kind either but gorgeous fresh orchids. Their smell is so overpowering that it has filled the room. The décor is subtle and tasteful, but I still feel like I’m in the Pacific. They have even hired real hula instructors to teach Polynesian dancing. I had to talk Craig out of the fire dancers. In his words, every party should have men in loincloths performing, but I thought that would have been a bit much. Seriously, though, how many times do I have to remind everyone that this is not a bachelorette party?

  The guests are starting to arrive, and everyone is loving being greeted with a lei and a drink in a coconut glass. I’m having such a great time already that I completely forget about the incident with Ellie this morning. Unfortunately, that’s short-lived because she didn’t keep her promise of not coming. She and Stephy arrive about twenty minutes late, and I can tell she has an agenda.

  “Are you kidding me? A luau?” She spits out the word as if it’s the most disgusting thing ever. “I thought Si
enna was some big shot event planner, and this is all she could come up with? I’m sure there is something that I could have done today, but noooo, she had to be selfish so that she could take all the glory for this. I probably shouldn’t have even come.”

  I know what she’s trying to do; I can let her get to me or I can just ignore her. She continues to complain, and I guess I finally snap. I must have really had enough because it doesn’t even occur to me that some of my guests may overhear me losing it.

  “Stop!” I yell. “I’m so sick of all of this. Are you trying to ruin my day? I told you this has been planned for months, and you refused to listen to me. If you don’t want to be here, then you are more than welcome to leave.”

  I think I completely throw her off guard because she doesn’t say a word. Unfortunately, while I’m going off on my tangent I don’t notice my grandmother, Susan, and my mom standing behind me. I know I’m going to hear about this later.

  “Madison, what in the world?” I hear my mother’s voice from behind me. I close my eyes and pray I imagined that. Like maybe she is actually the little angel on my shoulder.

  “Mom, hi! When did you get here? I’m so happy you’re here.” I turn around to hug her. Thankfully, Susan escorts Grandmother away, but I have no doubt that I will have to answer to her later. That’s going to be lots of fun.

  “Aunt Karen, it’s so good to see you,” Ellie interrupts as she gives her a big hug. “I’m sorry you had to see all of that. I can explain—I had graciously offered to help with the shower today. However, Madison and Sienna made it clear they didn’t need or want my help.”

  Wow, I really want to punch her, as in a possible beat down not just a shut-her-up kind of punch. Seriously, what’s happening to me? I’m turning into a monster; these girls bring out the absolute worst in me.

  “No, that’s not what happened,” I say in a loud whisper because the guests are starting to multiply. “I told you that I had hired Sienna to plan my shower months ago before you showed any interest in my wedding. I told her what theme I wanted and let her take full control. And yes, I chose the luau theme.” I can read Ellie’s expression, and I know she wants to say something else but she stays quiet.