Just Good Friends

by Ruth Ann Nordin

As she went to the back room to grab another cup of frappuccino, Amy sighed. “You’ll get used to her. She’s a little eager when it comes to spending other people’s money.”

  “I heard that,” Danielle called out from the other room.

  Tiffany chuckled.

  Recalling Amy’s doubts about her upcoming trip, Tiffany said, “Tyler and I will pretend to break up when we get back. I’m hoping my sister gets pregnant right away so my parents forget all about my love life.”

  “Could happen, I suppose. I just don’t like lying. Something always seems to go wrong.”

  “Unless I want to end up with the high school peeper or someone who likes to run around in his underwear, I have no other choice.”

  “If it was me, I’d just go and tell everyone to stay out of my business. Or, I’d refuse to go if they continued to give me grief.”

  “I’m not as strong as you. I know I can’t please them all the time, but I hate knowing they’re not happy.”

  “And you think they’ll be happy knowing you and Tyler aren’t dating once you get back?”

  “They’ll be fine as long as my sister gets pregnant. Then they’ll be focused on her.”

  After a moment, Amy nodded. “Okay. I see your point. My parents could talk of little else but babies when I was expecting. I think something happens to parents when they realize they’ll be grandparents. But I still think they’ll want to see you happy. For some reason, parents can’t imagine their children being happy unless they’re married.”

  “I want to get married. I just want the right guy. Sometimes I date for fun until Mr. Right comes along.” And sometimes, late at night when she couldn’t sleep, it did worry her that she might not ever get married. But it wasn’t like she could control when—or if—Mr. Right came into her life.

  Danielle came back and sat down. “Stop being a gloom and doomer, Amy. She needs a date for the wedding, or else her parents will be making her miserable. I say it’s a great plan. Plus, she’ll enjoy it since she’s with a friend.”

  “I just don’t want this to backfire on her,” Amy said, turning to face Danielle.

  “What could go wrong?” Danielle kicked her feet back up on the desk and settled into a comfortable position. “You know what I love most about these seats? The massage function.”

  “Is your mind always on your own comfort?” Amy asked.

  “Pretty much,” Danielle admitted then glanced at Tiffany with a sheepish grin. “You might as well know that I’m incredibly shallow.”

  “And you wonder why I was so excited when Tiffany came to work here,” Amy teased.

  “I’m more than happy to have her here. This way Nathan won’t have to worry that you’re working too hard. I swear, that man pampers you like no one’s business.”

  “I chose to work.”

  “Right. Though I still can’t figure out why. Here you are, stuck in this place, when you could be enjoying an all-day shopping spree. I’ll never understand it. But we were talking about Tiffany, not you. As I see it, this will get her parents to back off, at least for a while. And who knows? Maybe Mr. Right will pop up at any moment. He could even walk right through that door in the very next instant.”

  Just as Danielle gestured to the door, it opened and Tyler came in. Danielle quickly put her feet back on the floor and turned to her computer monitor. Her quick maneuver to look busy, however, wasn’t needed since Tyler didn’t even glance in her direction.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked Tiffany.

  Tiffany glanced at the clock. Was it already 12:30? It didn’t seem like she’d been here half a day already. She stood up and grabbed her purse and coat. “I’ll see you when I get back from Montana,” she told Amy and Danielle.

  “Good luck on your trip,” Amy called out.

  “Yeah, good luck,” Danielle added. “And Tyler, you have perfect timing.”

  Tiffany was sure her face went bright red from Danielle’s comment.

  Tyler turned to Tiffany. “What is she talking about?”

  “Um, she just means we’re on time for our flight,” Tiffany quickly answered and shoved him toward the door.

  “I suppose it could be taken that way,” Danielle replied, wiggling her eyebrows. “Let us know how things go. Now, I’m really interested.”

  Ignoring her, Tiffany followed Tyler out of the small building.

  “Are you ready for this?” Tyler asked as he led her to his car.

  “I should be asking you that.”

  “Sure. I’m ready.”

  He shot her that familiar supportive smile, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d still be smiling once the weekend was over because she was already dreading every single bit of it.

  ***

  “Tiffy!” her mom called out, hurrying for her.

  Tiffany almost turned around as soon as she saw that her parents had brought all of her other relatives along, and considering there were twenty-seven of them, it was no small gathering. What were her parents thinking in bringing everyone here?

  “Hey, where are you going?” Tyler asked as he reached for her hand.

  Realizing she had actually turned around after all, she forced herself to face her family again. At least everyone else had the sense to stay back while her mother ran straight at her. She braced herself the best she could as her mother wrapped her in a smothering embrace. Now, she remembered why she’d left Montana. Her mother had a tendency to be “too motherly” and that didn’t give her a chance to be her own person.

  “Nice to meet you,” her father called out to Tyler. He extended his hand, and Tyler shook it. “So, you’re the new man my daughter’s been dating?”

  Tyler glanced over at her, and she would have shrugged if her mother still hadn’t had her in a death grip. “Yes, sir,” Tyler replied.

  “What’d I tell you?” her father called out to the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who had gathered all around them. “He’s a polite young man, isn’t he?”

  “He’s not so young,” Tiffany’s sister called out. “How old is he? Forty-five?”

  “Forty,” Tiffany clarified.

  Tiffany’s mom finally let go of her. Her mother then proceeded to ambush Tyler. “He’s still young, Zoe,” she said. When the hug ended, she told him, “You’ll have to forgive my youngest daughter. She’s twenty-seven. Everyone under thirty-five is old to her.”

  Zoe rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything as her fiancé came up to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

  “Oh that’s nothing,” her grandma called out. “All you kids look young to a woman in her 80s.” She chuckled and gave Tiffany a hug. “It’s nice to see you again, dear.”

  “It’s nice to see you, too, Granny,” Tiffany replied. And it was. Of all the people in her family, she felt that her grandmother understood her the best.

  “Well, we’re so happy you’re finally dating,” her dad told Tiffany and Tyler. Turning to the others, he added, “They’ve been friends for years. How long has it been since you met him, Tiffany?”

  “Oh, um,” Tiffany did the mental count in her head, “thirteen years.”

  “Thirteen years and suddenly you’re in love,” her mother said with a sigh. “How romantic. Of course, Zoe and Brad are quite the romantic pair, too. They’re getting married, Tyler. Zoe, show them your ring.”

  “I saw the ring in the pictures you sent in the email,” Tiffany said, though it did her no good.

  Zoe was right at her side to show off the sparking large diamond.

  “Saved up a whole year for it,” Brad said. “Zoe almost fainted.”

  Zoe giggled. “I sure did. When I put the thing on, it weighed a ton.”

  “I wanted you to have the best, Zoe.”

  While the others expressed their “ahhs” for the endearment, Tiffany forced down the urge to gag.

  “He’s so good to me,” Zoe told Tiffany and kissed Brad’s cheek.

  “That’s wonderful,” Tiffany replied, not sure w
hat else Zoe wanted to hear.

  Then, one by one, all of her relatives came up to welcome her and Tyler to Montana, and soon after that, they finally made their way down to the baggage claim.

  “You’ll ride with us,” her mother told her and Tyler. “We already made up the guest rooms for you.”

  “Oh, you didn’t have to go through all that trouble for us,” Tyler said after he grabbed their suitcases.

  Tiffany’s dad winked at them. “It’s no problem for someone we’ll be seeing more of in the future, eh Tiffany?”

  Okay, now it was official. She wanted so much for the floor to open up and swallow her. She’d been afraid her parents might throw not-so-subtle hints about them getting married. And now, they were.

  She glanced at Tyler, but one of her uncles was asking him what being the vice president of a company was like. That was good. He was spared her dad’s comment.

  Zoe slid up to her and jabbed her in the side. “I thought you could do better than that.”

  “What do you mean?” Tiffany asked, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn’t overhear.

  “Come on. Glasses. The suit and tie. The neatly trimmed hair. You never dated a nerd before.”

  “He’s not a nerd. He was at work earlier today.”

  “Well, he could at least get some contacts.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with glasses.” Great. Now she felt awful for trying to push Tyler into wearing contacts.

  Zoe laughed, put her arm around her shoulders, and gave her a hug. “Of course, there isn’t. Tomorrow, we’ll see if he wears T-shirts and jeans like the rest of us. No one should be dressed up until the actual wedding.”

  “Tyler dresses nice for every occasion. He’s not a jeans kind of person.”

  “Too bad. The rest of us are, and if he can’t fit in with us, there’s no way Mom and Dad will approve of him.”

  “I don’t care if they approve of him or not.”

  “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  With a sigh, Tiffany followed her family to the parking garage. Three days. All it was going to be was three days. Then Tiffany could return to her nice, quiet life in Omaha.

  Chapter Five

  After Tiffany’s mother showed him to the guest bedroom, Tyler put his things away. He was still baffled by what she’d whispered to him right before she showed him to his room. “Of course, when you and Tiffany get married, you’ll sleep in the same room,” she’d said.

  He hadn’t known what to say, and since Tiffany hadn’t been nearby when it happened, he’d been spared from trying to come up with a polite response. She would have been mortified if she’d known. He decided he wouldn’t tell her. It was bad enough she had to bear with the onslaught of her relatives who had asked her all about the big city. Omaha could hardly be called a big city, but he supposed to people living in a small town, it would be.

  He didn’t understand why they all felt the need to take the hour drive out to Billings to pick them up when they were all going to meet up the next day for Thanksgiving dinner. But then, he came from a small family, so maybe this was something large families did when someone visited from out of town.

  He opened his suitcase and pulled out the suit he’d wear at the wedding. He went to the closet and hung it up. Then he hung up the shirts and slacks he’d brought for tomorrow and Friday. Afterwards, he turned his attention to lining up his toiletry items on the dresser.

  Once that was done, he debated whether or not to venture out into the rest of the house. He didn’t know Tiffany’s family well, and since Tiffany was unpacking in her old bedroom, he was probably better off waiting to see if someone would come by. Or maybe he’d just wait until he heard Tiffany’s voice.

  Sitting on the bed, he pulled out his smartphone and checked his email. One from Nathan caught his attention. He opened it and read, “Here’s another tip for making parents happy. Remember to praise the way your friend’s mother decorates the house. Women like to think they’re good when it comes to domestic duties. More advice will come as I think of it.”

  Tyler shook his head and deleted the email. He saw no reason to encourage either one of Tiffany’s parents. He wasn’t even going to praise her mom’s housekeeping or her parents’ excellent child rearing abilities. The two were already planning out his future visits for goodness’ sakes. There was no way he wanted the not-so-subtle hints to get worse.

  A knock came at his door, and he went to open it. When he saw Tiffany, he relaxed. “How are you holding up?”

  “As good as can be expected,” she replied.

  “I see what you mean about your parents getting on your case about being married. They’re pretty intense.”

  “I’m sorry I brought you into this, but I’m really glad you’re here. I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want to be alone with them.”

  “You owe me big time for this.”

  “Yeah, I know. And I promise to repay the favor.” She glanced down the hallway. “Before they bug us about drinking hot chocolate with them, you want to see what they did to my room?”

  “They fixed it up for your visit?”

  “They did more than that. Well, I should specify. It was my mother. Dad wouldn’t mess with my bedroom.”

  “You got my attention. Okay. Show me what she did.”

  He followed her down the hall to the other room, and she waved him in. He didn’t even have to ask what her mom did. The first thing he saw was a stack of wedding magazines on her dresser. Next to that stack was a book on planning a wedding. Little hearts and balloons decorated the mirror over the dresser. Then when he turned to her bed, he saw a book on how to pleasure her husband in bed. And next to that were two teddy bears, one wearing a bridal dress and the other a groom’s tuxedo.

  Tyler whistled. “Wow.”

  “Wow, indeed,” she replied, crossing her arms. “I have to admit that even for her, I was shocked. I knew she’d be giving hints, but I didn’t think she’d do anything like this. I keep wondering if she’s giving my sister books on baby names and what to expect during pregnancy.”

  “If this is her style, then probably.” Despite himself, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Mind if I take a picture?”

  She gasped. “No.”

  “Oh come on.” He pulled out his smartphone. “Nathan won’t believe it.”

  “I don’t want Nathan to see this.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because he’s the boss of the company I work for.”

  “He’s my boss, too.”

  “Yeah, but he’s also your friend.”

  “Which is why he needs to see this.” He gestured to the room. “It looks like the honeymoon suite in a hotel.”

  “It’s embarrassing.”

  “It’s funny.”

  He held up the phone, but she grabbed it from him. “Don’t you dare,” she hissed.

  Laughing harder, he made a move to retrieve it, but she dodged him. “What if we send it to Beth instead? You two are good enough friends where this would give her a good chuckle.”

  She slipped it in her pocket, a move that successfully made him stop.

  “Fine,” he relented. “You win. Though this is classic. No one’s going to believe it. I bet if I made a video, it would go viral on You Tube.”

  With a groan, she picked up the magazines, books, and bears and slid them all under her bed. “There. Now you won’t be tempted to take a picture or video.”

  “That’s a real shame. Your mom did nothing this crazy in my room.”

  “Good. I wouldn’t want you taking a picture of that either.”

  He supposed he couldn’t blame her for not wanting anyone to see it. He might not either if it’d been his parents.

  Her mother popped her head into her room. “Tiffy, I made hot chocolate for you and Tyler. Come to the living room.”

  “Mom, it’s been a long day. Can’t we do this tomorrow?”

  “This might be the only time you, your dad, Tyler and I can a
ll talk alone. Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving, Friday is the wedding rehearsal, and Saturday’s the wedding. What other time will your father and I have?”

  With a resigned sigh, Tiffany nodded. “Okay. But it’s almost midnight. I don’t want this to go beyond a half hour.”

  “Deal.” Turning to Tyler, her mother added, “She’s quite agreeable most of the time. But you’ve been friends with her for years, so you know that already.” Chuckling, her mother left the room.

  Tiffany shot him a worried glance, so he rubbed her shoulders and whispered, “Saturday isn’t too far away.”

  “I know it, but it feels like it’ll take forever to get here.”

  Slipping his arm around her shoulders, he led her out of the bedroom and down the hall to the living room which was already decorated with a large Christmas tree, glowing candles, and Christmas music.

  “Usually, we get everything set up for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving,” her father said as Tiffany and Tyler sat on the couch. “But since we’ll be getting ready for Zoe’s wedding, we decorated the room earlier today.”

  “This wasn’t the only room that got decorated,” Tiffany muttered under her breath.

  “What was that, dear?” her mother asked as she handed them their cups.

  Tyler accepted his cup, and his eyes grew wide in surprise. He had to admit the whip cream and little chocolate chips were a nice touch. Sure, the woman might go overboard with decorating Tiffany’s bedroom, but she sure knew how to make a great cup of hot chocolate.

  Her mom settled in her chair. “Did you have a good flight?”

  “It wasn’t bad,” Tiffany said.

  “Did you have any problems changing the name on Andy’s ticket?” her dad asked.

  “No. I work at a travel agency. It helps to have access to a work computer for that kind of thing,” she replied then sipped her cup.

  “Well, I never cared much for Andy anyway,” her dad said. “He was always gruff when I called.”

  Tyler didn’t think it was possible, but Tiffany’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “You did what?” she demanded.

  “It was only a couple of times,” her mom spoke up. “And he did it on my behalf. I had to know if you mentioned liking anything so I knew what to get you for your birthday. It’s not every day you turn thirty-five.”