Any Way You Plan It: An Upper Crust Series Novel

by Monique McDonell

  “You poor thing.” Marissa patted her hand. “It’ll be worth it though.”

  “I know; I keep telling myself that. Then I see someone with two screaming toddlers and I wonder how I’ll cope. Drew is amazing with kids, so we’ll be fine, and I am really excited . . .”

  “I imagine it is just overwhelming and then add hormones.”

  “Exactly.” Tori gave her a wan smile. “I’m glad you were here first. Patty just me with stories of her perfect pregnancies regales and I just feel inadequate.”

  “She was just lucky.”

  “Isn’t she always?” Tori sighed. “So, are you all moved in?”

  “Yes, almost, a few boxes left to unpack, but I’m pretty much in.”

  “I’m so happy for you. I can’t wait to come over and see it.”

  Marissa realized how little she saw of Tori alone these days. She seemed to be constantly in Patty’s wake and even though her tendency to follow everything Patty said was frustrating, deep down Marissa liked Tori.

  “I’ll get you over next week. I was talking to Chloe about maybe organizing some girls’ nights. Not much to do for the younger women in this town.”

  “Great idea. Do it soon. I might not be so mobile in a couple of months.”

  The minute Patty arrived Marissa was aware. For a start, her voice was loud, she liked everyone to notice her, and then she stopped at half the tables like she was the queen or something.

  By the time she made it to them, she was fifteen minutes late.

  “I’m on my lunch break. Can we order first?” Marissa asked.

  “I don’t know what I want,” Patty chimed.

  As the menu had barely changed in their lifetime, it wasn’t that hard. Marissa ignored her and waved over a waitress and ordered some soup as did Tori. Patty settled on a burger.

  “So New Year’s Eve, I assume I’ll be seeing you at the Gold Club dance, Tori,” Patty said.

  “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?”

  “Honestly, I’m so tired I’m not sure I’ll still be awake at eight, let alone midnight,” she said.

  “Well, I don’t think next year is going to be any easier.” Patty sniffed.

  “No, but next year I can get a sitter, can’t exactly leave these two behind right now, can I?” Tori decided to save herself. “What are your plans, Marissa?”

  “Staying in?” asked Patty.

  “Actually, Mike is taking me out, not sure where, it’s a surprise.”

  “Mike? Surely that man has humiliated you enough by now. When are you going to wake up and smell the coffee? I would have thought Christmas Eve’s humiliation would be enough to have you avoiding him all together,” Patty said coldly, adding some sugar to her coffee. She should pour in the whole tub if she wanted to be sweet, Marissa thought.

  “Well, he’s making amends,” Marissa said.

  “You are a fool!” Patty snapped at her. “You’ve wasted years on that man.”

  “Patty!” Even Tori found that a bit harsh.

  “Look, I realize you think I’m an idiot, but the heart wants what the heart wants.”

  “That’s romantic bullshit. You can want it, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get it.”

  She was right, of course, and Marissa could feel her balloon of enthusiasm deflating. Maybe she shouldn’t be even hoping that Mike had come around. Perhaps she was setting herself up for more heartache. Still, maybe this time . . .

  “I think you have to hope,” Tori said. “Remember when I was sure Drew was going to leave me for that third grade teacher, and it just turned out he was helping her settle into town. He was being kind and I got myself all paranoid.”

  “I still think it looked suspicious,” Patty mumbled.

  “I do remember,” Marissa said encouragingly. “And look at you two now.”

  “I’ve never loved a soul like I love Drew, what if I’d let him get away?”

  Exactly. Sometimes you just had to put yourself out there and hope.

  Luckily, the lunch arrived and that created a distraction for a little while.

  “So, you just get dressed and he picks you up?” Patty asked.

  “Yep, that’s how a surprise works,” she said, spooning in the broccoli soup as fast as she could.

  “What if you wear the wrong thing?”

  “Well, hopefully I don’t.” She had a dress already chosen and laid out on her bed along with heels and a bag. She hoped that it would be good enough for wherever they went. She couldn’t help but wonder where that might be.

  “I think it’s romantic,” Tori said. “A little bit of mystery is so exciting.”

  “It’s Mike, how mysterious can it be?” Patty replied.

  “Look, Patty, would it kill you to be supportive?”

  “I am supportive,” she huffed. Marissa and Tori raised their eyes in unison. “I am.”

  Marissa stood and slapped her money on the table. “I need to get back to work, ladies. Have a great New Year’s Eve.”

  “There’s no need to get huffy,” Patty said.

  “I have to go. Sorry. Enjoy the rest of your lunch.”

  And with that, she headed back to the library where she ate yet another granola bar for lunch.

  Chapter 19

  Mike adjusted his tie again in the elevator up to Marissa’s apartment. The truth was he wasn’t really a suit and tie guy. He wasn’t a total slob, but he was pretty happy in jeans most of the time. Still, this was a special night so he’d shaved and ironed an expensive white shirt, donned a bright tie and his best suit. If you were taking the prettiest girl in town out for New Year’s Eve, you needed to look halfway decent.

  He gave the door a gentle knock and waited. He could hear the click click of her high heels across the wooden floor. Then, the door swung open and she stood before him, a perfect vision. Her hair tumbled down her back in a cascade of curls, her dress was a slinky midnight blue with some sort of sparkles around the torso and a split up the thigh, showing off those legs. She looked amazing.

  “Wow,” he said.

  She gave him a twirl. “Will this be okay? I’m not overdressed, am I? I mean, it’s a surprise so I don’t know. I can change.”

  She was babbling. He leaned in and put a hand on each shoulder. “You look amazing.”

  Then, even though he knew he probably shouldn’t, he pulled her in close and kissed her pretty mouth. She tasted like toothpaste, and when she coiled her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, she felt like heaven.

  “I’m already having a good time,” she said, smiling against his mouth.

  “Me, too,” he said, letting her go. “Have you got your coat? We need to get moving.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were getting out of the car at the Golf Club and the valet was taking his keys. Mike rounded the car and took her hand.

  “I can’t believe you brought me to the Golf Club dinner. I’ve always wanted to come. Thank you.” She looked into his eyes with such gratitude. He owed Lucy big time.

  “My pleasure. A little bird told me this might be as close to Cinderella at the Ball as we can do.”

  “You called Lucy?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  She leaned over and thanked him with a kiss on his cheek.

  He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Come on, let’s go find the champagne.”

  Marissa walked into the ballroom holding Mike’s hand. She’d been to the Golf Club before, of course, but the New Year’s Eve event was the pinnacle of local high society, such as it was, and as a single librarian, she’d never made the cut. For years, Patty had regaled her with stories of what she was missing and she was pleased for once to know she would miss nothing. A tuxedoed waiter handed her a drink. She blinked when she realized it was Noah Farmer, one of her former regulars at the library.

  “Thanks, Noah,” she said, giving him a grin. “I didn’t know you were home.”

  “Just for the holidays, back to college in a few days.”

&nbs
p; Mike led her toward their table where Tori and Patty were sitting. Patty gave her a look of surprise and Tori gave her a huge grin.

  “Hi, guys,” she said, smiling. Drew and Jacob both stood and gave her a kiss on the cheek and shook Mike’s hand.

  “This is so great,” Tori said, smiling up at her. “You look amazing.”

  “Thanks,” she said, taking a seat and taking in the room. The roof was lined with organza and fairy lights. Around the edges, large sprays of flowers stood on plinths and every table had a floral centerpiece. “Doesn’t this look pretty?”

  “Looks the same as every year,” Patty snarked. The same woman who had waxed lyrical about the event for ten years. Mike slid into the seat next to her, and she felt his arm come across the back of her chair. He leaned over to talk to Tori.

  “You look lovely, not long to go now.”

  She smiled at him. “I know. I’m scared and excited. Maybe I’ll need to talk to your mom about how to raise twins next time she’s in town.”

  “Yeah, if she ever visits, she’d love that. She tends to stay down in Florida now.”

  “Well, you two guys are so close and always have been. I hope my little ones have that kind of relationship. Knowing you two makes it a little less scary.”

  “You don’t have twins in either family?”

  “Nope, we’re just a fluke, I guess.”

  “Lucky fluke,” Marissa said, smiling. She didn’t know if she would ever have kids but twins didn’t scare her either.

  The band began playing a Michael Bublé song, an old favorite of hers.

  “Want to dance?” Mike whispered in her ear.

  “You hate this song,” she said.

  “You don’t though.” He stood and held out his hand.

  She took it and walked to the dance floor. There weren’t many couples dancing yet. It was early, people were still mingling and arriving, and she felt a little self-conscious, as if all eyes were upon her. The truth was, in this town, she knew or at least half knew everyone at least in passing. Half the people here had witnessed her abrupt exit from Patty and Jacob’s party only a week earlier.

  “You look worried,” Mike said, his hand resting in the small of her back, making her feel warm and tingly.

  “Not worried, I just feel a bit, exposed.”

  “You would, wearing a dress with a split like that,” he teased.

  “Not like that silly,” she replied.

  “I know, it feels kind of like a coming out or a deb ball.”

  “Exactly, not that I had one of those.”

  “I went to one with Sonya Simmons, worst night of my life.”

  “Why did you go?” Sonya was not quite five feet tall, two years their junior, and if Marissa recalled, she had quite a crush on Mike.

  “She asked me. I couldn’t say no. I just didn’t factor in that we’d spend six weeks doing dancing lessons and then the evening with her face at about the height of my crotch.”

  Marissa couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh that had heads turning. “Oh my goodness. That must have been awkward.”

  “Ya, think? Teenage boy surrounded by pretty girls and a girl he had no interest in with her face in his junk.”

  They laughed. “What happened to her?”

  “I assume she became a lesbian and I turned her. I think the evening was more traumatic for her than me.” He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “This is way better.”

  “I sure hope so.” Of course, all she could think about was Mike’s junk.

  Waiters began heading toward the tables, so they weaved their way back to theirs, passing several people they knew and stopping to say hello.

  This was how Marissa imagined her life was supposed to be when she was younger. Handsome date, out in her hometown on New Year’s Eve, hanging out with her friends and catching up with people she knew. Mike’s warm hand rested on the small of her back as he guided her to the table, and everything felt right.

  The food was nice but, honestly, not quite as spectacular as in her imagination.

  “This isn’t as good as our secret restaurant,” Mike whispered, but Patty overheard.

  “You guys have a secret restaurant? Where?”

  “You know how a secret works, right, Patty? We can’t actually tell you,” Mike said, popping a large shrimp into his mouth.

  “Come on, there are no secrets in this town, Mike. Surely you as the local reporter must know that better than anyone.”

  “Yeah, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were?” Drew said. “I mean, it’s nice to keep some things to yourself.”

  “Absolutely,” said Jacob.

  “I, for one, like to know what’s going on,” Patty said.

  And the whole table chimed, “We know.”

  “And what could either of you need to keep secret?” she asked.

  “Our gin distillery?” suggested Drew.

  “Our illicit drug cartel,” added Jacob.

  “You boys are ridiculous!” She turned her attention to Mike and Marissa. “So, you two, what’s the story?”

  “I think you might have hit on a very good example of things people prefer not to discuss,” suggested Tori.

  “They’re out in public, on a date, on New Year’s Eve; it’s not exactly a secret,” Patty huffed.

  Luckily, the mayor, Jacob’s mother, got up to give a speech. Marissa suspected by the bored looks on the faces of the patrons she’d given the same speech every year for a decade.

  Mike leaned in and whispered in her ear, his warm breath giving her tingles, “I think they need to bring back the band.”

  Mike held Marissa in his arms on the dance floor. They’d been up dancing far more than they’d been at the table. They seemed to both know that the company of Patty was as overrated tonight as ever.

  “You know the old adage, be careful what you wish for?” Mike said at one point. “That’s Patty to a tee.”

  “She’s oppressive, that’s for sure. I don’t think she knows.”

  “Oh, I think she has an inkling,” he said, breathing in the sweet scent of Marissa. Tonight she smelled like vanilla and ginger. “You smell so good.”

  She smiled up at him. “Thanks.”

  “Do you always smell this good?”

  “I guess so. I don’t think about it.”

  “If I were you, I’d be sniffing myself all the time.”

  “Yeah, that might be a bit weird, don’t you think?” Okay, maybe she was right. “Thanks for this. For tonight, Mike, I’m really happy we are spending New Year’s Eve together.”

  He gave her forehead a kiss. “Me, too.”

  “Can I ask you a question?” she inquired in hushed tones. “Do you think, you know, if we’d gotten together back in the day, I’d be like Patty?”

  He couldn’t help but laugh. “First, no, never. That’s not you. And second, we wouldn’t have made it if we’d gotten together back then because I was crazy immature and you would have seen through my bullshit and thrown me aside after about six months.”

  “I would not,” she said, wide-eyed.

  “Well, you should have. Todd hasn’t been the only one with a Peter Pan complex.”

  “Why are you growing up now?”

  “Well, Wendy, I didn’t want to be left in Neverland without you.”

  “Oh.” She stopped dancing and looked up at him. “And you’re very sure?”

  Mike had never been surer of anything in his life, which was why he leaned down and kissed her beautiful mouth there on the dance floor with the whole town watching. She didn’t resist him, but she didn’t let him take it too far.

  “The Pirates are circling,” she said as his old boss Frank came from one direction and Patty from another.

  Needless to say, when Frank cut in to dance with Marissa and Patty took him away, he was acutely aware of her absence even though she was only a few feet away. It was a funny thing, he’d taken ten years to get here and now that he’d reached this point, every minute seemed
to count.

  Marissa had always liked Frank. He’d always been sweet to her, and she knew he was the reason that Mike had returned to town after college. Still, she would rather have been dancing with Mike.

  “This is a nice shindig,” Frank said.

  “It is. I haven’t been before.”

  “Well, young lady, I think this may be at least my thirtieth?”

  “Really. That’s. WOW!”

  “Exactly, we don’t get points for imagination, do we?”

  “I’m sure your wives love it,” Marissa said. She knew his wife well enough to know she did.

  “Yeah, maybe. I’m sure if I took her to the Bahamas she’d like that just fine. Anyway, you and Mike, huh?”

  “Maybe.” She didn’t know anything for sure after all.

  “Look, you know I love that kid like my own, but he’s not that bright.” She let out a loud guffaw that had heads turning, including Mike’s. “Come on, you’re the prettiest, sweetest girl in at least two states, and you’ve been right here. The man’s no genius. I love him like a son, but I have kind of wanted to slap him upside the head.”

  “That we can agree on.”

  “Anyway, he might kind of seize up sometime soon, have second thoughts and question a good thing.”

  “You think so, Frank?”

  “Yeah, anyway, he doesn’t deserve you to, honey, but try and be patient.”

  “I will.”

  “Sometimes I want to get on the phone to their mama and tell her to get up here and tell them her poor judgement isn’t hereditary.”

  “They wouldn’t listen,” she said sweetly, even though she’d wanted to do the same thing many times.

  “Very true.”

  The music ended. “Thanks for the dance, honey. And Happy New Year.”

  “Same to you, Frank,” she said, giving him a hug before making her way back to the table.

  Mike was right behind her. “What did Frank have to say?”

  “Just that I was too good for you,” she said over her shoulder to him.

  “I thought he was on my side,” he said, chuckling.