Trouble in Loveland (The Loveland Series Book 1)

by Jennifer Peel

  Krissy and I went from store to store to store. I swore she tried on hundreds of pairs of shoes, but each one had some minor defect, from too much heel, to too little heel, or one had too many embellishments, another not enough. She was driving me crazy, but I was in supportive mode. After the ninth store, I suggested that perhaps some Midol may do us both some good. Thankfully, she laughed instead of hitting me or freaking out on me. It honestly could have gone either way.

  We stopped for lunch, and I loaded her up on protein and foods high in potassium to try and see if we could beat the bloat. I thought she looked great, but she wasn’t thinking rationally, so I was doing my best to try and talk her off the ledge. With some nutrition in her and yes, some Midol, we finally found the perfect pair of shoes at the eleventh store. Chiffon ruched shoes with a tiny crystal embellishment was apparently the ticket. They were beautiful, but they looked like thirteen other pairs she had tried on. And not to be nitpicky, but her ball gown wedding dress was so long, no one was going to see her shoes anyway. Believe me, though, I didn’t mention it.

  With the crisis averted, I went home to get ready for the bachelorette party. This wedding was taking over my life. Bachelorette party tonight, rehearsal dinner tomorrow night, and then all of Saturday would be nothing but wedding. In a way, it was good, it kept my mind off myself. I was still bugged about Ryan. I knew I should forget about him, but my steamy dreams were making it hard. Plus, we spent a lot of time around each other, and besides being physically attracted to him, I liked him. I liked how he treated people at the office with respect and kindness, and I loved how he was with Josh. He was an all-around great guy.

  I was also irked at my mom at the moment. She was supposed to come for the wedding. Krissy had been like a daughter to her, and Ann was a good friend of hers. But no, she and Mark decided to go to Branson, Missouri. Really? The Osmond Brothers were more important than Krissy? My mom was not the woman I had grown up with, and I missed that woman terribly.

  Krissy and Chance promised each other no sleazy bachelor or bachelorette parties, and I’m grateful I had the foresight to book us a spa night. It couldn’t have come at a better time for the bride, or the maid of honor. The Midol was only going so far. I was going to move onto tranquilizers soon, if need be.

  When I opened my garage to leave for the party I had a sweet treat waiting for me. Josh came running up the driveway yelling, “Cherry!” He ran right into my arms.

  I picked him up and squeezed him tight. “What are you doing?”

  “Can I jump?”

  I looked between him and his dad who now stood close. “Sure, but your daddy will have to jump with you today. I’m leaving.”

  “Where are you headed to?” Ryan asked.

  “Bachelorette party.”

  He nodded. “I remember you mentioning that now. I take it you won’t be in any shape to run in the morning.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s not that kind of party.”

  “So, I’ll see you in the morning?” There was some anticipation in his voice.

  “If you’re lucky.”

  Ryan took Josh out of my arms, but not before I kissed his cute cheeks. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Okay.” He wasn’t making it easy for me not to think about him.

  “Bye, Josh.”

  “Bye, Cherry.”

  “Bye, Ryan.”

  He looked at me for a moment. “Bye, Charlee. Be safe tonight.”

  I cocked my head slightly at his concern. He didn’t sound brotherly, and I liked it. “I don’t think I can get into too much trouble at the spa, but I’ll tell the masseuse to be gentle.”

  He shook his head from side to side and laughed.

  I watched him and Josh walk toward the park. I guess Ryan wasn’t in a jumping mood.

  See how hard it was not to think of him? My insides were like goo. I reminded myself he was dating Jacquelyn, and took off to indulge in some much needed relaxation.

  I struck a deal with the spa, so it would only be the bridal party. I admit, my dad’s credit card helped there. He told me to think of it as part of Krissy’s wedding gift. The place was great enough to let us have dinner delivered there. I was the first one there to make sure everything was set up and ready to go. I wanted to make sure Krissy had a stress-free, fun night. It was only going to be her four other bridesmaids, Dana, Amy, Tasha, and, her sister, Maviny, and then the two of us.

  Everything was in order, right down to the salads and lemon water I’d ordered. As soon as the party arrived, we ate, and then we were whisked away for some serious pampering. We started with mani-pedis. We sat in a long row of chairs and talked and giggled like women do when they get together. Most of the conversation revolved around men, and mainly our celebrity crushes.

  Maviny was the most vocal. “I’m telling you, Adam Levine is like the hottest man on the freaking planet.”

  “Yeah, he’s sexy, but I could never be with a man who has thinner thighs than me,” I countered.

  Everyone laughed, but it was true. I thought about Ryan’s perfectly muscular legs and how lucky I was to see them almost every day as we ran.

  “So who do you like?” Maviny asked me.

  I gave her a wry grin. “We’re not in junior high.”

  She smiled evilly. “That’s okay, we all know.”

  “You all know what?”

  “My mom told us about the time you spend with Ryan Carter.”

  “Your mom needs to get some shades for the windows in your house.”

  Maviny and Krissy laughed.

  “So, who’s Ryan?” Dana asked.

  “He’s no one.”

  “Don’t listen to her,” Krissy said. “She’s only been in love with him since we were fourteen.”

  I threw my head over to Krissy and gave her the vilest look on the planet. That was a secret. Like lock-in-the-vault secret between best friends. She at least had the decency to look a little ashamed.

  “Wow!” Maviny exclaimed. “I didn’t know that. Isn’t he like way older than you?”

  “Ooh, an older man,” Tasha threw in.

  I was suddenly not enjoying myself. The worst part was that I couldn’t even let Krissy have it because she was the guest of honor and PMSing. I picked up the magazine next to me and started perusing it in hopes of ignoring them all. That was a nice thought, but . . .

  “So are you bringing Ryan to the wedding?” Amy asked.

  “No.” I spoke into the magazine.

  “He’s coming, though,” Krissy informed her friends. “He’s bringing someone else.”

  “Ouch,” they all echoed each other.

  I was beyond annoyed now. I lowered the magazine. “For your information, Ryan and I are just friends. He thinks of me like a sister. The time we spend together is purely platonic and,” I glared over at Krissy, “I’m not in love with him.” I just really, really liked him and he made me feel like I’m on fire when I’m around him, but no one needed to know that.

  “So we need a plan for how to take care of this other woman at the wedding,” Dana said.

  I shook my head. “No, no, no.” But no one was listening to me. They were coming up with idiotic things like accidentally spilling wine on her. The more I objected to their lunacy, the more it fueled them. When this wedding was over, Krissy was getting smacked. I felt like we were in high school again and I was afraid that the guy I liked would find out I liked him before I knew if he liked me. The worst part was I knew the guy didn’t like me like that, and it would be way more uncomfortable if Ryan ever found out that I had feelings for him that went beyond friendly.

  “I’ll point him out to you guys at the wedding,” Maviny offered.

  I got up with my newly painted toe nails and carefully headed over to the drying table. They all called after me, but I ignored them.

  I thought we were supposed to be talking about the bride and groom, not teasing the maid of honor, who by the way paid for all of them tonight. So my dad help
ed, but that still counted, right? This was some way to be paid back. I probably should have been a better sport about it, but I knew it was never happening between Ryan and me and I was disappointed by it.

  When we were done and walking out together, Krissy held me back and hugged me as tight as she could. “Thanks for being the best friend ever. I’m sorry for spilling the beans about Ryan.”

  “It’s fine. I love being humiliated.”

  “Don’t worry, what happens at bachelorette parties, stays at bachelorette parties.”

  I scrunched my face at her.

  “Seriously, CJ. Don’t worry about it. And besides, if Ryan doesn’t see how amazing you are, then he’s an idiot.”

  I hugged her one more time. “Okay, bridezilla, you better get home and get some rest. Tomorrow’s another big day. Make sure you bring your happy pills to the dinner.”

  She smacked me on the arm. “I love you.”

  “I know, and I suppose I still love you.”

  I got in my car and sighed. I was tempted to head straight for ice cream, but then I thought of that Barbie dress I was expected to wear and breathe in. All I knew was Sunday I was eating ice cream with every meal in between sleeping. I was exhausted.

  Not exhausted enough to miss my run with Ryan, though. He kind of got my blood flowing. I met Ryan back behind the fence, per our usual. And per his usual, he looked perfect. I wondered if he knew how attractive he was. He didn’t act like one of those men that knew he was God’s gift to women. In a lot of ways he acted unassuming. Even at the office, where he was number two, you would have thought he was just another accountant. He was approachable and more than happy to help when a problem arose. Like the other day, when our intern, Garrett, practically had a meltdown because he filled out a 940 instead of a 941 and transmitted it to the IRS. Ryan stepped in and first, calmed him down and then explained to him how to go about correcting it. Ryan could have easily scolded him for filing an annual form versus a bi-weekly form, but he didn’t. In fact, he helped him find some humor in it, and then he took the guy out to lunch. I thought maybe I should make some errors so Ryan would take me out to lunch. Unfortunately, I was a perfectionist when it came to my job that I didn’t love, not to mention the boss’ kid, so the fewer mistakes, the better for everyone.

  I did think, though, about all the lunch hours he had spent helping me study for that ridiculous CPA exam I didn’t want to take. He had even worked up a study guide and flash cards for me. I’m sure he spent hours on both. I had asked him why last week and he actually said something witty like, “It was the neighborly thing to do.” But then those green eyes of his bore right into me and he touched my hand. “Charlee, I—”

  “You what?” I smiled.

  He had squeezed my hand. “I just want you to do well. In fact, I know you will. I think you may know this stuff better than me.”

  Suddenly, I was brought out of the memory.

  “Did the masseuse go easy on you last night?” Ryan jogged beside me.

  I shook my head and refocused in on the present. “Yes, it was heavenly.”

  “You know, it’s so weird for me to think that Krissy is getting married. She’s just a kid in my mind.”

  I threw him a dirty look. “Krissy and I are the same age, and it’s not like you’re that much older than us.”

  He looked over at me, surprised. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “I’m not offended.” I was ticked that he thought of me like a kid.

  He cracked a smile. “You know, I’m almost a whole decade older than you.”

  “Well, you really rounded up there, didn’t you?”

  “I never knew you were so touchy about your age.”

  “I’m not touchy.”

  He stopped running and tugged on my arm. “Is something bothering you? You seem . . . unhappy.”

  I stopped and stared into his eyes as we both jogged in place, and I inadvertently touched my arm where his hand had touched me; it left an invisible mark. For a second I wanted to lay it all out there and let him reject me to my face, on the very off chance he could ever see me as something more than a kid, but I didn’t. “I’m sorry. I’m really stressed out, with wedding stuff, you know.”

  He smiled like he got it. “Just wait until it’s your turn, then you’ll really know what stress is.”

  “I’ve decided I’m not having a wedding, at least not like any I’ve ever been a part of.”

  “Let me guess, weddings are too boring for you.”

  “Very good, and don’t forget pretentious and ridiculously costly.”

  He laughed at me, and I took that as my cue to begin running again. As much as I wanted to stay there with him all day and listen to him laugh, I had a full day on tap.

  “So, what kind of wedding do you want?” He stuck close by my side.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I haven’t put that much thought into it.”

  “Sure you haven’t.”

  I nudged him with my shoulder. “Not every woman is obsessed with getting married, thank you very much.”

  He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. “You’re an unusual girl, so maybe I’ll believe you.”

  “Did you just call me an unusual girl?”

  “I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

  “You know, I think we should just run.” I faced forward and put a little more effort into my running and pulled ahead of him slightly.

  He lagged behind for several seconds before he decided to catch up. He didn’t say anything until we were almost back to our houses. “Hey, Charlee. I didn’t mean anything by unusual. Really, I think you’re a great girl.”

  I turned and gave him an ice-cold stare. “I’m not a girl.”

  His eyes widened.

  I walked off without another word and disappeared behind my gate.

  As soon as I was safely away from him, I stopped, bent over, and tried to get a hold of my emotions. I felt so stupid. I don’t know why I snapped like that. He looked at me like I had lost my mind, and I had. I took some deep breaths, but it wasn’t helping. I gave up and walked into the house.

  There sat my dad. “Hey, baby girl. How was your run?”

  “Don’t ask.”

  He tilted his head. “What’s wrong?”

  I walked to the refrigerator without answering and pulled open the door with a vengeance.

  “Hey, what did that refrigerator ever do to you?”

  “Sorry, Dad.”

  “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  I spun around to face my dad. “Say you just met me, would you say I look like a girl?”

  My dad opened his mouth, not sure what to say. “Is this a trick question?”

  “No, Dad!”

  My dad stood up and walked over to me with extreme caution. He stopped just short of me. “Honey, you look all girl to me, I don’t know how anyone could mistake you for anything else.”

  I started laughing. He wasn’t getting it.

  My dad shook his head confused.

  “Never mind, Daddy.” I kissed his cheek and left to get ready for the day.

  “What time do we need to be at the rehearsal dinner tonight?” he called after me.

  “Six.”

  “Okay. I’ll be home early.”

  “Sounds good. Have a good day.”

  “You too, baby girl. And if anyone mistakes you for a boy again, tell them to come see me.”

  I shook my head and headed down the stairs. Men were so dense sometimes.

  Chapter Eight

  I was happy to have my dad by my side for the rehearsal dinner. I was beginning to feel very out of place. It seemed like everyone had someone; even Mason and Maviny had dates, and, all the other bridesmaids had boyfriends. Krissy offered to set me up with someone, but I didn’t think this was the proper venue for blind dates. It was pointless, anyway, since I couldn’t get Ryan out of my head. Ryan. The man who saw me as a child, Ryan. I was so dumb!

  I walked up the stairs in my little black
dress and the red strappy heels. I wanted to practice walking in them down the aisle tonight.

  My dad was waiting for me on his recliner, but stood as soon as I entered the family room. “Wow, honey! You’re gonna give your old man a heart attack looking like that.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” I ran my fingers through my beach-waved hair. If this dress gave him a heart attack, tomorrow’s dress was going to be aneurysm worthy.

  He held out his arm to me. “Shall we go?”

  I nodded my head yes and put my arm through his. He reached across and patted my hand. “You remind me of your mom when she was your age, but don’t tell her, I think you’re even more beautiful.”

  “Thanks, Daddy.”

  “So …” My dad reached for my hand on our drive over to the country club, where the wedding would be the next day, and where the rehearsal dinner was being hosted. “I had an interesting conversation with Ryan today at lunch.”

  I looked down at my hooker heels. “Oh, really?”

  “Yes, and your inquiry in the kitchen now makes more sense.”

  I sighed aloud, mostly out of embarrassment.

  My dad chuckled. “Do you like Ryan?”

  I whipped my head toward my dad. “Does Ryan think that?” I was in full panic mode.

  My dad smiled at me. “No . . . but he’s awfully confused about why you’re upset with him. Which is surprising, because I thought he was smarter than that.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I may be old, kiddo, but I can still tell when someone is attracted to another person.”

  I cringed. “Have I been that obvious?”

  “Neither of you have done a very good job of hiding it.”

  I shook my head. I was sure I’d heard my dad wrong.

  My dad noticed and laughed again. “Yes, both of you.”

  “Ryan isn’t attracted to me, Dad. He thinks of me like a little girl.”

  “Believe me, CJ, he recognizes that you’re a woman. I don’t think he wants to admit it to himself, but there’s no doubt he notices you. Why do you think he spends so much time at our house now? I can assure you, it’s not me.”