ME:Crossing fingers and toes and anything else I can manage!!
At the salon, we talk Nonna into having her nails painted a soft pink with a touch of glitter. Olivia and I choose the same color. They wash and style her hair, and there’s even a woman who applies her makeup.
By the time we’re headed back to Nonna’s, we only have about an hour or so to get dressed and get to the club.
Olivia has her change of clothes with her, so we share the guest bathroom and help each other with our makeup.
“As many bad dates as I’ve had this week, I shouldn’t be worried about who Papa picked, but I am,” I say while Olivia carefully runs black liquid eyeliner across the edge of my upper right lid. Applying liquid eyeliner takes a skill I don’t possess.
“Shhh, or I’m going to mess this up,” she says. “And it won’t matter. You can ditch whoever it is, since we’ll all be there. It’s wreaking havoc with the betting, by the way. Everyone is fighting for the ten-to-ten-thirty spots.”
I’d roll my eyes if I could, but she’s got one of the lids stretched too tight. “I’m going to blow everyone’s chances and stay out with whoever it is past midnight.”
Olivia steps back and looks at me. “Really? Do I need to change my bet?”
“Oh my God, no,” I say.
Since everyone is scrambling with last-minute duties for the party, the front hall is blessedly empty, except for Nonna, Papa, Olivia, Charlie, and me. But judging by the way Charlie is glued to his phone, I have no doubt that everyone in the family is getting a play-by-play.
“Papa and Nonna, y’all are looking pretty hot,” Olivia says. And they do. He’s in black slacks and a crisp white button-down shirt under a sea-green pullover sweater. She’s wearing dark charcoal fitted pants with tall black boots and a silvery-looking top.
“You two look smashing!” Olivia says in the worst British accent ever.
“We clean up nicely, I think,” he says, looking at Nonna. She looks back at him, her eyes crinkling, and I feel myself grinning.
The doorbell rings. Papa clasps his hands together, and his face lights up with utter joy.
But I’m just shocked when the door swings open and Wes is standing there.
I can’t hide the smile that spreads across my face. “Wha—”
“Wes, what are you doing here?” says Papa. “Where’s Peter?”
And then disappointment hits me like a hammer. Peter is a guy who works at the shop. He was in the group of possible candidates Olivia and I had narrowed down.
“Peter got sick at work right as we were closing up. Really sick. He threw up all over the break room.” He gives me a confused smile. I realize he can read the disappointment on my face, and I want to rush to tell him that he’s wrong—that I wanted it to be him.
He looks back at Papa and continues, “So I told him I would come over here and let you both know.”
Papa looks crushed. “Oh, Sophie! I’ve let you down.”
I rush to his side and give him a hug. “Not at all, Papa. It might have been weird to have a date at Nonna’s party, anyway. This was meant to be, I promise.”
Papa hugs me back, then turns to Wes. “Well, maybe not all is lost! Wes can escort you. I know you’re only friends but…”
Before Papa can finish, Laurel walks in behind Wes. “Hey!” she says to us, then turns to Wes. “Your mom told me you walked over here. I’m ready when you are.”
Wes is bringing Laurel to the party. The realization hits me like a gut punch. His eyes flick to mine for a second or two, and he looks like he wants to say something. Instead, he turns to Papa. “We’ll see you there, I guess.”
And then they’re gone.
According to Charlie, who is currently in the backseat of Olivia’s car, there’s a great debate over the winner of tonight’s bet. Some are saying that whoever had the closest spot to seven wins, while others think it’s null and void since there wasn’t an actual date.
“Just roll it over to tomorrow and the winner gets double the usual pot,” Olivia says.
He passes that message along, then says, “Okay, everyone’s cool with that.”
“Why was Laurel with Wes? I thought that was over,” Olivia asks Charlie.
