“The taco truck vendor I met with earlier had the most amazing food. He’s at a street fair tonight, and I thought we could all go. Unless you have other plans.”
He stuck his work keys in his pocket and walked over, crouching down to rest his arms on the open driver window. He kissed Rebecca’s cheek. “Well, I did have this hot date with a running toilet Shannon’s been complaining about. I should probably work on that.”
Bridger cupped his hands around his mouth. “Boo. Down with toilets.”
Jay laughed. “All right. You’ve convinced me. Is there room back there for me?”
Bridger eagerly scooted over for him, and they talked about school and possible names for their garage band while Rebecca drove and Shannon navigated.
Several streets were blocked off for the fair, and Rebecca turned into a paid parking lot. Jay jumped out to pay the meter.
“This is very adventurous of you,” he said, taking Rebecca’s hand as she joined him. Bridger was already tugging on Shannon’s hand, trying to drag her over to a bounce house, so they all headed in that direction.
“Shannon and I agreed that at least one night a week, we should all do something besides doze off in front of the TV.”
He gave her hand a squeeze. “Making out in front of your TV doesn’t count?”
She slapped his arm. “Um, no. Though I do enjoy that, too.”
Yeah, he enjoyed it so much, it was getting harder and harder to leave at night. The family living above Rebecca didn’t allow overnight guests, and he and Rebecca had agreed to take things slow anyway. Yet, here he was walking around with an engagement ring in his pocket. That didn’t exactly count as taking things slow, did it?
***
After Rebecca dropped Jay, Shannon, and Bridger back at his car, she drove to her apartment, smiling when she saw Ian’s car parked in her spot. Despite planning every detail of his wedding, she hadn’t seen much of him in weeks.
She pulled in next to him and went to go see the damage to the contents of her fridge. If she didn’t love him so much, she’d demand he return the key she’d given him.
Sure enough, he looked up from the kitchen table when she walked in, sandwich in hand, and assorted bags of chips facing him in a half-circle.
“Did you make a sandwich for me?” she asked.
“Um, the ham is all gone, but I could make you a PB and J.”
Rebecca shook her head. “I’m just kidding. We ate at a street fair and I’m stuffed.” She hung up her purse, kicked off her shoes, and put them away.
Normally, Ian talked her ear off, but he just sat there eating, turning the pages of herHome and Gardenmagazine while she stood in front of him. “I haveModern WeddingandBridal Guidewhen you get done with that one.”
“I don’t want to look at those,” Ian answered matter-of-factly. He sighed and took another bite of his sandwich. “Winnie left.”
Rebecca dropped into the chair across from him. “Left to go where?”
“I don’t know. Away from me. She said it didn’t matter if she had the perfect wedding if she didn’t have the perfect groom. And then she left. I’m not chasing after her, so you can stop grinding your teeth now.”
“How could she do that? You’re supposed to be getting married in three days. I need to make some phone calls.”
Ian put out his hand. “Don’t bother with it tonight. Grandma knows, and that’s what’s important. She’s decided it’s no longer a priority to pay for my condo, or my phone, or my credit card. She said I stopped wooing Winnie the second we got engaged and I haven’t been ‘involved’ enough in the planning for Winnie to know that I care.”
Rebecca squeezed her hands into fists, knowing being right about everything was not going to be an asset in this situation. I-told-you-so was pretty much dancing in lights above their heads, but she would not say it. “Don’t listen to her. It’s not your fault. It was easy for Winnie to walk away last minute because Grandma was paying for everything. And how can she demand a perfect groom? Like she’s perfect.”
Ian pushed his plate away. “It was easy to walk away because she doesn’t love me anymore. Maybe she never did.”
Rebecca bit her tongue. Anything more she said wouldn’t help. She picked up Ian’s plate and started tidying up around him, mentally going through her list of what had to be done: calling everyone who had RSVP’d, mailing back gifts already sent out, canceling the band and the professional dancers. The deposits would be lost, and rightfully so. The same went for the florist, the photographer, the cake baker, the caterer, etc.
She glanced back at the miserable look on her brother’s face and realized she was worried about the wrong thing.
“What can I do for you, Ian?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Nothing right now. Can I crash on your couch?”
