Boo! No being a stick in the mud I’m calling you in 2 minutes
There was no avoiding it. Emmy set her stuff down and kept her phone out knowing that May would make good on the threat. Sure enough, her phone lit up a couple minutes later. She answered and was immediately assaulted by a heartfelt, if not entirely pitch perfect, rendition of “My Heart Will Go On.”
“Gomen,gomen,” May apologized immediately. “Chotto mate.” Emmy waited as requested. She heard a dull sound that must have been a door closing because everything instantly went quiet. “You still there?”
“Yes. Where the hell are you?”
“Rehearsal dinner for the Nash wedding on Friday night. This was the only time they could do it, and they asked the whole team to stick around for a while to make sure there were no hiccups.”
“Uh huh. Celine sounds a little off. Did she forget to warm up?”
“Huh? Oh! Ha. Yeah, that’s the sister of the bride who is convinced she is the next American Idol or X-Factor or whatever. The bride’s a genius. She convinced the sister to sing at the rehearsal instead of the actual wedding. Told her it would be more intimate and personal that way.”
“And she bought it?” Emmy asked.
“Ah… maybe.”
“She’s totally going to grab the mic at the reception,” Emmy predicted.
“Oh, yeah.” May giggled. “It’s the thought that counts?”
“You say that now. Wait ’til I get up on stage on Saturday and start belting out—” She paused, took a deep breath, and let loose with, “I-I-I want to tha-ank you… for giving me the best day of my life.”
“I double dog dare you,” May said after a beat of silence. “I will do your chores for a month if you do that.”
“Don’t think I won’t. That’s a good deal for me. I hate doing dishes.”
“Okay, you’ve distracted me long enough. What did Lucy tell you? I want the full story. Not just the Emmy version.”
Damn. She’d just started thinking she’d gotten May off topic enough where she’d forget to swing back around to the psychic. There was no point in trying to put her off. Emmy decided to get it over with instead. She recounted the details as close as she remembered them.
“Huh,” May said once she’d finished. “That… sounds a lot more dire than mine did.”
“If she really is psychic, then she definitely sensed I wouldn’t be taken in by puppies and rainbows and unicorns.”
“Oh, and I would?”
Emmy winced. “That’s not what I meant. Exactly.”
May laughed. “I absolutely would, and you know it. Not just would.Did.And now I’m getting married on Saturday!”
“Okay, point to you.”
“Yes! I love points! Seriously though, thanks for going. I know you only did it for me. Did you at least have fun?”
“Yeah, I guess. She wasn’t what I expected, I’ll give her that.”
“Wow, high praise coming from you.” May paused. “Oh, shoot. Ando just texted. I have to go. Talk to you later?”
“Yeah. Go do your thing.”
“Later, sweets. Love you.”
“Love you, too.Mata ne.”
That hadn’t been too painful. May was happy. Lucy and her weird Tarot deck were in the past. Emmy was glad towash her hands of the whole thing. She was tired from a day of running around and finalizing wedding plans. It was barely ten when she gave in to fatigue, changed into her cozy pajamas with rubber ducks on them, and scooted under the covers. She’d nearly forgotten about her new novel until she caught sight of it on the nightstand. She had just enough energy left to give it a try, so she cracked it open.
While flipping through the first few pages, she paused on the dedication.
