Chapter Ten

We all sat at the dining room table and ate the delicious food Trini had made. The ginger chicken was cooked with the perfect blend of spices that paired well with the scallions and kale she made to go with it. If she wasn't such a skilled scientist, I would have told her to try her hand at being a professional chef. Her skills were more aimed in the area of chemistry than they were in cooking though, something she would tell us all the time when we were younger. Everyone enjoyed the food though, especially the strawberry swirl cake she had made for dessert. It felt like we had eaten at a fancy eatery rather than Trini and Jason's house. It made me think of the Asian restaurants in Miami my aunt and I used to go to before she was sick.

After eating, we found ourselves sitting on the back patio. The sun was setting over the backyard, casting tall shadow over everything around us. Kat, Trini and I sat at the table, talking over flower options and where we could go for tuxes. Jason and Tommy had escaped the wedding talking, hiding by the garage. Now and then, I caught Tommy's eye when he glanced in our direction. I couldn't tell if it was from him or the wine, but it made me grin like an idiot each time he did it. He would smile back before turning to look at Jason who in turned rolled his eyes once or twice. Turning my attention back to Kat, I listened as she drabbled on about wedding plans.

Was I out of my wind for agreeing to this? Maybe. Was I doing this out of good intentions? Sadly, no. At first, I was going to tell her she was out of her damn mind for asking me. Like, for real. I am his ex-girlfriend. Why on earth would I want to help plan this wedding? But then, she mentioned that Tommy would be needing the help. Selfish me thought for a moment that it would be the perfect chance to spend more time with him. I didn't think that it would lead him into breaking up with her or realizing he still loved me. I wasn't the cold hearted even if I tried to be. Just the thought of making up for some of that lost time that I gave up made my decision for me. Granted, it would be to help him plan his wedding, but it was still time with Tommy just the same. And I do love weddings. Maybe if I pretended hard enough that it wasn't theirs, it wouldn't be that hard.

"Shoot. It's getting kinda late. I still have so much to do before heading back to London." Kat said, looking at her watch. She stood, sliding the notebook and binder towards me. "I'll leave these here, so you can have them tomorrow for the country club. I'll make sure Tommy swings by to get you about noon. Try to make sure he looks presentable. You and I both know how Tommy can be." She grinned at me, turning towards the boys. "Tommy! Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Give me one sec." He called back. She rolled her eyes, facing Trini and I again.

"Kim, thank you again so much for agreeing to help us. I was so worried that our wedding would be something rushed and tacky. I know you'll do your best though." I smiled at her, picking up the notebook and binder.

"No problem." I replied. Trini and I stood as the boys headed towards the patio. Kat gave me a quick hug, giving Trini one as well. She waved at Jason before heading inside the house. Tommy waved at us before following after his fiancé. The backdoor closed, Trini and Jason both looking at me like I had committed a felony when it did.

"Are you out of your damn mind?" Jason asked, resting his arm on the railing next to him. "You're going to plan their wedding?"

"I guess." I replied, shrugging my shoulders. I hugged the notebook and the binder to my chest, sighing.

"Girl, I told you not to be something you're not. Instead of laying low, you just cannon balled right into the middle of this whole thing." Trini said, scooping up the wine glasses on the table.

"I know. I didn't know what else to say. If I said no, it would have crushed Kat and made her think I still had feelings for Tommy."

"Cause you do." Jason cut in, raising an eyebrow at me. I glared in his direction.

"You are going to make yourself miserable doing this, Kim." Trini said, taking a step towards me. "Are you sure you can handle this?" I nodded, trying to give her and Jase the impression I was going to be fine. Maybe if I tried hard enough, I would believe it too.

"Guys, relax. I've got this all under control. I will give them the best wedding I can and then, once they are gone, I can work on getting my shit together. I mean, it's just a wedding. How hard can it be?" I asked, heading inside. They didn't follow, the backdoor swinging shut behind me. I rolled my eyes, knowing they were going to talk more about me and the situation. I got that they were worried about me, but this was something I knew I could do. It was something I wanted to do in a weird way.

I walked towards the living room and heard voices. Confused, I peeked around the doorway and saw Kat and Tommy standing in the foyer. There was a frown on Tommy's face as Kat spoke.

"I don't understand why you don't think this is a good idea. She's excited to do this!"

"Because it's my ex-girlfriend, Kat. It's not like she is just a friend." Tommy said, running a hand through his hair.

"Tommy, you are the only one who is still hung up on that. You guys are fine. It's all water under the bridge. You're friends now and she wants to help us out." It might be water under the bridge for them, but it was still on my mind every damn day.

"You don't get it. She's been through a lot since the last time we saw her. I just don't want to make our problems hers." Kat rolled her eyes, looking up at him.

"If she wanted to say no, she would have. Do you not trust her to do a good job or something? Or do you just not want her around?" My chest tightened at the idea. Did he not want my help because he didn't want to spend time with me? Was he truly not over what I had done to him?

"No. It's not that. It's just that you went and asked her without even asking me if I was okay with it. You made a decision for us without including me, again. That shit has to stop if we're going to be married, Katherine. You do it all the time and I can't stand it." He replied, a stern look on his face.

"Well, excuse me for trying to make our wedding perfect. Please forgive me for trying to do whatever I can to make sure the happiest day of our lives is the best I can be. I'm not the one who insisted on getting married here in California. I wanted to do it in London, but you just had to have your friends there."

"I'm not getting into this here." Tommy muttered, shaking his head. "I'm tired of having this same fight with you."

"Because you know I'm right!" She exclaimed. "Face it, Tommy. You are just afraid that Kimberly is going to see how pathetic you think you are now that you aren't a power ranger." I watched as Tommy shrank back at the harsh comment. "No one cares that you aren't one anymore except for you. If she cares about you at all, she won't either. And her opinion shouldn't matter that much to you anyway. I'm going to be your wife. I should come first." Reaching out, she grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open. She stormed out, slamming the door behind her. Tommy let out a line of curse words under his breath, rubbing his face with his hands. I wanted to go after her and show her a thing or two about respect, but I didn't. I set the notebook and binder I was holding down and quietly entered the room.

"Tommy?" I asked softly. He turned, looking surprised to see me standing there. "You okay?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm okay. Just some wedding stuff going on, that's all." He replied, giving me a small smile. "She's just stressed with the move and everything."

"Right." I said, nodding my head. "Well, hopefully me helping will take off some of the pressure. Are you okay with me helping?" He raised an eyebrow at me, looking confused. "With everything that's happened between us…will it be too weird for you?"

"No. I don't think so." He said, shaking his head. He tucked his hands in his pockets. "Though, that's a conversation we should have. Kim, when you left-." He was interrupted by the sound of a horning beeping outside. He rolled his eyes, glancing out the window of the front door. "I should go. She'll keep doing it if not." He faced me again. "I'll be by to pick you up tomorrow about 12. Is that alright?"

"Sure."

"Okay." He opened the door, stepping half way through it. "We can talk more about it tomorrow then." I nodded, wanting to do everything but talk about the past.

"Sounds good to me."

"Bye, Kim."

"Bye, Tommy."