Wade chatted with Harv while they waited for their ladies to return from the restroom, he was still grinning over her reaction to the necklace. "She loved it, Harv. I thought she was going to cry."

"See, you knew it was perfect, why were you obsessing over it? I thought I was going to have to share my TUMS with you," he said with a smirk.

"Hey, I thought you were all better, why do we still need TUMS?" Abby asked nervously.

Marci laughed and squeezed her hand, "No, silly, he was making fun of this big goof who was terrified you wouldn't like that stunning necklace."

"Well, I think terrified is a rather strong word," Wade said sheepishly.

Abby looked up at Wade, her eyes glittering, "You were really worried? It's gorgeous, its hands down the most beautiful piece of jewelry I've ever owned."

"Excuse me! Ms. DiNardo! A picture of you and your date please?" The event photographer called out, his camera ready to snap away.

Wade snorted, "Well that's a change, normally its Mr. Barrett and his date." He put his arm around her and rested his hand protectively on her hip, "Come now, love, make it look like you adore me."

"Of course I adore you, my big goof," she laughed placing her hand on his chest and smiling for the camera.

"Now all four of you," he shouted waving his hands towards Harv and Marci. The two couples stood close and posed. "Check the website tomorrow," he yelled over his shoulder as he made his way through the ballroom looking for his next shot.

Abby stood on her tiptoes and kissed Wade on the cheek, "Come on, let's go check out the hors-d'oeuvres."

"That's my girl, always has her priorities in order."

"What? If it wasn't for that photographer, we'd be eating by now!" she exclaimed as her stomach let out a growl.

After chatting with acquaintances and business associates and filling up on appetizers, the two couples picked up their place cards and found their table in the middle of the dining room, they settled down and fell into a comfortable conversation. The server placed their salad plates down and Marci immediately gave Harv her tomatoes and he scooped his onions out of his dish and into hers.

"Awww, see, that's love right there," Abby said. "You really need to love someone in order to share your food."

Wade rolled his eyes, "So, the way to your heart is by plopping some sad looking cherry tomatoes in your dish?"

"Ew, no! More like some juicy shrimp!"

"Listen," Marci said pointing her fork at her brother-in-law, "you two are just as lovey dovey and if you don't watch it, I'm gonna start pointing it out every single time."

"We are not lovey dovey!" Abby said pointing her fork back at Marci.

Harv let out a booming laugh, "Yeah, OK, sure, that's why my brother has a wallet filled with Shout stain remover wipes."

"That's a survival tool!" Wade responded dryly.

"Rude, so rude," Abby said pretending to pout.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead, "But, I've saved some of your favorite shirts with my secret stash, haven't I love?"

She grinned and squeezed his thigh, "And I believe I've shown you how much I appreciated that, haven't I?"

"See! That's it! Right there!" Marci said, "Look at you two, you know there's other people here, right?"

"There certainly are other people here," a voice said from behind. Wade groaned loudly, he knew the voice instantly, he didn't even need to turn around. Harv and Marci groaned too, Abby turned around saw a tall, leggy blond in a skin tight purple cocktail dress and sky high stilettos staring a hole into her, she turned back and looked at her companions in utter confusion.

"Who?"

"Go away, Summer," Marci said rudely.

"Well, I see you haven't domesticated her yet," she said tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Hi Wade," added in a singsongy voice.

He grunted and pulled Abby closer to him, still not even bothering to turn around. "Looks like he doesn't want to talk to you," Marci blurted out, "So, I'll repeat myself – go away, Summer."

She huffed and turned away, leaving the two couples in a strained silence. Abby opened her mouth to ask what the hell just happened when the waiter returned again with their main courses, "Who ordered the fish?" he asked as he set the large tray down on a stand near the table.

They all had their dinners in front of them and Abby decided to let it go for the time being since she had an amazing filet mignon and mashed potatoes sitting in front of her. She poked Wade with her elbow and wiggled her eyebrows at him when he looked over at her.

"I love you, Abs," he said with an oddly serious tone.

"Is that your way of asking to taste my steak?"

"Not really, but if you are offering…"

"Nope! But I do love you too."

He shook his head and turned back to his dish, he tried his best to make it look like he was eating, but really his blood was boiling. How dare she come up to him like this and after all these years, who does she think she is? He felt his brother eyeing him so he looked up, Harv looked at him and then over at Abby who was quietly eating her dinner and very obviously trying not to spill anything. Wade looked over at her and couldn't help but smile, god he loved that woman, he nodded at his brother. He got it, Harv was reminding him that he had the perfect woman sitting next to him and not to fuck it up.

"Dammit!' Marci muttered and grabbed her napkin, "I love this dress."

"No! Don't rub," Abby said, "Come on, I'm an expert at these things."

"Ugh, its lemon butter sauce from the fish, it's never going to come out."

"Why do you think I ordered the steak?" Abby said taking the Shout wipes from Wade's tux jacket pockets.

"Because you love steak," Wade said patting her ass as she walked by.

"See! Again!" Marci said rolling her eyes as Abby dragged her off to the ladies room.

"Well, I do like steak," Abby admitted once they were in the ladies room, "But really, its because it rarely has sauce on it, and once I get a dish full of sauce, its only a matter of time before I spill it."

Marci laughed, "You two really are perfect together, I was teasing before, you know that, right?"

Abby looked up at her friend, "Of course I do! I just wonder how long this whole thing will last."

"What do you mean? With Wade?" Marci asked gently, noticing the little bit of sadness that crept into Abby's voice.

"Well, yeah, I mean, with women like that blond out there, I know I'm not his type," she said patting the stain gently and fanning her hand over it to hurry up the drying process.

"Sweetie, you have nothing to worry about, especially not from that thing."

Abby frowned and looked from Marci back down to the stain on her dress, "There, its good as new, lets go on back to the boys."

"Impressive, you can barely see it," she said in awe.

"Yup, we are the only ones who know it's even there."

They walked out of the ladies room and made their way back to the table, "My brother in law is head over heels in love with you," Marci said, "He wouldn't know what to do without you."

Abby froze dead in her tracks, her jaw dropping, "I know what he would do," she whispered.

Marci looked up and saw Summer draped across Wade drinking champagne from his glass and toying with his tie. "Oh hell no," Marci growled and stalked back to the table. "Hell. No."

"Thank goodness, Marci, get her the bloody hell off me," Wade growled when he saw her glowering at them.

"OK, OK, no reason to be all angry about it," Summer giggled. She set the champagne glass down on top of Abby's dinner dish and stood up, tugging her dress down. Before leaving she bent over, giving a full view down her dress and planted a noisy kiss on Wade's cheek. "I missed you, baby. You know where to find me." She tossed her hair and strolled away, her heels clicking on the floor.

Abby watched the whole thing from the middle of the room, she blinked and swallowed a few times before taking a few steps backwards. She bumped into a waiter carrying a tray full of champagne glasses, he struggled and managed to keep the tray from falling but half of the glasses toppled, spilling on Abby's head. She gasped "Oh my god! I'm so sorry," and bolted from the dining room.

Wade jumped up and tried to follow her but lost her in the chaos, she managed to bump into at least three more waiters in her haste to get away. His shoulders slumped and he went back to the table. "I don't know where she went."

"Probably the ladies room," Marci said. "Give me her purse."

"What? Why?"

"Because about a gallon of champagne just spilled on her head, she's gonna need something from that purse."

Wade reluctantly handed over her tiny black clutch, having no idea what could possibly be in such a small bag that could help Abby right now.

Abby was in the ladies room just staring at herself in the mirror, this was a nightmare. She was a total mess, there was no way she could manage to make herself look decent with hand soap and paper towels. She took a deep breath to steady herself when she heard the door open. She looked up and saw Marci, holding her purse.

"Abby, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

"I don't want to talk about it. I just want to go home."

"Abby, let Wade explain. Its really not as bad is it looked. Trust me."

"Thanks, Marci, but I'm not that stupid. I'm getting out of here." She took her purse and took out her cell phone, "I'll call a cab, don't worry, I'll be safe."

Marci sighed and stepped aside to let Abby leave, she knew there was nothing she could say that would convince her to stay. Hell the champagne shower alone was enough to run out of there. To her credit, Abby took a deep breath, stood up straight, held her head high and strolled out of the ladies room and off into the city, presumably to make her way back to her apartment. Now all Marci had to do was break it to Wade that she was gone.