Best Laid Plans Heather Burkett
Chapter 18: Show Up
I invited Leah out to join Sarah and I for a spa day on the weekend. Seeing as how she was going to be a major part of Sarah's life now, I wanted to normalize the situation as much as possible. Luckily, Leah readily agreed, meeting up with us for lunch Saturday afternoon.
After a quick bite at the café, we walked over to Karen's Nail Salon for mani/pedi's. Leah pulled out her phone, snapping a picture of the three of us sitting neatly in a row as we got our nails done and texted it to Jake with the words "Love, your girls."
We were making small talk when I decided to follow up on the "Riley Biers" scenario.
"So, any news with Riley?" I asked, trying to sound cool about it.
Leah giggled, apparently knowing something I had yet to discover.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. He asked me to be his girlfriend on Tuesday." She shared the news as if it were the most blasé thing imaginable.
"You don't sound very excited about it?"
With Sarah's attention on me, Leah gave me a mischievous "thumbs up", with a big, shit-eating grin.
"Yeah, well. I was thinking about what you said. How I'll remember my first boyfriend forever and all that? Well, I like Riley, but I decided I didn't quite like him enough for him to be my first boyfriend. I want someone...I don't know...special. And, I want someone who treats me nicely from the start. If he was too immature to just tell me he liked me, instead of pulling my hair and snapping my bra, than I doubt he'll make a very good boyfriend."
I wanted to do a happy-happy, joy-joy dance right in the middle of the damned salon.
"Be cool." Leah mouthed when she noticed me getting too excited.
I nodded. "I see. Well, that sounds like a very mature decision, baby. I'm proud of you."
More mature than I was at her age.
Leah nodded, apparently hearing my thoughts, when my phone chimed with a text message.
It was from Edward.
"Is it strange that I'm disappointed we don't have any events this weekend?" He asked.
I smiled.
"Oh, is that Jake?" Leah asked.
"No, it's my assistant asking about our next event."
I typed back. "Addicted so soon?"
"Geez, mom. Your face is, like, tomato red right now!" Sarah acknowledged.
Great, I'm blushing about my assistant in front of my daughter.
I gave Leah a pleading look.
"Let's go pick out our nail colors, Sarah." Leah invited, thankfully taking Sarah's attention off of me. Leah shot me a meaningful look of pure curiosity.
"What color do you want, Mom?"
"Oh, I'm going to get a traditional French manicure." I advised, watching Leah and Sarah skip off to browse the polish wall.
My phone chimed with Edward's response. "I'm definitely hooked on something."
Sarah was right, I could feel the flush warming my cheeks now, my heart palpitating in my chest.
"Go run somewhere." I teased him.
"Been there, done that. Have the sweat to prove it."
I pictured him standing there shirtless, those shorts riding provocatively low on his hips as his body glistened with sweat.
I typed "Prove it with a picture or it never happened." But, thought better of my brazen ways and deleted the message, instead typing "Time to shower off."
Leah and Sarah resumed their seats with polish in hand as Edward sent the message "Second cold shower of the day, coming up."
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did it mean...
I trailed off, struggling not to entertain the thought in front of my daughter.
"Oh, I better go use the restroom before they start. Be right back!" Sarah chirped, heading for the washroom in the back. She had a bad habit of getting fidgety during manicures.
"What was that about?" Leah leaned over, whispering conspiratorially.
I could feel my flush reigniting. "Like I said, just my assistant."
"Um-hm. And is he cute? That definitely was not event business making you blush that way." She chided.
I shrugged, not comfortable discussing my obscene crush on a man half my age.
"I see how it is." Leah giggled, turning her attention to the manicurist as the professional took the seat across from her.
Luckily, Edward didn't text again till after Sarah had gone to bed.
"Let's throw a party." He joked.
"What do you want to celebrate?" I asked, feeling playful.
"How about our new partnership?"
I giggled, feeling like I was thirteen again.
"What kind of party do you have in mind?" I played along.
"How about an elegant dinner party? My place tomorrow?"
Wow, he really didn't have any social life if he wanted to spend his time off with my old butt.
"Aw, shucks. Family obligations this weekend." I typed back.
"I see. I'll just have to eat those juicy steaks all by myself." He joked.
"Goodnight, Edward." I had a stupid, floaty grin on my face.
"Goodnight, Bella." He replied.
It had been a while since Alice & Jasper had seen Sarah, so they decided to come over for a lunch date Sunday.
We followed soup and sandwiches with a game of Monopoly. I was already completely bankrupt, with Alice struggling not to follow in my footsteps.
"Prepare to meet your maker, Uncle Jazz!" Sarah threatened with a husky laugh as Jasper rolled the dice. He was about to hit Park Place or Boardwalk, which Sarah owned, complete with hotels.
"Six!" She jumped up, doing a little victory dance. "Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! That'll be two-thousand dollars! Pay up!"
Sarah was kicking our collective asses and we couldn't even argue that we were letting her win.
We were all laughing and having a grand ol' time when my phone rang with a call from Edward. "Um, excuse me. Business call. I have to take this." I excused myself, standing up from the table and retreating to my bedroom.
"Hey?" I answered, breathless as I closed the door behind me.
"Hey. Sorry if I'm interrupting anything." He offered.
"Oh, just losing terribly at Monopoly." I giggled. "What's up?"
"I was just washing clothes and wanted to double check what uniform I needed to wear for next weekend."
"Oh." Seemed like a weird thing to call about, but I obliged. "Well, we have a wedding on Saturday, so you'll need a polo and the black slacks."
"Oh. Okay." He answered, sounding off.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah...everything's fine." He said unbelievably.
"What's going on?" I asked.
He huffed. "Well, if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm going a little stir crazy. Uncle Carlisle's hired a new technician, so there hasn't been any work this week, and mom and dad drove out to Oregon to see Liz. I'm ahead of schoolwork and I can't run any more or my legs will cramp up at this point."
It was then that I recognized the tone in his voice.
Edward was lonely.
It seemed I may really be his only friend, after all.
My heart went out to him. Since my divorce, I'd had many lonely nights feeling just as frustrated as he was feeling now.
"I don't suppose you have any errands I could run or anything?" He added.
I thought over my work, trying to decipher if there was anything I could give him to help keep him busy, but the only tasks that came to mind required my personal touch.
"I'll tell you what? What time does your class let out tomorrow? I asked.
He perked up. "I'm usually done by noon, why do you ask?"
"Why don't you come over and work on some upcoming plans with me? We can run some errands and go over the set-up for the wedding on Saturday."
"Really? You wouldn't mind?" He asked, sounding hopeful.
"No, not at all."
"Alright, great! I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Thanks Bella." It was the most youthful he'd sounded to date.
"You're welcome."
"Enjoy your game!"
"Not likely." I responded with a laugh.
I hung up, turning around to catch Alice standing in the doorway.
How much had she heard? Had Sarah heard me?
"So, that was Edward, huh?" She asked.
I swallowed, trying to appear calm. "Yeah."
"That explains why you've had a little more pep in your step." She answered slyly.
"We'll talk about it later, okay Ali?" I asked desperately.
"Oh yeah, we will. But when? Not tonight because Sarah's here. Hmm..." She pretended to be deep in thought. "How about after your date tomorrow?" She giggled maniacally.
"Shh, keep your voice down." I looked towards the door as if Sarah might fall through it at any moment. "And it's not a date Ali, he's just a little bored and needs something to do."
"Tell your cheeks that." She teased.
"You're turn, Aunt Alice!" Sarah bellowed from the dining room.
"Coming!" Alice yelled back, opening the door with a flourish and rushing out, leaving me standing there with my mouth gaping like a fish out of water.
Fucking blush.
I awakened to three simultaneous text messages Monday morning. The first was from Jake, letting me know that Sarah had overslept and would therefore be calling me tonight after dinner. The second was from Edward, wishing me a good morning and letting me know he looked forward to coming over later and the third was from Alice, wishing me fun on my "not-a-date", as she put it.
I showered, washing my hair and blow drying it, putting a little effort into curling the ends for reasons I was not comfortable admitting to myself.
After my morning coffee and a bagel, I set about my daily tasks of checking e-mails, following up with my weekend bride and groom and contacting all of the vendors to confirm dates and times. I was finishing up just shy of noon when I decided to make plans for what I would cover with Edward. I wanted to be prepared with a task list so it wouldn't appear as if I had just invited him over out of pity.
I pulled out my binder for the weekend wedding, figuring I could go over my process with him and share details of the designs we'd be working with on Saturday.
It was a hot day, so I settled on a pair of black denim shorts and a light weight, pink tee-shirt, figuring it was okay to be a little casual given this wasn't a traditional business meeting. I was just finishing applying some lip gloss and mascara when there was a knock.
Edward's hair was in its usual disarray when I opened the door. I fought the urge to reach up and smooth it out, wondering how soft it would feel on my fingertips. He wore what I lovingly referred to as "college couture" – a black tee with the Peninsula College logo and olive colored cargo shorts with a pair of worn-in sneakers.
"Hey." I smiled up bashfully.
"Hey." He answered back, returning my smile.
"Come on in." Although he'd met me at my house last Sunday, this was the first time he'd actually come inside.
"Thanks." He wiped his feet off on the door mat before stepping in and closing the door behind himself.
"Welcome to my home." I said, feeling a little silly.
"Nice. Do I get the grand tour?"
I frowned. "Oh, I'm not sure we have time for that. It would take all of, I don't know...three minutes?"
He returned my frown. "Oh no, you're right. Busy day ahead." He chuckled and I loved how carefree it sounded.
"Okay, well, where to start? This is the living room." I swept my arm across the space he was standing in as I backed up toward the other part of the house.
Damn Alice – I really did feel like I was on a date. All nervous and giddy and silly and shit.
"Here we have the kitchen and dining room."
"Nice." He acknowledged with a look of approval.
I wandered down the hallway.
"This is Sarah's room." I said, pointing with my left towards her open door.
"Oh, you have a roommate?" He said, peeking into the interior.
"Oh, no." I said, catching my slip. "Sarah is my daughter."
His eyebrows raised as his eyes lit up. "You have a little girl?"
I nodded bashfully. "Well, not so little anymore. She's twelve – almost thirteen." He nodded, appearing to do some kind of calculation in his head.
"To the right is the restroom. Up ahead is the laundry room." I opened my bedroom door, leaning against it as I gestured inside the room. "And this is my bedroom-slash-office." He stepped in past me, appearing larger than life in the too-small room and taking a good look around.
"Are you hungry?" I asked, suddenly feeling too vulnerable and anxious to get out of the confined space.
"Actually, I am." He said, standing within the doorjamb, his body almost pressing up against mine as he placed a hand above my shoulder, leaning against the door. "What did you have in mind, Bella?"
"Hot dogs?" I asked, lost in his stare.
He laughed, deep and hardy. "Hot dogs?" He smiled crookedly.
"Um, it's what I was going to have for lunch." I ducked under his arm and shot into the hallway, needing to get a fresh breath of air.
"Sure, hot dogs sound great." He chuckled.
"Hey, I know it's not homemade lasagna, but I'm a simple girl with simple needs." I called over my shoulder as I made my way into the kitchen.
"Is that so?"
"Yep. How many hot dogs do you want? I have some chips for the side."
"Mmm, uh, two?" He answered.
"Sure. What do you like on it?"
"I'm a plain mustard guy."
I pulled the mustard out of the fridge, placing it on the dining room table.
"How about you?" He asked, looking over the photos on the mantle.
"Oh, I'm weird. I can eat them with ketchup and all of that, but I prefer them plain."
He nodded, picking up a photo. "Is this your daughter?"
I thought back to the photos I had on the mantelpiece. "Um, yeah. That was her third birthday."
"And her father, I imagine?" He asked as I busied myself boiling the hot dogs.
"Yes, that's Jake, my ex-husband."
I frowned, remembering how happy we all were on that day.
"If you don't mind my asking, how long were you married?"
"We were married for just about thirteen years." I anticipated his next question. "And we've been divorced for three years this October."
"That must have been hard." He saddened, returning the frame to its place and striding over to sit at the kitchen counter.
"It has been, but things are getting better." I admitted. "That's one of the reasons I've thrown myself into work."
"So, you were with your daughter this weekend?" He asked, tracing a random counter tile with his forefinger.
"Yeah. That's why I do my best to calendar events two weeks apart, though Jake is very understanding about working with my schedule."
"That's great. Sounds like you two still get along pretty well."
"Well, it's rocky now and then, but for the most part we've remained amicable." I took out the plates, preparing the buns as the hot dogs started to boil.
"I see you seem to like crystals?" He asked, eyeing the quartz on the windowsill above the sink.
"Oh, those are from my friend Alice. Each one is supposed to support a different healing energy. She's very mystical." I said, using a fork to fish the hot dogs out of the hot water.
"Oh? What kind of energy does the ruby give off?" He asked, nodding towards the gemstone on my mantelpiece.
I blushed. "Oh. Presumably it's supposed to represent fire and blood, passion and energy, or something like that." I waved my hand, trying to draw attention from my face.
"Is it working?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"I don't know, I just think it's pretty." I laughed as I carried the plates with the hot dogs to the table. He followed, taking the seat that Leah had sat in last week as I went to retrieve the bag of potato chips.
"You don't happen to have sour cream and onion chips, do you?" He asked.
"Yeah, they're my favorite, actually."
"Mine too!" He answered, rubbing his hands excitedly as I brought the bag over to the table.
"Bon' apetit!" I said with a giggle, plopping the bag down unceremoniously.
"So, what are your parents like?" I asked, taking my seat.
"Dad's a CPA and Mom owns a little bookstore in town." He answered, taking a bite of his dog. "They're both outdoorsy, so we did a lot of camping and hiking and fishing on the weekends. Dad still takes me fishing every once in a while, but it's been a long time since I've gone camping."
"My father's an outdoorsman too. You'll love the venue we're working at this weekend. The ceremony takes place outdoors. Lots of pine and hemlock trees, covered in moss. It's going to take a lot of work to put it up and take it all down, but it is so going to be worth it."
"Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?"
"I have a binder I'll share with you after lunch." I advised, as Edward started his second hot dog.
"Do you have any siblings?" He asked as he chewed.
"No, it's just me, Mom and Dad." I popped a chip into my mouth.
"You said your father was a sheriff, right?" He asked.
"Retired, yes. Mom was a waitress for countless years at the local cafe, but she's also retired."
I talked about Mom and Dad for a minute as we finished lunch, leading Edward over to the couch to look at the wedding binder I had prepared. He leaned in close to see the numerous documents, sketches and pictures that I had, but the seating arrangement grew cramped. He surprised me by throwing his arm along the back of the couch behind me, scooting ever closer to me so that our bodies aligned with me nearly tucked under the crook of his arm.
My body hummed with that special current that we shared and it took all of my power to focus my attention back on the binder.
As I droned on about wisteria blooms and roses, Edward followed along for the most part. Then, about halfway through the binder, I could feel his emerald eyes flicker towards my face. I locked my eyes on the page, refusing to look up and see the black inferno that I knew was raging in his eyes. He was too close – the smell of his cologne inundating my senses.
I turned the page, describing the delphinium and cherry blossoms that would be decorating the wicker arch that adorned the ceremony space, feeling his eyes wandering from my eyelashes, over my ear and along my jaw line, as I struggled to maintain coherent speech.
"You're lovely when you blush." He said, caressing my cheek with the back of his fingers.
"Am I blushing?" I asked, breathless.
"Yes you are. But why?" He asked.
I couldn't look at him. "Cuz you're staring." I answered honestly.
"Am I?" His voice was throaty and deep.
"Yes." I turned to look at him, greeted with that intense predatory gaze that I had anticipated. My lips were parted; my bottom lip pouty as I struggled to breathe. My heart hammered against my rib cage- ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum – as my eyes lingered on his lips.
Was he going to kiss me?
Did I want him to kiss me?
He ran his fingers over my forehead, sweeping away the wayward hair that was laying there and brushing it back behind me ear, his fingers weaving further into my hair.
"You're a brilliant designer, Bella. These sketches are absolutely breathtaking." He said, entranced, without taking his eyes off of mine.
"Thank you." I swallowed, my mouth salivating for the kiss that I now desperately accepted that I wanted.
His breath was ragged as he slowly leaned forward, his gaze linked with mine.
"We should go." I said without thinking, slamming the binder shut and jumping up with a start.
What the hell was I doing? Not only was he my employee, but he was half my age for goodness sake!
"Go where?" He asked, startled out of the moment.
"Um, I wanted to take you for a drive to the ceremony site, so we could do a walk-through of how everything will be set up." I answered quickly, overwhelmed with nervous energy.
"Oh...okay." He stood up slowly, as if sleepwalking.
I grabbed my keys and purse in a rush, feeling like I needed to flee the dangerous comfort of my apartment. I raced out the door, careless to notice if he followed, spinning the lock quickly so it would secure the apartment when he closed the door behind him. I didn't look back till I was slipping into the SUV, noticing as he walked out of the apartment looking deflated.
I hadn't meant to hurt him, but I just couldn't let this – whatever this was - happen. It just wouldn't be right. He was young and smart and handsome and had his whole life ahead of him.
I was a middle-aged divorcee with a teenaged daughter and far too old for a fling with a younger man.
He opened the door and slumped into the passenger seat, blindly putting on his seatbelt.
I don't even remember what I spoke about on the way there. Arches and ceremony seating, votives and candlelight, I rambled on and on about anything and everything except what almost went down in my living room.
He listened quietly, nodding in agreement but otherwise unresponsive.
It took us only fifteen minutes to get to the ceremony spot – a break in the trees behind the home of the bride's parents. I walked through the space, trying to use my hands to draw a picture of where the different flower arrangements would go and gesturing where the table would go for the unity cross ceremony.
Whenever I looked over to see if he was following my manic reaction, he'd look away quickly.
Great, you've made shit awkward.
Good going, Bella.
"Are you okay?" I asked, wanting to repair the damage I'd caused.
"Yeah, just a lot to take in." He mumbled.
"I get that. Don't worry, I'll have diagrams that day and will still be here to walk you through set-up." I answered, full well knowing that probably wasn't what he was talking about.
"Great." He said with a sad smile, trying to appease me.
I struggled with feeling bad for upsetting him, and feeling worse for leading him on.
This entire day had been a bad idea.
We strolled along a path towards the house, running into the bride's parents as we broke through the tree line.
"Bella, what are you doing here?" Carmen greeted me warmly with a hug and a kiss on the cheek as Eleazar disappeared into the house with groceries.
"Sorry for the impromptu visit, I was just preparing my new assistant for Saturday. Edward, this is Carmen. Carmen, I'd like you to meet Edward." I introduced cheerily, hoping Edward's sour mood wouldn't sully the introduction.
Thankfully, ever the professional, Edward stepped forward with his hand extended. "It's so nice to meet you, Carmen. I look forward to your big day." He took her hand, kissing her knuckles ever so gracefully.
"Oh, my." Carmen flustered, fanning her face as Eleazar reappeared. "It's not my big day, actually. It's for my daughter, Kate."
"Oh my apologies." Edward flashed a dazzling smile and Carmen looked as if she might melt on the spot.
"Eleazar-" I welcomed him with the same hug-and-kiss routine, "let me introduce you to Edward, he'll be assisting with Kate's wedding on Saturday."
"Oh, good – you hired that assistant you've been talking about." Eleazar greeted, shaking Edward's hand firmly.
"We're so glad you've found decent help." Carmen turned her attention on Edward. "You should have seen her at the engagement party. She did a phenomenal job solo, of course, but poor thing must have been exhausted when she got home."
"Yes, he's a very welcome addition to the team." I said happily.
"That's what I'm here for – Assistant Extraordinaire." He said with a smile. Only I seemed to pick up on the bitterness in his voice.
"I can see you all are busy with groceries, do you mind if we just walk around the property so I can give Edward the lay of the land?"
"Oh, of course. Feel free to come inside if you should need to, or if you want some water or something. You're always welcome." Eleazar offered.
"Thank you, but we can't stay long." Edward intervened, much to my surprise.
I wasn't aware he'd had other plans.
Or, just maybe, that he wanted to get away from me that badly.
"Thank you so much for your time. We'll only be a few minutes." I assured them.
"Never a problem, Bella." Carmen replied as they each kissed me on the cheek and said their goodbyes.
We wandered around the property, much less manic than I was before the encounter. I walked him through the layout of the guest tables, showed him where the food buffet would be set up and lightly touched upon the decorations that would need to be arranged, but there was no sincere interest in what I was talking about on either side.
Given how distant he had become, I was beginning to wonder if he would even show up.