Chapter 17
Mac explained the practical joke they had played on Chloe because of the letter she had sent to AJ. When Harriet expressed her sympathy for what the teen must be going through, Mac told her that they had been going to wait until the wedding to tell her the truth, but they had changed their minds after hearing how upset she had been on the phone. Mac said she and AJ had decided they would call Chloe later that night and confess it had been a joke.
Harriet begged that they tell her right away so Chloe wouldn't worry any longer than she already had.
AJ agreed to make the call, using the reason that Sarah could then stay and discuss wedding plans. He excused himself after getting Mac's cell phone and went into the other room.
When Chloe came on the line, her first remark was to demand, "What the heck kind of mean joke was that to pull on me?"
Clearly she'd had enough time to figure out the meaning of his text message. "It seemed appropriate payback for letting me think that the woman I love was dying," AJ told her.
"Hey! How was I to know you loved Mac? But if it worked and got you to come home to her wasn't that a good thing?"
"Possibly," he replied. "But I wasn't just a few States away, Chloe. I was in Italy when your letter reached me."
"Oh gosh! Sorry about that. But hey, if you love her, and she wanted a kiss from you more than anything else in the world, did you guys finally kiss when you got there?"
"We did," he admitted giving as little information as possible, mainly to irritate her.
"So you guys are in love with each other?"
"We are," he said with a grin.
"Woohoo! Then if you love each other you guys should get married!"
"We will," he replied barely able to restrain his laughter.
"Oh, that's awesome! Mac will have to let me be a bridesmaid, I'm way too old to be a flower girl, and too mature to be a junior bridesmaid! I'll need a really fancy dress and new shoes. I better start looking now. It could take weeks or even months to find the perfect dress!"
"That will be too long," he insisted when she finally paused for a breath.
"Too long? Why, have you set the date already?"
"We have," he was back to his two word answers again.
"Wow that was fast work! Okay then, when is the wedding going to be?" she demanded excitedly.
"Next week," he told her, holding the phone away from his ear in anticipation of her reaction.
She didn't disappoint him, the squeal that Chloe let loose would have had his ears ringing for days if he'd been holding the phone properly. Her protests were basically the same as when she heard Mac was dying, or at least they started out that way, "No! No! No! That's not nearly enough time to plan a wedding! My best friend's older sister has been planning her wedding for almost a year now and she's not getting married until this summer!"
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Chloe," he told her with a chuckle. "But we are getting married next week on New Year's Day. We'd like you to be there if you think you could make it…"
"Of course I can make it! You don't really think you could get married without me, do you? I mean if it wasn't for me you guys might have never gotten together!"
"That, and the fact that we both care for you, are the reasons we want you there. I'll have Sarah call you in a few days with more details, but I should get back to her now."
"Okay, you take care of her, and I'll see you guys soon."
He ended the call and returned to the dining room in time to hear Sarah and Harriet planning a shopping trip for the next day. "Sarah, you might want to put that off for a day or two, you have no idea how sore you're going to be in the morning."
AJ hadn't considered the possible double meaning to his words until Sarah and Harriet exchanged knowing glances and then the latter burst into giggles.
To be continued…..