Chapter Nine

Eliza

It was Missy’s big day. She was going to finally pick out her wedding dress. This was her third time to the shop, and she had about twelve to try on again, this time wanting my opinion. The place was gorgeous, and the staff was attentive, which they should have been since Mason rented the whole place for an entire day, paying an arm and a leg for her privacy. She looked so excited and so happy, and I was trying not to be resentful, but it was a little difficult under the circumstances.

“I don’t know about this one,” she said, turning toward me.

“Mmmm,” I said, scrunching my nose at the embroidered roses. “It feels like a real authentic Southern wedding dress. Like something my cousin Fanny would wear.”

I was trying desperately to be talkative, but I could tell there wasn’t much pep in my step. I listened and gave my advice but didn’t have that cheer that I normally had on a regular basis. I felt like Anthony had ripped the perkiness right out of my soul, and that was a bit much since I had known the man all of two seconds. I mean, seriously, he was just a guy who took me on some awesome dates and got exactly what I knew he was after. I should not be shocked in the least.

I glanced up as Missy took the rose dress off and began changing into another one. I had no interest in this wedding dress shopping today, and it made me feel terrible. I looked down at my hands and fiddled with the rings on my fingers. It made me think of the moment I saw a ring on his finger—I almost freaking lost it. I was pretty sure in the span of ten minutes I even imagined throwing his ass off the room. If only I had kept going that night, not turned back and listened to his story, I would be thinking about the wedding and laughing with Missy about the creepo I went on a date with. Instead, I was sitting here being mopey.

“How about this one?”

“Mhmm, that’s nice,” I said, completely lost in my thoughts.

I heard the swishing of the gown but ignored it, figuring she was prancing around the stage looking at it from all angles. I heard the two girls to the side giggle and move to the back, which caught my attention. I looked up to find Missy staring at me wearing the most 1980s wedding gown I had ever seen. The front was V-neck with white see-through material on it. It was a shiny satin, and the shoulder pouf was bigger than her head.

“Oh my God,” I exclaimed. “What is that?”

“Exactly,” she said, stomping down the stairs. “What is up with you? You are like on another planet or something.”

“I screwed up,” I sighed.

“What happened?” Missy sat down in the chair next to me.

“At the engagement party, I met Anthony,” I said.

“Cartucci?”

“Yeah, he came up to me at the bar and we just started talking,” I explained. “He gave me his number, but I didn’t call, remembering what you said. Well, the next night he called me up and asked me to dinner. It was a Saturday night, I had nothing going on, so I figured why the hell not. He took me to Balto’s and rented out the entire balcony.”

“Wow,” she said, impressed.

“I know. And then he told me about his dead wife,” I replied. “Then we went down the street for drinks. He really opened up to me, and I knew it bothered him, but he didn’t stop. At the end of the night, he asked me back to his place, but I said no, despite the copious amounts of alcohol that I had consumed.”

“Good girl,” she said, slapping my leg.

“So, I was there, waking up with a mega hangover, and there was a knock at the door,” I said. “It was Anthony’s driver telling me that Anthony requested my presence. So, I went—I mean, what else could I do? I ended up on a yacht, eating breakfast, talking about life, and cruising the river.”

“Whaaat? That’s crazy,” she said, shaking her head. “I mean, he hadn’t been on a boat in years. That was how his wife died.”

“Oh,” I said, suddenly feeling even more confused. “Well, after that he took me to Manhattan and we walked around the city. He had remembered me telling him the first time we met that I loved doing that. From there we had a meal at the Waldorf where he slipped me a room key.”

“Uh oh,” she said, looking like she needed popcorn.

“Of course, I went up there. I felt like I was in a movie,” I said, shrugging. “It was freaking amazing sex, and at the end, he asked me out to dinner for Tuesday.”

“Oh,” Missy said excitedly. “How was that?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “He texted me that day saying he would pick me up at eight. Then he stood me up. He didn’t call, text, nothing.”

“Aw, man,” Missy said. “I’m sorry, Eliza.”

“It just doesn’t make sense to me,” I grumped. “Men are so damn complicated.”

“I told you not to get involved with him,” she said like a mother. “He has been through a lot, and he has seriously built up those walls. From the sound of it he did actually like you, but he freaked out when he realized it. I’m sure he didn’t intentionally hurt you—he may be a playboy, but Mason said he has a good heart, it just has some cuts and bruises on it. Mason knew him after his wife died, but he could tell how much he carried it with him.”

“So here I am,” I said, “trying to understand, trying to remember it was only two and a half dates, the half being the night we met, but still feeling completely defeated.”

“I know, sweetie. I’m sorry,” she said. “Do you want to put on this dress and dance around in the window so you can scare some of the people on the street?”

“No,” I said, pouting but trying to hold back a smile. “Besides, I think that dress was made for you. Could you imagine Mason’s face if the music started and you walked down the aisle in that thing? You could wear the giant hoop skirt underneath it and make it so he can’t even get close to you to dance.”

“I could hide doves underneath and let them loose inside the venue,” she said, laughing. “They can poop on all the rich assholes coming.”

“I like it—not very vegan, but I like it.” I laughed.

We both looked up at the sound of the owner of the shop clearing her throat. She lifted up what looked like five bags of food and set them on the table in the corner. I sighed and shook my head, thinking about how lucky Missy was.

“See,” I said, pointing at the mounds of food on the table. “This is what Mason is doing while I can’t even get picked up for a date.”

Missy laughed as she walked back onto the stage and had the girl lift the terrible dress over her head. She took the robe off the door and wrapped it around her as she walked back down. We peered over at the amazing amount of food spread out before us.

“Actually,” the owner said. “This is not from Mr. Phillips. This is from a Mr. Anthony Cartucci. He sent Eliza a card.”

I looked over as Missy’s mouth fell open, and I instantly blushed. Did he do this before he decided to completely stand me up? Had I told him about today? Oh, yeah, I had told him when we were on the boat that we would be here all day trying on dresses. He had a really good memory, and though I was pissed at him, I was pretty impressed by his handiwork. I reached out and took the envelope from the woman’s hand and looked down at the cursive writing on the front. I think I stood there for like ten minutes while Missy helped spread out the rest of the food.

Finally, she came over to me, hip checking me and looking down at the card. I was grasping it so hard my fingertips were white, and I didn’t know if I could actually open it or not. What if it had been a gesture before he decided to stand me up? How awkward would that be? Or maybe he was expecting me to forget everything and call him right away. I didn’t know how I would even start that conversation.

There was no way around it—I was completely taken aback by that gesture. If he had done this as an apology, it was pretty sneaky. He sent over a huge spread to me and my best friend and didn’t even have to face me while I was still pissed. There was no way this guy, or any guy, came up with that on his own. Immediately I looked over at Missy and squinted my eyes, wondering about her involvement.

“Wasn’t me,” she said, putting her hands in the air. “Are you going to read that card or just hold it like a statue?”

I looked down at the card having completely forgotten that I was holding it in my hands. I slowly opened the envelope and pulled the note out, smelling his cologne still lingering on the paper. On the outside was a kitten hugging a turtle. I shook my head and opened the card wide, laughing as another kitten appeared, its arms reaching upward and out of the card. Inside he’d written a short but to-the-point message:

Eliza,

I am an asshole. Could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?

Xoxo

Anthony

I rolled my eyes and smiled, closing the card. He had written “Have a great day wedding dress shopping” on the back . I let out a deep breath and looked up at Missy, who was trying to hide a smile. I shoved the card back in the envelope. My first stubborn instinct was to tell him to shove it up his ass, but without warning, I had this overwhelming want and need to call him. I knew I couldn’t do that—it was too soon and he would think he had won.

I shook my head. Listen to me, planning out my strategy to defend myself against the hot Italian widower like I was at war or something. I put the card in my purse where my phone was and tossed it on the chair, looking back at Missy. The table was full of food, both vegan and non-vegan, and my stomach began to growl.

“What the hell are we waiting for?” I laughed and grabbed Missy’s hand, pulling her over to the table.

We sat down and I looked around at the food, shaking my head at the thoughts in my mind. He was continuing to surprise me, though the surprise before this I could have done without. Missy took a bite of her cucumber sandwich and groaned at how good it was. She looked at me and set the sandwich on the plate.

“You okay?” She tilted her head at me like a puppy.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Talk about sending confusing signals.”

“He was trying to apologize,” she said with a grin. “I kind of think it’s sweet.”

“Yeah, if he had stepped on my foot or given me the flu,” I argued. “But he stood me up.”

“I know,” she sighed.

In reality, though, I couldn’t help but be completely warmed by the gesture, and I had to get ahold of myself.