Millie
HE’D SAID WE’LL BE THERE soon, and I doubted he meant Rob or Ty, or even Jericho, although I would have been less nervous with any of them . . . yes, even Jericho . . . than I was about his nine-year-old daughter who obviously hated me.
“It’ll be fine, Millie,” I assured myself out loud as I worked on the flowers for the various cakes that would be served at the anniversary party. Not fifty of them, thank goodness, although that would be cool, but each table would have their own cake centerpiece that would be a miniature version of the actual anniversary cake.
That meant I had a lot of flowers to make. Calla Lilies, which were the flowers she’d had in her wedding bouquet.
Still, when Jackson had offered to bring food, I’d jumped at the chance to see him.
“Talking to yourself again?” Dru asked as she walked in, her trusty clipboard in hand.
“Of course,” I replied with a smile, then gave my sister a onceover and whistled. “Wow, you look great.”
“I thought the baby blue would be a good fit for the baby shower,” Dru said, leaning up against the counter, her gaze on my hands as I worked on the flowers. “Plus, I wanted to show off the birthday shoes you and Tasha got me.”
I glanced at her shoes briefly. “Sexy.”
“I know, I love them,” Dru gushed, then turned serious and asked, “Everything on track?”
I nodded and replied, “Claire and I loaded up, along with Enrique and Stacey, and the three of them took off to set up. Claire will come back after to see if I’m still working on the cakes, and the others will go home after breakdown.”
“Perfect. I’m so excited about tomorrow. I heard that Mr. and Mrs. Stonopolis have written their own vows to renew and are going to be dressed to the nines. They are so sweet, and I can’t wait to make their special day go off without a hitch. You should totally be on site for this one, Mills.”
“I was thinking about it,” I told her, a small smile playing on my lips. “You know I’m a sucker for a good love story.”
“That’s because you’re in the middle of one,” Dru joked, just as the bell chimed outside.
“You didn’t lock up?” Dru asked with a frown, since the front was closed.
“Yeah. I just unlocked it for Jackson and Kayla; they’re bringing me dinner.”
Dru waggled her eyes at that, to which I had to reply, “Shut up,” which was my sisterly duty.
“Hey,” Jackson called.
“We’re back here,” I replied, taking a moment to flex my stiff hand.
“Hi, oh, hey, Dru,” Jackson greeted as he walked in carrying a bag of food, his daughter trailing behind him wearing the sullen look I was beginning to think never faded.
“Hi, Jackson,” Dru replied, setting down her clipboard and crossing to give him a side hug, then she looked down at Kayla and said, “And, you must be Kayla. I’m Dru, the cool twin.”
Kayla looked momentarily surprised, heck, I think she almost even smiled, before saying, “I didn’t know Millie had a twin. You guys look a lot alike.”
“People have always said that, although we are fraternal, and I’m the pretty one . . .”
“Jerk,” I said with a laugh.
Dru turned her head and winked at me.
“Actually, we have another sister, too. Tasha; she’s the baby. We all work here together.”
“Oh,” Kayla responded, then closed her mouth swiftly and looked around the kitchen without saying another word.
“Are you hungry, Dru? We have plenty,” Jackson offered, but Dru shook her head.
“Better not. I’ve got to head out, but you guys enjoy. Don’t work too late, Mills,” my sister ordered, then swept out of the room.
“I can take a break now,” I said, rubbing my palm absently. “Want to eat at one of the tables out front?”
“Sure, come on, Kayla,” Jackson replied, guiding Kayla back out the door they’d just entered, while I went to wash up and put a few things in the refrigerator.
When I was done, I found that he’d already set up the paper plates and had the cartons open and ready.
“I didn’t know if you like anything else, so I got a few different items, but there’s your Beef and Broccoli and the eggrolls. I also got some sauces and both forks and chopsticks.” As he spoke, Jackson took the items out of the bag in his lap.
I grabbed the chopsticks and said, “Thanks, I really appreciate this. I hate to admit it, but I often get so caught up that I forget to eat.”
“We’re happy to feed you anytime, right, Kayla?” Jackson asked his daughter, trying to make her a part of the conversation, but all she did was shrug and keep her eyes on her plate.
Before I could think of something else to fill the silence, Jackson’s phone rang. He looked down, frowned, then looked up at me and mouthed, “Lawyer,” then stood up and walked back into the kitchen for some privacy.
“So, how was school this week?” I asked Kayla, painfully aware of how awkward things were with Jackson gone.
Shoot, they’re awkward when he is in the room . . .
“Millie?”
I looked up to see Jackson standing in the doorway, motioning for me to come over.
I placed my chopsticks down and rose, then followed him out of the store.
“Is everything okay?” I asked when we were far enough that Kayla couldn’t hear, assuming that if he wanted her to, he would have spoken to me at the table.
“That was my lawyer,” he began, distracted as he fidgeted with his glasses. “He said that Julie is at his office right now and he wants me to come down.”
“Why’s she there?” I asked, my stomach dropping as a million different reasons crossed my mind.
“I don’t know, he didn’t want to go into it over the phone, just said I should get down there. He did say it’s nothing major, so I’m assuming that means she’s not contesting, still . . . I need to get down there and see what’s up. I want to get this over and behind us so we can move forward.”
“Of course, is there anything I can do?”
“Can K stay here with you?” he asked, and I was sure my worry shone through when he amended, “It’ll only be for a little while, my lawyers’ office is only like five minutes from here. I can’t take her there and risk them bumping into each other, she can’t handle that right now, and it would take too long to drive her to one of her grandparents. I won’t be long, I promise.”
“Yes, I’m happy to help,” I said, but I couldn’t help wondering how Kayla was going to react to this turn of events.