two
The six former roommates sat around a table in one of O’Malley’s private rooms. Candace wondered how many times they would be gathering like this as their families and careers pulled them in different directions. Tessa had debated other locations for her party but decided on O’Malley’s because it was the last place Sean would think she would go, as his outrageous Irish friend was just a little too brash and way too flirty. Tessa’s description had fallen short of just how outrageous the pub owner was. All night he offered them free drinks in a fake Irish accent only to be turned down every time, as had his offers of kissing the bride and bridesmaids. His good-natured winks told them he was mostly teasing. Candace doubted he was as much of a flirt as he pretended to be.
Tessa opened Zoe’s gift. “A blank book for a new life. You are still trying to get me to journal?”
“I believe in it, and what better time to start than when you are starting a new life with a new name?” Zoe’s enthusiasm for journals was only eclipsed by their aunt’s enthusiasm for genealogy—both passions Candace eschewed. Journals because she didn’t wish her darkest hours on anyone and genealogy because, for the most part, it was boring. Although being a descendant of one of the first men to settle their Indiana county and who’d fought in the Revolutionary War was cool. Maybe she should plan a vacation to Massachusetts and see where the family once lived. If Zoe had a long weekend . . . Candace stopped the thought before it went too far. Neither she nor Zoe had a private plane or the resources most of her old roommates now had. She was getting very spoiled by association.
Tessa moved on to the other gifts. None of them were huge. After all, what did one get a woman who was marrying the country’s newest billionaire? Candace never felt comfortable giving lingerie. Instead, she choose a painting of a field of bluebonnets at sunrise that Tessa had admired from the walls of Art House.
“Oh! Now I can always have a part of Art House with me!” Tessa drew her into a teary eyed hug.
As they had at every shower, the friends divided into two teams and created wedding dresses. This time they made them out of paper napkins rather than the traditional toilet paper since the party was at a restaurant. Mandy and Araceli joined Candace as they raced to make their dresses, the conversation quickly turning to Araceli’s time in Haiti.
“I’ve reached the point that the children don’t tease me about choosing the wrong Haitian-Creole word all of the time. Last month we took in several new children from a child-trafficking sting. They don’t trust me because I am white, and they avoid Kyle. We are going to stay stateside for a couple months to help give them time to adjust and believe they are in a safe place. They don’t trust white people.” Araceli gathered one end of the napkins she held into a ruffle. “I’m looking forward to a few months in the States.”
Mandy taped a sweetheart bodice together. “Your turn to be the model, Candace.”
“I don’t think so.” She was never going to wear a wedding dress, paper or otherwise.
“We have both been models for the paper dresses. It is only fair you get a turn. Besides, if Joy decides she is hungry, it would ruin the dress.” Mandy turned and checked on her sleeping daughter.
Araceli cut some napkins into ribbons. “She has a point, and I had to be the model at Mandy’s party as well as my own, and y’all made the one quick dress at Abbie’s half-hour long party before her wedding, which I wasn’t invited to. I have never really had a chance to design.”
Candace tried not to smile at Araceli’s mixing of Texas lingo with her light Massachusetts accent. With three hours to prepare for Abbie’s “real” wedding, flying in from Haiti hadn’t been possible. Tessa hadn’t been able to fly to Chicago from New York either. Since both Candace and Zoe were unlikely to marry soon, if at all, this could be the last hen party the roommates had. Arguing would kill the fun of the party, so Candace stood still as her friends worked feverishly to create a paper dress. Araceli worked on the sleeves. “Tell me all the news. Are you and Colin officially dating yet?”
Mandy tsked and shook her head. The other group stopped talking.
Candace answered louder than she needed to. “We are just friends. I am done with dating. I realize that with all the wedded bliss going on around here over the past year that this is hard for some of you to understand, but marriage is not for everyone. It’s certainly not for me. Please stop asking about Colin. He. Is. A. Friend. I talk to him just like I talk to all of you.”
“Really? You talk about everything? Even—” Tessa raised her brows.
“We don’t discuss famine hygiene if that is what you’re asking. I don’t think that is something he could handle hearing much about. And as I said, he is my friend, and sending him into a blushing fit is not one of my goals.” Not like she’d told any of her female friends about the fact she didn’t need to buy products as often lately. My doctors believe I am already going into menopause—one of the side effects of having chemo at age sixteen. She hadn’t had that conversation with anyone outside of the medical team. The big M word was for grandmothers, not women who hadn’t reached their twenty-eighth birthday.
Not content to stick her foot in her mouth just once, Araceli turned her questions to Zoe. “So, are you going to follow the trend and find yourself a ten-figure husband? There should be one or two here in New York. Sean’s other groomsman is single.”
Glad to have the spotlight off her, Candace didn’t attempt to stop the impending disaster.
Tessa joined in. “Nick Gooding is really nice, and he is one of the good guys. You should do something with us while you are living here.”
“I don’t think double dating with newlyweds would be that fun. Besides, as a graphic designer, I think I should be exempt from the curse. It is my duty to break it. So no thanks to the offer.” Zoe broke off a piece of tape with her teeth.
“You never know. I am not really an artist at all.” Abbie’s wedding ring caught the light as she spoke. “I had no intention of falling in love on the job and not with one of those rich, snobby millionaire types I have worked with for years. Present company and their spouses excluded, of course.”
“Daniel and Colin both went to school with Nick, and they like him. Just imagine how much fun we could have if you did marry him.” Mandy added a tissue rose to the creation.
At Zoe’s reddening face, Candace decided to end the torment. “I think it is about time for judging so we can clean up and be out of here. We only reserved the room until ten.”
“I agree.” Tessa tried to turn around in the dress taped around her body. “I don’t really want to have O’Malley smirking at us for the next couple months for wearing paper goods.”
Ten minutes later, Tessa declared the dresses a tie, and the paper creations were packed in a produce box for Tessa to use later. In less than twenty-four hours, another roommate would be walking down the aisle. Dreams Candance had packed away a decade ago—of orange blossoms, white satin, and lace—came back to haunt her.
Colin tried not to take his phone out of his pocket to see how well his latest app worked. He had never been one for large groups—not that the gathering of Sean’s friends and the spouses of Tessa’s friends was large, but he did feel out of place. He wasn’t even an official boyfriend and had only been invited to the bachelor party, held in one of the private rooms at the Irish Pub owned by one of Sean’s groomsmen, because of his association with Daniel Crawford and Nick Gooding. At least the party wasn’t wild like those he had seen on TV. The classic video-game contest was something Colin could appreciate. He waited for another turn on the Pac-Man arcade game. The presence of Sean’s grandfather, who was a minister, and the various bodyguards who worked for the men in the room may have been a factor in the low-key party.
Nick joined him in watching Preston Harmon fail at Frogger. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. How do you know Sean?”
“I don’t. I think I was invited because Tessa thought Candace and I are dating and it evened out the numbers, since Sean’s best man is married.”
“But you came anyway?”
“I’d like to date Candace, and I was hoping another wedding might push her in that direction.” If anything, the third wedding of the year was doing the opposite.
“Which one is Candace again?”
“The maid of honor. At the rehearsal, she was wearing the Van Gogh T-shirt.” Most people described Candace by her wigs, which missed so much of who she was. Colin avoided the descriptor whenever possible.
“Zoe’s cousin?” Nick mentioned the bridesmaid who was his partner for the ceremony.
“Yup. She—”
“Hey, Colin, beat that score!” Daniel shouted from the vintage Pac-Man game.
Colin nodded at Nick, happy to have the conversation over. Explaining why he was the odd man out wasn’t improving his comfort level. If only women could be as logical as a video game.
Colin tried to forget all about women as he ran from the ghosts in the virtual maze. But the ghosts kind of looked like veiled brides, and he couldn’t decide if he was the Pac-Man or if it was Candace running away from the idea. Great, now she was even on his mind when playing a game. The ghost tagged him, prompting the game-over screen. He watched as Sean earned one of the highest scores of the night. Not fair. If anything, it should be the groom who was distracted. He went on to play Frogger. Surely nothing could remind him of Candace in that game. Other than the way she teased him about the “fancy red car” he never drove. A purple race car squashed his frog.
Daniel shook his head as he took the controls. “Better luck next time.”
Not a chance. Colin doubted he could win at any game unless he figured out the dating one first.