“That bad?”
I was tempted to steal an onion ring. The baby wasn’t so keen on the idea. “I don’t know if we’ll survive to the wedding.”
He nodded. “Bryce told me about your parents’ fight.”
“It was awful.”
“It happens.”
“Not like this.” I sucked in a breath. “I’m worried.”
“About what?”
“I…” It spilled out of me. “They’re getting a divorce. I never thought it’d happen to them. And you were married, and I swore you and Jada would be together forever. And then Bryce and Lindsey have been a couple since high school, and now they’re constantly at each other’s throats.”
Rick’s eyebrow rose. Point taken.
“You’re right,” I said. “Lindsey is always at his throat.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Is there anyone out there that’s actually happy with the person they love?”
“Heavy talk for a burger.”
“I know.” I apologized. “There’s just…a lot of things happening lately.”
“You okay?”
I hadn’t been okay since reading the positive line on the test. “I’m fine. I was talking to Nate and…”
“Wait.” Rick dropped the burger. “You were talking to Nate? About relationships?”
“It was pretty stupid.”
“More than stupid. Nate’s never committed to anything that takes more work than a grilled cheese sandwich.”
“He has the bar.”
Rick laughed. “Okay, I take it back. But he used the brewery and bar to fuck over his parents. That takes dedication, but its spite, not commitment.”
“He likes it.”
“Sure, and so he’s an expert on craft brews. Not relationships. He only puts the effort into getting a girl in bed. You know that.”
Boy, did I ever. “He said life isn’t about relationships. It’s about fun and simplicity.”
“I won’t say he’s wrong, but I don’t think his life is the one you want.” Rick pointed an onion ring at me. “I know you, Mandy. You’re like me. You wanted to find that right person and settle down and have the life that…a life people are supposed to have.”
“Is it a real thing?”
“Hell if I know anymore.” He shrugged. “I sure as fuck hope so.”
“I’m just worried what I want doesn’t actually exist. I see my parents, I see you, and it’s like…everyone’s family is so fragile. I thought you were all in love.”
He stopped me with a frown. “I’ll tell you right now, I loved Jada. I still do, even if she fell out of love with me.”
That didn’t make sense. “How can someone fall out of love?”
“Easy. They fell into it. You can’t control how and when you fall in love. It just happens. No one says it has to last forever. You can hope, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way.”
“You’re not helping.”
“Well, sometimes it does last forever.”
“Nice save.”
Rick laughed. “Mandy, if I understood marriage and love and women, I’d still be married. As it stands, I’m thirty. Divorced. Eating fast food between eighteen hour shifts. I’m no expert.”
“Neither am I.”
“No one is. That’s the way of the world. You aren’t dealing with anything logical or rational. It’s all passion—it’s why your parents were together for decades and now fight like they’re going for blood. That’s just a natural progression of something that volatile.”
I leaned forward, resisting the urge to plunk my head down on the table. How the hell could Rick talk about these things so easily? Like he had it all figured out and saw the world for what it was?
“Is it stupid to want that perfect life?” I played with his pager. He slapped my hand away before I set it off again.
“Nope. You won’t find it with Nate though.”
I looked up, my voice shrill. “Nate? Who said anything about Nate?”
He drank the rest of his soda, slurping what was left in the ice. “He’s been chasing you.”
“Nate chases after any girl he sees.”
“Well, he’s focused on you and only you lately.” Rick pointed the straw at me. “I’m good friends with him, but I’ll be the first to tell you he’s a dog.”
“I’m well aware.”
“But if you’re interested in him…”
I shook my head. “I think it’s pretty obvious I don’t know what I want. The only certainty is that Nate Kensington doesn’t fit into my life.”
“But?”
I met his eyes. Rick was always the smartest of the group. He was two years older than Bryce, Lindsey, and Nate, and he had a different perspective than us. He saw more than we did.
“But what?” I asked.
“What’s really going on, Mandy? You’re not acting right.”
Probably because I was acting for two people. “I’m fine. Just…thinking about a lot of things. The wedding and my parents going insane is kinda shaking my world a bit.”
He crumpled up the burger wrapper and bag. His stethoscope wove over his neck, and he clipped his ID and pager to his belt. He smiled, but it wasn’t patronizing.
“When you want to talk about what’s really bothering you, I’ll be here. Bring me a taco next time.”
“You got it.”
He stood, though he rapped his knuckles on the table. “And do yourself a favor? You’re my best friend, and I love you like you’re my little sister. Forgive me for going big-brother at the moment?”
“Always.”
“Don’t let Nate get too close. He’s only after one thing. Okay?”
Rick’s pager beeped, and he thanked me for the lunch with a wave as he jogged away.
Nate was only after one thing—and he got it. So why was he still chasing?
I had six weeks until the wedding. Six more weeks to keep the secret before I could sit him down and tell him what had happened.
I could last six weeks.
The smell of the cafeteria food twisted my stomach. I bolted from the table, but I didn’t make it to the bathroom. I threw up in the garbage can at the edge of the cafeteria, surrounded by doctors. One patted my shoulder, the OBGYN badge dangling from her scrubs.
“Don’t worry.” She somehow knew. “Pregnancy is the most magical thing in the world. It’ll all be worth it.”
Yeah. Right.
A girl could hope.
Chapter Seven – Nate
“You told Mandy you’d help with the musician auditions?”
Bryce didn’t believe me. He was smarter than he let on. I promised a lot of things to get balls-deep into a girl. Most of it I regretted the next morning.
This time I’d have promised anything just to talk to Mandy again.
I offered him a beer from behind the bar, but it was before noon, and he had to save his liver until the reception. He asked for orange juice instead.
“I figured I’d help you guys out,” I said. “My taste in music is a hell of a lot better than yours.”
“And Mandy’s okay with it?”
“Sure.” It was a lie. She had no idea I was coming, but that made it fun. “We could use some time together.”
“Careful. Lindsey will chew you up and spit you out if you mess with her sister.” Bryce sighed. “At least before the wedding.”
“Mandy’s perfectly safe with me.”
“Yeah, right.”
The first time I wasn’t actually looking to screw around, and even my best friend didn’t trust my intentions. Damn. I’d be insulted if I wasn’t trying to apologize to Mandy so we could pick up where we left off.
But she hadn’t answered my calls or replied to my texts all week. It meant that I had to get crafty. Meet up with her in a place she wouldn’t expect me.
I never wanted a woman as badly as I wanted Mandy. I’d be damned if I pretended to be a prince, and I wasn’t the type of man who’d reaffirm her faith in marriage and relationships. But I could at least remind her she was twenty-three and had an entire life ahead of her before she turned jaded. Why waste the fun years worrying?
And so I did something I wasn’t proud of. Something I never thought I’d offer.
I took on more wedding responsibilities.
Bryce shoved a notebook over my bar and gave me Lindsey’s criteria for what she expected from her musicians.
“Dude, I can’t thank you enough. I need a break.” Bryce looked like he hadn’t slept, and I doubted it was any pre-wedding sex keeping him up. “Don’t get married, Nate.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
“This magical day?” He sipped the orange juice before gesturing for something stronger. “It feels like we’re paying fifty grand for some appetizers and a day of stress.”
“Then comes the wedding night.”
“Yeah...” His voice trailed off. “She wants to try for kids right away.”
“What?”
“She said it would bring us closer together.”
“Closer than a legally binding contract?” I snorted. “Christ, you’ll share a tax return. How much closer can you get?”
“I know, man. I’m just trying to stay out of swinging range.”