“I have no idea. He said something about wanting to plant lilies in the backyard next summer. I hate lilies.”
“Honey, then all you have to do is tell him you hate lilies.”
“But it’s not that. Shouldn’t he know I hate lilies? Why do I have to tell him? And it’s just lilies this time, but what if next time it’s the kind of car he wants me to buy?” Jodi’s voice was rising in a panic, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I slid the pork into the oven.
“Okay, let me ask you something. Do you love him?”
“Yes,” Jodi answered quickly.
“No,” Michelle continued. “Like really, truly, from the bottom of your soul love him? Can’t picture spending another day without him kind of love?”
Jodi took a small pause this time. “Yes,” she said quietly.
“Then you have nothing to worry about. I was only married once, but here’s what it taught me. We grow up, become adults, and get married. From the moment the ring is on our finger, we have these grand ideas in our heads of how our life is supposed to go forever—how things should end up—but it’s not really up to us, is it? I don’t know who it’s up to, but we just have to go with it. We have to keep riding the waves of life, trying not to get sucked too far out and get lost at sea, ya know?”
At that point, I’d stopped cutting the potatoes and was listening closely.
Michelle had waves.
I had doors.
Maybe we could sit on my door and float on top of those waves together.
“You’re so right.” Jodi sniffed again.
Michelle continued, “If you love him, fight for him, fight for both of you. And plant some damn lilies.”
WEDDING DAY! NOT my own, but Michelle’s neighbor Jodi and her soon-to-be husband, Vince, who I had yet to meet. It probably made me a total douche, but when we’d been at Michelle’s the week before and Jodi was having her pre-wedding freak-out, I wasn’t all that disappointed at the thought of it being canceled. I had to get dressed up enough when the team traveled. Having to do it on my downtime was pure torture. The one positive thing about the wedding was I got to have Michelle to myself for a handful of hours, and that was worth wearing a monkey suit any day.
I pulled into Michelle’s driveway and straightened my jacket as I got out of the car. The front door opened as I walked up the steps, and Matthew stood there, shielding his eyes from the sun as he waited for me. The ground was already covered in snow, but the bright sunshine that day made it seem not so bad.
“What’s up, buddy?” I held my arms out.
He stared down at the ground, not as excited to see me as he normally was. “My mom said I can’t jump on you today or I’ll wrinkle your clothes,” he pouted.
“Oh.” I stepped in and closed the door behind me. “Well, she didn’t tell me I couldn’t hug you.” I knelt down to his level, holding my arms out again. His face lit up as he eagerly crashed into me so hard I almost fell over backward.
“I’ll be down in a minute!” Michelle called from up the stairs.
Matthew pulled back and rolled his little eyes. “She said that ten times already.”
“It’s best you learn it now, Matthew.” I laughed. “They never mean it when they say that.”
He nodded like he knew exactly what I was talking about and we walked hand in hand to the kitchen. A young girl sat at that kitchen table shoveling spoonfuls of yogurt into Maura’s mouth. When Maura noticed me walk into the room, she smiled so big yogurt oozed out the sides of her mouth.
“What are you smiling at, silly?” She followed Maura’s eyes over to me. “Oh, hi. I didn’t hear anyone come in. Sorry. I’m Desi, the babysitter.”
“Hi, Desi. I’m Viper.”
“Viper’s my best friend,” Matthew told Desi proudly as he stood next to me.
I looked down at him. “That’s absolutely right.”
“Ahhh!” Michelle yelled out as she carefully ran into the kitchen in her heels. “I can’t find my favorite lipstick.” She opened drawer after drawer, slamming them all shut again.
I don’t know shit about fashion and even less about women’s clothes, but when we’d texted earlier, she asked if I had a silver tie. I lied and said yes, immediately going out to buy one. I had no idea it would be to accompany that.
She had on a silver dress that clung to her in places that made me want to weep. Silver heels with straps and more straps wrapped around her beautiful little feet. Her hair was down and wavy, and it looked sexy as fuck. She didn’t wear her hair down often, and I had to close my hands into fists to keep from marching over and running them through it.