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Chapter Nine

“Want to stop for lunch?” Leighanne asked hopefully. I glanced back at the garment bag hanging by the passenger window. I had the irrational fear that someone would break into the car while we were eating and yank the dress out from under my nose. I’m sure Skeletor might have even decided to follow us. I looked in the rearview mirror; we were the only car on the street.

“Why don’t we go back to your house?” I suggested. “Maybe Brian can go get some takeout?”

Leighanne laughed. “Honey, if you’re this paranoid now, where in the world are you going to keep it when you get it home?”

“I’m taking it to my mom’s,” I said confidently. “Trust me; she’d tear someone’s leg off if they tried to mess with her daughter’s dress.”

I was more worried about getting it home on the plane. I knew I couldn’t squeeze it into a carry-on bag, yet the thought of having to send it through baggage…

“You know, you might want to ship it through the UPS store,” Leighanne suggested. “There’s one a couple blocks away.”

I felt my palms grow sweaty.

“You can insure it.”

I bit my lip.

“It would be better than having the airport handle it.”

I let out a sigh.

“You’re right.”

Five minutes later Leighanne and I stood in the empty UPS store while a bored looking twenty-something year old stared at us.

“I need this shipped,” I said. “I need a big box and packing peanuts. A lot of packing peanuts.”

He took his sweet time getting the box out. He pulled a lever and a cascade of packing peanuts flew out into it. When he filled the box halfway he looked back at me and held out his hands.

I stared at the bag in my arm. Leighanne put her hand on my shoulder.

“Liv, give the nice man the bag,” she instructed. “You’ll see it safe and sound in a day.”

I handed the bag over and let out a little cry as he put it down in the box. More packing peanuts showered down on it. When he was done, he turned to the computer.

“Address you want it shipped to?”

I carefully said my mom’s address. Before he printed the label I made him turn the screen to me so I could see for myself that everything was typed correctly.

“What shipping option would you like?” he asked. He gave Ben Stein a run for his money in the monotone department.

“Overnight, please.” I said. That way I would only have twenty four hours of sheer panic. I could handle that. I had given birth; I could handle anything. Right?

“Insurance?”

“Yes.”

“Cost of the item?”

I looked at him blankly. Leighanne nudged me.

“What was the cost of the dress?”

I looked at her blankly. She looked amused.

“They gave you your receipt, right?”

I dug around in my purse. I was in such a rush to swipe the card and get out of the shop that I had thrown everything haphazardly into my purse. I pulled out the slip and smoothed out the wrinkles.

I almost had a heart attack.

“Leighanne,” I said, my voice sounding weird even to my own ears. “I spent thirty five hundred dollars. On a dress.”

This didn’t seem to shock her. She laughed. “Hey you did better than me and I bought mine over ten years ago.”

“Did you say $3500?” the guy asked. I looked up; I felt myself nod. I looked back at the slip.

Nick had given be a credit card shortly after I had moved in with him. He told me to buy what I wanted and not worry about it. I guess he thought that a girl from Wisconsin was much more trustworthy than any Hollywood starlet he had ever dated. He had laughed at my ten thousand dollars in credit card debt that Hunter had racked up. With a simple signature to a check he had made all my endless worries disappear.

But now I had just spent thousands of dollars. On one dress.

“You know, that’s really not that bad,” Leighanne cajoled as we walked out of the store. “I mean, the dress is one of a kind.”

I nodded.

“And you are going to be photographed for magazines.”

I nodded.

“And you can always tell him Leighanne made you do it.”

I looked over at her.

We burst out laughing.

“So about lunch…”

Without the bag in the car, I was feeling much better. I nodded.

“Sounds good.”

We pulled up to a Chinese restaurant about a mile from their house. As we walked in, I saw Leighanne close her eyes and inhale deeply.

“Amazing,” she said.

We sat at a little corner table. Leighanne didn’t even glance at the menu. I studied mine intently, glad that they had little calorie information by each item.

“What are you getting?” I asked Leighanne.

“General Tsao’s chicken,” she said happily. “What about you?”

I glanced at the menu again.

“Egg drop soup.”

“Seriously? Just egg drop soup?”

“Yup.”

“You’re gonna make me look bad.”

I laughed.

“You’re pregnant.”

At that moment the little waiter made his way to our table. I ordered my soup. With a shake of her head, Leighanne ordered her general tsao’s. After he walked away, Leighanne smiled and took a sip of her drink.

“I don’t envy Nick for the next six weeks.”

I looked at her in surprise. “Why?”

“Because if you think you’re going to live off of egg drop soup and salads you’re going to be a bear.”

I rolled my eyes. “It won’t be that bad,” I said. “Plus, the end result will make it worth it.”

Leighanne started to say something else, but at that moment my cell phone rang. I looked at her apologetically and checked the display. It was Nick.

“Hold that thought,” I said. “It’s Nick.”

“Hello?”

“Hey Livvy, how’s dress shopping going?”

I heard a loud telltale cry in the background. I smiled.

“Fine. How’s it going with Brooklyn?”

“She’s giving me attitude. I put on those little hand mitts ‘cause she scratched her face and she’s throwing a hissy fit.”

I laughed. “Her doctor’s appointment is Monday. We can ask Dr. Tresher to trim them.”

“Okay. When’s your flight back?”

I glanced at my watch.

“In a few hours. Leighanne and I are at lunch now and then we’ll swing by their house and I’ll have Brian give me a lift to the airport.”

“Did you find a dress for yourself?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“I did.”

My heart began to beat faster. I felt my mouth go dry. I hadn’t told him I was shopping for my dress. There’s only one way he could have known…

“Good, otherwise I just approved someone else to have a field day with your credit card.”

I winced.

“Nick I didn’t realize it was that much.”

He laughed.

“I don’t care. As long as you’re happy—“

“I’m in love.”

“Ouch. I’m being replaced for a dress?”

“No! It’s just an amazing dress.”

“I can’t wait to see it.”

“You have six weeks to wait.”

“Ugh. Is it easy to get off?”

I laughed. “Why?”

“Because, as soon as you and I are alone I don’t care how much the thing costs, it’s going on the floor.”

I felt myself blush. He rendered me speechless. He laughed again.

“With that thought in your mind, I’ll see you when you get home. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I hung up and leaned back in the chair. Leighanne looked over at me.

“Credit card company call for approval?” she guessed. I nodded.

“What did he say?”

“He laughed it off.”

“See? No problems.”

The waiter returned with our food and we dug in. Well, Leighanne dug in; I just slowly sipped the soup. I hated egg drop soup. The general tsao’s chicken smelled like heaven. I tried to pretend the soup was the sugary chicken I loved so much. It was too far of a stretch. I took copious amounts of water to wash it down.

“Want a bite?” she said, gesturing to a piece. I shook my head.

“Nope, I’m good.”

“You look like you’re strapped to a chair and being tortured,” she said. I laughed.

“No, I’m good.”

I took another sip. I couldn’t do it anymore. I took another sip of water and decided conversation was better than trying to continue with the soup.

“So, we’re not getting married in Key West anymore,” I said. Leighanne wiped her mouth on a napkin and looked at me in surprise.

“Then where?”

“Right in Tampa. We actually got a bigger reception venue that overlooks the beach where we’re going to have the ceremony.”

Leigh smiled. “And it’s a quicker car ride for us.”

I made a face. “I’m so sorry.”

She waved it off nonchalantly. “It’s okay. I’ve been stuck on a bus for days at a time; I can handle a car ride. Brian’s just going to have to make a lot of bathroom stops.”

I laughed; I knew the feeling

“This is why you’re my maid of honor. You’re the most collected person I know.”

She smiled and brought her glass of iced tea to her lips.

“Oh, honey. You don’t want to see me when I blow.”

I raised an eyebrow. I had slept with her husband and I hadn’t seen her blow. I couldn’t imagine what would need to happen for her to lose her cool.

I didn’t think I wanted to.

We made light conversation for the rest of the meal and then made our way back to their house.

“Before you leave, I want to show you the nursery,” Leighanne said.

I followed her up the stairs and down the hall. Baylee’s door was open; his artwork covered the walls. I saw the big bear that he had gotten in Canada on his bed. Leighanne opened the door right next to his room.

The room was painted a soft a light brown. A dark brown crib with bright pink bedding was against the longest wall. Painted on the wall was a tree in dark brown that bloomed with accent flowers in pinks and whites. Kayleigh Danielle was printed right above the tree in vinyl wall lettering. A rocker and dresser were against another wall. In the corner was the largest dollhouse I had ever seen done in a beautiful white with scrollwork in pink cascading down the sides.

“Oh Leigh, this is amazing,” I said appreciatively. “I love the tree.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. I looked over at her.

“Did you?”

“Paint it? Yup.”

I walked over to get a closer look. It was awesome. I couldn’t even draw stick figures.

“I didn’t want to overdo the pink.”

“You didn’t. The light brown walls were a great choice.”

“Well, thank you.”

I turned to see Brian lounging against the doorway. He smiled.

“I spent a whole day in here painting. By the end it looked like I was covered with poo.”

Leighanne laughed.

“Well it doesn’t look like poo on the walls,” I said.

“Yeah, it looks good on the walls,” Brian admitted. “I thought I’d come up and check to see if you need a ride back to the airport.”

I glanced at my watch. It was time. I nodded.

“Yeah, I better take off.”

I hugged Leighanne.

“Thank you for saving my dress.” She laughed.

“It was fun. I’ll see you at your bachelorette party.”

I smiled. “Absolutely.”

I ducked under Brian’s arm back into the doorway. He followed me down the stairs. I stopped by the kitchen to give Baylee a hug and kiss. He was busy with the art set I had brought him.

“Hey Liv?” Brian asked as he held open the door for me.

“Yeah?”

He leaned in, peering at my head.

“What happened to your hair? It looks like someone took a huge chunk out of the back.”

My hand flew to the back of my head where Skeletor had yanked my hair back. I felt a bald spot and sighed.

“It’s a long story, Bri. A long story.”

His face erupted in a smile.

“Good thing we have a long ride to the airport.”