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“Trust me, Pixie. It’ll be fine, and I can’t do this without you.”
“Pretty please, Pixie?” Fleet’s voice sounded from somewhere in the background. A loud, frantic plea, if Doug wasn’t mistaken. “I finally got her to set the date. And if we can’t make it happen, I don’t know if I’ll ever get her to agree a second time.”
Pixie snorted. “Okay. Fine. Geeze Fleet. For you, I’ll do it,” she conceded.
“Thanks, sis,” Talia snickered. Again, Doug pictured an eye roll. “Now. Since you’ve vetoed my BDU’s and combat boots, it’s your job to go shopping with me for…eww…a dress.”
Pixie laughed. “Don’t sound so pained. We’ll get you outfitted so damned sweetly, Fleet won’t know what hit him.”
“Let’s not gettoocarried away. I do have a reputation to uphold with my team.”
“Speaking of which, who’s invited?” Doug reiterated when he finally found his tongue.
“All you guys, of course,” Talia replied. “And I already mentioned Quint and Corrie. Add to that a shitload of musicians Fleet knows, which, by the way, means the music will be epic.”
Doug could almost see her counting down on her fingers.
“My parents, Fleet’s parents. An ex of Fleet’s from high school and her husband. Pixie’s friend Julie and her husband Ian. All Mason’s folks. Shit. I know there’s more, but it’s all pretty overwhelming.”
“Never mind,” Pixie interjected. “What about food? Flowers?”
There was a noise that sounded like “phhhtt”.
“Are you kidding? The minute Mason let his mother know there was a wedding brewing, the woman started planning the menu. She laments, now that Mason and Kyle have tied the knot with the best daughters-in-law a woman could want, that ours might be the last wedding she ever cooks for since all her other sons are slouches in the romance department.”
Yup.That sounded like Ellen Sothard, Doug thought. He’d never met a more ball-busting, yet nurturing woman in his life.
“And Fleet’s mom, with help from Mason’s cousin Maygan are going to do the flowers.”
“Wow. It sounds like everything’s already under control.”
“And it’s only been in the works for half an hour,” she chortled. “Hey. I gotta go. Mason’s mom is on Fleet’s phone with menu questions.” Her distraction was immediate. “Tomorrow? Ten AM? Shopping? My boss has given me the rest of the week off so I won’t be a royal pain in his ass during planning. And Fleet’s going to close up for the rest of the week, too, so he can do whatever guys do before they get married.”
Damn.Doug immediately wondered if there’d be a bachelor party. Would Fleet have one? He’d call Mason who would know.
“Okay, sweetie,” Pixie chuckled, answering her sister. “Tomorrow at ten. Your house since it’s closer to Bangor and that’s where we’ll need to go if we want to hit up any really good boutiques.”
Talia groaned. “Boutiques. Why did I think I could live my whole life without ever having to step foot in one of those. Is it really—?”
“Yes. It’s necessary,” Pixie broke in. “Now suck it up, and I’ll buy you lunch at Mis Amigos.”
“Deal,” Talia said quickly. “Bye Pix. Oh, and bye Doug,” she added before the line went dead.
Pixie looked stunned. “Well, how about that?” she rasped, clearly close to tears. “I didn’t see that coming. Next thing you know, they’ll be having kids.”
Doug managed not to wince.Kids.Shit.
If he and Pixie decided to try for a relationship and he was unable to get past his fear of sex, children wouldn’t be in the cards for them. Which could end up being a deal-killer. Pixie loved kids, and would definitely want some of her own. But… Wasn’t there always thatotherway, he pondered? That clinical way? He snorted to himself. Maybe theycouldhave it all done in a Petrie dish.
“I should think about getting home,” Pixie told him, jerking his mind back to present as she gingerly took herself off thepicnic table where she’d been planted for a long time. He could tell by her jerky movements that her hip had stiffened up.
“Are you going to be able to drive tomorrow?” he asked, putting his feet on the ground too, then placing a hand on her arm to stop her from any additional movement. “I can give you a ride; bring you to Talia’s.”
Pixie snorted. “You have work, Doug. And if you came to get me before your shift, Talia and Fleet will be pissed when I show up at six tomorrow morning since they have a rare day off together.”
“I already told you I have lots of time available to me,” Doug said. “I’ll ask Uncle Frank for the next few days off. He already offered when I called him. And since I told him what happened to you, I don’t think he’ll give me any trouble.”Hell, no, Doug thought to himself. The man would probably be thrilled to pieces that Doug was concerning himself with Pixie. The damned romantic still held out hope Doug could have a normal life.
“If you’re sure,” Pixie agreed uncertainly, but Doug wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation. He was wondering instead if he could bring himself to hoist Pixie into his arms again, this time to carry her to his truck. When he’d plucked her from the water, it had been spontaneous and he hadn’t had time to think, but now…
