Page 113 of The Wedding Favor

“Wonderful.” She yawned. “Would you hand me that blanket on the bed?”

I grabbed it and helped spread it over her legs. “Gloria, you’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course I would if I thought it would make a difference.” Her eyes were soft, almost tender.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Good. Okay.”

“We really need to find you friends your own age.” She patted me on the cheek. “You know, you and Abe would make beautiful children. And we know he’s good for bail money, too.” She waved a hand weakly. “Go on. I need to take a nap, and you need to get a life.”

“I love you, too.”

“I know, darling. I know.”

I stayed there longer, waiting for her to fall asleep. Not in a creepy way, but in a concerned way. In a way a friend who was worried about another friend would. I didn’t like the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach, the one that said something was very wrong and there was nothing I could do about it. When the deep, even breaths came, I stood and adjusted her blanket.

“I really do love you,” I whispered.

As I opened the door to leave, Bruce the Death Cat darted in. He stared at me with those yellow-green eyes as he hopped onto Gloria’s lap.

FORTY-SIX

“My older sister moved in with me when I was in my late fifties.

Apparently, I needed someone to tell me when I was doing something wrong.”

—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,

Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes

Monday morning, I opened the front door to head to work and found a small gift bag. It had a tiny gift tag with the words TO IRIS written on it in block letters, but the FROM spot was left empty. Inside was a bag of chocolate kisses.

That was it. But I knew who they were from.

“Why do you look so happy?” Ellie asked when I breezed into the café.

“I do?” I giggled.

Her eyes narrowed. “You just giggled. Are you okay? Did you hit your head? Should I call an ambulance?”

“No. I’m totally fine.” I waltzed up to her and threw my arms around her in an impromptu hug. She was so stunned, she didn’t even hug me back. “It’s a great day, isn’t it?”

“Sure?”

I floated into the kitchen, humming off-key.

“I’m texting Mae right now,” she called.

“Go ahead. Tell her she’s the best big sister ever.” Maybe this was the day that I finally told her the truth. I’d tell her about Abe, too. I’d tell her anything she wanted to know.

Four hours later, the fighting started.

It was just after ten. The lull between breakfast and lunch had settled over the café. Aside from three old men playing dominos, the place was empty. Even Ellie had stepped out to run home for something she’d forgotten. I was in the middle of the sexiest part of my job—cleaning the men’s bathroom.

The door jingled and I poked my head out of the bathroom in time to see Abe stroll in, looking much too handsome in his dirty shirt and jeans. Nerves and excitement swirled in my stomach. Two months ago, I would have laughed in the face of anyone telling me a tattooed, single dad would steal my heart. Definitely not my type at all.

Except I was starting to believe that I had it all wrong. Abe was exactly my type.

I waved at him and realized I still had on the bright pink rubber gloves. Quickly, I ripped them off, tossed them somewhere in the bathroom and hurried to meet him.