Page 21 of The Wedding Favor

I held my hands in the air. “Oh, no. Look, I haven’t spent a lot of time with kids.”

“Hallie’s a great kid,” Abe said.

“I’m sure she is but I already have a job. And I have things to do this summer. Like prepare for that wedding and deep clean my bedroom carpet, maybe organize my sock drawer.”

“Okay. You don’t have to lie to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

He smirked. “And there’s another one.”

“How do you do that?” I asked in astonishment.

With a shrug, he held my gaze, that smirk still firmly in place. He didn’t say a word.

“Are you doing that thing where you remain silent so long, the other person breaks?”

Of course, he didn’t answer, just kept staring with that stupid smirk. I narrowed my eyes. His smirk grew into a smile. The dimple made an appearance and, I don’t know, I broke. I’m weak, I guess.

“Fine. I’m not agreeing to anything, but what’s in the job description?”

“Pick her up from day camp and keep her alive for a couple of hours until I get home. That’s it.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Ilene staring yet again. I whipped my head toward her and said, “Would you like us to talk louder? Just to make sure you hear every word.”

She gasped, dug around in her purse, slapped a twenty-dollar bill on the counter, and stood in a huff. “The rudeness.”

“You have a great day, too.”

Ellie’s head popped out from the kitchen. “Is everything okay?”

Ilene, whose face was now almost purple, yanked her purse on her shoulder. She sailed by me in a cloud of righteous anger and too much perfume. “You need to do something about your employees.”

“A raise would be great.” I batted my eyes at Ellie. “For my outstanding customer service.”

I pointed at the corkboard hanging on the wall behind the cash register. Across the top in big letters, it said EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH. Underneath was an old photo of me. My hair was longer with pink streaks and bangs. It had taken forever for those bangs to grow out. Don’t judge. We all do crazy things after a break-up.

“That would be more effective if you weren’t the one who put your photo there,” Ellie said drily. An oven dinged in the back, and she scurried back to the kitchen mumbling something about muffins.

Abe crossed his arms, amused. That t-shirt of his was filthy but it fit him perfectly, molding to his shoulders and chest in a way that made it hard to ignore. Messy and disheveled looked good on him. If you were into that sort of thing.

I, unfortunately, seemed to be into buttoned-up, clean-shaven guys. Aidan never looked messy or disheveled, and he was not a guy who enjoyed working with his hands. He was a pure white collar, office job, pay-someone-to-fix-his-car kind of man.

“I’m sorry to bring bad news,” Abe said.

“Thanks. It’s been a rough week.” Not even a week. It had been all of three days. Between the party, Aidan, the wedding, my car, it was clear I needed reinforcements to survive the day. I knelt and dug through the cabinet under the cash register where I’d hidden one of my many stashes of chocolate.

“So, this wedding thing…” he said.

“What about it? You’re bowing out, aren’t you?” There was that package of chocolate eggs from Easter. “I understand. No hard feelings. I’m sure I can find someone else if⁠—”

“No. I said I was going and I meant it. I was wondering when it was and if this is a weekend thing? You’ll probably have to be there for the rehearsal.”

I stood slowly. “I will?”

“You are the best woman.”

“I am the best woman,” I whispered. I hadn’t even given much thought to a rehearsal and a rehearsal dinner. What if there was a bachelorette party? I shivered at the thought. I really, really needed chocolate.