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For a moment, Mary thought she had misheard. She looked at Jake, who looked equally stunned.
“Mom, are you out of your mind?”
“What? Lee’s a perfectly nice boy. And he’s been crazy about you for a long time.”
“That’s because he’s been stalking me for years. I have a harassment order against him!”
“Oh, don’t be so silly. It was all a misunderstanding.”
“Breaking into my home to steal my things and follow me everywhere is not a misunderstanding. He’s been like this since college. Hell, Cody said he would never break the harassment order for the wedding, even though Lee is family.”
Delia sighed heavily. She sounded like she was talking to a child.
“Lee said you blew it out of proportion, and I think he’s right. He’s family, and he deserves to be there. Now that you’re single, and he still wants to make a go of it with you…”
“I’m not breaking a harassment order that I asked for to be a bridesmaid alongside Lee!” Mary snapped.
“Stop being difficult, Mary. Lee even said he would take you even though you can’t have kids. Now that’s a man right there.”
Mary felt sick. She had known Lee since college, and he had always been very creepy towards her. Cody had been just as disgusted by his cousin’s actions. Now he was excusing this?
“Lee was going to be at Mountain Ridge, wasn’t he, Mom? You organized for all of the guys to be there so I would be paired off with him, didn’t you?”
“How else was I supposed to get you in the same place? You refused to be anywhere near him.”
“Obviously, considering he’s not allowed within a certain distance!” Mary felt sick. “I can’t believe you, Mom. You knew what was going on, and you tried to get me stranded so I would have no choice but to be around someone who is legally obliged to stay away?”
“You make sure a fuss over nothing.” Delia huffed. “How you and Olivia are related, I have no idea. You’re just impossible.”
“I was going to say the same thing about you.” Mary leaned in towards the phone. “By the way, Mom, I might have paid for everything so far, but as soon as I caught Cody with Olivia, I contacted the catering company and the venue about the second half of the payment. They were kind enough to change the name from mine to yours and Olivia’s.”
“Excuse me?”
“It makes sense, seeing as I’m not getting married anymore. Also, you didn’t have a makeup artist or hairdresser, did you?”
“No, I had to find someone last minute. And the photographer is billing us for her time as well!”
“That’s because I got refunds from them. As for the photographer, she was a friend of mine and was doing the wedding as a favor. But seeing as I’m not the bride anymore, I said to charge full price for her services.”
Jake was putting a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh. Delia sounded horrified.
“You…you did all that?”
“That’s just a little bit of it. I’m sure you’ll be getting a few more phone calls in the near future. While I did pay for pretty much everything, there are still a few payments to complete after the wedding. And now you and Olivia have to deal with them.”
“WHAT?”
“Well, she’s the bride, and you’re the bride’s mother. It’s only fair.” Mary put her coffee cup down and stood up. “Now, why don’t you go back to the wedding and enjoy it while you can. You’re not going to enjoy it later, that’s for sure. Bye, Mom, and don’t bother contacting me again.”
“Now, listen here, you listen…”
Jake hung up, tossing his phone onto the table.
“Shit. She really tried that, did she?”
“She’s always thought I was too sensitive about it. It feels rather satisfying to stick her with the rest of the bill.” Mary looked towards her dad’s jeep. “Do you mind if I take the jeep? I’ve got something I need to do.”
“Not a problem. Take all the time you need.” Jake smiled. “Doing something for yourself now and then is not going to hurt anyone.”
