AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course. He shook and was pathetic and got me into trouble with your mother.”
Pongo had been her first teacup Chihuahua and had loved her dad. Despite her father’s claim to the contrary, his dislike of “nancy-pants” dogs was just a front to hide the soft spot in his heart.
“You should have named him Trouble,” he said about the dog who’d followed him around like a groupie. Despite being called a nancy-pants and worse, Pongo had loved her dad, and the day Pongo died, she didn’t know who had been more torn up, her or Dad. “In fact, you should have named all your dogs Trouble for all the chaos they cause.” He paused, then added, “Look, Lexie, you’re too nice. And you’re impulsive and you have a big heart and that gets you into all sorts of hot water. You get that from your mother.”
She wasn’t impulsive anymore. “Where is Mom?” Well, except for lately.
“You know your mother, no reporter is going to make her hide. She’s taken Jon Jon to school, where I’m sure he’s going to get razzed like crazy. But he’s tough; he can take it.”
Her father had a big heart, too, she knew. He was just really good at hiding it. After several more moments, she ended the call. She needed to call her mother. She could get her on her cell phone, but she wanted a few moments of calm before she undertook another emotional conversation. Of her two parents, her mother would be harder on her. Never mind that she’d also run from her own wedding years earlier.
Lexie deserved it after what she’d just put them through, but that didn’t mean she looked forward to the disappointment that she was sure to hear in her mother’s soft Southern voice. Not disappointment that she hadn’t gotten married, but disappointment that she was in a big mess.
Lexie tossed the phone on the bed and thought about her current situation. Was her dad right? Was she too nice? Well, she did hate to hurt people and sometimes put others’ feelings before her own.
She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. She felt an urge to run even as she wanted to crawl beneath the covers and hide. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She needed to clear her head and calm her nerves, and she stared up at the ceiling. Her gaze focused on what looked like a jellyfish stamped in the texture. Next, she picked out a tailless shark, a cat’s paw, and a deer with seven legs. Her nerves and mind settled enough for her to think about her current situation, what she’d done and how she’d ended up in a hotel room in Sandspit, British Columbia. She didn’t have to think very hard. Most of the time it came down to the same thing.
Lexie Kowalsky was a people pleaser. She’d made bad decisions and stayed in bad relationships out of the fear of disappointing anyone. This time she hadn’t wanted to disappoint the producers of a reality show or Peter Dalton or millions of Gettin’ Hitched fans. Her fear often made her stuff down her own feelings. Marie called her an “emotional cutter.”
Lexie didn’t know if she’d go that far, but she did know that several contradictions fought within her.
Responsible. a. Flighty.
Loved an organized plan. a. Too impulsive.
Passive people pleaser. a. Extremely competitive.
Hated to lose. a. But loved a sportsmanship trophy.
Her competitive side had encouraged her to run faster, play harder, and hip-check the other Gettin’ Hitched brides. Normally she would have felt horrible about “accidentally” bouncing a football off Whitney Sue’s head during the pigskin challenge, but her sights had been set on winning a romantic date with Pete. A date that had been anything but romantic, not with a film crew inches from her face.
Pete. She didn’t want to think about him, and her gaze searched the ceiling until she picked out what looked like an ant jumping off a rock. She hated to think that he’d actually loved her. The thought made her heart pound and her nerves jump, and she needed more than concentrating on random patterns in the texture to keep her brain occupied.
She sat up and grabbed the shampoo off the bed. Her hair was sticky and gross from last night and she moved to the small bathroom. Jimmy had forgotten conditioner, and for a split second she thought about running to the store. She needed good conditioner to keep her hair from going ashy, but the thought of being spotted shoved the thought from her head.
She turned on the shower and unbuttoned the shirt Sean had given her. The soft fabric smelled woodsy with a hint of musk, and slid down her bare shoulders and back to land at her feet. She stepped out of her white panties and took them in the shower with her, washing them with the thin bar of hotel soap before hanging them over the rod. As warm water spilled from the shower and ran through her hair, she thought of everything waiting for her at home, especially the love of her life, Yum Yum. No matter what, she could always count on the love in her little dog’s eyes.
The first time she’d seen the Chinese crested had been two years ago when she’d dropped off food at the Emerald City Pet Rescue. It had been impossible not to notice the bald little dog with black skin and white dots. White hair stuck out of her ears, and her tail and paws were covered in long hair. She shook as if cold, and her black eyes had been filled with pain and sadness.
Lexie was not only a sucker for dogs, she was a complete sap for anything sick and helpless. Yum Yum was both.
The six-month-old puppy yelped when she walked, and rather than deal with her luxating patella, her owners had dropped her off at the shelter instead of paying the two grand to fix her congenital defect. Lexie had gladly scooped up the little dog and paid for the surgery. She helped rehabilitate the puppy and told her repeatedly that she was yummy to give her a much-needed dose of self-esteem. She’d made her clothes to keep her warm and built ramps that looked like fashion runways to help minimize the abuse to her knees.
From those simple beginnings, she’d started Yum Yum’s Closet, her online specialty pet supply business that she operated out of her apartment. Two years later, her business had tripled and her designs were now manufactured by a small-batch company in Marysville. She’d chosen a space for a retail store and was in the process of picking out paint and wallpaper.
Lexie lathered her hair with shampoo and washed her body. It felt good to scrub away the last bit of makeup and mousse left over from the day before. After the shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and walked back into the room. The television continued without sound, water dripped from her hair, and her stomach rumbled, reminding her of how little she’d eaten in the past twenty-four hours. She wasn’t one of those girls who picked at her salad but never really ate. Like her mother, she loved to cook and kept the pounds off her butt and thighs with routine exercise. A frown pulled at the corners of her lips as she looked at the Tastykakes and ginger ale on the bed. She was either going to pass out from hunger or go mental.
Perhaps both. Jimmy had said something about a waffle house, and the thought of blueberry waffles and maple syrup made her feel even more faint with hunger. Bacon and eggs and coffee. Real coffee. Not the weak stuff from the four-cup brewer in the hotel room.
She glanced from the Tastykakes to the television. Maybe while she’d been in the shower, the country had lost interest in her. Maybe she could sneak out of her room and gorge on waffles and bacon. Maybe she wasn’t trapped inside room seven after all.
The intro to the fourth hour of the Today show played across the screen as the camera zoomed in for a tighter shot of Hoda and Kathie Lee sitting behind a glass table. Just below the hosts’ names on the lower third, the ticker read: Whe
re in the world is the Gettin’ Hitched bride?
“Welcome, everyone,” Kathie Lee began. “It’s giveaway Friday, and we’re giving viewers the opportunity to win a trip to Cancun.”
“To enter,” Hoda added, “call the number below and let us know if you’ve had a Lexie Kowalsky sighting.”
