Chapter Eleven
Emily
April
Stressed. The. Fuck. Out.
I'm officially at my wits end and I'm tempted to throw the white flag on this damn wedding. We can just go to the courthouse and get it over with. Hannah and Abella both have informed me that they won't be able to make it. Now everything is uneven. I've gained weight since my last dress fitting, so if I don't lose some weight before July, I'm going to be too fat to fit into my wedding dress! Dad's job scheduled him to go on a business trip that will carry over into the weekend, so he might not even be there! And Jake has been gone in a playoff frenzy!
“Sweetness?”
I spin around to see Jake, leaning against the doorframe of our bathroom. I was staring at myself in the mirror, frowning at the little bit of weight I've gained. “You're home extra late.”
“Yeah, I know.” He comes in and begins to get ready for bed. “How was your day?”
“Well, let's see.” I tick off every problem with a finger. “I'm fat. Hannah and Abella bailed. Dad is supposed to work on my wedding day even though he scheduled the weekend off. Everything is falling apart.”
Wearing nothing but gym shorts, Jake comes up behind me and holds me against him. He rests his chin on my shoulder and looks at my reflection in the mirror. “Nothing is falling apart, Sweetness. You aren't fat. You can ask Cherish to take one of the girls' spots and Mike will be there. We still have three months to go. Everything will turn out fine. Don't get caught up in it all and get stressed out about it. It'll be okay. Promise.”
“I don't want to ask her practically last minute, Jake. And if I don't lose weight, I won't be wearing my dress!”
He turns his head and starts kissing my neck. “Everything will turn out fine,” he repeats, his lips moving down to my bare shoulder due to my spaghetti-strapped shirt.
“But what about-?”
“You know that he will be there no matter what. I'm sure it was just a mistake and it'll get fixed,” he answers my unfinished question about my father. “We'll workout together once the season is over and you'll lose whatever weight you're talking about. Ask Cherish. She'd love it and will help out in any way she can. Now.” He swirls his tongue just underneath my ear before he continues. “Can you spend some time with your future husband or would you like to complain about fixable problems some more?” Jake's grin reflects back at me in the mirror.
Turning to face him, I say, “Lead the way, love.”
* * *
Being one person off is better than two, right? Asking Cherish to fill in isn't terrible, so if something goes wrong, I'm going to blame Jake. It was his idea after all. With a deep breath, I keep that in mind as I call Cherish.
“Emily, hey. How are things in Chicago?” she answers.
“Depends on how you look at it, I guess. Has Dad fixed his schedule at work yet?”
“Yes. He just got it settled and was going to call tonight to tell you. You didn't worry about that, did you?”
Ha. Maybe a little. “Of course not,” I lie before diving into the reason why I called. “I know it's close to the wedding, but two of my bridesmaids won't be able to make it. Abella's mom had to move in with her, so she's having to take care of her. She rather stay close by to her mother and all that. But apparently she and Hannah were a package deal. Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to-”
“Absolutely! Don't you worry about a thing. I'll find something in the right color that's more age appropriate for me, but I would love to. Anything to help.”
“Thank you. Trying to make everything perfect for this wedding is about to drive me crazy,” I confess.
“Emily, what makes a wedding perfect is that two people in love are getting married. They are vowing to spend the rest of their lives together and that is what makes a wedding perfect. At the end of the day, it won't matter if you're a bridesmaid short or if someone is late. You'll be married and surrounded by people you love. That is what matters.”
I smile at her words. “Thanks, Cherish. That's exactly what I needed to hear. I've got to go, but I'll talk to you later.”
“Tell Jake good luck!”
“I will.”
Hanging up, I call for Drake. We're going to the playoff game, and we have to leave in a few minutes. Drake invited his girlfriend, so we have to pick her up before we can go to the game. Between traffic and picking up Bev, his girlfriend, we get to the arena with five minutes to spare until the puck drops. While we wait for the start of the game, I talk to Bev.
“Do you have any big plans this summer?”
“No, not really. My parents are busy with work a lot, so I'll just hang out at home for the most part.”
Drake says something to her as the announcer talks, and I don't hear what he says. It makes her laugh though. The game starts promptly, dragging my attention to the ice. It's so much more intense than a regular season game and everyone can tell. The stakes are high after all. Playoff games have always put me on edge, but with Jake playing, it's so much worse. My eyes follow the puck around as if my life depended on it. When we're down by two at the end of the second, I can't stop pacing in our box.
The team skates out onto the ice for the third period. I sit down again and to keep my hands still, I slide them under my thighs. Jake steals the puck and passes it to Steve. He shoots it swiftly right past the goalie. The noise that erupts is almost deafening as people in the arena celebrate along with the players on the ice.
But then it's back to business. We still need one more goal to tie the game. It comes seconds later from the captain. The rest of the period is spent with the players from both teams scrambling to score. With a minute left in the period, Jake, my love, scores to bring his team up on the scoreboard. The energy rises as the clock counts down. Our goalie makes an incredible save with twenty seconds to go. C'mon. Just a little bit longer and we win.
Ten.
The other team has the puck.