“No, you’re perfect. You always look perfect.” She scoffed and went back to the pot of water on the stove, which was boiling away.
We caught up on what else had been going on with her. She’d had to miss a few of her charity meetings and she was upset about that.
“I know they understand, but I can’t help feeling guilty. Still, there’s a lot going on now with the wedding and your father and all that.” It seemed like everything in my life was happening at once. “Is there anything else you need to do for the wedding?” she asked, and I could tell she was fishing.
“Well, I have a final fitting for my dress and I was wondering if you might like to be there,” I said, knowing that was what she wanted to know.
“Oh, really?” She clapped her hands together like I’d just told her that the new line of spring clothes was out.
“Yes, really.” She’d seen it already, but this time Sloane was going to have the veil and I was going to get my hair and makeup done as practice for the real day.
“Oh, I’m so excited!” She beamed and it made me happy that I could do that for her.
“Good.”
“What are you excited about, Eva?” Dad said, walking in with Lucah right behind him.
“None of your business,” she said, stirring the pasta and giving me a conspiratorial look. I went back to chopping tomatoes and basil, but Lucah took the knife away from me because he was much faster and better at it than I was. I let him have his way every now and then.
“What is your mother excited about?” he murmured as Mom and Dad talked.
“Just like she said, none of your business,” I said, snatching a bit of tomato and popping it into my mouth.
“Hands off the tomatoes,” he said, smacking my wrist gently like my mother would if I was getting into the cookie dough. I gaped at him, pretending to be scandalized.
“You won’t tell me, you don’t get any tomatoes.” Making sure to keep eye contact, I used my other hand to sneak another bit of tomato before slowly putting it in my mouth.
“You are in so much trouble, Sunshine.” Before he could say anything else, Mom announced it was time for the tomatoes. She drained the pasta, drizzled it with olive oil and then we added the tomatoes and basil with just a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
I refused to tell Lucah anything, even through lunch and then on the way back to our apartment.
“You like holding things over me, don’t you?” he said.
“Yup. It’s payback for you having a secret identity. I get to hold stuff over you for years to make up for that.” He started to argue, but I put my hand up to stop him.
“I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.”
“No, I’m pretty sure you’re the one making all the rules.” I smirked at him.
“I’m the bride. It’s my job.”
Fifteen
The next two weeks saw me getting little sleep and using a lot of under eye concealer to cover it up. I started getting a handle on things at work, but it was a tentative grasp. Any little problem could send me tumbling back into panic mode again. I had help, but it was still one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. I realized that part of the reason I was working so hard was my fear that I’d mess something up, no matter how minor.
I finally made it to the weekend of my bachelorette party up at the cabin. Before everything had happened with Dad, I’d put in for getting that Friday off, but I kept going back and forth about taking it.
“You need a day off. You’ve been working yourself too hard. If you’re not careful, you’re going to end up in the hospital and I’d like to prevent that for as long as possible, unless you’re there to give birth, okay?” Lucah said. His fuse had gotten shorter and we’d had a few arguments. More so than usual. Nothing terrible, but my job was definitely putting a strain on our relationship.
On Thursday before the party, I woke up and felt awful. I hadn’t had any booze, but I felt like I was hungover. My stomach rolled and I sat up and prepared to run for the bathroom.
“You okay?” Lucah said. He’d been sleeping later than me, which was definitely an indication that our relationship was wonky.
“Yeah, just felt nauseous for a second.” I swallowed and the feeling lessened a little. Lucah sat up.
“Do you want me to get you something?” I shook my head, but he got up and came back with some stomach medicine and a glass of water.
“It’s probably something you picked up that your immune system has been too weak to fight off.” I glared at him and swallowed the nasty pink goo before chasing it with several gulps of water. My stomach rolled again and I thought I was going to hurl pink grossness all over the comforter, but I sat still and it went away again.