Chocolate for Two (3 page)

“He’s already started sniffing out the best fares.”

“So, when do you get here?”

“Probably within a couple weeks. They want to get the project going as soon as possible.”

“Awesome! I can’t wait.”

“You won’t be too busy spending every waking moment with your perfect fiancé?”

“Please. I mean, he’s definitely perfect and gorgeous and all that, but he’s no Andie Barnett.”

“Well said.”

Jake was out of town until Wednesday, so I had to spend the first few days of our engagement celebrating without him. It was sort of a bummer that he wasn’t around to join me in my state of post-proposal bliss, but I was used to our disjointed schedules and work that kept me as busy as I could handle.

I was still a regular contributor to the daytime talk show
Love, Wendy
, which was as popular as ever. My segment,
Honey on Your Mind
, could certainly be stressful at times, but I’d pretty much gotten the hang of interviewing people on the street about their innermost thoughts and feelings. That allowed me to spend more time on my brainchild, the ever-expanding Waverly’s Honey Shop. My quirky line of clothing and products featuring one-line observations about life seemed to have struck a chord with the general public. I enjoyed the entrepreneurial thing, but juggling both jobs was beginning to wear me out. You can drag the girl out of bed, but you can’t drag the need to spend nine hours sleeping in that bed out of the girl.

Tuesday afternoon I strolled the mile from my Brooklyn Heights apartment to Waverly’s Honey Shop’s small office in Dumbo. We’d moved in more than six months before, but it was still pretty bare. There just never seemed to be time to properly decorate, and while I knew it was my responsibility, I secretly hoped someone would take charge and do it for me.

I’d spent the day before at
Love, Wendy
, so I hadn’t yet shared my big news with my small but loyal team here. When I opened the door, Paige, my business partner and confidante, was sitting at the conference table with Tasha and Beth, our interns from Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology. The table was covered with papers and fabric swatches.

The three of them raised their heads like marionettes when they heard me come in.

“Hi, Waverly,” Paige said. “What’s shaking?” Her round face was a bit fuller than usual, a side effect of being in her third trimester.

I hesitated for a moment, then smiled and raised my left arm. “What’s shaking? Oh, just my hand, just a little bit. It’s tired, you know, from carrying this
diamond
around.” I fluttered my eyelashes Marilyn Monroe style.

Paige’s eyes got big. “Oh my God!”

Tasha leaped out of her chair and made a beeline for me, followed by Beth. Paige struggled as she lifted herself—and her growing belly—out of her seat.

“Let’s have a look, then,” Tasha said as she reached for my hand. “Are you
kidding
me? It’s enormous!”

Beth’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my gosh, Waverly, it’s gorgeous.”

I smiled and fluttered my eyelashes again. “Why, thank you. I quite agree.”

Paige walk-waddled over to us and gave me a hug. “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, Paige. Can you believe we’re
both
engaged now? Who would have thought it was possible? Only a year ago, you were dating assholes of every stripe, and Jake was living in Atlanta!”

She laughed and spread her hands over her bump. “Tell me about it. Life can turn on a dime, that’s for sure.”

Tasha grabbed my hand again and studied the ring some more, then looked up at me. “Were you expecting it?”

I shook my head. “No clue.”

“Honestly?”

“He completely surprised me.”

After I finished filling them in on all the juicy details of the proposal, Beth sat down and sighed.

“What a fairy tale.
I
want to get married.”

I looked at her and laughed. “Stop it. You’re only twenty-four. You’re way too young to even
think
about getting married.”

She sighed again. “I know, but I’m already sick of dating. Dating in New York is an exercise in torture. It’s worse than getting waxed.”

Paige gave her a sympathetic look. “Sweetheart, I hate to break it to you, but dating is hard
everywhere
.”

Beth picked up a piece of fabric and started folding it. “Maybe so, but men are…
meaner
here than they are in Indiana.”

I laughed. “And that surprises you?”

She continued to play with the fabric. “I know, I know. But I just want to find a nice guy and be done with it. Is that too much to ask?”

Tasha nodded. “I agree with Beth. I grew up here so can speak only from my own experience, but on a scale of dating difficulty, New York has got to be in a separate league.” She put a hand on Beth’s shoulder. “You’re just too nice and pure, Midwestern girl. Nice girls like you get screwed here because so many New York guys like bitches.”

“I’m not
that
nice,” Beth said.

Tasha tilted her head to one side. “Do you still give spare change to people in the subway?”

“Yes.” Beth looked at the ground.

“There you go.”

“Okay, maybe I’m nice. But I’m not
that
pure,” Beth said. “It’s not like I’m a virgin or anything.”

Tasha tilted her head to the other side. “Pure is a relative thing. Do you think it’s gross to sleep with someone on the first date?”

“Yes.” Beth continued to look down.

Tasha held up both her hands. “Would you ever sleep with more than one guy at the same time?”

Beth couldn’t even bring herself to respond to that one, but the horrified look in her eyes said it all.

“Not at the
exact
same time,” Tasha said, looking at me and Paige. “You know what I mean, right?”

Paige and I laughed. “We know,” I said.

“Well?” Tasha said to Beth. “Would you ever sleep with more than one guy at a time?”

Beth’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. “No,” she whispered.

Tasha crossed her arms in front of her and looked at me and Paige. “I rest my case. The guy who lives in the apartment next to me is sleeping regularly with three women.”

Beth’s eyes doubled in size. “
Three?
”

Tasha nodded. “
Three
. His apartment is basically a revolving door of sexual partners who, from what I can tell, have never been out in daylight with him. Personally I think it’s gross, but as he likes to put it, that’s dating in New York.”

“Wow,” Beth said softly. She suddenly looked a bit pale.

The interns walked back over to the conference table, and as I watched them I couldn’t help but smile. Their exchange was like listening to me and Andie ten years earlier.

How things have changed.

The thought of Andie reminded me of my other news. I looked at Paige. “Hey, did you hear your crazy cousin is moving here?”

“Andie?”

I gave her a look. “Do you have any other crazy cousins who also happen to be one of my best friends?”

“Why is she moving
here
? Didn’t she just move in with her boyfriend?” Her face suddenly got serious. “Don’t tell me they broke up?”

I shook my head. “It’s a work thing, some three-month project, so she’s coming solo.”
I hope that’s the only reason.

“When?”

“I think next week.”

“Wow, how fun. I haven’t seen Andie in ages.”

“She’s the same. Short. Blonde. Spunky. A little bit crazy.”

“Sounds like she hasn’t changed a bit.”

“Here’s to that, and let’s hope she never does.”

On the walk home that evening, I pulled out my phone and sent Jake my first text since we’d gotten engaged.

Hi fiancé, it’s your fiancée. I love you SO MUCH!!!!

Lots of LOVE,

Your loving fiancée

p.s. I love you so much!

I made a quick stop at the grocery store, and when I got back to my apartment, I nearly collided with a FedEx delivery guy on his way out of my building.

“By any chance, are you Waverly Bryson?” he asked.

I saluted. “That would be me.”

He held up a package marked
OVERNIGHT EXPRESS
and handed me a stylus. “This is for you. I just need your John Hancock.”

I signed his little device and eagerly hurried upstairs. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d received a package, especially via overnight delivery.

I sliced the packing tape with scissors and opened the box. Tucked on top of something wrapped in pink tissue paper was a small note:

A little gift to get you started.

Fondly, Ava McIntyre

It was from Jake’s mom.

I set the card down and carefully opened the delicate paper. Inside was an enormous black leather wedding planner. The letters WM were monogrammed on the front.

WM?

Then it hit me.

Waverly…McIntyre.

Uh-oh.

Like I would ever change my last name.

As I flipped through the gilded pages, I wondered what else she might be expecting me to change.

It turned out that I wasn’t the only one with big news.

A week later I felt my phone buzz on my lap during a meeting at NBC. I couldn’t answer it, but I glanced down and was surprised to see a name that rarely popped up on it.

McKenna.

Mackie’s calling me?

Unless she was returning a call from me, I rarely heard from McKenna these days. She’d gone back to work a few months earlier and was now juggling an energetic little girl and a high-stress banking job. Throw in a husband and a bumper-to-bumper commute from Mill Valley into downtown San Francisco, and her life was even busier than mine. She didn’t have a free minute to breathe, much less call me. Ah, suburban bliss.

I shrugged it off as an inadvertent pocket dial, but then my phone vibrated again, indicating she’d left a voice mail. I listened to the message as soon as the meeting was over.

“Hey it’s me. I’ve got some news, give me a shout.”

I raised my eyebrows.

News?

I wanted to call her back right away, but I couldn’t. I had to spend the rest of the afternoon preparing for a taping of
Honey on Your Mind
before racing across town to scope out a location for a segment later in the week. By the time I had a chance to sit down
and pick up the phone, it was nearly eight o’clock. Exhausted, I poured myself some wine and plopped on the couch. I set the glass down and closed my eyes for a few delicious minutes, then called McKenna at the office.

“Hey.” She sounded…weird.

“Hey back. Are you okay? I think that was the first voice mail you’ve left me in like a year.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just crazy these days, and I don’t want to be that mom on the news who was playing with her
phone
while her kid was playing in the fireplace, you know?”

I laughed. “It’s okay, I understand. So, what’s up?” I picked up my wine and took a sip.

“I’m pregnant.”

I nearly dropped my glass. “
What!
”

“Yep.”

“Since when?”

“About a month. I just took the test today.”

“Oh my God, Mackie. I can’t believe it!”

“I can’t either, actually. I think I’m in shock.”

“Were you trying? I don’t remember your saying anything about trying. Were you drinking? Is this one of those champagne babies, like those toddlers who have siblings in college?”

She laughed. “We weren’t exactly
trying
, but we weren’t really
not
trying either. We were sort of just, I don’t know, going with it.”

“Apparently it went.”

She laughed again. “Hunter’s pretty proud of his little swimmers, let’s just put it that way.”

“Good God, Mackie, you’re going to have another kid who can’t even feed itself?”

“Looks like it. Unless we have twins.”

I set my glass down and put a hand on my chest. “Don’t give me a heart attack. I’m still trying to come to terms with being an auntie of two.”

“I’m confident you’ll manage.”

“So, when’s the due date?”

“I’m not sure exactly. I think sometime in February. I’m going to see the doctor tomorrow.”

“Are you excited?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Yes. A little overwhelmed, but yes.”

“What about your job? Are you going to quit?”

“I don’t know yet. The juggling thing is hard, but it’s a good change from having baby food in my hair all day long. Plus it’s refreshing to be surrounded by grown-ups who think about things other than diapers and nap schedules.”

“I love naps.”

“That’s because
you’re
the one taking them.”

“True. I guess this means you won’t be coming out here for any more crazy weekends?”

“Definitely not. I’m still recovering from the last one.”

I coughed. “You mean the one last
December
?” To be honest, though, I still reeled a bit myself when I thought about how much alcohol had been consumed when she and Andie had come to visit for Andie’s birthday.

She laughed. “I don’t get out much anymore.”