Date Night (Wish Come True Book 1) (11 page)

“I’ve told you the money was to be
split halfway between the two of us. I even showed you the damn will. What is
there to discuss?”

“JT, I think you’re taking our parents’
wishes too literally,” Derek said, leaning into the table and meeting my glare
head on. “What they wanted was to make sure that both of us were provided for
and received an education.”

“And that’s exactly what I’m doing by
giving you your fair share,” I pointed out in exasperation.

“No, that isn’t the point,” Derek refuted.
“I don’t think they expected to die so young and their plans didn’t consider
the fact that you would have to work while putting yourself through school in
order to afford our living costs.”

“What does that have to do with the
price of tea in China?”

“The only reason I played football
was because you wouldn’t let me work to help support the household costs.”
Derek suddenly glanced at Jordan and she nodded her head in encouragement. “Well
my scholarship is like my financial contribution to our household running
costs.”

“Then you’ll have some cash to give
you a leg up in life.” 

Derek just shook his head and stared
down at his hands. “Christ, they should have put me in the legal care of Aunt
Mary. If they had then this wouldn’t be happening right now. She would have
paid for our living costs and you would’ve had sufficient funds to pay-off
college and complete it in a normal time frame. You would’ve been working in
your chosen career for two years already.”

The words sliced through my heart,
wounding me in a way nothing else could. Why couldn’t Derek see it for what it
was? Our parents had entrusted me with taking care of him. And I was doing
everything humanly possible to do exactly what they had wanted.

“You don’t mean that Derek.”

“Just promise me you’ll think about
it.” Derek stood up to leave. “You have been sacrificing for five years, JT. I
love you, man.
Please
let me give back a little. Let me feel like I got
to take care of you for once.”

I nodded and watched as Derek left
before I returned my attention to Jordan. A single tear was trailing a path down
her cheek and I gently wiped it away with my finger. Why was I such a jackass
sometimes? Derek meant the world to me. I had promised I would think about it
and I would keep that promise.

“JT, please,” Jordan said, placing
her hand on my arm. “It would mean so much to Derek if you did this.”

“I know,” I said, nodding my head. “I
hear where he’s coming from but it just doesn’t sit right with me. The most I
can do is think about it. That, I can promise.”

“Yeah, you do that JT.” Jordan gave
me a sullen look before standing up to leave. “You’re good at thinking about
everything. Just don’t wait too long or the choice might be taken out of your
hands before you’ve come to your own conclusion. I’ll see you later.”

Great. Now she was angry with me too.
How did that happen? I was supposed to be pissed at her. Why did everything
have to be so complicated?

***

Jordan

I reached for my phone as I walked to
the parked car. I knew JT was stubborn but this was getting ridiculous. It was
going to take a nuclear bomb to tear down the thick wall he’d built around
himself and get him to see things from another perspective. He meant well. But
he had gained independence at a very young age and was proving difficult to
budge. I had been fooling myself to think he was coming around to my way of
thinking about our relationship. He was going to have to get there on his own
terms. That was clear to me now. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t put things in
motion and move it along quickly. I hastily dialed a number and put the phone
to my ear.

“Steve.” I bit my lip and took the
plunge. “Saturday night sounds great but it’ll have to be after nine o’clock.
Is that too late?”

Jordan

“Geez, Grannie,” I huffed as I used
all of my strength to turn my grandmother’s 2000 Saturn SL into the parking
space at
Cakes by Tiffany
located in downtown Royal Oak. “I don’t understand
why you insist on keeping this car with its manual steering and roll down windows.
It just isn’t necessary.”

Grannie chuckled and pointed a sharp
finger. “Don’t let Susie Orman hear you say that! One of the many secrets to
building wealth is keeping your car well-maintained so you can drive it until
it dies. You’d do well to member that sage advice. This car still has a lot of
life left in it. I don’t drive very far, you know.”

“I guess,” I sighed. “Apparently
you’re not the only one who thinks that way. JT has been driving that Ford
Focus for ages even though I know he’s dying for a Mustang. At least he has the
excuse that he can’t afford a new car right now. It’s how you got Derek his
Camaro too. Which, by the way, I haven’t completely forgiven you for yet. You
know that’s my dream car. Why couldn’t you have gotten that car for
my
graduation
gift?”

Grannie chuckled and patted me on the
arm. “You’ll get your dream car one day soon.  I’m sure of it. You said you had
a good feeling about your interview the other day, right?”

“Yep. But you never know. I’m not
sure how many people are vying for the position.”

“How many more interviews do you
have?”

My brow creased in deep thought. “One
later this week and two more next week, although one of them is for a
substitute teacher position. I feel like I need to keep all of my options
open.”

“Your mother told me about the
opportunity up north,” Grannie said as we walked up to the store entrance. “I
think you should go and at least interview for the position.”

“Grannie,” I whined and stole a
glance at my grandmother. “I am
not
leaving the area. We’ve talked about
this already.” The words rang in my ears and I couldn’t help but think that I
sounded just like JT had the day before at Panera.

“I’m not saying you should leave,”
Grannie soothed. “But we don’t know what’s going to happen and either way,
going on an interview is good experience. And you could use a nice little
vacation before you start your full-time career. You haven’t been to Mackinac
Island in years.”

I pursed my lips and considered my
grandmother’s words. It was hard to argue against her logic. But I hated the
thought of leaving town even for a few days. I had so little time left with
Grannie. Why did she always have to be right?

My irritation dissolved as soon as I
became aware of my surroundings. The sweet delicious scent of cake and icing
permeated the small space, each battling for my attention. A stunning array of
pastries filled the counters but the display of cakes was by far the greatest
tease.

Tiffany greeted us a few minutes
later, ushering us into an office at the back of the shop to walk us through
the pricing sheet and explain the time needed to prepare the various types of
cakes she offered, depending on the size of the cake and the intricacy of the
design. After answering all of our questions, she left us alone to browse
through the catalog of her previous work so I could get an idea of what I wanted
in a wedding cake.    

We flipped through the pages of the
catalog and paused to ooohhhh and aaaahhh. It wasn’t until about halfway
through the book that I saw it. The cake that took my breath away. My hand flew
to my heart in an involuntary gesture. It was a master piece; everything I had
ever wanted in a wedding cake without having known I wanted it.

The four layer square cake was pure
elegance with black satin ribbon trimming the bottom of each layer and
intricate red piping standing out against the white fondant background. It was
pure genius the way the decorative red piping began as an intricate pattern of
interlaced hearts on the bottom layer and each successive layer became more
simplistic and broadly spaced until the top layer consisted of evenly spaced
red dots in groups of three. The blood red roses arranged artfully on top added
the final burst of color. This cake could easily double as a wedding cake or a
life celebration cake.

Grannie peered over at me with a wide
smile spreading across her face. “This is the one, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I agreed and felt a single
tear trickle slowly down my cheek as I trained my eyes on the picture of the
cake. “This is
The One
.”

Grannie reached out and turned my
face to meet her gaze. “What is going through that head of yours, girl?”

An avalanche of tears crashed over my
cheeks. It was like the last few weeks had been a major snowstorm of emotions
and the weight of it all was finally too heavy to bear. Grannie wrapped me up
in her arms and let my cry it out. After my tears were spent, I leaned back and
shyly gazed up through my damp eyelashes.

“I’m sorry, Grannie. I didn’t mean
for that to happen.”

“Tell me.”

“I…”

Should I confide my true feelings to
Grannie? She had enough to worry about and wasn’t in great health. I didn’t
want to burden her with more problems. But the arched brow and firmly set mouth
on Grannie’s face told me she wouldn’t give up until I had confessed my true
feelings. I may as well get it over with now.

“I’m in love with JT.” It rushed out
of my mouth before I had a chance to formulate my thoughts. I buried my face in
my hands for a moment. Yes, I had moved past the falling in love stage and had
entered full-blown in love. I lifted my head to gauge her reaction.

“I know,” Grannie said, her eyes
sparkling with mirth. “Is that all?’

“What?” How could Grannie possibly
know my tightly held secret? I had been so careful to mask my true feelings.

“Anyone with eyes can see it, Jordan.”
Grannie shook her head with a gentle smile playing on her lips. “Except your
brother, of course, because he is clueless about these things. Why does that
make you want to cry?”

“It’s complicated,” I sighed. “I want
this cake for my wedding so bad. It’s amazing. Wonderful. Beautiful. Delicious
too, I bet. Chocolate and vanilla layers.”

“Then you can have it.” Grannie reached
over and laid her hand on my shoulder. “We’ve found it together and when the
time comes you can have it. Jordan, this whole wedding thing; you know it is
about the journey, right? Not the actual wedding itself? I’m sorry if I have
been selfish, my beautiful little girl. I just wanted to be part of the journey
with you.”

“But that’s the thing,” I whispered
as I felt my bottom lip quiver. “I want it now; for this party, with you there
to celebrate with us. I don’t want to get married without you there Grannie. I
need
you to be there.” I choked the words out as a fresh flood of tears descended
upon me.

“I know, Sweat Pea,” Grannie said,
rubbing her hands softly against my back sympathetically. “I’m your strongest
connection to your Daddy.”

I nodded my head in relief. I knew my
grandmother would understand. “If you’re there, then it will almost be like
he’s there too.”

“Jordan, honey,” Grannie said. “No
matter what happens in the coming months, we will both be there with you in
your heart when you finally do get married, especially on your wedding day. You
must know that.”

“I know.” My voice cracked in pain.
“But it isn’t the same. And if JT would stop being so damned pigheaded, I could
have you at my wedding.”

“Now Jordan,” Grannie started. But I
wasn’t finished yet.

“No,” I interrupted. “He is being
pigheaded. I know he loves me but he refuses to admit it. I can feel it,
Grannie. But he has it in his stupid head that I have to be sure he’s
The
One
and that I’m not just doing this to appease
you
. And he thinks
he has to get his life in order and be able to provide for me before committing
to a relationship. This isn’t the Middle Ages, for Christ’s sake.”

I bristled at the indelicate snort
that escaped from Grannie. Why couldn’t she see this too?

“JT is headstrong. You know that,”
Grannie soothed. “How could he not be, having been raised by a father who was
ex-Marine Corp. JT grew up in a very traditional family, Jordan. His mother was
a stay-at-home mother. Can you blame him if he has traditional values?”

“Well I was raised to take care of
myself and this is the twenty-first century. He needs to get with the program.
Why are you defending him?”

“I’m not saying it is right,” Grannie
clarified. “But you need to understand where JT is coming from and how his life
experiences have shaped him into the wonderful young man that he is. No
different than how your Daddy influenced you to be an independent woman. Help
him see that too.”

“But how do I do that?” I asked. I
felt utterly defeated.

“Well, you need to address his
concerns one by one.” Grannie folded her hands gently on her lap. “Starting
with whether or not you’re in love with him just to find a mate to marry in
time to appease me. You get that boy, Steve, to ask you out on another date,
you hear? I saw the way JT reacted the other night. He thinks Steve is a worthy
opponent. But you have to be convincing, Jordan; like you’re putting a real
effort in it. ”

I giggled at my grandmother’s
tenacity. “I didn’t know you were so conniving, Grannie. That one is easy. I’ve
already agreed to go out with Steve on Saturday night. I figured I needed to
make JT jealous.”

“Not jealous,” Grannie corrected.
“You’re helping JT to see he’s the better man in your eyes. The man worthy of
your love.”

“Got it! What else?”

“You go to that interview up north
and let it slip to JT. He needs to noodle on what life would be like if you’re
not around.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “I
kind of prepped him for that already when he got his flat tire. We talked about
how I might have to expand my search if a job didn’t come up soon. He didn’t
sound very happy about it.”

“Good,” Grannie said. “Now show him
you mean it by going on the interview. He knows you love me and I bet he thinks
you’d never leave town while I’m still here.”

“Ok,” I said, although I didn’t want
to be away, even for a weekend. “Anything else?”

“Yes. Try to get him to go up north
with you. You two need time alone together. Let him see what he’s giving up
over the next year if he doesn’t commit to you now. He’s not going to want to
take the time off work. But you’ll think of something.”

I slumped back into my chair. This
was not going to be easy, but JT was worth it. It felt good to have an ally in
Grannie. It also felt great knowing that Grannie believed in our love and
thought it was meant to last.

“By the way,” Grannie said,
interrupting my train of thought. “I canceled the dating service effective
immediately. The party is only a little over a month away and your heart is
spoken for already.”

“Crap.” I sat straight up. “Did you
ever send out the invitations? I totally forgot about the invitations.”

“Of course I did,” Grannie said.
“They went out last week with an R.S.V.P. to me and your mother.”

“Do I get to see what it looks like?”
I asked with raised brow. “It is my wedding after all!”

Grannie chuckled and squeezed me tightly
to her chest. “That’s my girl. Yes, you can see the invitation. Let’s order the
cake and go home.”