Skinny Bitch Gets Hitched (31 page)

In Zach's kitchen, Charlie sat between us, staring from Zach to me. It was as if he knew something was up.

“I think we should go away together like we'd planned.
Now
. I'll leave the restaurant in Alanna and Gunnar's very capable hands. At first I was thinking we just needed to disappear together. But now I know we need to talk through some stuff.”

What do you expect married life to really be like? Does it match his expectations?

“Let's go,” he said.

We found a gorgeous inn that looked like a minicastle (where dogs were kindly welcome) in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and almost five hours later we were walking along the pure white beach, Charlie scampering ahead of us.

“How's your family doing?” Zach asked, throwing a stick for Charlie. We'd barely spoken on the drive up; just being together seemed to be enough for both of us.

“Not great. My dad was so upset he almost collapsed. Harry's his only nephew. And Harry's parents can't even process it. It makes no sense to any of us.”

“Did you talk to Harry before . . .”

“Before he was arrested? Yeah. I hadn't been able to get ahold of him and then realized I'd find him in the loft of my parents' barn. It's where we always used to meet when something bad happened to one of us and we needed to talk or just think without being bugged by anyone.”

“Did he admit it to you?”

“Yeah. Gambling debts and a gold-digger girlfriend who dumped him.” I shook my head, still unable to imagine Harry Cooper as an embezzler and a liar.

Zach threw another stick, shaking his head. “I'm sorry, Clem. I wish this hadn't happened.”

Me too.
“You gave him a chance and he screwed you. If anyone should be apologizing, it's Harry. And me for asking you to hire him in the first place.”

“He blindsided everyone, Clem.”

Yeah. Especially me. The whole thing with Harry made me realize that I didn't know everything, even if I thought I did.

I stopped walking and looked out at the ocean, then at Zach. “So, are we taking a break?”

He tucked a breeze-blown strand of my hair behind my ear. “It's hard to take a break when you're on vacation together. Especially here in one of the most gorgeous places in the world.”

“I've missed you. Not just the past few days. For weeks. This whole thing sucked. I thought you'd changed your mind about getting married.”

“Never.” He put his arm around me. “I just had my suspicions about Harry but couldn't say anything until I was sure. And how could I act like everything was fine while I was having an internal investigation of your favorite cousin? Bad situation.”

“I understand why you didn't just tell me.” He must have felt like hell about the whole thing.

He squeezed my hand and we walked up the beach, not saying a word.

Then he stopped and pulled me close against him, and we stood there for a good long time, Charlie sitting at our feet.

In our four-poster bed, wearing our complimentary inn robes on what felt like thousand-thread-count sheets, Zach and I were finishing up our late-night room-service snack—incredible espresso chip gelato—when I told him about Jocelyn's call the other day and how she set me straight.

“I'm not surprised. My aunt Jocelyn is very wise. It's why Dominique can't get along with her. My mother hates to be
wrong, and Jocelyn would call her out on how wrong she was all the time. Like you do.”

That made me smile—for a second, anyway. “Well, what if your mother's done with me? You okay with having a wife and mother who don't speak?”

“Are you going to let it get to that?” he asked, taking a spoonful of my soup, which wasn't half-bad.

“I don't
want
to. I like Dominique. I actually really do. Not everything about her, but there are pieces of her I really do like. She's blunt and honest and is who she is, and she cares about her kids, even if she's her own worst enemy about getting them to stay in her life.”

“She's on her way to losing Keira.”

“Well, only your mother can fix that. I know you want me to fix things with her myself, but I don't know if I can. She's wrong about Keira and wrong to be mad at me for encouraging Keira to go after her dream, end of story.”

“So maybe just sit her down and tell her that. She respects you, Clem. She'll listen.”

I wasn't so sure about that. “But I'll need you to have my back. She respects you too. And she doesn't want to lose you all over again.”

“I'll talk to her too. I'll let her know how much it sucks that my fiancée and I are stuck arguing about her on a romantic trip to Carmel.”

“Hey. I just realized this counts as our adventure. On Jocelyn's list of things we check off before we get married. Carmel
isn't exactly the wildness or anything, but we left home not knowing how things would end up between us. That's going on an adventure.”

He leaned over and kissed me. “And everything ended up fine.”

“Well, not yet, because you haven't gone over the list with me.”

“Bring it.”

I laughed. I reached into my bag for the folded-up piece of paper. “I'll substitute the word
her
for
him
. ‘Number one: Be sure you love her.' ”

“We already did this one, and I've never been more sure of anything in my life.”

That got him a smile and a smooch on the lips. “Check. ‘Number two: Close all doors to the past by revisiting (mentally or for real) any former beaus you've never been able to forget. Say good-bye once and for all—if you can.' ”

I waited for him to change the subject, as usual. Or suddenly want to finish his pasta.

“I actually ran into my ex a couple of weeks ago.” He took both our trays and put them on the table. He slid back into bed next to me, his hands behind his head.

“The famous Vivienne.”

“You're way more famous than she is,” he said, which made me smile again. “I felt the same way about seeing her as you said you did when you ran into your ex. Absolutely
nothing
. She could have been anyone.”

“Why don't men just say these things the first time?” I asked, socking him with one of the little throw pillows. “Guys say nothing when saying exactly what you just said is all we want to hear.”

He shrugged. “We can't help it. Why say something when there's nothing to say?”

He had me there.

“So what's the next one?” he asked, then sipped his wine.

“ ‘Take a weekend adventure with a girlfriend who'll tell you the truth.' ”

“Does a very long golf game with my brother count? The guy never stops talking or sharing his opinion.”

“I'd say that counts.”

“Want to know what he thinks about you?”

“Is it good?” I asked.

“He thinks you're the best thing that ever happened to me. That before you, no one ever challenged me on anything, but that you're one big challenge. And pretty, to boot.”

“I've always liked Gareth.”

“Next?” he asked.

“ ‘Number four: Make sure that you are the captain of your own ship—even though you and your wife will be steering together. She'll be captain of hers too.' ”

“I'm definitely the captain of my own ship, but I like to steer yours myself sometimes, huh?”

“Not even just sometimes,” I said with an evil smile.

“I read over the info you e-mailed about the Outpost. I'll admit, you have a good, solid business plan, Clem. But I'm still
worried about you splitting your time, spreading yourself too thin. And ever seeing you.”

“I can make it work. I know I can.” I wanted him to know that too.

He took my hand and held it. “Of course I know you can, Clem. I just don't
want
you to because I think it's going to be way too much on your plate. But I know you'll make it work, no matter what. You can do anything, Clem.”

I couldn't stop my grin. “Did I actually just get Zach Jeffries's blessing?”

“At least all the work you did to get that blessing will now get you the loan. Your business plan is solid and then some.”

“You'll have to send your dad and the new wife-to-be to the Outpost.”

“He'll have everyone he knows packing the place. My father likes trends. And farm-to-table is a good trend.”

“It's more than just a trend, though. It's a lifestyle. It may be all trendy to the general public, but people like my parents, like my entire family, have always eaten this way.” I took a sip of my wine. “Ready for number five? ‘Make a list of all the things you love about her and all the things you don't. Figure out how you'll deal with what you don't love. In parens: Don't put this off by waiting to cross the bridge when you come to it.”

“Hand me the inn stationery and that pen,” he said, upping his chin at the bedside table. He spent the next fifteen minutes scribbling, thinking, scribbling, thinking, scribbling. “Should I read it aloud?”

I nodded.

“On the Love side: ‘Smart, driven, passionate, vegan.' ”

“Wait—you love that I'm a vegan?” Ha.

“It's who you are, isn't it?” He took another sip of wine. “More on the Love side: ‘Devoted to family and friends and me. Drop-dead gorgeous and amazing body.' Don't Love: ‘Works too hard. Thinks up recipes when she might be massaging my neck. And I've been getting the feeling that Charlie's beginning to like her more than me.' ”

I smiled. “So how are you going to deal with that?”

“I guess I'll have to stop thinking of him as only
my
dog.”

I slid on top of him and kissed him. “ ‘Number six: What do you expect married life to really be like? Does it match your expectations?' ”

“I expect it to be a lot like it's been,” he said. “Highs and lows and everything in between.”

“Yeah, me too. I wasn't really sure what I expected before I started thinking about it, before I started going through the list. But that's exactly it. Marriage will be like life.”

He nodded. “We're whipping through this list. Very good sign, I'd say.”

“A lot of the hard work was done for us. We can thank your mother for that. And Harry.” I sipped my wine. “ ‘Number seven: Ask her why she loves you and then jot the reasons down on paper. Reread when you're arguing.' ” I took the paper he'd written the Loves and Don't Loves on and slipped it into my bag. “I'll hang on to that for when I need to be reminded.
And you.” I'd already written up my own list for Zach. I gave it to him, and when he finished reading it, he pulled me into a hug.

“So what's number eight?” he asked.

“ ‘Are you expecting her to change once you're married? If so, return the ring or you'll be sorry.' ”

“I never want you to change, Clementine Cooper.”

“There is one thing I want
you
to change.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“When something's wrong or bothering you, you have to tell me. Right away. Even if it's something like the Harry thing. Bring me in, okay?”

“Deal. And you too. Though you already do that.”

I smiled. “Hey, we can check off number nine: ‘Go on an adventure together. A real adventure.' Doing it!”

“What's the last one? Jocelyn's probably saved the most important for last.”

“ ‘Be sure you want to marry her,' ” I read.

He pulled me close to him and looked into my eyes. “I'm very, very sure. You?”

I kissed him on the lips. “A thousand percent.”

“Guess the wedding's back on then.”