Speak Now (29 page)

“I don’t think you understand the nature of this fabric. We’re talking about the kind of cling you get from swimsuit fabric. You’ve never seen what that kind of thing does—”

“But I can’t wait to see it. Tell me it’s just a nice tube that barely covers—”

“Oh, hush!”

A peace hovered between them across the miles. In time, the silence grew uncomfortable for her until Cara finally asked the question on her heart. “What would you say if I told you that I am a good ten to fifteen pounds overweight?”

“I’d say that you’re proof that the charts put you a good ten to fifteen pounds underweight.”

She giggled, much to her own mortification. “You met my mom—every woman on her side of the family gains exactly like my mom does. If I’m not careful, in twenty years—”

“I’ll find you just as sexy as I’m sure your father sees your mother.”

“Oh, gross.”

Jonathan’s laughter sent him choking on his water. “Are you telling me that you don’t think your father is attracted to your mother?”

“Unfortunately, I know all too well
exactly
how attracted he is—”

“Mine is ten times stronger than you’ve ever seen from him, I guarantee it.”

Curiously, she asked the obvious. “How?”

She heard him take a deep breath before he spoke words they’d only danced around in their conversations. “Because, if you and I gave in to exactly how we feel, the world wouldn’t see more than a hint of it, even if we gave the most vulgar display of public affection ever shown.” Without another word, the line went dead.

Seconds later, Cara remembered to exhale. “Oh, man, he’s right. Thinking about Mom and Dad—that is just so—so—oh, that is just so gross!” With a sigh, she whispered in reluctant admission, “And wonderful. It sounds just wonderful.”

After the third stab with a pin, Cara picked up her phone and texted Jonathan quickly. MY HEART BLEEDS FOR YOU. AND MY ARM. AND MY WAIST. OUCH!

Seconds later, a reply came, making her smile. AM I WORTH IT?

She passed the phone to her mother and grinned. “How could you not fall in love with that?”

“I don’t think we’ll ever know, Cara.” With a wink, Diane stood back to view her work and saw a slight ripple across the abdomen. “Oops, I didn’t get that pinned correctly. Here, let me just—” This time, the pin jabbed her breast.

“AAAK! Mom!”

Anxious to prevent a blood stain, Diane jerked off the bodice and left Cara standing half-naked in the middle of the sewing room.

“Mom!”

“Do you want to get blood on it? Go stop the bleeding. We’ve got to get this pinned correctly. The ball is next week!”

Covering her chest, in a semblance of modesty, Cara hurried to the bathroom and applied a tiny piece of toilet paper to the ooze of blood forming. The cellphone in her hand tempted her once more. Another text whizzed through the cell towers to Atlanta. OUCH! I’M NOT SURE ANY MORE!

She nearly choked as the reply zipped back. WANT ME TO KISS IT BETTER?

“Oh, Mom! Look!” Cara passed the phone through the door, snickering.

“Cara!”

“He doesn’t know what he just offered!”

As she stepped from the bathroom, the blood now cleaned away and ready to try on the dress again, Diane’s worried eyes met hers from across the room. “Is it such a good idea to go to Atlanta, Cara?”

“I’m not going to throw away a lifetime commitment to purity for anyone—not even the one man who could probably convince me to do it.”

“If he could convince you, then how can you say you won’t?” Cara’s mother slipped the dress over her daughter’s head and zipped up the side.

“Because he’d never let that happen. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to kiss him before we’re married, much less anything else.”

A knowing look crossed Diane’s face. “But you want to—I’d recognize that look anywhere.” She stood back and stared at her daughter in a dress that’d tempt any man to matrimony. “I need you to go find me shoes. I can’t hem that thing without them.”

“High or low heels?”

Diane looked at the dress critically. “It really does call for a higher heel I think. Silver, maybe. It’ll put you closer to his height too.”

Cara chewed her lip doubtfully. “He likes my height though.”

“And he loved you in those three inch ones you wear with your black sheath. Closer in height makes dancing easier. Go with some heels, but get comfortable ones. In that dress, he’s going to want to spend a lot of time on the floor.”

Another text message sent her into a fit of giggles as she dressed. I DON’T MIND. HONEST. LET ME KISS IT BETTER

Quickly, she zipped back an answer and then tossed her phone in her purse. This was one message she wasn’t sharing with her mother. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU JUST OFFERED. OFF TO BUY SHOES. FLATS OR HEELS?

Outside Carly’s house, she flipped open her phone while she waited. Jonathan’s reply made her grin. WILL I GET TO SEE THEM? IF NOT, WHO CARES?

She punched in a message while Carly dragged her dogs back inside the house. WELL, ONLY WHEN I SIT AND IF I HIKE UP MY SKIRT A LITTLE.

As Carly climbed into the car, Cara dialed her mom’s number. “Remember that funky iridescent tube fabric that stretches from like super extra small to Aunt Flynne size?”

“Oh, Cara, that’s not nice.”

“Do you still have it?” She grimaced as Carly exited the car to indulge in fits of giggles where Diane couldn’t hear.

“I have it, why?”

“Will it hurt anything to cut off, say,” Cara calculated carefully. “Twenty-four inches?” At her mother’s hesitation, she added, “Even forty-eight would work.”

“Forty-eight would be better, why?”

“I want to play a joke on Jonathan.”

“Cara?” Diane’s voice left the impression she was less than amused.

“Yes, Mother dear?”

“I love you.”

“I know. Off for shoes.”

~*~*~*~

“They’re perfect, Cara!”

“They’re clear! They look like those cheap jellies kids used to wear.”

“They look like Cinderella’s glass slipper,” Carly protested. “They fit like a dream, and you said yourself that clear gel insole will save you from misery. Look at the crystals!”

“Look at the price tag! Two hundred dollars for shoes I hate?”

“You love them, you just think you shouldn’t!” Carly gave them an apprising eye. “You’ll need a good pedicure that day.”

“I can’t, Jonathan and I have plans.”

“You’ll get the pedicure.” Without waiting for more opposition, Carly ran her fingers over the tops of the shoe. “Feel the crystals.”

“They’re just rhinestones!”

“T
hose are Swarovski crystals, for heaven’s sake, they feel wonderful on your feet, and we won’t talk about how great your legs look, so just buy them already.”

The magic words did the trick. “You think my legs look okay?”

“Your legs always look great in that style. It’s like someone saw them and said, ‘We have to create a shoe to showcase those legs’ so they made these. Now buy them and let’s get out of here.”

Cara glanced up and saw a sales clerk adjusting a disheveled display. Their eyes met and the man nodded. Flushing, she stood. “Fine. I’ll get them.” Her phone buzzed. “Tell Jonathan I have shoes.”

While Cara paid for her shoes, Carly answered the phone. “Hi, Jonathan! This is Carly. She just bought shoes and oh, my word, you’re going to flip, I promise.”

“That good?”

“Do you have a pacemaker?”

Jonathan chuckled, helping Carly see just exactly what sent Cara’s heart racing. “Should I order one?”

“Yes, you should. She didn’t want to get them, but I made her.”

“I think I like you.”

“You do. Trust me, here’s Cara”

“So, what did
Carly tell you? The expression on her face makes me a bit nervous.” Cara didn’t sound nearly as nervous as she implied.

“She told me not to be too disappointed in your shoe choice.”

Cara glanced around, looking for Carly, and spied her across the aisle looking at screen-printed sweatshirts in colors and styles that the woman wouldn’t buy for her grandmother, much less herself. “Well, since I’m relatively alone for a moment, I have to admit, Friday seems years away.”

“I’ll be waiting in the parking lot when you get off work.”

“Drat!”

Her words both hurt and surprised him. He’d expected something a little more eager. “Well, if you’re busy…”

“I was hoping you were going to say at lunch time.”

“I think I’ll wear a purple polka dotted tie just for that. You made my heart stop.”

“I thought I did that every time we go out.”

“Oh, she’s in a flirting mood—” the delight in Jonathan’s voice spurred her on again.

“Just practicing for Friday…”

A piercing scream ripped through the phone. “Got to go.” The phone clicked.

She whirled and met Carly’s eyes from across the aisle. Seeing the panic-stricken look on Cara’s face, the woman practically vaulted a table of knit camisoles to get to her friend. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. I heard Riley scream and then Jonathan just hung up!”

“He didn’t say
anything
?”

Shaking her head, Cara stared at her phone and then paused. “Wait, he did. He said—”

Carly’s fingers snapped twice in Cara’s face. “Come on, think. What did he say?”

“Got to go.”

“That’s it. Call him back!”

Terrified, she shook her head. “He won’t answer. I want to go home.”

After one more look at her friend, Carly grabbed Cara’s purse and dug for her keys. Cara didn’t even notice. Carly opened the passenger door, closed it again, and hurried to the driver’s seat. One look at Cara’s white face sent Carly in the opposite direction of Cara’s townhome. She was ready to make her case for spending the afternoon with Diane, but Cara never noticed.

At the Laas home, Cara turned to Carly and winced. “I should be praying, huh?”

“Go inside and pray with your mama. There’s not a woman in this world with a bigger in with Jesus. She’ll fix it up.”

“Your theology is pathetic.”

“You’re feeling better. I’ll call Jo-Jo for a ride home. You get inside.”

“Tell your brother hi.”

“If he’s not already,” Carly muttered as she punched in the number.

“Take my car. I’ll have Mom drop me off at your house later.”

Smiling, Carly hugged Cara, nearly squeezing the life out of her. “Everything’s going to be okay. You’ve got a big date coming up, and God is too good to let anything mess with that, so the child is fine.”

Laughing, Cara opened the door. “Again, your theology stinks, but I love it anyway.”

“Well, I know how he felt when I didn’t call after the attack. I’m going insane!”

“He’ll call when he gets a chance.” Diane forced every ounce of confidence that she could into her tone.

After half an hour of pacing, staring at her phone, dialing his, hanging up before it could ring, and generally driving her mother insane, Cara marched into the kitchen. “We’re having fettuccini tonight. Do you have scallops?”

“I have shrimp…” Diane prayed that Jonathan would call before Cara decided on dessert too.

“That’ll work. Maybe quiche. I can make an apple pie while I’m at it.”

Too late. “No apples, sorry.”

Cara pounced on a bag of mixed berries in the freezer. “Trifle!”

Diane barely contained her groan. “Well, when you have a moment, I’d like to hem that dress—”

“Let me get the cake
in the oven and I’ll be right in. Go see what you think about those shoes. Carly thought they were perfect but—” Cara’s phone rang, interrupting her monologue.

Both women stared at it for a moment before Cara picked it up and slid it open. Her face fell. “It’s just Todd Graham.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“
Sorry, I was expecting—well, more like hoping for a call.”

“Jonathan?”

She couldn’t lie. As much as she didn’t want to discuss Jonathan, she had to be honest. “Yes, our conversation was interrupted abruptly, so I’m waiting to hear back from him.”

“Well, I won’t take much of your time then, but I wanted to ask you about a woman— Lynn Czhe—I don’t know how to pronounce it. I got a voicemail today, and she indicated I should send her all information regarding the campaign—that you were no longer a point of contact.”

This sounded odd on many levels. While it didn’t surprise her that she didn’t recognize the name—Mayflower Trust was a large company with hundreds of employees in her building alone—she hadn’t heard of any kind of department organization change yet and— “Wait, when did she call?”

“About five minutes ago.”

“Don’t do it. I don’t know who she is or why she contacted you on a Saturday, but until I hear from Derek, I don’t want to send anything anywhere.” She paused. Her suspicions nauseated her, but she couldn’t ignore them. “Don’t show them to anyone. Keep them with you, and whatever you do, don’t let Della near them.”