Page 43 of Accidentally Hitched (Unintentionally Yours #1)

Amanda

P aul opens the door, and I smile.

“Hi. Can I come in?”

Over his shoulder I hear Kate’s voice. “Who is that? Is it Amanda? Don’t let her in.”

Paul smiles apologetically and sighs, a very tired sigh.

“Tell her I brought food,” I offer.

“She brought food,” he calls back.

“Did she bring an apology?” she snaps.

“It’s Thai food…” I call out.

…crickets. And then…

“From Ginger Blossom?” she asks.

“Yep.”

I hear a dramatic sigh and then, “Fine, Paul. Let her in. But I’m still mad.”

“I know you are,” I say with a smile as Paul opens the door for me. I bring the food to the table where she is sitting overlooking a zillion placement cards for the tables. I hand a bowl of curry chicken and a plastic fork to Paul knowing full well he is going to duck out onto the back patio.

“I’m just going to let you girls talk,” he says, turning to leave. But before he walks away, he mouths the words to me– “Thank you. And good luck.”

I turn my attention back to Kate who looks overwhelmed.

“I have no idea who to put at what table. So many people that love me don’t love each other. Like how am I supposed to organize this on top of everything else, Mandy? On top of everything else!”

I sit down next to her and put my arm around her. “You’re not. That’s my job. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you to handle it.”

For a few minutes, we eat our food, and I grab place cards, organizing them into tables.

“Grandma should be with Aunt Silvie because they both like white wine and will probably ask for like four bottles of it. Also, that keeps them away from Aunt Shirly who hasn’t spoken to Aunt Silvie since the hair dye debacle of 2006.

And we can put cousins Jen, Shelbie and Tabitha together so they can be snooty away from everyone else. ”

As I continue to section people off, all with rhyme and reason, I see my sister smile for the first time since the night we went to dinner with Paul and Callum and it makes my heart happy, even if I am still hurting.

“And what about your place card?” she asks. “Is it still at the wedding party table?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you. I still want to be your maid of honor, Kate. If you will have me.”

“Of course, I still want you to be my maid of honor. You're my big sister! No one puts up with me like you do.”

We both laugh tearily and hug. Then we pull away and she grabs my hands. “So, tell me, now that I am not in raging bitch bridezilla mode, what’s going on with Callum.”

I sigh and the tears come back. “He’s trying to apologize. At least I think that’s what he’s doing. And I don’t want to talk to him.”

“I understand that. But you are having a baby. You’ll have to figure that out eventually.”

I nod, whipping back a tear. “I know. But the whole thing is just crazy. I mean who knew that the guy who I watched peacock around the stage at a Vegas auction would be the father of my child? That’s like…Jerry Springer shit.” We both laugh.

“I mean it’s very reality TV. It’s one of those things that if it wasn’t your life, it would be very entertaining.”

“But it is my life,” I say soggily. “And it’s not entertaining. It’s hard and confusing and I just feel alone.”

Kate pulls me into a hug. “You’re not alone. You have me and you have Iris and all these people,” she waves her hand over the place cards.

“I don’t even know who half those people are.”

“Neither do I honestly,” she laughs a little.

“Most of them are family and friends and coworkers of Paul’s.

I swear to God that man networks like it’s an Olympic sport.

I feel like every day of my life is saturated with formal dinners and brunches and meetings.

It’s never ending. Some days I just want to curl up on the couch with a bag of chips in an oversized shirt and just not care, you know?

Watch Schitt’s Creek and ignore people.”

I smile at that. “Does he know that? Does he know the real you?”

“I think he does. Because sometimes, when he is about to ask if I want to go to a business thing with him, I pretend I am sick. And I think he knows I am pretending. But he sends dinner and it’s always something fattening.

And he saves trashy movies on the to-be-watched list and there’s no way he’s saving them for himself.

I think it’s important to compromise when it’s love.

But you can’t do that without some kind of communication, you know? ”

My sister has a tendency to be about as deep as a kiddie pool most of the time. But once in a while, she surprises me. This is apparently one of those times.

“I guess if I am being brutally honest, I am afraid. Afraid he never had real feelings for me. But also, afraid his feelings were real all along. Afraid he doesn’t want the baby but at the same time, afraid he does.

And I don’t know what that will look like.

I guess I am mostly afraid that this whole game we have been playing, this whole thing we have given into will turn out to be too crazy.

It doesn’t feel real. But it was. And I gave into it.

And it terrifies me to think of what will happen if it doesn’t work out. ”

“I get that,” Kate says genuinely. Then she hops up. “All this MSG is making me hungry for ice cream. Why don’t we make a 3 Scoops run and grab some?”

“That sounds amazing,” I admit, and Kate pulls me to my feet. A small part of my broken heart feels a little better.

“This was the best idea ever,” Kate says with a full mouth of peanut butter swirl.

“I agree,” I nod, munching on my coconut almond chocolate chip. “Ice cream is never not a good idea.”

We are sitting in the parking lot at the ice cream shop in my car enjoying our cones before we head back home.

“You know what else is a good idea?” Kate asks. “Music.”

“Mm, that reminds me,” I say, pulling an envelope out of the glovebox. Inside is a cassette.

Kate’s eyes widen and she squawks out a laugh. “I cannot believe that you still listen to tapes! You do know what year it is, right?”

“I will never not listen to tapes,” I say in my own defense. “I use them for work. This is a demo I am supposed to listen to for some new artist. Noah dropped it off yesterday and has been asking nonstop if I’ve listened to it yet.”

“Is that the reason you haven’t gotten a new car? They don’t make em with eight tracks anymore?”

I roll my eyes and flip her off, sweetly of course. “Shut up and listen to the song.”

We both eat our ice cream as the cassette crackles before the music begins to play. It’s guitar, acoustic. And it sounds vaguely familiar.

“Is this…Bob Dylan?” Kate asks with a laugh. “Did your new artist rip a song?”

It is Bob Dylan. The intro to one of his songs.

And it’s Callum singing it.

“Oh, my God is this…” Kate starts to ask.

“It’s Callum.”

Her mouth opens in a smile, and she covers it with her hand. “He’s serenading you. Not sure why he’d choose Dylan but…wow.”

I lean back against the seat staring out the windshield in front of me. My ice cream is melting slowly down my hand, but I don’t care. I can’t stop listening. I can’t stop the feelings in my chest. The song gets to the second verse, though, and the lyrics are different.

I made a mistake, I think it’s safe to say I made a few.

And now that girl is riding on the wind.

She won’t look back, she’s taken my heart with her.

All I can do is try to win her love again.

I know my hardened heart hasn't always been a friend of mine.

I know she’s scared, I know I did her wrong.

Can’t give her flowers, money won’t cure the pain.

So, I’ll sing my heart out in an old country song.

It fades into the chorus again and I think it’s safe to say, both Kate and I are crying softly. The song kicks and the car goes quiet other than the beating of my heart which is loud enough I can hear it in my ears.

“Holy shit, Mandy. He loves you. See?”

“But…” I start to say but she shakes her head and cuts me off.

“No butts. Like I said, Paul sends me jalapeno poppers and pays for HBO when I’m not sick. And Callum…Callum wrote a song for you. Well, he improvised an old song for you. But if that’s not a man chasing the girl he loves, I don’t know what is.”