“Not good.” She accepted the bottle of cranberry lime seltzer water and twisted off the cap. “Lots of snow and blizzard-like conditions all starting late Friday night. I don’t think we really have a choice. Postponing makes the most sense.”
She sipped her drink. She’d call her parents first, followed by Scott and Paige. Then she would try calling her uncles, starting with Uncle Mark since he was conducting the ceremony. After that, she’d send a group text message to the rest of her family and the handful of friends she’d invited. Tomorrow, she’d contact the chef at Cliff House, followed by everyone from the florist to the band. Talk about a major pain in the butt.
Josh lowered the bottle from his lips as he sat down next to her. “Must be the day for bad news. My mom called while I was in the other room. She’s already in town. Arrived earlier this afternoon.”
They’d discussed his mom only once. He’d admitted that the word diva was one way to describe her. Since he’d shared that he didn’t want his mom at the wedding, Courtney assumed they didn’t have a close relationship and never mentioned her. Instead, she inquired about his dad and younger sister, neither of whom she’d met.
“She wanted to come by tonight and meet you. I told her we have plans with your cousin,” Josh explained while he peeled the label off his bottle. “I’m not up for a visit with her tonight. She insisted on tomorrow instead, even suggested you invite your parents to join us.” He crumbled the label into a ball and raised the bottle toward his mouth. “If you want, I can give her another excuse when I call to tell her the wedding won’t be happening this weekend. I’m fine with that.”
She’d met plenty of divas. One more wouldn’t make a difference. “Nah. Let her come.” Courtney picked up her cell. “I’ll call Mom now and let her know about the weekend. I’ll invite her and Dad to come over tomorrow.”
Josh put his hand over Courtney’s before she pulled up her mom’s contact information. “How do you feel about me inviting Evan and Shannon tomorrow?” His sister had arrived in the city yesterday and was staying with Evan. And the more people around, the less attention his mom could send Courtney’s way.
“Sure.”
While Courtney called her mom, he sent off text messages to his siblings. He’d hoped Courtney would say another time would be better. During their conversation, Josh had toyed with telling his mom they were booked solid all week. But knowing his mom, she’d ignore him and show up at their door anyway. She’d done it numerous times. When she visited, he preferred as much warning as possible so he could get his head in the right place—an impossible feat tonight so he’d lied when she asked about coming over. All day his thoughts had gone back and forth from why Naomi wanted to meet with him to whether the wedding would happen on Saturday. At least he had the answer to the second question. All things considered, postponing the wedding was the logical decision, even if he hated it.
Tapping his fingers against the countertop, he watched as Courtney shared the news with her mom. Her hair hung loose, and she was wearing a dark red sweater. The combination brought him back to the first time he saw her sitting by the pool. That afternoon she’d been wearing a modest crimson bathing suit, and her hair had hung past her bare shoulders. He remembered thinking she reminded him of a sexy librarian. Courtney wasn’t the type he usually went after; actually, his usual type had been sitting at the table next to her when she’d caught his full attention. It hadn’t strayed once since then either. Even during the short time between their last night together in Hawaii and the afternoon she’d walked into his brother’s office, no one else had interested him. Instead, his thoughts had routinely traveled back to her.
She kept her conversation short. “Mom and Dad are busy tomorrow.” Rather than put the device down, she took a sip of water as she brought up another contact. “I’m going to call Scott and Juliette to let them know. While I’m at it, I’ll call my uncles too. Everyone else can get a text message.”
While she did that, he’d watch some television and send some messages himself. “I’ll be in the family room.”
He got responses to all the messages at the same time. His brother, minus his girlfriend, and his sister would join him for their mom’s visit. It didn’t surprise him that Gemma wasn’t coming. Evan hadn’t introduced their mom to his girlfriend yet, and he planned to avoid it for as long as possible. The texts from his dad and aunt were similar to each other. Both had been following the weather and had expected they’d postpone the wedding. They’d said to just let them know when it would be.
Josh scrolled through the various I Love Lucy episodes. They’d finished season one and started on season two sometime last week. Halfway down the list, the title “Vacation From Marriage” caught his attention. He remembered the episode. The characters had agreed to temporarily live as if they were all single again. By the end of the show, both couples had reached the conclusion they were happier married. He’d never pictured himself married. Even when he’d been with Naomi, his longest relationship to date, thoughts of proposing had not surfaced. He’d cared about her, but he’d never had any desire to marry her. And after dating as many women as he had, he’d guessed love wasn’t in the cards for him.
Courtney sat down next to him and crossed her legs on the sofa. “My family knows the wedding is off.”
Damn, he didn’t like the sound of that.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call the photographer and stuff. Uncle Mark said any weekend works for him. And I’ll need to check with Callie about when we can use Cliff House.”
They were watching the episodes in order, so he scrolled down until he reached the next one they hadn’t seen. Hitting Play, he tossed the remote on the table. While the opening credits played, he put an arm across her shoulders. “Do you need any help?”
“Nah, everyone is used to working with me. I’ll take care of it. You focus on your meeting.”
That was easy to do. Since the call Saturday, the meeting never left his thoughts.
“Do you want me to come with you?” she asked, looking in his direction.
A knot of emotion formed in his throat. She had a hundred things on her plate but was willing to add another. All the women in his past put their wants first. Courtney didn’t—something he’d learned while they were in Hawaii. And it was one of the things he loved about her.
Lowering his head, he brushed his lips across hers. “No.” He kissed her again, this time lingering there a little longer. “You’ve got the wedding stuff to deal with and work.”
He moved in to kiss her again, but she pulled back. “Are you sure? I have this thing called a cell phone. I can use it to make calls on the drive into Boston. And if we were still in Maine, I’d have to do some work tonight since I wouldn’t be in the office tomorrow. Instead of watching television, I can go do it now.”
He tucked some hair behind her ear, then skimmed his finger across her jaw. “No work tonight. I want you here with me.” Josh took possession of her lips before she could protest.
Hanging up the phone, Courtney dropped her face in her hands. They should have eloped the day after she agreed to Josh’s charade. If she could travel back in time, she’d suggest—nope, she’d insist they elope instead of plan a traditional, if small by Sherbrooke standards, wedding. Mom would’ve been disappointed, but an elopement would have been so much easier.