Say Yes (14 page)

Sniffing,
I said, “Yeah, you’re right. Good night, Mama,” I said, and she leaned in and
kissed my cheek.

“Good
night, darlin’. You try and get some rest, okay? Things will look better in the
morning, I’m sure of it.” She stood up and with one last warm look at me she
climbed the stairs to her bedroom. I looked around the living room, and
suddenly felt totally alone. I looked at the clock on the wall, and it was ten
minutes to midnight. I know that I just talked to Mama and I felt a little bit
better, but this was one of the times that I really needed my sister…I wish Daisy
was here. The fact that she wasn’t home though hopefully meant that she was
working things out with Jack.

The
silence was beginning to crush me, so I decided to go upstairs and try to
sleep. I turned the lights off in the living room. I climbed the stairs, and
went into my room, turning on the lights. I went and got a pair of pajamas out
of my suitcase and as I was walking into my bathroom I stopped in front of my
vanity mirror. Looking at myself, dressed all cute for Luke…I suddenly felt
embarrassed. Heat flushed in my cheeks and for the second time that evening, I
broke down in tears. I dropped my pajamas to the floor and placed my hands over
my eyes. I just didn’t understand…if we both loved each other, how could it be
right for us to be apart? It just didn’t make any sense; I couldn’t fathom it.
I wanted him, wanted us. Jack was right…if I was even having the slightest
doubt that I couldn’t go back to California meant that I didn’t want to. My
knees began to buckle and before I knew it, I was on the floor. My bedroom door
swung open and I could hear Daisy’s voice as she rushed to my side.

“Lilly,
oh God, what’s wrong?” she said, panic in her voice. She maneuvered my head
into her lap as I told her what had happened. She sat there with me on the
floor as I cried, just stroking my hair and letting me talk. In the back of my
mind, somewhere it registered that if Tara were here she’d be mocking my crying
and telling me how stupid I was acting. The fact that Daisy saw me here crying
and ran to be at my side, sister or not, made me love her so much more. If it
were even possible, in that moment I felt even more terrible. Eleven years ago
I had not only turned my back on Luke but on my family as well. Sure, we’d
stayed in touch and they had visited me from time to time, but it was always
them that came to me. Never once in over a decade had I taken time out of my
life to fly back home and see them. I was a terrible person…and I was going to
make it right.

            Daisy had
stayed the night with me in my bedroom that evening. We stayed up all night
talking and had fallen asleep somewhere around dawn. I think Mama tried at some
point to wake us up but was unsuccessful. After I had cried my eyes out and
poured my heart out to her about Luke, she told me about what had happened with
her and Jack. She said when he showed up after her shift with her favorite
Christmas cookies and candy and the flowers, which turned out to be pink roses,
something told her to give him a chance to state his case. He took her to
dinner, and she said they had a nice time. They of course went back to his
house afterwards but before things got intimate like usual, he politely stopped
and told her that he wanted to slow things down. She was irritated, but
understood that this was what he wanted. He said that when or if she was ready
to commit to him, then his door was open. Despite my screwed up love life, I
really, really hoped that Daisy would make the right choice and move forward
with Jack.

            We both woke
up around noon, and had big plans for the day. It was Friday, and Violet was
getting married on Sunday, so we all had made an appointment to go get our hair
done at Dazzle, the best beauty salon in town. Tonight was also our big
bachelorette party at Brody’s, and it was just what Daisy and I needed to
momentarily forget our screwed up love lives. After we both got out of bed and
were dressed, we swung by Violet’s house and picked her up. Her school had
already let out for Christmas break so it was lucky she didn’t have to miss
work to be able to spend the day with us. Violet just had her blonde highlights
touched up and her layers trimmed, keeping it pretty simple. Daisy had her
short bob trimmed up again, but decided to get rid of her light brown
highlights and went with a beautiful shade of chestnut brown which made her
blue eyes pop. I was the one had decided to change my look up a little bit. I
had always had regular plain brown hair and didn’t do much to it but wear it up
in pony tails or buns, so I had the stylist freshen up my dark color on top but
it blended into a lighter shade on the tips and she cut long bangs that swept
to the side. Judging from the reactions I was getting from the other stylists,
my sisters, and other customers there, the look was a good choice.

            It had been a
great afternoon with my sisters. It was just what I needed to take my mind off
Luke. I of course hadn’t heard from him at all since he stormed out of my house
last night, so I was desperate to keep myself busy so I wouldn’t think about
it. Once our hair appointment was over, and we had eaten an early dinner, we
had about two hours to kill before the bachelorette party, and were all
deciding what to do.

            “We could see
a movie,” Violet suggested.

            “Nah, that’s
boring. We could go get something pierced,” she joked. “I’ve been wanting to
get my lip done for a while now.”

            “Daisy, come
on. There’s gotta be something we can do to kill time.”

            A light bulb
went off in my head. “You know what? I like Daisy’s idea.”

            Daisy smiled
brightly and Violet’s eyes widened. “What? Lilly, are you serious? You want to
get something pierced?”

            “No, not a
piercing, but we should do something together, something that bonds us.”

            “I thought us
being sisters and having the same biological parents was pretty bonding,”
Violet said.

            “If you don’t
want to, you don’t have to, Vi, but hear me out. What about a tattoo?”

            “A tattoo?”
she asked nervously.

            “Yeah!
Something small and hidden. Maybe a flower or a heart or a star or something.”

            Daisy was
still smiling, and said, “I am
so
game for that! Come on, Vi, what do
you say?”

            Violet seemed
nervous and excited at the same time. “Well, I have always wanted a tattoo.
Evan has a few, and they look so damn sexy on him.”

            “You don’t
think Evan would freak out, do you?” I asked.

            “No, not at
all. He actually thinks it would be hot.”

            “So, we doin’
this?” Daisy asked, looking like she was about to start jumping.

            She grinned.
“Let’s do it!” she said, and we all ran out to my rental car and began the drive
to the closest tattoo parlor.

            Luckily it was
a slow night at Inked (the tattoo parlor we found that we liked), and two hours
later, Violet, Daisy, and I were sporting matching pink heart tattoos on the
top of our right feet. There were a couple of things we were thinking of doing,
but the only thing we all agreed on was the heart, and I was glad for that.
These two women were my heart, and the love I felt for the two of them made me
keep going. We all decided on our feet so we when we look at them we know we’re
not alone. They were perfect.

            Finally, it
was time to head to Brody’s for the bachelorette party. We put a novelty
sleeping mask with the words “Mrs. Sanderson” sewn on it so she would be
surprised once we got inside. We pulled up to the bar and after I shut off the
engine Daisy helped Violet out of the car.

            Laughing,
Violet said, “Y’all, this is silly! I already know we are going to Brody’s. Why
do you need to blindfold me?”

            “Because we
have a little surprise for you inside,” I said, looking at Daisy. We both
smiled at each other. On the way over, Daisy had gotten a text from Evan
letting us know that he and his friends were there and ready to surprise
everyone. We led her up to the doors and I knocked.

Brooke
came running over and unlocked the door. “Hey girls! We’ve been waitin’ for ya.
Y’all ready to have fun?”

“Oh
yeah,” Daisy said.

Violet
shook her head and giggled. “Why am I nervous?”

“Don’t
be. Trust me, you’re in for a fun night,” I said. I stood her still and asked,
“You ready to lose the blindfold?”

She
nodded. “Yes, definitely.”

“All
right then. On the count of three, you can take it off. Ready? One, two,
three…”

She
took it off and immediately smiled brightly, breaking into a laugh. The place was
packed with all of Violet’s friends from high school and college. Brooke had
rearranged the tables around the stage where she usually had local bands play.
Half of the tables were covered in hot pink table cloths, and the other half
were black. Each table had gift baskets as the centerpieces, and they were
filled with various naughty bachelorette novelties. There was a banquet table
set up to the side of the stage filled with different types of food, and a
small table to the right of the food was full of different kinds of alcohol.
Laughing, she pulled Daisy and me into a group hug and said, “This is amazing,
girls. Thank you!”

Brooke
handed me a silver tiara with fuzzy pink trim on it and I placed it on her
head. “Oh, honey, we’re just getting started. You are going to have the time of
your life tonight, Vi,” I said, and Daisy took our coats and hung them up.

“First
things first…let’s get you some alcohol,” Daisy said, leading Violet over to
the drink table. “You need to be a little bit drunk for what we have planned.”

Violet
laughed nervously. “Oh no, what did you girls do?” she asked, looking at me.

“You’ll
see,” I said, winking at her. I quickly looked over to Brooke, who gave me a
naughty smile. The guys must be ready to go on. I nodded at her, and she
quickly walked backstage. I led her over to a table right in front of the
stage. “Take a seat, our beloved bride to be.”

She
sat down, waving at all of her friends. “I’m gonna need a couple more drinks.
I’m getting scared,” she laughed.

“Don’t
be scared, trust me, you’ll love this,” I said to her as Daisy brought a tray
of shots to our table. We all took one and slammed it back. I coughed…Lord,
Brooke made these
strong.
The curtain that was covering the stage
ruffled, and I saw Daisy nod.

“Okay,
ladies, who’s ready to get this party started?” Daisy yelled, and the crowd
cheered as she stood up from her seat and walked on the stage grabbing a
microphone that was sitting on a stool. “On behalf of myself and my sister
Lilly,” she began, “I want to thank y’all for coming out for Vi’s bachelorette
party. We have an awesome night planned and we’re all so happy you could help
us celebrate our baby sister’s last days as a single lady!” The whole bar
erupted in cheers. “Before we get to tonight’s surprise entertainment, I just
wanted to take a moment to say that I love my baby sister so, so much, and I am
beyond happy for her that she’s marrying the man of her dreams on Sunday.”
Violet blew a kiss to Daisy as everyone cheered again. “Now, we all know that
Violet is marrying Evan, who is an amazingly brilliant doctor here in town.
He’s tall, tan, and panty-bustingly gorgeous, this much is true.” Now the
cheers had turned into cat calls. Violet was laughing hard. “But, while Lilly
and I were discussing tonight’s festivities, it occurred to me…what if Vi was
sick of getting it on with a doctor every night? What if, for one night only,
she might want to have a fling with, say, a hot fireman?”

Violet,
in sudden realization, turned beet red and, still laughing, whispered in my
ear, “Oh, no, Lilly…please tell me you didn’t get strippers!” I just grinned
wickedly at her and turned back to Daisy.

“Well,
it just so happens that I found a fireman who is sexy as hell that was more
than willing to put out your fire, little lady,” she said, and I couldn’t keep
my laugh in any longer. The lights went out and a loud siren started to wail
over the sound system. Daisy came back down from the stage and took her seat
next to Violet, who was now covering her eyes with her hands. Loud music began
to play, and I pulled her hands down from her face as the curtains started to
rise and the house lights turned on above the stage. Then, right on cue with
the music, the spotlight focused on Evan who was wearing nothing but the
bottoms to a fireman’s uniform, big black boots, red suspenders, and a fire
chief’s hat. Violet threw her head back laughing hysterically and clapped her
hands together. His pants hung low right below his hips. He obviously worked
out, because he had rock hard abs and was rocking some chiseled biceps. All of
Violet’s friends were going crazy. I tossed back another shot and right when I
set the glass down, I looked up and Luke was in the corner of the bar with
Jack. They were both laughing and had their cell phones out, and it looked like
they were recording the show. Oh no, I thought. This was just what I needed. He
was trying to avoid me, but won’t give me a minutes peace…it’s like he was
dangling himself in front of me. Why was he torturing me? Suddenly, my pain
turned to full hatred when I saw some random woman walk over to him and start
hardcore flirting. My face must have been burning red. His eyes were scanning
the group and for a split second they landed on me. I scowled at him. Daisy
looked at me with wide eyes, and even though I could tell she wanted to smile,
she grabbed my hand across the table.

“You
gonna be okay?” she mouthed to me.

I
shook my head, and after tossing back two more shots, I told Violet I was going
to go to the bathroom and got up and left the table. The sound of women yelling
and cheering was making me nauseous. I just couldn’t watch some horny, drunk
woman pawing all over him. I ran into the bathroom, my face burning with rage.
I was beginning to feel those shots already. I grabbed a few paper towels and after
wetting them I pressed them to my face. God this was humiliating. I had come
back home to be a part of my sister’s wedding and relax with family, but I
ended up falling head over heels in love with Luke, and it was making me act
like a fool. And now, the man I loved who said not even twenty four hours
before that he loved me too was out there probably being groped by one of
Violet’s hot friends. I took a seat on the bench by the bathroom door and
leaned my head back against the wall. I didn’t know if I was going to be able
to go back out there.

I
didn’t realize how long I had been in the bathroom until Daisy popped in to
check on me. “Hey, you all right? Everyone’s been wondering where you
disappeared to,” she said, sitting next to me.

I
looked at her. “I just couldn’t go out there, Dais. Seeing that girl all over
him...”

She
reached over and squeezed my hand. “Well he must not have been interested
because right after you came in here she took a seat back at her table and has
been giving him shitty looks all night. Don’t worry, his horse is still in the
barn,” she joked. I rolled my eyes at her, and she said, “Hey, Lilly, I was
just teasing. Come on, you can’t stay in here forever. Just go talk to him. I think
he’s looking for you.”

“He’s
not looking, Dais. He’s had all day to contact me. If he wanted to talk to me
he would have.”

“Then
forget about him. At least for tonight. You came here to be with your sister
for her wedding, and she’s missing you out there, so let’s go. Come on,” she
said, dragging me up off the bench. I took the beer she had in her hand and
started gulping it down. If I was going to have to face him, I was going to do
it stone ass drunk.