Danielle "Dani" Joyce has been working long hours and living paycheck to paycheck to keep her bakery, The Dough Divas, open. Spending all her time at the store, her only romantic outlet is to crush on regulars like Justin Waverly. She keeps her flir...
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Justin arrived in a shiny red convertible and welcomed me with a bear hug that looked nothing like the way he cradled Franziska in his arms. We rode to the suburbs with the top down, while Justin regaled me with his stories about Germany. Now that I knew about Fran, he had a whole backlog of tales to tell me, including playful picnics in Tiergarten, quiet strolls through Museum Island, and romantic nights watching the Spree. I smiled and nodded, though my usual enthusiasm failed to light my eyes.
Once we arrived, the family welcomed me with hugs and handshakes. It was only the immediate family for dinner, which was still a full household. With Randall, Betty, Wes, Justin, Brendan, Lucy, and myself, we filled the dining room with bodies and noise. As Betty passed around biscuits and Brendan asked for some more roast chicken, Lucy begged Justin for details about the wedding, which he freely gave.
"We're thinking about having it on the water. We'd get a yacht and have the ceremony out on the deck, with the entire city as our backdrop."
I tried to hide a shiver of discomfort as I thought about standing out in the open, the whole city around us, the buildings' windows like a thousand pairs of eyes watching. Then I thought of all the gimmicky boats that made their way around the bay at any given moment, with tourists wearing large cameras around their neck, eager to snap a picture of the crazy wedding they saw during their trip. I nearly choked on my green beans.
"Wow," sighed Lucy, her eyes glittering. "What about dancing under the stars?"
"Of course, we'll time it so that we get the sunset for the ceremony and then, after dinner, we'll head up for dancing and live music on the deck. There will be paper lanterns and string lights..."
"It's going to be so pretty!" cheered Lucy.
I almost marveled at Justin's imaginative portrayal considering his stalwart claim about his creative limitations, but then I recalled the stack of wedding magazines in his back seat and I figured his publish-worthy wedding was, perhaps, already published.
"Oh Dani," said Betty, placing her hand on top of mine while her other pressed against her chest. "It's going to be so lovely. I do hope you'll have Lucy in your bridal party. You would make her day."
Lucy breathed in quick and deep, her face going red as a smile pinched her cheeks. "Can I? Can I?"
"I, well, of course Lucy." I tried to return her smile, but since it came off shaky, I masked it with a bite of a biscuit.
It's not that I wouldn't have happily had Lucy as a bridesmaid. If I were getting married to the family, I would be an honor to have her. However, I found it difficult to agree to Justin's notion that we should let his family live the dream throughout dinner before stamping it out during dessert when we'd drop the child bomb. I understood that it's easy to make promises we had no intention of keeping, but it pushed our chances of clearing things up with the truth farther and farther from reach.
