I got an emergency call from Eleanor on Friday night saying that she made way too much baked ziti and she needed dinner guests immediately. I was the perfect person to call, considering I was just about to order pizza for myself and down an entire bottle of white wine on my couch.
I tossed on a pair of jeans and a sweater, my trusty duck boots and said goodbye to Tulip as I abandoned her for a home cooked meal.
Casey and Shiloh were there when I arrived at the house, playing with Auden in the living room at her giant dollhouse. Rebecca and Micah were setting the table in the dining room and I could hear Eleanor rummaging around in the kitchen.
"Smells amazing," I said as I walked through the foyer.
"Hey," Casey greeted me from the dollhouse and Shiloh offered me a friendly wave. "Glad you could make it."
"Beats spending Friday night alone with a bottle of wine and a paint by number."
"I've had one of those before, but I lost my patience halfway through and improvised the rest of it," Shiloh said just as Auden threw a Barbie at her and then Casey had to sternly scold the little girl for throwing, but even Casey's most stern voice was still very gentle.
"Come on in, dinner's ready!" Eleanor called as she carried a large casserole dish of baked ziti through the kitchen archway into the dining room. Micah fetched utensils and garlic bread and then it was time to dig in.
"Did you tell Ellie about tomorrow?" Casey asked me.
"What's tomorrow?" Eleanor piped curiously as she dished out a small portion of pasta for Auden.
"I haven't told her yet, no," I answered, even though it was pretty obvious now by Eleanor's confusion. "I have a date."
"Ooh, exciting! What's his name?"
"Emmett. He's a teacher."
"Do you have pictures?" she asked.
I pulled out my phone and navigated to his Tinder profile to show Eleanor. I noticed Rebecca glance toward the screen as well and then she quirked an eyebrow at me and asked, "Tinder? Isn't that just for hookups?"
I just smiled back at her and said, "It can be used for lots of different things. I met my ex on Tinder and we were together for a year."
"But he cheated on you," she pointed out rather callously. I pinched my lips together, feeling a hard lump form in my chest. Not sure if it was embarrassment or irritation that Casey must have talked about my passed relationships with her for her to know that. I guess engaged couples didn't hide things from each other, but what business did they have discussing that?
Everybody around the table looked shocked that she'd bring it up and I could tell that Casey was about to speak up, but I didn't want anybody to defend me. Her shark senses would eat that right up, so I recovered from the chest lump quickly and responded as I stabbed into my steaming baked ziti. "Relationships fail all the time, not just ones formed using online dating. It's just another way to meet people."
"He's really cute," Eleanor said as she handed me the phone over the table. "Hopefully he has a personality to match."
"Are you saying that attractive people don't have good personalities?" Micah asked her curiously as he helped his daughter with a fist full of pasta try to aim it toward her mouth.
"I'm saying it's rare sometimes," she defended herself and then reached toward him and touched his cheek. "Don't worry, Micah. You're one of the rare ones."
"I tried Tinder a couple of times," Shiloh spoke up as I started to inhale two pieces of garlic bread. "But I kept chickening out when they asked to meet up in person."
"It's terrifying," I agree with her. "I get an upset stomach all day before a first date, but I've gotten pretty good at ignoring it."
"Well, I have a super exciting announcement," Rebecca changed the subject randomly, clapping her dainty hands together in front of her as she looked to her side where Casey sat. "Even Casey doesn't know this yet, I was going to surprise him with it this weekend, but since everybody is here... my dad was able to pull some strings and we were able to book the St. Regis for our wedding and we have a date! June 22nd of next year."
"What?" Casey's draw about dropped into his pasta and I was immediately reminded of the conversation I had with him yesterday about how her parents wanted to pay for an expensive wedding that he didn't want.
"Surprise, honey!" Rebecca beamed at him, apparently not detecting the obvious displeasure in his shocked expression.
"Congratulations, the St. Regis is beautiful," Eleanor said with a very polite smile, but I could tell that she probably knew Casey wouldn't be as happy about this as Rebecca wanted just as much as I could.
"They have a gorgeous outside terrace for the ceremony," Rebecca told us. "And they seat three hundred guests."
"Do we even know three hundred people?" Casey asked.
Rebecca laughed like he told a joke and then said, "Now, we can really get into planning the details. It's going to be such a magnificent day."
"Where did you guys get married?" Shiloh asked, looking at Eleanor and Micah. Was the tension so obvious that even she could sense it? I started shoving pasta into my face to deal with the awkwardness of the situation.
"We chose the Woodend Mansion, it's in Maryland, just outside of the city," Eleanor quickly answered her. "It was a dream, everything was outside and the weather was beautiful. We wouldn't have been able to do it without some help from Micah's parents, and Jay gave us a pretty decent check as a wedding gift, so we were very lucky to get our dream wedding."
"Well, it was your dream wedding," Micah added with a teasing smile and then said, "I wanted to learn the Dirty Dancing choreography for the reception."
"There was no way in hell that I could be coordinated enough for that. And you know I love you more than anything, but I also think that there's no way in hell that you could do the lift. Especially in my wedding dress," Eleanor said with a string of laughter and then she turned toward the rest of the table and said, "We've had this debate at least ten times since the wedding."
Micah was already out of his seat as he said, "No, I can do it. Babe, come on, jump into my arms."
"No way," she insisted, staying planted in her seat.
"He looks pretty determined, Ellie, I think you should try," Casey sided with Micah, who was already doing some stretching.
"Shiloh, record this so we have proof," Micah told her and she dutifully got her phone out to document whatever was about to happen.
When Eleanor was finally convinced to get out of her seat, I carried Auden and we all migrated into the living room where there was more space. When I turned to look at Casey to ask if he thought it would really happen, he was gone. So was Rebecca, but nobody else seemed to notice their absence.
"Okay, I'm ready," Shiloh announced with her camera pointed at Micah.
"You're going to break my neck," Eleanor sighed, but she was already resigned to her fate.
Micah looked very confident as he waved his wife in his direction and said, "I've got this, I'm telling you."
But when Eleanor ran toward him and leaped into his arms, he immediately fell backward with the weight and they tumbled into the couch. I released Auden from my arms so that she could join in the pile up and it was a very adorable moment.
I returned to the dining room to grab my wine glass, but paused when I heard arguing going on in the kitchen.
"I've told you a million times that I don't want to get married there. Or at any hotel, I don't want a huge, fancy event," Casey was saying. "And you knew that, which was why you went behind my back to book it."
"This is my dream wedding, Casey," Rebecca hissed at him. "Dad is covering the entire cost, so what's even the big deal?"
"The big deal is that you're not listening to me at all. We need to find a compromise, you can't-" I shouldn't be eavesdropping, so I quickly grabbed my glass and returned to the living room before I could hear anymore of the argument.
Ten minutes later, they both joined us in the living room as Micah was perfecting the dance lift with Auden instead of Eleanor.
"Rebecca isn't feeling well, she's going to head out," Casey announced for her as she quietly picked up her coat from the rack.
"You need any medicine or anything?" Eleanor offered.
"I'm okay, thank you," Rebecca responded with a red face. "Have a good evening."
She flashed a sliding glare toward me that stopped at Casey and then she was out the door in the blink of an eye. It was obviously about the fight they were having in the kitchen, but I wasn't supposed to hear that, so I pretended like I didn't.
I hate to say it, but after she left, I felt so much more relaxed. I knew she didn't like me and honestly, I wasn't her biggest fan either, so it was easier to just not be around her. However, I could tell that Casey was in a bad mood throughout the rest of the night as we were playing board games in the living room, and I felt bad about that.
Since Rebecca took the car, I offered to give him a ride home at the end of the night, but I told myself that I wasn't going to bring up the fight I overheard from the kitchen. It wasn't any of my business, so I wasn't going to bring it up.
"I heard you fighting with Rebecca earlier," was the first thing that came out of my mouth the second we got in the car and I was pulling out of Eleanor's driveway. "You okay?"
He took a deep breath and then said, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just frustrating that she made this decision without considering what I wanted. Getting married is supposed to be one of the happiest days of our lives, but I can not think of anything more miserable than standing in front of three hundred people, talking about my feelings."
"Yeah, that sucks," I said, because I didn't know what else to say.
"Sometimes, she just steamrolls over what I want for the sake of reputation. It's so exhausting," he mumbled, resting his head on the headrest while he looked out the window of the streetlights blurring by. "Sorry I'm ranting. I've had a lot of wine tonight. And I'm really sorry about what she said about Wes. I told her about what happened because I was venting about how guilty I felt that I wasn't there for you. I never thought she'd say something like that."
"It's fine." He was already clearly upset and I didn't want to add to that.
"I bet I'd probably be a lot more compatible with Rebecca if I grew up with my dad," he admitted to me. "When she gets like this, I mean. I bet I'd be like that too. Maybe that's why it frustrates me so much, because I really don't want to be like that."
"You aren't like that," I assured him. "You two will figure it out. Weddings aren't the important part, it's getting to share your life with the person you love the most."
"Yeah," he agreed with me, his head swinging over to look in my direction to say, "I'd much rather just get married in the forest with a bonfire."
I swallowed hard, my fists squeezing onto the steering wheel, and reminded myself that he just admitted to having too much alcohol in his system, so I shouldn't take his words too deeply. "Well, you should tell Rebecca that. Find a compromise."
"She doesn't compromise."
I didn't have anymore advice to give, as I'd obviously never been in a similar situation and I didn't want my own bitterness toward Rebecca to influence him.
"Sorry I'm dumping all this on you, Josie."
"It's okay. I wish I could help more."
I could still see him watching me in my peripheral vision as I drove, but I tried to ignore it. "Being an adult is so stupid," he mumbled after some silence.
"Yeah," I laughed. "I think we can agree on that one."