Here Comes the Bride, page 25
“Do you think Denise knew about this?” Emily asked.
Cate thought about it. “No. I just can’t imagine that anyone would continue being friends with someone so crazy. I think she’s just caught in Janet’s web.”
Cate looked at the picture again. Only a complete lunatic would’ve paid Leotard Man. It was sort of scary to think what she was capable of. She would keep the photos safely tucked inside her purse until the end of the weekend, and then there was going to be a reckoning with Janet. Whether it was Ethan or Cate who confronted her, she’d finally be out of their lives for good.
• 31 •
Cold Feet
She’d thought it would be impossible to relax after learning about Janet and the Leotard Man. Her nerves were on fire, yet at the same time she felt a sense of exhilaration. She could finally prove what she’d thought all along: Janet was evil. It bothered her a little bit that she’d had to find concrete proof to show Ethan what a psycho she was. Couldn’t he have figured it out on his own?
Once she settled into her lounge chair at the Marriott a sense of peace came over her. Fall and winter months were schizophrenic in San Diego. One week it could be raining and everyone would be covered in heavy sweaters and long pants. The next week could be warm and dry, and she could actually get a tan. It wasn’t the same kind of heat as the summer. It would get chilly at night, but it was definitely vacation weather. Whoever suggested they spend her bachelorette here was a genius.
She settled onto a lounge chair and felt the dry warmth envelop her body. She reached for the rum and Coke she’d ordered. The rest of the girls were still in the suite they shared, changing into their bikinis. She was just starting to feel every muscle in her body soften when she heard Cousin Val’s heels clicking toward her. She wore a peach sarong and open-toed heels with little jewels on the front of them. She was the only person Cate knew who could pull off wearing jeweled heels by the pool. If Cate wore anything other than shorts and flip-flops she would look like a jackass. It must be fun to dress like Ivana Trump every once in a while. She was just about to tell her to grab a cocktail when she noticed the alarmed expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to throttle Denise.” She sat on the edge of a lounge chair next to Cate.
“What did she do now?”
“Well, I wanted to be the one to tell you this before she came down here. The other girls are getting ready, and they’re just as livid as I am.”
“What did she do?” Cate took a sip of her rum and Coke and leaned back onto her chair. She’d already decided that no matter what happened, Denise was not going to ruin her weekend. It was her bachelorette party. She’d already left small scars on the shower and engagement party, and Cate simply wasn’t going to let her ruin this. She’d listen to Val’s story while calmly sipping her cocktail. Then she’d force herself to forget about what a nuisance she was within a few minutes.
“Well,” Val crossed her legs. Her sarong was short, and Cate could see a muscular line up the side of her thigh. “She strolls into the hotel room, wheeling this hideous brown corduroy suitcase behind her. I mean, it seriously looked like something a stewardess for TWA would’ve dragged around in 1981. I’m no friend of corduroy to begin with. And anyone who carries luggage made from it should try out for The Price Is Right so they can win a free set of luggage on the Showcase Showdown.”
Wouldn’t it just be easier to buy a new suitcase? Cate thought.
Val’s voice turned grave. “Anyway, Leslie asked if overnight parking was expensive, and Denise nonchalantly says, ‘Oh it was fine. I didn’t drive.’ Then Sarah chimes in, ‘Oh. How did you get here?’ and she says, ‘Janet drove me. She dropped me off and then headed to the St. James. She’s joining the boys for the weekend. Ryan invited her.’ ”
Rum and Coke spewed from Cate’s mouth. “What?” She sat up and wiped her chin. “You’re kidding? Please tell me you’re kidding! Janet is here? In the Gaslamp? With Ethan?”
Val nodded. “I wish I was kidding, but I swear to you that is what she said. And I am not kidding, Cate, you could hear a pin drop after she said it.”
“I’m going to kill her. Them. Both of them! Who the hell do they think they are?” She began to pace around her lounge chair. “I can’t believe this! What kind of a woman crashes a bachelor party?”
“A crazy one.”
“I mean, who, in their right mind, would do something like this? They’re insane. The two of them.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, she did say that Ryan invited her. They’re dating now, I guess.”
“I don’t believe it. Even if he did invite her, I guarantee you she manipulated him into doing it. Furthermore, even if he did, why would she even want to go to a bachelor party? Where’s my cell phone? I’m calling Ethan. I’m telling him to get rid of her. I’m telling him about the photo and he has to kick her out. This is it! I’ve had it!”
“Well, listen. The reason I wanted to get to you first is because you can’t let Denise see you flipping out. She’ll win, Cate. Those two are dying to see you fall apart right before the wedding so they can go in for the kill. If you take the bait, they’ll triumph. They want to see you insecure, make you look paranoid, as if you don’t trust him.”
She’d told herself the same thing a million times. “So what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and take it? Just sit here and let them piss on every party like they’re dogs peeing on trees to mark their territory? I’m marching up to that room right now and telling Denise to get the hell out of here, and take her little tree-pisser with her.” She envisioned barging into the suite with her bikini top on, ripping Denise’s corduroy bag from her fat fingers, and hurling it from the eleventh floor of the Marriott. She’d watch with delight as her one-piece bathing suit, curling iron, and Keds smashed against the pavement below. Then she’d turn Ray Liotta on her. If she had a gun, she’d pistol whip her. The complementary hair dryer in the hotel bathroom would have to do for this fantasy. Cate began to laugh uncontrollably.
“What’s so funny?”
She caught her breath. “This. All this.”
Val looked puzzled. “Well, I’m glad you’re taking it all so lightly.”
“I mean, it’s just ridiculous. The whole thing. How did I get myself into this? I got engaged, and everyone around me changed.” She began to laugh harder, and the more she laughed the more worried Val looked. “What is it about this ring that has made everyone around me crazy? My family. Ethan’s family. And now I’m starting to think that Ethan’s gone crazy too. My life has become an episode of Jerry Springer. And my fiancé—the man I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with—doesn’t even notice it. He’s oblivious.”
Val handed her the rum and Coke. “Here. Have a sip of this.”
She drank the whole thing in two gulps. “No. There is no way I’m going over there or calling him. He can hang out with her all weekend, and if he doesn’t realize how truly nutty she is, well then . . . I don’t know!” She started crying. “Who goes through something like this? It’s not normal. It drives me crazy that he doesn’t realize that she’s been trying to sink her claws into him every chance she gets.”
“If it were me, I’d probably call a hit man, but that’s just me,” Val mumbled.
“You know what? Screw them. All of them!” She was yelling now, and a few tourists turned to watch. “I’ve been waiting for this damn weekend for months! I just want to have fun. That is why I came here, and I don’t care about Janet or Denise. They can just go to hell. I’m not going to go call Ethan and tell him to get rid of her. He should want to do that on his own. He knows what the right thing to do is.”
Even though the thought of that damn Janet laughing and tossing her hair in front of her fiancé made her want to scream, she promised herself that she wasn’t going to say one word about Janet. Not one. Even if Denise brought it up, she would act as if she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to give Denise the pleasure of seeing her angry. This was an issue between Ethan and Cate now. This wasn’t about Janet and Denise anymore, and she was starting to wonder if it ever had been. If Ethan had just nipped it in the bud when it had begun, none of this would be happening. She knew what she’d do if her ex, Paul, decided to crash her bachelorette party. She would tell him to leave, and Ethan should do the same thing. She just hoped he had enough sense to do so.
The rest of the girls joined them at the pool. All of them except for Denise flashed her a knowing look—looks that said, “If you want, we’ll strangle her.”
They draped themselves across lounge chairs, and she watched Denise remove her towel. She set it on the chair, then sprinted toward the pool. The flab on her chubby legs jiggled before she cannonballed into the water. Astonished by the bold move, Cate looked at Leslie.
“We gave her three shots of tequila in the hotel room,” she whispered. “I’m hoping she’ll just pass out.”
“You did?” Cate never knew Denise had such a wild side.
“She wanted to do them, so we didn’t try to stop her.”
“Cate!” Denise called from the pool. Her wet bangs were dark and plastered to her forehead as she waved. “How are you?”
“Great,” Cate called back. “How’s the water?”
“Freezing.”
Emily sat down next to Cate and pulled something from her pool bag. “Well, Cate, it is your bachelorette party, so that means you have to wear a bachelorette crown!” She revealed a plastic crown that looked a little like the one she’d worn for Halloween when she went as beauty pageant contestant.
She laughed. It finally felt like a bachelorette party. “All right,” she said. “This I can handle.”
She sat still while Emily positioned the crown on her head. They took a million pictures of Cate in her crown. They never let her hold an empty cocktail glass, and the feeling of liquor running through her veins made her temporarily thrilled.
Denise proceeded to get smashed that afternoon. Drunk, she’d told Sarah and Emily that she liked to sing Debbie Gibson in the buff in front of her bathroom mirror.
“That’s not a visual I really want in my head,” Cate said.
“She’s plastered,” Emily whispered back. “Her nipple was hanging out of her suit, and she didn’t even notice.”
Cate tried to enjoy the afternoon, sip her cocktails, and participate in all the girl talk amongst her friends. No matter how hard she tried to enjoy herself, all she could think about was Janet at the St. James, having a blast with her fiancé at his bachelor party.
A miracle occurred that evening. Denise, as red as Santa’s hat, felt ill. “You must have sun poisoning.” Leslie immediately diagnosed her. “You sat in the sun for too long and fried yourself, and now you’re sick. It’s happened to me before.”
It was the alcohol, and probably nothing a few glasses of water couldn’t cure, but if Leslie wanted to diagnose her with something that had poisoning in its description, Cate wasn’t going to argue.
“What you need to do is rest, and tomorrow you should stay out of the sun under all circumstances,” Leslie said. “The dark hotel room will probably be the best place for you.”
Cate wondered if she was telling the truth, or was she deliberately trying to get rid of her? Suddenly Cate felt bad, looking at Denise, her skin as fair as a baby’s butt now red and blotchy. Green circles clouded Denise’s eyes, and Cate didn’t want her friends ganging up on Denise for her sake. She couldn’t stand her, but at the end of the day Denise was related to the man she loved more than anyone in the world. And if anyone could relate to being sunburned, it was her. She’d lubed her entire body in fifty, nonstop, and still had red cheeks and shoulders.
“Here,” Cate said, handing her a bottled water. “Drink as much water as you can. Maybe it’s just the combination of alcohol and the sun. This happens to me sometimes, and I just need to drink water and rest for a little bit. I bet you’ll feel better by the time everyone is ready to go to dinner.”
Denise looked worse by dinner. “I don’t think I can go.” She looked truly disappointed, and Cate had never seen her more vulnerable. For some reason this made Cate feel bad for her again.
“Are you sure?” Cate said. “We’ll wait for you if you need some time.”
She shook her head. “I just really feel like I need a nap.”
“Do you want us to get you something to eat?”
“Thank you, but I’m really just not feeling well.”
They left her, along with Cate’s crown, at the hotel. It had started to give her a headache. The girls were understanding but acted a little like her mother had when she tried to get out of catechism due to an unidentified illness.
Everyone was dressed to the nines in their sexiest clothes. Even Emily, who never ventured from khakis and basic tees, was wearing a pair of black pants and a sparkly halter top. Her sister really was cute when she made an effort, and Cate loved the fact that she was letting her hair down and cutting loose for a change.
They had dinner at Fio’s, and she couldn’t believe how sweet her friends were. She really hadn’t wanted a big fuss, but they all insisted on going somewhere nice for dinner, making sure that her wineglass was continuously full.
After dinner, they walked to The Bitter End. She was already pretty buzzed from all the wine, and her tipsiness was only enhanced when Cousin Val suggested they start buying shots. She was having so much fun that she almost forgot about Ethan and Janet. “I love you,” she grabbed her sister’s head and kissed her firmly on the cheek. “And you!” Cousin Val was next. “And you! And you! And you!” She went through them all. “You’re the best group of friends ever!” She pounded her Cosmopolitan. “Let’s dance!”
The Killers were playing, but for some reason she wanted to do the electric slide. She convinced everyone to join her, and they didn’t just do the slide to one song, but three. She was a wedding expert, and a pro at the electric slide. She really got into it, throwing her shoulders into her turns, snapping her fingers and throwing her head back when she did the grapevine.
She was drunk, and feeling free, and surrounded by the best group of girls she’d ever known. She was spinning around when she felt someone come up behind her, lightly grab her hips and turn her. They were big hands, nearly covering each of her hip bones, and the touch was soft, gentle, as if he were handling a baby.
“What brings you here?” he said. His voice was low, but she recognized it immediately. It was the same voice who’d apologized for kicking sand on her, or dripping water over her book. It was the same voice that she’d discussed red tide with, and surf lessons. It was the voice of the devil.
“I’m uh . . .” She wanted to lie. Ethan, Ethan, Ethan. She was marrying Ethan. “I’m actually here for my bachelorette party.” There. She’d said it.
He raised his eyebrows and smirked. A deep dimple appeared on the right side of his face. “You’re getting married.” It was a statement, rather than a question, and he still smiled.
She expected him to ask when and where and who the lucky guy was, but he didn’t seem to care. Shock ripped through her senses when she realized how relieved she felt.
“Yeah, I am.” She sounded more disappointed than he had.
“Well, let me buy you a drink. A celebratory one.” This was the point when she was supposed to say, “Oh that’s okay. I’ve probably had enough to drink. But thanks though.” Then she should turn her back to him and continue dancing with her friends. Instead, she followed him to the bar. All the girls were too engrossed in their dance moves to notice that she’d left them. He leaned on his elbows on the counter. As she slid onto a stool he looked over at her. His deep eyes peered from beneath his long bangs, and the corners of his lips turned up just slightly. She could see the outline of his muscles beneath his T-shirt and remembered his perfectly chiseled chest and stomach, towering over her like a statue at the beach. For some reason Ethan’s body popped into her mind, and she shoved it right back out.
“How ’bout something that will go down easy?” he said. “A lemon drop?”
“Sounds great.” She wondered what he was doing in the Gaslamp. Jeans weren’t allowed in most bars downtown, and it usually catered to pretty boys who drove luxury cars and listened to techno. She pictured Nate hanging out at beachside bars, where you didn’t necessarily have to wear a shirt or shoes.
“What are you doing down here?” she asked.
“My mom and stepfather own a penthouse down here. It’s a second home. They actually live up in the Bay Area.”
“So the family is here for the weekend?”
“No. I have a key. I stay there sometimes.”
So he had loaded parents and an empty penthouse to himself? The situation was getting more dangerous by the minute. He pushed a shot glass toward her. “Well, here’s to . . .”
She expected him to say something wedding-related, or a wish for good luck with her marriage.
“Meeting great people.”
When he set his glass on the counter she felt his arm brush against hers. It felt warm, and he didn’t move it. In fact, he leaned in closer to her, and when he spoke he looked directly into her eyes. She felt her palms grow sweaty and wondered if he always felt this relaxed around people he hardly knew.
“So you guys staying in a hotel?” he asked.
She told him about the hotel and how they’d hung out around the pool all day.
“Listen, I have to take a leak, but when I get back, do you want to go to the bar upstairs with me? It’s quiet up there, and there are nice couches you can sit on.”
“Sure.” Good God, what was she doing? She should be off with her girlfriends, not rubbing up to some hot stranger she was thoroughly tempted to kiss. He leaned in, and her heart skipped a beat. Holy shit, he was going to kiss her. For some reason she didn’t budge. It was all happening so fast. But then he didn’t kiss her, he lifted his thumb to her face and brushed aside a strand of her hair. “You okay?” he asked.
