“I guess so,” I shrugged. “What does that matter?”
“She can help you plan the wedding.”
“No way in hell.” I shook my head vehemently.
“Stop thinking about your own feelings for a moment. Who knows Lucky better than any of us? I know you hate to think that perhaps someone else was closer to her at one moment in time, but Leeza is her best friend. She can give you some good advice.”
“Or she can set me up and ruin the wedding.”
“I don’t think she’ll do that. From what Lucky’s told me, Leeza is or was a solid friend. I think that it’s worth a try. Give her a call. You might be surprised at how helpful she is.”
“Trust me, I would be very surprised if she was helpful in any way.”
“Give it a try.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll call her.”
“Good.” Noah stood up. “I’m going to take Skylar out for some ice cream, want anything?”
“Are you sure she should be having so much sugary stuff?”
“Huh?” Noah made a face. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know, but she seems to have a lot of sugary stuff. I don’t know if that’s good for her.”
“I don’t think it’s hurting her, super Dad.”
“I’m not trying to put you down, Noah. But Lucky was talking about the three of us taking a parenting class, and I was thinking maybe it would be a good idea.”
“So you’re already calling me a shitty father.”
“Are you being serious right now?”
“No.” He laughed. “Sign me up. I’d be happy to take the class.”
“Okay,” I grinned. “I was about to slap you if you were being serious.”
“Wait until I tell Lucky about your violent tendencies.”
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes.
“Hey, wait a few days before you make that call for the class, will you?”
“Why?”
“I’m going on a picnic tomorrow with Robin and Skylar.” He smiled.
“And?”
“You know!”
“You’re not expecting her to come to a parenting class because of one picnic, are you?” I gave him a look and he made a face. “I’m your older brother. I can still slap some sense into you. You cannot expect this girl to become a mother because one date goes well.”
“I’d like her to come.” His eyes flashed at me.
“Okay, okay.” I chuckled. “Who am I to say you’re moving too fast?” I shrugged. “I’ll wait, but let me know what happens after the date.”
“Thanks for your confidence in my dating capabilities.”
“Hey, we can’t all be me.”
“There goes any chance of me helping you plan the wedding of the year.”
“Whatever.” I laughed. “I can bridezilla you into doing what I want.”
“Oh God, no. I do not want to see my brother becoming a bridezilla.”
“Get out of here. I’m talking nonsense now.” I sat back down and grabbed my phone to call Leeza. I really didn’t want to get her involved, but I knew that Noah had a point. If anyone knew Lucky’s favorite colors and flowers, it would be Leeza. Girls talked about that stuff. I had no idea what she was into, besides in bed, and I was pretty positive that that knowledge wasn’t going to win me any points in planning a wedding. I grabbed my phone and realized that I had missed a text from Leo. I texted him back asking if he wanted to meet for lunch, and then called Leeza.
“It’s a sunny day in Florida.” A bright cheery voice answered the phone and I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes.
“Leeza?”
“This is Leeza, who is this?” She purred into the phone and it took all of my patience to not tell her off.
“It’s Zane.”
“Zane who?” Her voice became stiff.
“Zane Beaumont, your best friend’s fiancé.”
“Which best friend?”
“Leeza, I swear to God. This is Lucky’s fiancé.”
“Oh, what do you want?”
“I need your help.”
“No.”
“You haven’t even asked what for!”
“I don’t care.” Her voice sounded petulant. “I don’t like you and I don’t care what you want.”
“It’s for Lucky.”
“Is she okay?” She paused. “Oh my God, is she okay?”
“I guess you do care about her, huh?”
“She’s my best friend, and I have been in her life for years before you and will be in it for years after you.”
“You think so?”
“Chicks before dicks, asshole.”
“Okay, Leeza. I get it. You don’t like me. You already know I can’t stand you. I won’t even pretend otherwise, but I need your help. The wedding is stressing Lucky out. I want to plan a surprise wedding for her, so that she doesn’t have to worry about it. I need your help.”
“Say that again.” Her voice sounded satisfied.
“Say what again?”
“That you need my help.”
“I need your help.”
“Beg me.”
“You’ve got to be f**king joking. I’m not begging you for shit.”
“Now, now, Zane. I guess you don’t really need my help.”
“If you want your best friend to have a good wedding, then you will help me.” I was about to end the phone call when she spoke again.
“Fine, I’ll help. I want a first-class ticket to Los Angeles, though.”
“What?” I shuddered.
“If I’m helping, I’m coming to the wedding.”
“It’s going to be in three weeks, though.”
“Then you definitely need my help.”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
“So what are her favorite flowers?”
“You don’t know that?” Her voice sounded shocked. “What sort of boyfriend are you?”
“Save your judgment for someone who cares. I know what flowers she likes, I want to know what flowers she loves so much that she would want a bouquet of them on her wedding day.”
“I don’t f**king know that.”
“What do you mean you don’t know that? Don’t you girls discuss shit like that?”“Are you kidding me right now, Zane? We’re in college. Most college girls aren’t discussing what bouquets we want at our wedding, we’re talking about which guy we want to f**k next week.”
“You’re so crass.”
“You know you love it.”
“I do not have patience for you right now, Leeza.”
“She likes peonies, and roses, and daffodils.” Leeza sighed. “She loves the color yellow, and peaches and light blues as well. Don’t get her a form-fitting dress – she’s pregnant, so she won’t feel comfortable in that. You should wear a tuxedo. Make sure that your boutonniere matches her bouquet. It will show her that you thought things through properly. Where’s the wedding going to be?”
“I was thinking at a vineyard, in Napa Valley.” I answered her quickly, jotting down notes, surprised at how helpful she was being.
“Not a vineyard.” She sighed. “She’s pregnant, Zane. Use your brain. Napa is fine, but choose some beautiful field or something. Somewhere really picturesque. Lucky will love that.” She sounded wistful. “And don’t get her a white dress, it will get dirty, get something cream. She loves cream and it suits her complexion.”
“Okay, cream it will be.”
“I’ll look online and send you some links to some dresses she would like. Choose your favorite.”
“What size should I get?” I mumbled.
“Well, she normally wears a size 6 or 8, so I’m thinking get an 8 or 10.”
“Okay.”
“And no heels, get her some cute Tory Burch flats. I’ll send you the link. Lucky sucks at walking in heels.”
“Anything else?”
“Don’t forget to buy her some sexy underwear. Oh, and a garter belt.” She giggled. “But I bet that’s the one thing you won’t forget.”
“Funny. Not.”
“Get white gold bands or platinum. Don’t forget to get something sweet inscribed on them. I don’t have to tell you what to inscribe, I presume.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Contact a church up there and get a priest to preside over the ceremony, preferable Episcopalian, that’s the church she grew up in. It’s important to her, she’ll want a priest there.”
“I’m guessing an Elvis won’t work, then?”
“I know that has got to be a joke.” Her voice sounded short. “I swear, Zane Beaumont, you’re cute, but you’re a real dumbass.”
“Why, thank you, darkness in the light.”
“I’m the darkness that’s saving your ass.”
“I know, I know. Thank you.”
“I want to be a Godmother to the babies, by the way.”
“Uh huh.” Over my dead body.
“Let me see, don’t forget to reserve the honeymoon suite at whatever hotel you choose.”
“Yeah. That’s one thing I won’t forget.”
“What food are you going to serve at the reception?”
“What reception?”
“The reception where you thank all your guests for coming and supply us with free booze and food.”
“Oh. Where will that be?”
“That you have to figure out, handsome.”
“Shit.”
“Just find the venue for the wedding ceremony and choose a place close to there.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“No comment.”
“Thanks for your help, Leeza.”
“I’m not so bad.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re not.”
“I’d do anything for Lucky, you know.” She took a deep breath. “I know you think I’m a bad friend and you know what, maybe you’re right. I’ve been a bad friend at some points, but I love her like a sister and I would kill anyone that tried to harm her.”
“So you’re going to try and off yourself?”
“Not funny.” Her voice was tight. “If you do anything that makes her cry or if you break her heart, I will kill you.”
“That doesn’t sound like an idle threat.”
“You already know that I’m crazy.”
“That I do.”
“Don’t f**k her over, Zane.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
“Good. I’ll be waiting on my ticket.”
“Uh huh.”
“Oh, and Zane.”
“Yes?” I waited for it, the moment she was going to hit on me and show me her true colors again.
“Good luck.”
“What?”
“Good luck.” Her voice was soft. “What you’re doing is sweet, but it’s going to be hard. Good luck.”
“Thank you.” I hung up and stared at the phone contemplating the conversation we had just had. I still hated Leeza and I didn’t trust her, but I was starting to warm to her. Maybe she wasn’t quite as bad as I had thought she was.
“What you up to, honey bunch?” Lucky walked through the door with a glass of water in her hand and I was glad that she hadn’t walked in just a few minutes earlier and ruined my surprise.
“Not much, just going out to meet Leo for lunch.”
“Oh.” She looked at me with a sad expression. “I was hoping we could go for pizza.”
“Really?”
“No, but I don’t want you to go out either.” She made a face.
“What’s wrong, Lucky?”
“I don’t know.” She walked over and sat on my lap. “I feel weird.”
“Do we need to take you to the doctor?” I asked her in a panicked voice.
“No,” she shook her head and kissed me on the cheek. “I want to have sex.” She whispered in my ear.
“Wait, what?” I looked at her incredulously. “We just had sex last night and then again this morning.”
“I want to have sex again.” She giggled and wiggled around on my lap.
“And to think I was worried that there would be no more sex for us now that you’re pregnant.”
“Are you going to cancel lunch with Leo and take me on the Study table instead?” She looked at me hopefully, and a part of me was quite eager to take her up on it, but I knew that I couldn’t flake on Leo.
“How’s about a rain check?”
“What?” She pouted and jumped off of my lap. “Are you not attracted to me now that I’m fat.”
“Lucky, you are not fat.” I stood up and pulled her towards me. “I promise I will ravish you as soon as I get back from lunch.”
“What am I going to eat?”
“Do you want to come with me?” I asked slowly, not really wanting her to come, but not wanting her to stay home alone if she really didn’t want to be alone.
“No.” She shook her head and ran her fingers down my chest. “I know you need a guys lunch. Tell Leo I said hey and I’m sorry about Robin.”
“I’ll tell him you said hello, I’m not sure I’m going to mention Robin unless he does.”