Diary of a Wedding Planner in Love (Tales Behind the Veils Book 2) (6 page)

Wednesday, January 15th

Cabe texted this afternoon to say he had great news and wanted to celebrate. To wear something fancy and be ready by six. I can count on one hand the number of times he's requested fancy in the five years I've known him, so I knew it must be something good.

He buzzed with excitement as we drove to the restaurant, singing at the top of his lungs and playing piano, guitar and drums simultaneously on the steering wheel. He teased me with hints about his news, but then insisted on waiting until we were seated to spill the beans. I practically shoved the seating hostess away from our table as soon as we sat down so he could finally tell me.

"February marks six months that I've been back in Orlando."

I hoped the news was going to get better than that. A bittersweet reminder that he didn't call me as soon as he got back from his ill-fated move to Seattle and the short-lived marriage that happened there. I forced the smile to stay pasted on my face as he continued.

"Wade, my old boss, has been trying to move me back into his team, but they told him he had to wait six months after my transfer."

Cabe had taken a step down in order to move to Seattle with Monica, which he'd been willing to do since he thought she was the love of his life. Then he had taken another demotion in order to move back here to Orlando when Monica decided
he
wasn't the love of
her
life. It was nice of the company to work with him on both moves, but I knew he didn't enjoy the new position as much as his old job. On top of that, along with the two pay cuts, he had also given up some of the perks of his former position. Namely, working from any remote location of his choosing, extra weeks of vacation time, and a sizable annual bonus.

"Starting the second week of February, I will be completely reinstated to my old status with full pay and benefits." He laid his palm across his chest as he spoke, bowing his head slightly after his announcement.

I clapped my hands and laughed, my eyes filled with tears of happiness and pride. I knew the entire Seattle situation had been a huge blow to Cabe's ego. The divorce. Monica leaving him for another woman. Moving back home with his mom. And, of course, returning to the old office building two steps lower than he had left it. So having his former job restored marked a huge step in his recovery and healing from the whole fiasco.

"That's wonderful! Cabe, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Buttercup. I'm pretty happy myself. I missed working with my old team and being on the inside of the new projects think tank. I know you probably think computers are computers and it's all pretty boring, but there really is a difference in what I've been doing and I missed the work."

"No, I know that. I won't pretend I understand what you do, but I know you were much happier before. I think you used to come up with new stuff and how to make it work, and I guess now you've just been typing all day."

Cabe laughed as the waitress poured our water. "That's a pretty watered-down description of what I do, Ty. I was a program manager, and I've moved back down to being a developer since I've been home. Now I'll be a program manager again."

Greek to me. I had no better idea what he did for a living than before he explained it, but oh well. I was happy for him, and he was happy. That's all that mattered.

He ordered a few appetizers and a rather expensive bottle of champagne. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed again. "We're celebrating!"

"Wow, you must be happy. You don't even like champagne," I said.

"I don't like
cheap
champagne, Buttercup. There's a difference."

I nodded and smiled at him. I swear he was glowing. He carried himself differently, with his head held high and his shoulders relaxed, like a huge weight had been lifted from him. The tension I’d grown accustomed to seeing in his face was gone, replaced with an easy smile that crinkled the edges of his eyes with soft lines.  Seeing him so happy swelled my heart to near bursting, and I reached my hand across the table to take his. He squeezed my hand in return, leaning over the table to meet me for a kiss.

I have no idea what will happen in our lives, and I have no idea if Cabe and I will get a happily ever after ending. But in that moment, at that table, gazing into those blue eyes and basking in his sweet smile, I know I have never been happier in my life. I have never felt more completely at peace. To be sitting with him, hand in hand, sharing kisses and celebrating the future, filled me with such joy and contentment I thought I was going to be a total dork and cry. My throat felt constricted, and I struggled to swallow as I blinked back tears.

"Are you gonna cry?" Cabe leaned forward and grinned, taking my chin in his and kissing me again.

"I'm just happy for you. Shut up."

"I'm happy, too, but I'm not crying."

Warmth spread across my cheeks as I blushed. I wanted so much to tell him I loved him. To say how sorry I was it took me so long to know it. To apologize for any time he felt it or wanted to say it and couldn't. For any time I hurt him—or rejected him. I wanted to say I didn't mean to rush things, and I would wait however long he needed. To tell him I would never leave his side, and that I wanted us to celebrate every milestone together from here on out. But then our champagne arrived, and the words stuck in my throat as I reached for my glass.

"To happy days ahead." Cabe raised his glass in a toast.

"Happy days ahead." I clinked my glass against his and savored the tickle of bubbles sliding down my throat and chasing the tears away.

"And now, for the best part." He drained his glass and shifted in his seat, obviously excited to tell me the rest of his news.

"There's more?" I asked as he refilled our glasses.

"Wade petitioned the board to reinstate my share of the bonus for the projects my team completed last year. It's only a portion based on my work in the upstart of each project, but they've approved his request, and I will be receiving a rather sizable check at the end of the month. So I'm thinking we should plan a trip for your birthday. Anywhere you want to go!"

"What?" My mouth dropped open and then closed again as I squealed in delight. "Seriously?"

"Yep. You pick the destination, and we'll do it. Where do you want to go?"

"Oh my gosh, Cabe. I don't know. I'd have to think about it. Are you sure that's what you want to do? I mean, do you want to take that money and use it to move out of the pool house?"

"Tyler, it's not like I'm broke or I can't afford to move out of Mom's. I just haven't been motivated to find a place. The pool house was an easy solution when I came back from Seattle, and I haven't thought much about packing up and moving again. Not that there's much to pack this time around. But still. This is a bonus I wasn't expecting, so I want to do something special. With you. I want to take you somewhere for your birthday weekend. You just tell me where. The Caribbean. New York. Paris."

"Paris? Oh my God, Cabe. You're not kidding around. Holy crap. We can't do that in a weekend."

"Why not?"

"Well, because. I mean, we just . . . I mean, well . . .”

"Why not? You don't have a wedding on your birthday. I already checked your calendar, and I called Melanie to see if you were scheduled for rehearsals or anything, and she said you could be off if you needed to."

"Wait, you called Mel? When?"

"Yesterday. I wanted to surprise you with the trip already planned out and give you tickets tonight, but then I figured it might be best to let you pick where you wanted to go."

"Oh wow. You're completely serious. But what about your work?"

"I talked to Wade when we met about the new position. I have to hit the ground running with a new project as soon as I transition over in February. But he's willing to give me Thursday, Friday, and Monday off the weekend of your birthday. I would love for it to be longer, but we can at least take a long weekend away. So whaddya say? Weekend in Paris?"

I couldn't formulate coherent thoughts. I was stunned.

Paris? With Cabe? For my birthday? A few short moments earlier I had thought to myself that I had never been happier in my life. And then this? Blown away. Completely blown away. Happier than I could ever have imagined.

"Wow, Cabe. Okay. Yes! Yes, a weekend in Paris. But wait. My birthday's only like two months away. How are we going to plan a trip to Paris in two months? Maybe we should go someplace closer."

"No, Mom's best friend is a travel planner. I already called her and asked her to start scouting out locations. I'll tell her Paris. If that's definitely where you want to go."

"Sure. But I don't speak French."

"It's okay. I do. And a lot of Parisians speak English. If you're not rude to them, they're pretty much not rude to you."

"Oh wow. I think I'm in shock."

He laughed. "That's good, I hope. I want you to be happy. Are you happy?"

"Oh yes. Yes. A million times yes. Wow. I keep saying wow, don't I?"

So obviously I need to just chill on the relationship thing. He's happy. I'm happy. We're going to Paris. I need to just relax and trust that things are going to happen in their own time.

Thursday, January 16th

My happiness from last night spilled over into this morning. Mama called and I actually answered the phone with a cheerful, "Good morning, Mama!"

"Well, good morning, baby! You're awful chipper this morning."

"Just having a good day, Mama." A good day. A good month. A good year. Looks like the tides
have
turned and I'll be having a good life.

"I sure am glad to hear that. I love when my young'uns are happy. Your sister Tanya got a new minivan. One of those fancy ones where the doors just open up when you push the button and then close by themselves once you get in. Takes forever for them to close, though. You could just shut it yourself and be out the driveway in the time it takes, but she likes it. It's got TV screens in the back for the kids, so I guess they'll be glued to the tube every time they're in the car. I swear those kids wouldn't know what to do without a TV or an iPad in their hands. They're talking about getting Eric a phone. Now what in tarnation he needs with a phone, I don't know. He's eight years old. Who's he gonna call? I mean, really. But if that's how they want to spend their money, then who am I to judge? I'm just her mother, you know."

"Yes ma'am." I struggled to hold onto my euphoria.

"Your brother made the honor roll. I don't think you ever did make honor roll at college, did you? Course, you quit. So I'm sure you would have made it eventually, you know, if you had stuck it out. He's still dating that huzzy of a girl. She don't like me none. And I don't care not one bit. He'll see through her eventually. Lord, I hope he don't marry her. I can't even imagine—"

"I'm going to Paris, Mama!" I blurted out my news without really thinking it through.

"What? Paris? Like Paris, France? Well, Lord have mercy on my soul! When did this come about?"

"Last night. Cabe is taking me to Paris for my birthday." I realized I may have just handed her a grenade that could blow up in my face, but it was too late. I had already pulled the pin.

"What? He's taking you to Paris? You mean he's paying for the trip? Well, that surely doesn't sound like just a friend to me."

"Well, we've sort of been…dating." Even if I didn't have a definition for it, what we had been doing would constitute dating to my mama. Although I didn't know if she would take me going to Paris with a man better if she thought we were dating or if she thought we were just friends. I cringed in anticipation of her response.

"I knew it! I knew it! I told your Aunt Debbie all along you was dating him. I knew it!"

"No, we weren't. It's just kind of happened since New Year’s."

"And all this time you telling me you weren't interested. But I knew it. I didn't have any doubt. I knew in my heart he was the one for you."

"Mama, you've been telling me the man was gay for five years."

"Why, I did no such thing! Tyler Lorraine, how dare you. I have said no such thing."

I didn't want to argue with her, and I knew it would do no good if I did. "So his mom's friend is a travel agent, and she's going to find us a good hotel and stuff. We're gonna leave the Thursday before my birthday and come back on Sunday. Just a weekend trip."

"Well, a weekend in Paris sure sounds romantic. Are you using protection?"

"Mama!"

"Like you're gonna tell me you're going to Paris with this man and y'all ain't having sex."

"Oh, my Lord. We are not having this conversation."

There would never ever be a day that I wanted to have this conversation with my mother. She had never so much as mentioned sex to me my entire life, and I surely didn't want to change that now.

"You can't be naive, Tyler, and neither can I. The world is a scary place and you need to make wise choices."

"Mama, it's not like that. We're not sleeping together." Why I felt the need to prolong the conversation in the slightest by giving her that information I will never know.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"What? Oh good grief. I'm gonna hang up now."

"You listen to me, missie. I loved your daddy like he hung the moon, but between you and me it wasn't all that."

"La-la-la-la-la. I so do not want to hear this, Mother." Just the thought of her and Daddy doing the nasty caused instant nausea.

"I'm just saying. I watch all these movies and hear all these songs, and I have to think there wouldn't be so many people going crazy about it if there wasn't more to it than what I've experienced. Your daddy was a good man, honey, but I've read a lot of romance novels, and I can tell you right now I've never spiraled to the heights of ecstasy and floated back down seeing stars. So I ain't saying you need to throw your ankles behind ya ears for any ole Joe walkin' by, but if you've got feelings for this man enough to fly across the ocean with him, you might want to make sure he knows what he's doing in that department."

I couldn't believe my devoutly religious mother was actually telling me to sleep with a man I wasn't married to. It wasn't something I cared to discuss, though. Nor was I going to mention I'd basically thrown myself at the man and begged only to have him tell me no.

"Baby Girl, if I had it to do over again, I'd a roller skated, and danced, and smoked. I'd a worn short skirts and slept with every man that wanted to."

"Mama, I'm gonna puke. Please stop talking about sex!"

She cackled. "What? You think your mama didn't ever turn a head? Where you think you and your sisters got those looks of yours? I was a stunner in my day."

"I know you were. And this has been a real eye-opener for me, but I'm gonna hang up now. And go join a convent, I do believe."

She laughed again. "Aw, honey, don't be like that. Make sure you let me know where you're staying. Flight numbers, too. I won't be able to sleep between now and then thinking about you crashing in the ocean."

"Why, thank you. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Bye now. I gotta go."

"When can I meet him?"

I shook my head violently from side to side in immediate resistance to that idea.

"I don't know. We'll have to see. Bye. Love you."

I don't know what got into my mama, but if she's going to start asking details about my sex life, that may be the best reason yet to put off sleeping with Cabe.