Just Good Friends (7 page)

“
I’m glad you brought that
up,” her mother said. “Four is for Tiffany, Zoe, me and her father.
Brad will be the fifth person in our immediate family.”

“
We’ll change the number to
six if you and my girl get married,” her dad added.

Oh. Tyler wouldn’t have asked if he
knew that was what the number was for. He shot Tiffany an
apologetic look.

“
What we’d really love to
know,” her mother grinned, “is how, exactly, you two realized you
were more than friends.”

Okay. That topic was worse than phone
calls and the number an angel was holding. Tyler shifted on the
couch and glanced at Tiffany. “You want to take this
one?”

Though she grimaced, Tiffany said,
“There’s nothing to it. We were watching a movie and just knew we
were meant to be more, that’s all.”

“
What was the
movie?”

Tiffany shrugged, so Tyler filled in,
“Inoculation”, before remembering that Tiffany hated science
fiction movies with aliens who were trying to take over the
world.

“
Really?” her mom asked, her
eyebrows raised. “What part?”

“
There was no one part,”
Tiffany replied.

“
I’m sure there was a
specific moment when things blossomed between you two. Take your
dad and me. We were at a football game in high school when the home
team just scored a touchdown. That tied the game at 8-8. I dropped
my nachos all over my green dress. The dress had cute little bows
on the spaghetti straps, right about here.” She touched her
shoulders to show where they’d been. “They were white with little
green sequins at the top. It was an adorable dress. I’m telling
you, Tyler, if you saw Tiffany wearing it, you’d fall over yourself
just to open the door for her. It was that darling. But when I
spilled that cheese all over my dress, I knew it was ruined. Your
dad, bless his heart, told me that nothing could take away from how
beautiful I was. At that moment, I knew he was the one for me. If I
can remember a moment like that over thirty-seven years ago, you
can remember the part of the movie where you fell in
love.”

“
It was the moment the alien
DNA was injected into the main character,” Tyler blurted out. Not
because that part of the movie had been particularly romantic,
because it hadn’t been. But it was the first thing that came to
mind. Even now, the reminder of the way the character’s skin
glimmered with an unearthly orange tint while his pupils changed
shape made him shiver. When he realized the others were waiting for
him to continue, he said, “I don’t know why it was that part. I
guess I thought if we were under the thread of alien hybridization,
I’d take Tiffany’s place so she wouldn’t have to suffer the same
things the character in the movie did.”

Her mom put her hand to her chest and
let out a pleased sigh. “Isn’t that romantic?” she asked Tiffany’s
dad.

“
I still think I had the
best line about how beautiful you were,” her dad replied, “but it’s
nice to know Tyler would be willing to sacrifice himself for our
little girl.”

Tyler would have done it anyway because
she was his best friend. But it’d been that way since they met at
the pool where she’d taken a summer job as a lifeguard right after
moving to Omaha. Thinking of those hot summer days was a stark
contrast to the blowing snow outside at the moment.

“
I think that’s enough for
tonight,” Tiffany said, breaking the silence that had fallen
between them. “I’m exhausted, and I’m ready to fall
asleep.”

Tyler placed his empty cup next to
Tiffany’s, which was still full. “Thanks for the hot
chocolate.”

“
If you need anything else,
just let us know,” her mom replied.

After saying goodnight, they retired to
their respective bedrooms for the night.

Chapter
Six

Tiffany poured herself another cup of
coffee as she helped the women make Thanksgiving dinner for the
entire family. She took a moment to peek into the living room where
Tyler was playing cards with her dad, two uncles, and three
cousins. He glanced over at her, and she shot him an uncertain
smile, wondering if he’d ever forgive her for dragging him all the
way up here to deal with her family. By the smile on his face, she
took that as a hopeful sign. Maybe he’d still be willing to talk to
her when this whole ordeal was over.

“
Are you making googly eyes
at your boyfriend?” one of her aunts teased.

Her face growing warm, Tiffany shook
her head. “Of course not. I was just making sure he isn’t bolting
out of here because my parents kept insinuating that he’s going to
be their son-in-law.”

“
Why would he come all the
way up here to meet your family if he wasn’t going to marry you?”
Her aunt nudged her in the side and chuckled. “Nebraska to Montana
isn’t that short of a trip, you know.”

“
We haven’t been dating for
long, and besides, we’re friends, too.”

“
I heard, and you know what
they say? The best person to marry is your best friend.”

While her aunt headed back to the
counter to check on the potatoes boiling in the pot, her
grandmother came up to her and gave her a reassuring hug. “Try not
to let it get to you.”

“
It’s hard, Granny,” Tiffany
said as she took a sip of the coffee, praying it was strong enough
to keep her awake. As it was, she had to fight the urge to fall
asleep several times that morning. “They just don’t
stop.”

“
I wish I could help, but
they don’t listen to me any more than they listen to
you.”

“
I was hoping with Zoe
getting married, they’d stop worrying about me, but it’s only been
worse.”

“
Probably because you’re
older.” She rubbed Tiffany’s back and smiled. “Try not to let it
get to you. Just think of things you enjoy. That’s what I do when
they start getting on my nerves.”

“
Tiffy!” her mom called out,
waving her over to where she was talking on the phone.

Tiffany glanced at her grandma. “What
do you think the chances are that this has something to do with
Zoe’s wedding instead of Tyler?”

“
Good. I think she’s talking
to the seamstress. You’ll want to go over there. You don’t want
your bridesmaid’s dress to be the wrong size.”

True. If she was going to be all dolled
up in a burgundy dress with a bunch of ruffles on it, she should at
least be comfortable. She’d seen the picture Zoe had sent her. She
had tried to get out of being a bridesmaid, but her mother wouldn’t
hear of it. “You have to be one,” her mother had argued. “You’re
Zoe’s sister.”

And since she naively believed this
would be enough to make her mother back off, she had agreed to it.
Except it hadn’t because her mom was still bugging her about
getting married.

Taking a gulp of her coffee, she went
over to her mother. “What is it, Mom?”

“
We want to make sure we got
your dress size right since we won’t have a chance to fit you in
the dress until tomorrow,” her mother said, putting her hand over
the receiver. “What is your size?”

“
Twelve.”

She nodded and spoke into the phone.
“Twelve.” After a moment, she asked Tiffany, “What’s your bra
size?”

“
Mom!”

“
It’s for the dress. Some
women are not as well-endowed as others.”

She sighed. She hated it when her
mother had a good point. “Size B.”

“
B,” her mother spoke into
the phone. Glancing Tiffany up and down, she said, “I’d guess she’s
5’4. Maybe 5’5 in heels.” She nodded. “Yes. She’s 5’5 in
heels.”

“
Can I go?” Tiffany
mouthed.

Her mother indicated she could, so she
went back to helping her grandmother who was preparing the candied
yams.

When it was time to eat, everyone
gathered the dishes and took them to the small building they’d
rented downtown so all the family members could spend the afternoon
together. And since all the families contributed something, it was
a potluck, something Tiffany was thankful for since it allowed her
some breathing room from all the questions about her and
Tyler.

“
I’m sorry,” Tiffany told
Tyler as they gathered their food on their plates. “I should have
explained that Thanksgiving in my family can be hectic.”

“
All I did was play cards
all morning,” he replied as he put stuffing on his plate. “You and
the women did all the work. In my house, my dad and I were expected
to help out. There was no way my mom would go through all the work
by herself.”

“
I think the women prefer it
if the men stay out of their way. They love getting together and
talking while they cook, but frankly, it’s my idea of torture. I
never did like cooking.”

“
Cooking isn’t for
everyone.”

“
No, it’s not. But don’t say
that in front of the others. They’d all be up in arms over it,” she
joked.

He chuckled, and her mother came up to
them. “You two are so cute together. And it’s obvious you’re in
love.”

Then, before they could respond, she
fluttered away to get some silverware.

Tiffany groaned. “Is it getting on your
nerves yet?”

“
A little,” he
admitted.

One thing Tiffany always appreciated
about Tyler was that he knew exactly what she was thinking, so she
didn’t have to come out and specify what she meant. “And we have
two more days to go.”

They finished gathering everything they
wanted and were heading for Tiffany’s grandmother when her dad
steered them over to Zoe and Brad. “You should sit over here with
the other two lovebirds,” he explained and pulled out their chairs
for them. “It’ll be good for you to get better acquainted.” He
winked at them.

Tiffany held back a grimace. She was
starting to get tired of her father’s continual winks. She knew
exactly what he was trying to do, and she wished he was more subtle
about it.

“
Sorry I didn’t make it in
time to help with the dinner,” Zoe said as Tiffany and Tyler sat
across from her and Brad. “I was getting my gown fitted. You
wouldn’t believe what an ordeal it was.”

“
I can imagine,” Tiffany
replied. “I used to work at a bridal shop. It was constant chaos
before every couple’s wedding day.”

“
Oh yeah,” her sister said.
“I forgot you did that.” She glanced at Brad. “She’s had over a
dozen jobs. It’s hard to keep track of them.”

Just like I keep forgetting how many
times you almost dumped Brad for someone else, Tiffany thought but
managed to keep her mouth shut. She wished her sister would show
her the same consideration.

“
Some people change jobs
several times before they finally figure out what they want to do,”
Tyler spoke up, and Tiffany couldn’t help but be glad he was always
quick to jump to her defense. “I read somewhere that people change
jobs anywhere from five to ten times in their life. And when you
factor in seasonal employment, the number can go even
higher.”

“
Yeah, but it makes it
harder to get promoted,” her sister countered.

“
While that’s true, there’s
also nothing wrong with experiencing more of what’s out
there.”

“
Oh?” Zoe asked as she
picked up a glass of wine. “Do you do the same thing?”

For a moment, Tyler seemed unsure about
how to respond. Then he cleared his throat and pushed his glasses
up his nose. “No. I’ve been at the same job for the past eighteen
years. I’m just saying that not everyone finds their dream job
right away, and some people don’t want to be confined to doing the
same thing all the time.”

“
Yeah, but it’s not wise to
go through life floating from one thing to another. Tiffy’s done
that with everything from jobs to boyfriends. I’m surprised she
stuck around Omaha as long as she did.”

Tiffany swallowed her slice of turkey,
wondering if she should intervene at this point. While it was sweet
Tyler was quick to defend her, this had the potential to blow up in
his face. Once Zoe got started on something, she didn’t back off,
whether she was right or not. “It’s okay, Tyler,” she told him then
looked at her sister. “I like doing a lot of temporary work because
I like the variety of doing different things.”

“
Are you working at a
temporary position right now?” Zoe asked.

“
It’s temporary at the
moment, but there’s a possibility it might become permanent if the
clientele stays up.”

“
But will you really stick
with it?”

Tiffany stopped cutting into the turkey
and considered her words. Was it really worth getting into a fight
to make her point? No. It was never worth the argument when it came
to Zoe. “You know what we should be talking about? Your wedding.”
Forcing a smile, she continued, “So, you got your dress fitted
today?”

Fortunately, Zoe was vain enough for
the change in topic to work. “Yes. And it’s absolutely gorgeous. I
wasn’t sure if I could fit into a size four, but that’s what it
turned out to be. Don’t worry, Tiffy. I made sure that your dress
will slim you down.”