Page 44 of Ask Me Something

Chapter Nine

The next day had been busy between the wedding shower and a planned shopping excursion for the women while the men spent most of their day golfing.

At dinner that evening, all the guests enjoyed a beach cookout and trivia. It was a lot of fun, especially with the cast of characters in attendance. A number of outgoing personalities in the crowd made it easy to be one of the quiet ones without anyone noticing.

After the parents retired, things got even more entertaining while the alcohol flowed. Brian was in his element with his friends, and it was easy to see the history between him, Mark, Josh, and Colby. We all heard lots of stories from college that made us laugh.

While most of the men had gone out toward the beach to smoke cigars, the women gathered around the seated bar area. I stepped up toward the bartender to order another round of red wine for myself and Catherine when unfortunately the dreaded sister-in-law, Rebecca, came up to my left side.

She turned her attention to me, narrowing her eyes. “You’re Sasha, right?”

I braced myself, thankful I’d been forewarned about the type of person she was. “Yes, and I’m sorry. Your name?” I pretended not to know.

“I’m Rebecca. Benjamin’s wife and Brian’s sister-in-law.”

“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”

Haylee walked up and smiled toward the both of us.

“The shower today was nice,” Rebecca complimented.

Haylee nodded. “It was a really great surprise. Josh’s mom went all out with the boat.”

I received the two glasses of red wine from the bar and was about to return to my table when I witnessed the next comment out of Rebecca’s mouth.

“It’s too bad we couldn’t have combined the wedding and baby shower, but I guess you want to keep up the pretense that one isn’t because of the other,” Rebecca sneered.

Haylee’s smile faltered. She looked at me, turning pink with embarrassment.

Haylee had confided in both Catherine and I last week that they were expecting. It hadn’t been easy to share the private news as she’d been worried about perception. But Josh had spoken with Catherine and made it clear that although it wasn’t planned, it was definitely welcome. The fact that Rebecca was implying that Haylee had trapped a man that so clearly loved her, brought out my protective side. Before I could stop myself, my entire glass of Pinot Noir was splashed on Rebecca’s beige dress. “Oops.”

She gasped. “You—you did that on purpose,” she accused, looking at the damage.

“Why would I ever do something so mean-spirited on purpose?” I feigned innocence.

My eyes met Haylee’s while I waited for permission to either let Rebecca have it or wait for Haylee to do so. I was delighted when she was more than happy to stand up for herself.

“You know, Rebecca, if you can’t get that stain out in your room, I’d be happy to talk to my fiancé about getting you an earlier flight home. But if you think you can possibly be more careful next time, maybe there’s hope you can stay for the wedding, after all.”

The message was clear, and when Rebecca huffed, stomping away toward her room, Haylee and I both burst into giggles.

Catherine joined us, looking toward the retreating woman. “What did I miss?”

Haylee looked between us both and grinned. “You missed a waste of a good glass of red wine.” She filled her in, and then we all started laughing.

I’d never been so grateful for female friends who built one another up instead of cutting others down.

It was past midnight when the last of the partygoers headed back to their rooms. I’d barely made it in my own door when my desk phone started ringing.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Hey, you sound out of breath.” Brian’s voice came from the other end of the line.

“I just got to my room.” Taking a seat on the bed, I slipped off my shoes.

“Sorry. I’m impatient.”

“Did you want to come over?” I was anxious to have him all to myself after a day of only being able to watch him.

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