Page 6 of The Plus One Professional

“Who?” We’d talked about Lindsay earlier, but she lived in New York, so I doubted my ex was who she was referring to.

Her eyes twinkled with delight. “The wedding planner.”

“What wedding planner?” I knew exactly what wedding planner. The one with green eyes, red lips, golden hair, and an hourglass figure that defied gravity.

Sara’s head tilted to the side as her mouth twisted in a grin. “The one that you mention when you don’t realize you’re doing it. The one who puts a smile on your face that stays there for an entire week after you see her.”

“I always smile,” I argued.

“Mmm, hmm.”

“Uncle CJ! Can we go to the park?” Leo ran into the kitchen carrying a football.

“I have to go to work, little man.”

“Mom, can we go to the park? Please?” Leo begged, holding the football up like he was Rafiki and it was Simba inThe Lion King.

“It’s warm outside,” I explained to my nephew. The heat was not good for my sister, and I didn’t want her wearing herself out any more than she already was. “But, we’ll go to the park tomorrow. I promise, little man.”

I ruffled Leo’s hair. His arms fell and his shoulders slumped, as he turned and shuffled out of the kitchen. Sara watched her son go, and I could see the guilt she felt about not being able to go to the park.

“Hey, instead of tuna over rice, how about pizza tonight?” I’d made the tuna dish earlier today because it was easy to warm up, but we could have it tomorrow night. My nephews weren’t huge fans of the dinner.

Leo spun around on his socked heels and threw the football down like he was spiking it after a touchdown. “Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!”

I grabbed two twenties out of my wallet and handed them to my sister.

“You didn’t have to do that.” She smiled weakly.

“Yes, I did.”

After grabbing my jacket from the closet, I stopped by my niece Carly’s room and knocked on the door.

“What?!” she shouted.

I knew that her irritation was not directed at me. Her twin brothers nagged her incessantly. I pushed the door open, “Hey, Carly-Q, just checking to see how the book report is going.”

She had a paper due on Monday, and as of yesterday, she hadn’t even started to read it. Her response was to give me a dirty look as she lifted Little Women in the air.

“Nice. When I get home, I’ll take you over to Riley’s.”

She nodded and returned her attention to her book. I closed the door. Carly was spending the night at her friend’s house tonight, but I’d asked her if she’d wait until I got home from the wedding, just for my peace of mind. I always felt better when either Carly or I was home with Sara and the twins.

I knew it wasn’t fair for my niece to have to take on so much responsibility with her brothers, and one day I would make it up to her. One day, I’d get us out of this apartment and into a bigger place. One day, I’d be able to afford all the treatments that weren’t covered by insurance and not have to decide between new shoes for the kids or acupuncture for my sister. Today was not that day. Today, I needed to pretend to be someone’s date who I had never met before and make small talk with a bunch of people I would never see again so I could pay for one or the other of those things. Did I want to go? No. Did I have to? Yes.

The only silver lining was that maybe, just maybe, the wedding planner would be there. Just the thought put a smile on my face.Holy shit.My sister was right. I did smile when I thought about her.

3

BAILEY

“Amazing job, as always.”My bestie Olivia rested her hand on her growing belly as she lifted a champagne flute of apple juice into the air.

After an eventful day filled with pop-up emergencies that I’d struck like a whack-a-mole game, the reception was finally winding down. Billie was in the kitchen organizing the leftovers to be delivered to a shelter, and I had a moment to breathe. Today’s wedding had been one for the books. I’d been running around, putting out fire after fire of near catastrophes behind the scenes. This was the first chance I’d had to mingle.

I clinked my invisible glass of champagne to hers. “You too; we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your matchmaking skills.”

Olivia had actually set up the bride and groom, Holly and Marcel, through the matchmaking service that her husband inherited from his grandmother.

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