Page 29 of Something Borrowed

Pat danced around them, pleading, “Girls, girls, no violence, please. It’s abhorrent. We don’tneedit in society. There’s more than enough of me to go around.”

Jed and I had leapt into the fray and separated the warring women.

After, we took our seats at the bar again to nurse our injuries.

“Amanda has a promising career in the MMA ring if she ever wants to give up her work at the bank,” I observed. “Ouch, Stan! That hurts.” I winced as Stan pressed an ice pack to my face.

“Don’t be such a baby,” he ordered.

“Your sympathy could use some work.”

“So could your damage assessment.” He paused. “What’s this sticky stuff I can feel on your face?”

“Cake.”

“Oh, yummy.” He licked his finger. “I missed out on the cake.”

“If only Amanda and Dawn could say the same thing.” I shook my head. “Whoever organised this wedding needs a new job. Maybe in a high-security prison.”

Jed turned from where a handsome young man was trying to dress the cut over his eye. “Tell me why you think this.”

I shrugged. “Well, we all knew Amanda and Dawn went out with Pat at different points. Apparently, the bride mentioned it to the planner, but they promptly put them all on the same table. It was likeGladiator, only with gateaux.”

“What would you have done?” he asked, his tone unexpectedly intense.

“I’d have seated them separately, maybe one in France and the other in Outer Mongolia.” Stan laughed. “Also, I’d have sorted the flowers at the church. If the florist’s remit was to obscure the bride and groom, they did stunningly well. Some of those arrangements were taller than me, and I expected Tarzan to come swinging through them at some point.”

“Hmm.” Jed stood up, declining any more help from the young man with a charming smile. Then he reached into his pocket and produced a card case. After extracting one, he handed it to me. “Give me a ring. I might have a job for you.”

I stared at him. “Really? Was it my disastrous daddy story?”

Stan groaned. “Why do youalwaystell that story?”

Jed grinned, the smile glorious enough to almost convince me to try older men again. “It definitely wasn’t that story,” he said very seriously and patted me on the shoulder. “Ring me.”

I wasn’t to know that calling him would lead to my dream job.

The memory prompts me to make a mental note to remind Stan that my daddy stories arealwaysnecessary.

I return my attention to the meeting when Jed announces the last item on the agenda. Soon the room clears as everyone has appointments. I stroll out with Joe at my side and grab my jacket from my desk.

“Okay,” I say. “I probably won’t see you until tomorrow.”

He leans against his desk. “Lunch?”

I shake my head. “I can’t today. I’m meeting Saoirse for what will probably be a liquid lunch.”

“How is your mum?”

I grab my messenger bag, push my diary in, and then refill my business card case. “She’s fine. She's just back from her honeymoon in Bermuda.”

“Oh, Christ, not another one.”

I grin at him. “Husband number five, baby.”

He frowns. “I thought it was four.”

“No, she married my dad twice.”

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