Page 25 of Wishes at Water's Edge
Feeling unsure, she approached the table and set down her coffee cup. She removed the lid from the candle and took a long sniff.
Oh, that’s definitely Faith,she thought with a smile.So then which candle should go to Hazel?
She sat down and began to smell the candles one by one. Before long, she had organized them in neat rows, separated according to bridesmaid. She glanced at the clock and decided that she had time to start sorting the bath bombs as well. Those she couldn’t smell as well because they were wrapped up in plastic, so she mainly had to guess who would like what best based on the shape of the bath bomb and the description of the scent.
Before long, she was so immersed in her work that she’d completely lost track of time. She had a row for each bridesmaid, and she’d chosen a candle, a bath bomb, two face masks, a foot scrub, body butter, and a miniature picture frame for each row. She was feeling immensely satisfied with her work, and sure that each of her bridesmaids were going to love the gifts she’d picked out for them. She was just starting to sort through the ChapSticks she’d bought when someone came through the back door.
It was Cooper.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he sang out cheerfully.
Julia squeaked and looked at him in dismay. “Oh no!”
“What is it?” he asked, sounding worried. He looked down at himself. “Did I ruin my shirt or something?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. I meant to have dinner ready when you got home. I haven’t even started cookingit yet. I got totally distracted working on these gift bags for my bridesmaids. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He kissed her forehead. “You’re doing important work there. And it looks like you were having fun too.” He chuckled. “I’m sure the girls are going to love their gift bags. I can wait a little bit longer for dinner. And this way we can make it together.”
She smiled at him. “Okay.” She stood up and started walking toward the refrigerator. She was halfway across the kitchen when she froze in dismay. “Oh no! Cooper!”
“What?” He hurried to her side and touched her arm as if he was worried she was in pain. “What’s the matter?”
She groaned. “I completely forgot to defrost the chicken. I can’t believe I did that.” She shook her head at herself. “I feel like I’m barely keeping up these days. It’s not that I don’t love planning our wedding, it’s that everything takes me so much longer than I think it will. And I get so totally caught up in it that I forget about other things. That isn’t like me at all.”
Cooper laughed as he pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead. “It’s totally fine. I am used to you being the queen of organization, but right now you’re just acting like a normal person. It’s okay to get distracted and forget things sometimes.”
She sighed. “But I promised you the chicken Marsala you like so much, and I wanted us to have a lovely dinner together tonight. I feel bad for letting you down.”
“You didn’t let me down—it was so sweet of you to offer to cook dinner in the first place. I know you have a lot on your plate. Come on.” He led her back to the kitchen table and set her gently down in one of the chairs. “You keep doing your work, and I’m going to make us grilled tuna sandwiches for dinner.”
Julia’s stomach growled loudly. “That does sound really good. With cheese?”
Cooper chuckled. “Yes, with cheese.”
He set to work preparing their dinner, and she turned back to her work at the table with a sigh of contentment. She felt immensely grateful to have a partner as considerate and caring as Cooper.
“Aren’t these gift bags just the cutest?” she said, surveying her rows of goodies proudly. “I’ve organized each gift bag differently. Sometimes it’s because I know one of my bridesmaids has a certain scent or color preference, and other times it’s because I just felt like that gift would suit them. I hope they all end up loving everything they get.”
Cooper smiled fondly at her as he mixed together tuna and mayonnaise. “I’m sure they will. I’m not a girl, but I’m sure that if I liked those kinds of things, a gift basket like that would have me over the moon.”
Julia chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you think so. I agree—I know the girls are going to love these.” She smiled down at her work for a moment, feeling pleased. Then her eyes traveled to the rest of the items on the table—catalogues, address lists, and her to-do list. She sighed. “I’m so behind on everything still. I like to be ahead on all my work—consistently being behind like this is very frustrating for me.”
“It’s okay, you’re doing great.” He smiled at her. “I know you like to be ahead, but you still have plenty of time before our big day. And hey—at least you got those wonderful place setting cards. Those are going to be perfect.”
Julia stopped short, her hand suspended above her to-do list. “Oh no,” she groaned. “No, I didn’t get those wonderful place setting cards, not yet. I was in the middle of doing that when Mom called me and told me that I was late for work. I completely forgot about ordering the cards after that. I meant to do it when I got home from work, but I was so tired that it slipped my mind.”
“It’s okay, sweetie.” He smiled at her reassuringly. “There’s still time to get it done. I know you feel behind, but that doesn’tmean you’re actually running out of time here. We still have plenty of time before our wedding.”
She sighed. “I guess you’re right.” She clicked her pen open with frustration. “Well, that’s one more thing on my list.”
She made a note on her to-do list, since she’d already scratched out “find place setting cards and order them.” Below that she’d written “find venue”—an item she’d scratched off days ago, before the pipe had burst in Turtle Dove Hall.
Tears filled her eyes. She tried to blink them away and take deep breaths, but Cooper immediately noticed her distress.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in concern.
She shook her head. “I’m trying not to let myself get too upset about it, but everything that happened with Turtle Dove Hall is so disappointing. I loved it so much, and it seemed like a total dream come true. And now with that pipe bursting—I know it’s so much worse for Lindsay, and I shouldn’t be so sorry for myself, but it’s so disappointing to get a perfect venue like that pulled out from under us.” Tears slipped out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “And now, unless a miracle happens with those repairs, we don’t have a venue. I know places aren’t packed around here, but in New York, that’s the kind of thing you’d need to reserve at least a year early, sometimes earlier than that. What if we end up without any kind of a venue at all? What if we have to host our reception somewhere ugly, like the community room in the town hall’s basement?”
