Page 83 of The Wedding Favor

I couldn’t quite meet his eyes when I answered. “You’re making me nervous.”

Silence and then, “In a good way or a bad way?”

“Yes,” I whispered. I put my head back on his shoulder.

His only response was to squeeze my hand, the one he’d placed over his heart.

THIRTY-TWO

“The truth was that there was a time when I disliked the person I’d become.”

—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,

Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes

Sunday morning, we made the drive back to Two Harts and although neither of us mentioned it, there was an awareness between us now that was hard to deny. I couldn’t stop my eyes from sneaking peeks at him or the flutter in my chest when I caught him looking at me.

What was happening here? Did I like Abe? Did Abe like me? Why did I feel like I was in second grade and giddy with my first crush? Maybe I should send him a note:

Do you like me?

Check yes or no.

Halfway home, Abe’s phone rang. He answered and a voice chimed through the cab of the truck.

“It’s a boy, Abe. You have a nephew.” Abe’s mom, Steph, sniffled, her voice thick with emotion. “He’s just perfect.”

“Everyone’s healthy?”

“Everyone’s perfect. I’ll send you photos. He’s just so… so… beautiful.” She couldn’t say anything else, what with the sobbing and nose blowing.

“Mom, give me the phone,” someone said in the background. “You’re scaring the baby with the crying.”

“Here, talk to Cal.” After Cal, it was Mel, Cal’s wife, and then it was his mom again, and then his mom made the nurse say hi.

“Let that poor nurse go, Steph. The woman does not want to speak to Abe,” someone groused in the background. The line rustled as the phone changed hands. “I’ll be just a second. I’m going in the hallway to talk.”

Abe’s shoulders tensed and his grip on the steering wheel tightened until his knuckles were white.

“Son,” Abe’s dad, Eli, said after a moment.

“Congratulations, Grandpa,” Abe said.

“Thanks.” Eli cleared his throat and when he spoke again, his voice had a serious edge to it. “Listen, I need to talk to you.”

Abe sighed. “About?”

“I heard about you taking Iris Sampson to that wedding.”

I realized he had no idea I was in the car and could hear every word. I glanced at Abe. His jaw ticked. “Yeah. It wasn’t a secret.”

“Looks like someone needs to remind you that she’s a kid.”

A kid? I opened my mouth to correct him, but Abe shook his head and put a hand on my knee.

“It wasn’t like that,” Abe said. “You know she’s watching Hallie this summer. We’re friends, that’s all. Besides, she’s not a kid; she’s an adult.”

Ouch. My heart sank like a stone. Apparently, Abe would have checked no.