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Chapter 4
Eliza barely recognized the restaurant that had always been a staple in Harper’s Crossing. What used to be a nice, if not somewhat rundown, establishment had been renovated and upgraded, much like she wanted to do with her new practice.
“Hi! Welcome to The Plate, how many in your party?” The bubbly, attractive girl behind the podium asked.
“Actually, I’m meeting someone.” She scanned the dining area and was relieved to see that Becca was already there. Eliza pointed her finger in her friend’s direction. “I see her.”
As she weaved through the tables her legs still felt shaky. It had been hours since she’d seen Nate but her body was still suffering aftershocks from the earthquake that had registered as a 10.0 on the emotional-Richter scale.
It had been bad before he’d smiled at her when she’d called him Mr. Joe Cool, but after that smile, her insides had basically turned to mush. His smile had always had that effect on her. In and of itself it was devastating, but it was made even more so because she knew very few people made Nate Holmes smile.
He was a serious guy with a brilliant mind that never turned off. She remembered telling him once that it must be exhausting to be as smart as he was. He’d looked at her like she’d just figured out a riddle that no one else ever could. To her, it was pretty obvious. He was always the smartest person in the room. She doubted that had changed even when he went to MIT and had been surrounded by the greatest minds in the country, or the world even.
She’d never understood the saying “ignorance is bliss” until she’d met Nate. After just a few conversations it was crystal clear to her that he saw everything that could possibly go wrong in any situation before anyone else even knew what was going on. He’d reminded her of Will, Matt Damon’s character in Good Will Hunting, without having Ben Affleck’s character, Chuckie, as a friend to lighten him up and let him turn off his brain for a while. To show him that there was fun to be had. So she’d made it her personal mission to be his Chuckie. Of course she’d wanted to be his Skylar, Will’s love interest who was played brilliantly by Minnie Driver, but since Nate hadn’t been romantically interested in her, she’d settled for being his Chuckie.
When Becca saw her approaching she stood and they quickly wrapped their arms around each other. The Sloan bunch was big on hugs. Her parents had never been big huggers but she’d always said that when she’d had kids she’d wanted to raise them with lots of hugs.
She and Becca said their hellos and complimented each other on looking beautiful. She was fairly certain that Becca was just being kind. These last couple of weeks were not doing any favors to her skin or the dark circles that had a tendency to form under her eyes whenever she wasn’t sleeping or was under stress. But Eliza was not just being polite. Becca was absolutely stunning. Over the years, she’d had a few friends that had gone through residency and none of them had actually glowed at the end of it. Eliza was pretty sure that Brian was a big part of that glow.
After ordering a drink, Eliza asked, “So, how is the wedding planning going?”
Even though she’d technically had two weddings, she’d only planned one, but it had been all-consuming. The first time had been a spur-of-the-moment (or so she’d thought) elopement. But her second one had been the real deal. Church. Reception. Two hundred guests. Five bridesmaids, including Becca.
Becca blew out a dramatic breath. “Well, I have the venue. We’re going to get married at the castle at Whisper Lake. Without the show, I’m not sure how long it would’ve taken for us to finally face what we felt for each other, so it seems fitting.”
Becca and Brian had appeared on a reality show called Fairytale Love that had been filmed at an old castle at Whisper Lake. As they weren’t a couple at the time, they were both paired with other people. Eliza had watched the show and actually really liked the guy Becca had been paired with, his name was Colton and he was a cowboy from a small town in Texas. Eliza had been rooting for Colton and Becca to win. But then in a dramatic twist, during the live finale, Becca and Brian confessed their love for one another.
“Other than that, I haven’t planned a single thing. This residency has eaten up all of my time. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and here we are three weeks out and I don’t even have my dress. I’m meeting with Katie’s Aunt Wendy tomorrow. She’s been in the wedding planning game for four years now and assures me that everything will be fine.” Becca snapped her fingers as if she’d just remembered something. “Actually, I’m glad my sister and Bailey are running late, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Shoot.” Becca was Eliza’s oldest friend and one of the best people she knew. She’d pretty much do anything for her. If that meant rolling up her sleeves to put together wedding favors or centerpieces she was all in.
“I know that you’re going through a lot and it might be insensitive of me to even ask, but,” Becca took a deep breath, “I was wondering if you would be one of my bridesmaids.”
Eliza was genuinely shocked. She stared at her for several seconds, blinking slowly before finally snapping out of her stunned state.
“Are you serious? Of course!” They hugged again and when Eliza leaned back in her chair, she felt like her behavior warranted an explanation. “Sorry, I was just surprised. I figured with your sisters and all of your cousin’s wives your bridesmaid dance card was full.”
Becca’s head fell back and she laughed. “It is. Our wedding party is going to be twenty-eight people.”
Okay now she was really shocked. “Twenty-eight?” she repeated.
Her friend nodded. “Yep. All three of my sisters are matrons of honors. Then all of my cousin’s wives are bridesmaids, plus Brian’s sister Brittney, you, and then the attending physician that I’ve been working under for the past two years, Bailey Rossum.” Becca’s entire face shone with adoration as she eagerly spoke, “I can’t wait for you to meet her. She’s a pediatric surgeon who has founded not one but two charities. One that provides health care for underprivileged kids and another that trains service dogs and brings them to the hospital to visit patients. I thought you guys might bond over that because of the work you do with Farmer.”
“Oh my gosh, yes, I’d love to talk to her about her program.” In Eliza’s opinion, therapy dogs were the future.
Becca continued down her path of praise. “Not to mention she’s one of the brightest people I’ve ever met, but she’s so down to earth and medicine is such a competitive field but she’s not like that. She pulls people up with her, she doesn’t take chances to tear them down. Especially women. Plus, she’s so funny. Seriously, whenever I get to hang out with her away from the hospital I almost pee my pants.”
“Wow. I can’t wait to meet her. She sounds too good to be true!”
“She is. Oh and then, on Brian’s side all of my cousins and brothers-in-law will be standing up as well as his brother Brendan and his cousins Josh and Nate.”
“Nate? Nate Holmes?”
Was she going to be in a wedding with Nate?
A vision popped up in her head of her walking down the aisle but he wasn’t at her side escorting her down the aisle after the ceremony. He was waiting at the end of it. And she wasn’t wearing a bridesmaids dress. She was in white.
She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to knock the picture out of it.
