California Girls

“I know.”

He took the box from her, then put his arm around her as they walked to her apartment. Once they were inside, he pushed her toward the bathroom.

“Go wash your face or take a shower or whatever you’d like to feel better. I’m going to go grab some Chinese food for dinner. We’ll eat and we’ll plan and by the time we’re done, we’ll have it all figured out.”

She doubted that, but appreciated his optimism.

“I know you’re doing this out of guilt because of Glen, but I want you to know that I really appreciate you taking care of me,” she told him. “You are the best guy ever. I mean ever. I couldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

He shoved his hands into his jeans’ front pockets. “Yeah, I’m not feeling that much Glen guilt. I think he’s an idiot, but that’s his problem. I’m helping because I want to.”

For a second, she would have sworn he was going to say more, but instead he flashed her that sexy smile of his.

“Anything I should steer clear of when I order the food?” he asked.

“I like all the usual stuff. Oh, lo mein instead of rice for me, please.” She grinned. “It heats up better for lunch. The rice can dry out.”

“A lady with a plan. I like it.”

Twenty minutes later she had showered and put on her favorite cropped jeans and the Dodgers T-shirt Daniel had bought her. She hadn’t bothered to blow out her hair, letting it dry curly. She’d always been so careful to do her hair because Glen liked it straight. Maybe this weekend, she would take a few minutes and put on makeup. She could use her favorite black eyeliner and do that little cat eye thing she’d always thought was cute and sexy. Glen had hated that, too.

While she was de-Glenning her life, she should get rid of all the button-down shirts she’d bought because he said they were more attractive than the T-shirts and sweaters she favored. Ali had always thought the button-down shirts looked awful on her body type. She was too busty and curvy and they always bunched on her. And the loafers, she thought, walking barefoot to the kitchen. She actually owned loafers because of a man. Just as soon as she got her financial house in order, she was going to go buy the funkiest sneakers she could find and wear them proudly.

She went into the kitchen and set the table. Once she’d put out plates and flatware, she got her tote bag and the files she carried with her. Planning the wedding required organization and scheduling. Unplanning was much the same, only in reverse. This weekend she wanted to make up a master spreadsheet so that nothing was missed.

Daniel returned with a bag of Chinese takeout in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other. He held up the beer.

“I took a chance on this,” he said. “If you’d prefer wine...”

“Beer is so what you drink with Chinese food,” she said with a laugh. “Everyone knows that.”

He set out two beers and put the rest in the refrigerator. She looked in the bag and then back at him.

“There’s food for twenty in here.”

“You said you’d take it for lunch. I wanted there to be enough.”

How much did he think she ate in a day? Not that it mattered. She grinned. “I’ll make up a lunch for you, too,” she told him. “You’ll see what I mean about the lo mein.”

She started to set out cartons of food. He’d bought kung pao chicken, Mongolian beef, honey shrimp, combination lo mein and combination fried rice, crab wontons, BBQ spare ribs and crispy green beans. By the time the bag was empty, Ali was laughing.

“You went a little crazy.”

“I wanted to make sure you had something you liked.”

“I could eat all of it.” She put the carton of lo mein in the refrigerator. “We can have this tomorrow and eat the rice tonight.”

He sat across from her and they began opening cartons and dishing up food. “How did it go with the photographer?” she asked.

“You should have an emailed cancellation confirmation waiting for you. There’s no cancellation fee and you’ll be getting back half your deposit.”

She felt her eyes widen. “Are you serious?”

“Very. The guy told me he had at least three other events that want him that night. It was no big deal.”

It was to her. The deposit had been a thousand dollars. Getting half of that back doubled Glen’s measly check.

“You’re amazing.”

Daniel winked. “Yeah, that never gets old. You have any other vendors I can call?”

“I do. The flowers for sure. Oh, and the limos and the DJ.” She winced. “Is that too much?”

“No. I’ll get the contact information before I leave tonight and take care of it first thing tomorrow. I also want you to give me the file with all the addresses. I’ll get your postcards labeled and mailed.”

“You can’t possibly do all that.”

“Yeah, well, I won’t be doing the postcards myself. I have office staff who will put on the labels and the postage.”

“I don’t care if you’re exploiting your employees, you’re really saving me.”

His gaze was steady as they spoke. He was nothing like she’d thought. For some reason every time she’d met Daniel before, she’d assumed he didn’t like her or disapproved of her, but that wasn’t him, at all. He was a kind, dependable guy who gave great hugs and overbought Chinese food. Talk about a miracle.

“Did Glen really send you five hundred dollars?” he asked.

Her good mood popped like a balloon. “He did. He’s such a jerk. Why didn’t I see that before? Did everyone know but me? Has he always been hideous or did I bring out the worst in him? I wish I could—”

She stopped talking and glanced at Daniel. “Sorry.”

“What?”

“You’re Glen’s brother.”

“Not an issue. To answer the question, he’s always been a jerk, but this is the worst thing he’s done. A close second was threatening to take me to court over our uncle’s will.”