The Paid Bridesmaid(36)

I got on the phone with the airline and had them change around the flights for me and Krista to the new day and time and to have my flight take me directly to Newark instead of JFK.

I texted Krista to let her know about the changes and she sent me back a thumbs-up. It surprised me a bit that she didn’t ask me about last night, and that she didn’t volunteer any information about her own activities. To gush if she’d had a good time or to complain if she hadn’t.

It was very unlike her.

My phone rang again.

“I love the smell of wedding emergencies in the morning,” I muttered.

Only this time, it was my mother. I wondered if she could hear me rolling my eyes over the line. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetie. Where are you?”

What kind of question was that? “In my room.”

“With Camden?”

Matricide was still illegal, right? She was making my headache a thousand times worse. “No, Mother. Sheesh.”

“Why not?”

It was actually a shock that I wasn’t more messed up. “Nobody is making you any grandchildren right now.”

She let out a dramatic sound and then said, “That’s a shame.”

I wondered what it was like to have a normal mother. “Mom, I need to get going. I’ve got a lot to do today.”

“Okay. Do you want to say hi to your brothers?”

“Mom, they’re not my—”

The next thing I heard was her three dogs barking at me angrily, still disliking me even thousands of miles away.

I’d never understood why she pushed the dog thing so hard. We lived across the country from each other. It was okay if her dogs weren’t fans of mine. Teddy, Toby, and Tommy were free to be at war with me.

They were her “triplets” because she’d adopted them all on the same day (all different breeds) and she’d given them human names in what I could only guess was some kind of message of her expectations for me. I didn’t have a degree in psychology or anything, but my mother was going to be what doctors commonly described as “deeply disappointed.”

Nor did I understand her infatuation with Camden. I’d gone on real dates with actual men and she’d never been like this. Maybe she was getting desperate and was ready to foist me off on any guy who so much as spoke to me.

At this point I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d started offering them a dowry or something.

She got back on the phone once the barking had turned into a dull roar. “They love you so much!”

I had a scar on my left ankle from where Tommy had sunk his teeth into me and still mourned my favorite pair of high heels after Toby had defecated in them and I’d been forced to throw them away, but sure, the dogs loved me.

Before I could respond she asked, “Are you going to be spending some quality time with Camden today?”

“Mom, why would I—”

I didn’t have long to wonder what she was up to, as she finally saw fit to enlighten me. “I had the loveliest conversation with him a few hours ago.”

“What?” I mean, I recognized all of the words she had just used, but the order she’d used them in made no sense. How would she have talked to Camden?

“I forgot about the time difference because usually you’re two hours ahead of me instead of two hours behind me and I called you and it was probably like four in the morning and you didn’t answer your phone. I had the front desk connect me and there was this sleepy handsome man answering, telling me that you weren’t feeling well and he’d have me call you later. I can’t believe you finally listened to me and took my advice. It’s better than Christmas!”

What was it about this man that made every woman who met him want to set him up with me?

“It’s not what you think.” Did one tell their mother that they were really drunk and were sleeping it off and that they had asked the man who had been nice and helpful to stay because one didn’t want to be alone?

There was no way to describe this to her that wouldn’t send her down the wrong path. No matter what I said or did, or how innocent I tried to make it seem, she would pole vault over me to get to the wrong conclusion.

“You don’t want to know what I think!” she said, with that annoyingly chipper singsong tone of hers.

No, I most definitely did not. “Okay, I really do have to go. Love to Dad. Talk to you later.”

I half expected her to call right back in an attempt to pump me for more information, but she didn’t.

I had just finished using the bathroom when I heard my hotel phone ring. Was my mother trying to circumvent me from checking to see who was calling?

Or maybe she’d done it in hopes that Camden would answer again?

“Hello?”

“Rachel? This is Troy. There is a wedding emergency and I need you down in my room right away.”

“Is it Brandy?” I asked, the first place my mind went after I heard the word emergency. “Sadie? Is she okay?”

“Just get down here immediately.” He told me his room number and then hung up. Troy was the kind of wedding planner who always prepped for emergencies. What could be so bad that he’d need me right away? I threw on some comfortable clothes, quickly brushed my hair, and twisted it into place. Troy had sounded like it was urgent, but I had to stop and clean my teeth. I half expected to see green fuzz growing on them, given how they felt and smelled.