Holly
Holly stared at the different invitations. There were so many options. How was she supposed to choose just one? “How did you decide?” She asked Tiffany who was shopping with her today. Merribeth had planned to come, but she’d come down with some bug that kept her in bed all day.
“Honestly, I looked at prices first. Israel and I were both on a budget, so I didn’t want to get tempted by ones I couldn’t afford. Once we decided how much we were willing to spend, the selection got a lot smaller.” She paused and chewed on her lip. “But I don’t suppose that’s an issue for you.”
Holly shrugged. Her restaurant and catering business did okay, and while Frederick didn’t have a lot of money on hand, he swore he had some tied up in stocks that he was going to sell to help out, but that didn’t mean she needed to go crazy spending it. “Maybe not a huge issue, but I don’t want to start our marriage in debt either.” She glanced up at the clerk helping them who looked as if she wished Holly would just hurry up and decide. “Okay, the selection is overwhelming, so let’s say we only want to spend three hundred dollars. What goes away?”
The clerk sighed softly and removed half of the selection.
“You’re right; that is easier.” She scanned the remaining ones and picked two that she liked. “Hmm, I wonder if Frederick cares which ones. I better ask him real quick to be sure.” They were meeting later to pick out the cake and taste dishes from some other caterers — Holly had no desire to cater her own wedding — but she didn’t want to pick the wrong one. She sent off a quick text and then turned to Tiffany. “Which of these is your favorite?”
Tiffany pointed to a simple one with purple and gold fonts. “That one, but are you sure, Holly?”
“Sure about the invitations? I mean it’s not that big of a deal even if I don’t pick the perfect ones. It’s not like the dress or the food.”
“No, I mean,” she chewed on her lip once more, “sure about Frederick.”
“What? Of course I’m sure about Frederick. Why would you ask that?”
Tiffany shook her head and shifted her gaze to the side. “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I get about him. I’ve had it for a while but I wasn’t sure how to tell you. Now, I feel like I have to say something.”
Anger flared in Holly’s stomach. “I’m going to need something a little more concrete than your feelings, Tiffany. I’ve known Frederick a lot longer than I’ve known you.”
“But you hadn’t seen him for years before he showed up at the Valentine Bash. Why was he even there?”
Holly sighed. She’d already had this conversation with Merribeth who had asked her the same question. “He was traveling and happened to stop at our resort. I’d say it was fate that it happened right at the Valentine’s pairing bash and that we got placed together.”
“I guess fate is one word for it, but why did he stay? Who just picks up and puts down roots at some place they visited? Did he even go back and get his other stuff?”
Holly paused as she considered Tiffany’s question. Frederick hadn’t gone back to get anything, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was hiding anything. Maybe whatever he’d left was too painful to think about currently or maybe he’d sold most of it to travel. If there was anything to go back for, she was sure he would do it at some point. “I can’t believe you’re questioning him. I’d say it was jealousy, but you have Israel and Merribeth has Chance. Why can’t you be happy for me?” Holly couldn’t believe Tiffany was bringing this up now. The wedding day was set. She was purchasing invitations for goodness sake and meeting Frederick in a few minutes to pick food.
Tiffany’s face was a portrait of sadness and sincerity. “I do want you to be happy. I just want you to be sure. If you’re sure, then I promise I won’t say another word.”
“I’m sure,” Holly said, but the seed of doubt she’d been tamping down began to sprout again. Her friends didn’t know Frederick like she did, but the fact that they didn’t trust him for whatever reason certainly played on her emotions, and she couldn’t deny that she’d had her own reservations a few times as well. Her phone beeped with a text from Frederick and she glanced down to see his message stating he liked both of the options. But did he? Or did he just not care? And if he didn’t care, did that say something about the marriage?
“What did he say?” Tiffany asked.
“He doesn’t care which one, so I guess I’m choosing this one.” She grabbed the purple and gold one and handed it to the clerk. She filled out the information that needed to be included and then handed that to the clerk as well.
“Wonderful. We just need a deposit today, and then the remaining balance will be due when the invitations are ready,” the clerk said.
Holly nodded and handed over her credit card to pay for the deposit.
“Holly, I’m sorry,” Tiffany began, but Holly held up her hand to stop her.
“It’s fine. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I think you’re wrong. Thank you for coming with me, but I need to get to the cake shop to meet Frederick.”
“Of course. Again, I’m sorry.” Tiffany’s shoulders hung low as she headed to her car, and Holly almost called out to her, but she didn’t. She would talk to Tiffany later, but right now she needed to meet with Frederick.
She arrived at the cake shop and glanced around for his car. He should have been here already, especially since he hadn’t made the invitation shop, but his car was nowhere to be found. That seed of doubt flared again. Was Tiffany right? Had she put too much faith into the Frederick she’d known and ignored the signs that perhaps he was different now?
She shook her head. No. Tiffany had just gotten into her head. Surely, Frederick would be here shortly. The bell above her head jingled as she entered and the woman behind the counter smiled at her.
“Hello, you must be my two o’clock appointment.” The woman looked like the quintessential grandmother with gray hair and kind eyes. She wiped her hands on a towel behind the counter before coming around the front. “I’m Edith and you must be Holly, but I have this listed as a wedding cake tasting. Is the groom not coming?”
Holly’s smile faltered though the question was innocent. “He should be here soon.” She checked her phone again, but there was no message from him. ‘Where are you?’ she tapped out quickly before turning back to Edith. “Can we go ahead and get started?”
“I suppose so. Grab a table and I’ll bring the different options out to you.”
Holly chose a table near a window so she could see the parking lot and watch for Frederick’s car, but it still hadn’t arrived by the time Edith placed the plates in front of her. “These look wonderful,” Holly said, eyeing the delectable desserts.
“We have the traditional vanilla cake with a raspberry filling, a lemon cake with a strawberry filling, a chocolate cake with a fudge filling, and a marble cake with a chocolate cherry filling.”
Holly’s mouth watered at the descriptions, and, being a chocolate lover, she already had a feeling she would love the last two. “Thank you.”
Edith handed one fork to her and placed the second fork on the empty plate across from Holly. It meant nothing but it felt like a jab to Holly. Where was Frederick and why wasn’t he here? His proposal hadn’t been perfect, but he’d been attentive afterwards and eager...for a couple of weeks. Now that the planning was in full swing though, he once again was absent or aloof, leaving most of the decisions and payments on Holly.
The bell jingled again, and Holly’s head whipped up. Relief flooded her at the sight of Frederick.
“Sorry I’m late. Traffic was crazy coming into town.”
Coming into town? Where had he been coming from? His apartment was on the edge of town, but Courage wasn’t big, so he should have only been a few minutes away. “You were out of town? Doing what?”
For a moment he looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but then he smiled. “I was picking out a wedding gift for you and since you live here, I thought I would go to a nearby town where I might be able to surprise you.”
Holly returned the smile as her body relaxed. A gift for her. He was the sweet man she thought he was and Tiffany’s words were just in her head. “Well, I’m sure I’ll love anything that comes from you,” she said as he took the chair across from her. “You ready to taste?”
“Of course.”
They started with the vanilla and worked their way through to the chocolate. As she’d suspected, the marble cake was her favorite, but she waited to see what Frederick thought before she said anything.
“These were all delicious, I’m not sure I can decide. What do you think?”
“You really don’t care?” Holly asked. On one hand, she was glad to be able to make the decision without an argument but on the other hand, she really wanted him to have an opinion on something for the wedding. He hadn’t cared about the venue or the invitations or the flowers, and she needed him to care about something.
“I’m not as big into sweets as you are, and I honestly like them all, so I’ll let you decide.”
“Okay, then, the marble is my favorite.”
“Excellent choice. Shall we get all the details worked out?” He glanced down at his watch as if he was ready to leave even though he’d arrived fewer than twenty minutes before. That seed of doubt began sprouting again.
“Sure.”
Edith appeared from the back as they approached the counter. “Did you find one you loved?”
“Yes, we’re going to go with the marble cake.” Holly rattled off the details of the wedding and the color scheme they were hoping for on the outside.
“Perfect. I just need to take the deposit.”
Holly turned to Frederick. She’d paid the deposit for the invitations, so surely he could handle this one.
“Yes, of course.” He began patting his pockets and then his eyes widened. “I don’t think I have my wallet on me. I hope I didn’t leave it in the other town. Honey, do you mind?”
With a sigh, Holly pulled out her own credit card again. A forgotten wallet again? This was supposed to be their wedding, as in joint cost and joint payments, but everything was falling on her shoulders. In the end, it didn’t matter as they would soon share a checking account, but it bothered Holly that she was paying for everything now, and it bothered her even more that he was using an excuse he’d used before. Still, the last time he’d avoided paying, it was because he was saving for her ring, so perhaps this time it was because he was hoping to surprise her with an elaborate honeymoon — not that she needed one. Once they got married, it would get better, right?