Sugar And Spice (Holidays: Valentine) Page 3

  She hesitated. Amy was the one who liked parties, Crissy was never very good at them. She would much rather stay in and spend quality time with her recipes and her scrapbook. But Quinn looked so hopeful, waiting for her answer, that she felt the words slipping out before she could think up a better excuse. She had no plans to stop her from going anyway, right? Maybe this would keep her mind off of Rob over the holiday weekend too.

  “I’d love to go,” she said.

  Quinn brightened and a broad smile stretched across his face. “Great. It starts at five, but you’re welcome to come around any time before then.”

  “I’ll be there,” she said.

  When Quinn left, Crissy closed the door, and the full realization of what she had just committed to finally settled in. She climbed the stairs back to her apartment, and crawled under the covers, taking her phone with her. She dialed Amy’s number and pulled the blankets over her head.

  “What’s up, sugar?” Amy chirped. “I know I’m running a little late, but Manu has been very attentive this morning.”

  “I’m going to a party,” Crissy whispered.

  Amy paused. Crissy could hear muffled voices on the other end for a moment and the sound of a car door closing.

  “Details, sugar, I need details,” Amy said at last.

  “With Quinn.”

  Amy squealed with triumph so loudly that Crissy had to hold the phone away from her ear.

  “Where? When? How did this happen? I’m on my way right now. You have to tell me everything.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Amy was beyond thrilled about the party and wouldn’t stop chattering about it. Crissy was…terrified. She let Amy talk most days, and didn’t really say much. She attempted to do what had never failed her in the past: bury her problems in food. But the anxiety continued to build.

  Two days before the party, Amy slid into the kitchen, a grin splitting her face from ear to ear.

  “We should go shopping,” she declared. “Tomorrow.”

  Crissy cast a wary sideways glance at her. “You know how I feel about shopping, Amy.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, it sucks, but Quinn is totally hot and I hate to break it to you, bestie, but you totally need some new outfits.”

  Crissy returned her attention back to icing pink hearts onto three dozen sugar cookies. “I don’t need a new outfit, it’s a casual thing.”

  Amy came up behind Crissy, wrapped her arms around Crissy’s waist and rested her cheek against Crissy’s back.

  “Okay then let’s go shopping to have a day out, just you and me. We haven’t had that in a long time.”

  “We work together every day. This whole shop is run by just you and me.”

  “But it’s not OUR shop. Bert drops in every once in a while to sniff around us, scowl, grunt a few times, and walk out. So technically, we never really get to relax.”

  Crissy pinched Amy’s arm and Amy whimpered in protest. “He’s an old man, you should be more respectful. This shop has been in his family for years, he can come in here any time he wants to and talk or not talk as much as he likes.”

  “I hate it when you’re diplomatic and all grown-up like that.”

  “One of us has to be mature around here.”

  Amy gave a mock gasp and stole one of the sugar cookies. Crissy attempted to swat her hand away but the cookie had already disappeared into Amy’s mouth.

  “Please, sugar?” Amy pleaded. “We could go see a movie and throw popcorn at each other? And we could get cinnamon rolls?”

  Crissy hesitated, the packet of icing hovering in midair above the cookies. She had never been able to resist a cinnamon roll in her entire life, and Amy knew it.

  “Only if we go pajama shopping too,” Crissy said. “If I have to wear some outfit you put me in, I want something comfortable at the end of the day.”

  Amy squealed and almost tackled Crissy in a tight hug. “Deal!”

  ***

  The day Amy and Crissy were to go shopping, Crissy had given up on sleep, choosing to spend the night in the kitchen, testing and adjusting recipes as needed. It was the only way she could stop herself from feeling sick from the nerves for the impending party.

  Sometime around five o’clock, Crissy had recipes, flour, and sugar spread all over the coffee shop’s kitchen counter. She never got this messy when she was baking during the day, but the chaos matched her thoughts and she couldn’t bring herself to care at the moment. The phone rang and she absentmindedly reached out for it, never looking up from her scrapbook of recipes.

  “Good morning, Cristina.”

  Crissy went rigid, closed her eyes and stifled a sigh at the sound of her mother’s clipped business-like tone.

  “Good morning to you too, Mom,” she said as she rummaged through the mess on the counter to find her watch. “Uhm…why are you calling at five in the morning? Is everything okay?”

  “Oh yes, fine, fine,” her mother said, brushing her off in a rush. She was always in a rush, even when Crissy was little. “I just called because there was something I needed to talk to you about.”

  Crissy waited but her mother showed no signs of continuing and Crissy knew she wouldn’t, not until Crissy asked.

  “Well?” her mother demanded, her short fuse snapped in the two seconds it took for Crissy to pause and take a breath. “You hardly ever call, and here I am about to tell you something very important and you don’t show the slightest interest…”

  “Mom,” Crissy cut in, forcing her voice to remain as neutral as possible. “What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

  Crissy could feel her mother’s mood shift as her mother’s voice softened.

  “It’s about Andrea.”

  Crissy rolled her gaze towards the ceiling. It was always about Andrea. They were practically cloned images of each other, her mother and Andrea. Lean, tan, sharp, and a charming personality that sucked in any poor, naïve, unsuspecting person they came across.

  Now that her mother had started spilling her information she so desperately wanted to share at five in the morning, she wasn’t about to stop, regardless of whether or not Crissy showed any interest.

  “I believe Ken’s going to pop the question this weekend,” her mother continued. “And you know Andrea, she’ll be impatient to get married so of course the engagement will be short.”

  “How do you know this, Mom? Andrea and Ken have been dating for eight years. Why would they get engaged now?”

  “Because,” her mother said, the word bitten off as her agitation returned, “Ken asked for my blessing yesterday.”

  “Ah,” Crissy nodded.

  A pause, stiff and awkward, scraped by.

  “May I continue now?” her mother said.

  Crissy began packing up her scrapbook, sliding her recipes into the pages and tying it closed, cleaning up the kitchen. Even though her mother wasn’t in the room, she still couldn’t stand feeling so exposed with the mess around her.

  “Yes, please,” she said.

  “As I was saying, we’ll have to prepare for the wedding as soon as possible.”

  “I can get together a menu if you’d like…”

  “No, no, not you, Cristina, I already have a caterer. You’re going to be far too busy to be in the kitchen. I don’t know if you’ll be a bridesmaid or not, Andrea has so many friends she’ll want to ask of course, but you’ll at least have to mingle with other family members during the reception. You can’t be hiding in the kitchen all the time. I won’t allow it.”

  Crissy gritted her teeth and held the phone away from her ear, willing herself to swallow the burning words that had flooded to the tip of her tongue.

  Instead, she said, “Yes, Mom.”

  “Oh, and I’ll be starting a new diet and exercise regime tomorrow, because you know these things take time. I’ll send you the information so you can get started on it, too. Andrea needs to lose at least five pounds and you’ll need to lose more, I’m sure, since you insist on wor
king at that coffee shop which must be horrible for your health.”

  Crissy’s fingers went white as she tightened her grip on the phone. She pressed her lips together, willing herself to not let her mother’s ramblings get to her. It had always been like this. Her mother knew the exact words, the exact phrases, to get a reaction out of Crissy. And Crissy had long ago learned how to shut down. The less she said, the less her mother had to use against her.

  “But of course I’m your mother and you don’t want to listen to me. So I’ll send you that diet information next week sometime. And Cristina, don’t you dare breathe a word of this to Andrea. She suspects Ken’s intentions, but I won’t have you spoiling it for her.”

  “I won’t say anything,” Crissy said. “I’ll be pretty busy with orders for the holidays anyway and…”

  “Yes, yes, but you won’t be too busy for your sister. If she calls you to share the good news, act excited. At least try to be happy for her.”

  Crissy’s mouth opened and closed for a second, working out a response, but before she could come up with anything, her mother rushed on.

  “I have to go. I have three meetings scheduled this afternoon with clients. A bank doesn’t just run itself, even with a daughter getting married. Remember, Cristina, not a word to Andrea.”

  After Crissy hung up the phone, she took a deep breath for the first time since the conversation had started. Her hands were shaking as she braced herself against the counter. A flurry of emotions was at war. Anger, shame, guilt…

  She dialed Amy’s number, her sole lifeline in this mess. Amy picked up on the third ring with a garbled grunt of a greeting.

  “Why do I always feel like I’ve been sucker punched in the stomach after every conversation with my mother?” Crissy asked.

  Amy was wide awake now, with the rustling of fabric on the other end of the line, punctuated by soft words then the click of a door.

  “Cris, no, you didn’t pick up the phone, did you?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, Amy, I didn’t even think about it. I know I promised I’d check caller ID first but I just…I was so caught up with the party on Saturday and I’m freaking out and I just wanted to bake until the stress went away and then the phone rang and I thought it was you and it wasn’t and my sister’s getting married and Mom wants me to go on a diet because I’m too fat…”

  “Hold up,” Amy cut in. “She brought up the diet gig again? That bitch.”

  “Amy,” Crissy warned, though her voice was tired and the warning fell limp and flat.

  “What?” Amy demanded, indignant. “I get it, she’s your mom, but she doesn’t have to talk to you like that.”

  Crissy sighed and sank down onto a stool next to the counter, pressing a palm to her forehead.

  “I shouldn’t have woken you up, this could have waited.”

  “No, I’m glad you did. I’ll be there in a few minutes, just let me find my boots…”

  “Amy, wait, you should sleep a little while longer. Spend some time with Manu before your shift starts.”

  “I just spent the whole night with Manu. He’s a big boy, he can deal with me leaving a little earlier for work to spend time with my best friend when she’s been through the wringer.”

  “I haven’t been through the wringer…”

  Amy paused. “Cris,” she said, her voice quieter this time. “I want to be there with you. I want to take you out on the town and we’ll eat tons of crappy food and focus on the fantastic party you’re going to on Saturday. I don’t want your mom screwing anything up for you.”

  Crissy smiled and let her head dip a little as she closed her eyes. “Thank you, Amy. You’re the best.”

  “You bet I am,” she chirped. “Be there in three minutes. And then we’re totally starting our day out with cinnamon rolls.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Crissy tried to put the whole ordeal with her mother out of her mind, but it continually nagged at her, lurking in the back of her thoughts. During the forty-five minute drive to Grand Junction, Crissy and Amy shared an obscenely large cinnamon roll and coffee. Amy never stopped talking but Crissy didn’t mind. She knew Amy was trying her best to get Crissy’s mind off of her mother and she was grateful for it. For as long as Crissy could remember, Amy never let Crissy stay unhappy for long. When Amy got a whiff of sadness, it was her sole mission in life to snuff it out and plaster sunshine everywhere she went.

  Once they reached the mall, Amy picked up even more speed, if that was possible. She piled clothes into Crissy’s arms and herded her into the dressing room, hour after hour. But the more outfits Crissy tried on, the more frustrated she became when nothing fit right and felt awkward. The clothing itched, this blouse too tight, that skirt too short for her comfort.

  By noon, Crissy could feel herself slipping. Amy draped another dress over the dressing room door.

  “Try this one,” she chirped. “The pink will compliment your skin color perfectly. Make you glow.”

  Crissy took a deep breath to steady herself and pulled the dress over her head. But the middle was stretched until the seams threatened to burst and the front was loose and baggy. Crissy closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. Her mother’s words stormed through her head, over and over.

  Lose weight, lose weight, lose weight.

  “How does it fit?” Amy called. “Let me see. You haven’t let me see anything for a while.”

  Crissy edged the door open, her throat tight. “What am I doing here, Amy?”

  Amy’s enthusiasm faded at the wrecked look on Crissy’s face. She rushed forward and took Crissy’s hands in hers.

  “No, no, please don’t get upset. We can get another size, it’s okay.”

  Crissy voice trembled this time, her self-control fading the longer she stood in this stupid dress that didn’t fit. “Amy, that’s the whole problem. I don’t want a different size. I just…this isn’t going to work. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  Amy frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean Quinn. This party. I can’t…I can’t do it.”

  She broke off and Amy squeezed Crissy’s hands tighter. “All right,” Amy said. “Let’s get you out of this thing and go for a walk, maybe grab some lunch, too. I completely lost track of time. We’re long overdue for a break.”

  Crissy squirmed her way out of that awful dress in five seconds flat. She was back in her comfortable clothes, her arm linked through Amy’s as they walked the mall together. Amy’s energy had toned down a little by now. Crissy’s breathing returned to normal once she was out of the dressing room. They stopped at the food court to pick up lunch and settled at a table near a window overlooking the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

  Crissy picked at her salad while Amy unwrapped her cheeseburger.

  “Now tell me what happened,” Amy said around a mouthful. “You’ve been quiet all week, and that was long before your mom called. You’ve been thinking up a storm, I can tell.”

  Crissy sighed and set her fork down. “I feel like I’m setting myself up for heartbreak again, Amy. And it scares the hell out of me.”

  Amy considered for a moment and nodded. “It is possible.”

  Crissy’s shoulders sagged. “That’s not helpful…”

  “I’m not finished, sweetie,” Amy said gently. She pulled her chair over to sit next to Crissy. “I’m not going to lie to you - that party, Quinn, it’s all a risk. But what happens if that risk pays off? Do you really want to lose the opportunity to be happy just because one asshole broke your heart and you never want to give it another shot again?”

  “I just don’t know how any of this happened. What if it’s a joke, Amy? I mean, you’ve seen Quinn. We’re complete opposites. It just doesn’t seem real.”

  “Slow down, Crissy. I don’t think it’s a joke. And you’re not giving yourself enough credit. You’re adorable, hard-working, intelligent…”

  Crissy cast Amy a sideways look. “You might be a little biased in that de
partment.”

  Amy feigned innocence. “Maybe just a tiny bit. But this is one of those rare occasions when I’m being completely serious, Cris. Quinn asked you out. Not me. Not some other girl. He asked you. That has to count for something.”

  “He did compliment my turnovers…” Crissy admitted.

  “And Rob certainly never did that,” Amy pointed out.

  Crissy grimaced at the unpleasant memories of her ex-fiancé. She wished she could completely wipe him out of her brain so he would stop popping up at every possible moment, no matter how hard she tried to forget him and move on.

  “Whatever happens,” Amy continued, “good or bad, it’s not the end of the world. You’ll get back on your feet eventually. You haven’t dated anyone since you left Rob and that’s been three years. Just give Quinn a try, see where it goes. It’s only a little party. No major commitments in sight.” Amy reached over and pulled Crissy into a hug. “You deserve to have some fun, Crissy. I know you love baking, and I know you want your own shop eventually, but you can get out once in a while without everything falling to pieces. It’s one little party, and if it’s a total disaster, I’ll stop pestering you. Promise.”

  Crissy pulled away and let out a long, slow breath. “I thought I was supposed to be the logical one. Not you.”

  Amy smiled softly. “I won’t make it a habit, trust me.” She nudged Crissy’s shoulder. “Anything else on your mind?”

  “I hate salads,” Crissy mumbled.

  Amy retrieved her take out bag and produced another burger, placing it in front of Crissy. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that all day long.”

  Crissy unwrapped her burger and bit into it. Her mother’s voice came flooding back with a surge of guilt but she shoved it away.

  “Does it make me a horrible person if I don’t want to go on a diet for my sister’s wedding?” she asked.

  Amy shook her head. “Absolutely not. You’re beautiful just the way you are. Besides, you can’t be held entirely accountable on that score. You’ve got a devil on your shoulder feeding you burgers and cinnamon rolls.”