He switched over to the weather app and opened the link for the extended forecast. “Hasn’t changed.”
“Figures.” Courtney’s hand went toward her knight, but then she pulled it back. “Maybe—”
The ding alerting him to a new message cut off the rest of her statement. “David says meeting with Naomi is up to me. He doesn’t see any harm in it.” He pulled up the text from Naomi prepared to ask when and where Monday. Like earlier, he paused. “What do you think?” Not only did he value her opinion but, unlike him in this situation, she could make a decision without her emotions getting involved.
She looked up long enough to answer him. “Go see her.”
Josh hit Send.
Courtney propped her chin on her left hand while she studied the board, drawing his attention to the ruby masquerading as an engagement ring on her finger. Not that he expected it to happen, but if a miracle occurred on Monday and Naomi announced she’d changed her mind, how would Courtney want to proceed? She’d agreed to help him so he could get joint custody back. If they settled the matter, he no longer needed her help. She might call off the wedding. He’d seen plenty of acquaintances do it. He’d even seen some go back and forth from being engaged to not being engaged. Mark Walden, an actor he’d worked with on two films, and Selena Cruise had broken off their engagement twice before finally getting married. Three months later, they filed for divorce. Both times Mark and Selena called it quits, the media had a field day speculating on the reasons. He’d rather avoid that if possible for several reasons. But Courtney might be willing to tolerate the attention to avoid having to file for a divorce later.
Or maybe not? She valued her family’s opinion. What would they think if she canceled less than a week before the wedding?
It doesn’t matter. Whatever did or didn’t happen on Monday, he intended to do everything he could to keep Courtney in his life permanently.
Fifteen
Courtney had checked the weather more times since her mom’s call on Friday night than she normally did in a month. Each time she did, she hoped for an update stating the nor’easter would only bring heavy rains or it wouldn’t hit them at all. After all the rushed planning, she had no desire to reschedule everything. As of this morning, it appeared the weather gods didn’t care about what she wanted. Fingers crossed that something had changed since then.
During the drive back from Maine, she’d refrained from using her phone to log on to the internet. Reading in a moving car usually made her nauseous. She couldn’t use that as an excuse any longer. So while Josh brought their overnight bags to the bedroom, she removed her laptop from her briefcase.
After powering on the device, she brought up the website for Channel 10 news. She didn’t have to click on the menu link in the top right-hand corner to bring up the forecast. It remained the top story on the channel’s homepage. “Okay, meteorologist Belinda Fredericks, give me some good news.” She pressed the play button on the screen.
Unfortunately, she got the opposite. The meteorologist predicted the storm would arrive late Friday night and continue throughout the day Saturday. At the moment, the storm team at the news channel expected winds up to or greater than 35 mph and anywhere from two to three feet of snow. Before ending her report, Belinda recommended everyone make sure they were prepared for the weekend storm and the likely power outages it would cause throughout the area.
With a groan, Courtney rubbed her temples as a mental list of everything she needed to change, rather than a list of things they might want to stock up on from the store, formed. No doubt about it, tomorrow would be a busy day.
“What’s the latest?” Josh entered the kitchen and went straight to the refrigerator.
“Not good.” She accepted the bottle of cranberry lime seltzer water and twisted off the cap. “Lots of snow and blizzard-like conditions all starting late Friday night. I don’t think we really have a choice. Postponing makes the most sense.”
She sipped her drink. She’d call her parents first, followed by Scott and Paige. Then she would try calling her uncles, starting with Uncle Mark since he was conducting the ceremony. After that, she’d send a group text message to the rest of her family and the handful of friends she’d invited. Tomorrow, she’d contact the chef at Cliff House, followed by everyone from the florist to the band. Talk about a major pain in the butt.
Josh lowered the bottle from his lips as he sat down next to her. “Must be the day for bad news. My mom called while I was in the other room. She’s already in town. Arrived earlier this afternoon.”
They’d discussed his mom only once. He’d admitted that the word diva was one way to describe her. Since he’d shared that he didn’t want his mom at the wedding, Courtney assumed they didn’t have a close relationship and never mentioned her. Instead, she inquired about his dad and younger sister, neither of whom she’d met.
“She wanted to come by tonight and meet you. I told her we have plans with your cousin,” Josh explained while he peeled the label off his bottle. “I’m not up for a visit with her tonight. She insisted on tomorrow instead, even suggested you invite your parents to join us.” He crumbled the label into a ball and raised the bottle toward his mouth. “If you want, I can give her another excuse when I call to tell her the wedding won’t be happening this weekend. I’m fine with that.”
She’d met plenty of divas. One more wouldn’t make a difference. “Nah. Let her come.” Courtney picked up her cell. “I’ll call Mom now and let her know about the weekend. I’ll invite her and Dad to come over tomorrow.”
Josh put his hand over Courtney’s before she pulled up her mom’s contact information. “How do you feel about me inviting Evan and Shannon tomorrow?” His sister had arrived in the city yesterday and was staying with Evan. And the more people around, the less attention his mom could send Courtney’s way.
“Sure.”
While Courtney called her mom, he sent off text messages to his siblings. He’d hoped Courtney would say another time would be better. During their conversation, Josh had toyed with telling his mom they were booked solid all week. But knowing his mom, she’d ignore him and show up at their door anyway. She’d done it numerous times. When she visited, he preferred as much warning as possible so he could get his head in the right place—an impossible feat tonight so he’d lied when she asked about coming over. All day his thoughts had gone back and forth from why Naomi wanted to meet with him to whether the wedding would happen on Saturday. At least he had the answer to the second question. All things considered, postponing the wedding was the logical decision, even if he hated it.
Tapping his fingers against the countertop, he watched as Courtney shared the news with her mom. Her hair hung loose, and she was wearing a dark red sweater. The combination brought him bac
k to the first time he saw her sitting by the pool. That afternoon she’d been wearing a modest crimson bathing suit, and her hair had hung past her bare shoulders. He remembered thinking she reminded him of a sexy librarian. Courtney wasn’t the type he usually went after; actually, his usual type had been sitting at the table next to her when she’d caught his full attention. It hadn’t strayed once since then either. Even during the short time between their last night together in Hawaii and the afternoon she’d walked into his brother’s office, no one else had interested him. Instead, his thoughts had routinely traveled back to her.
She kept her conversation short. “Mom and Dad are busy tomorrow.” Rather than put the device down, she took a sip of water as she brought up another contact. “I’m going to call Scott and Juliette to let them know. While I’m at it, I’ll call my uncles too. Everyone else can get a text message.”
While she did that, he’d watch some television and send some messages himself. “I’ll be in the family room.”
He got responses to all the messages at the same time. His brother, minus his girlfriend, and his sister would join him for their mom’s visit. It didn’t surprise him that Gemma wasn’t coming. Evan hadn’t introduced their mom to his girlfriend yet, and he planned to avoid it for as long as possible. The texts from his dad and aunt were similar to each other. Both had been following the weather and had expected they’d postpone the wedding. They’d said to just let them know when it would be.
Josh scrolled through the various I Love Lucy episodes. They’d finished season one and started on season two sometime last week. Halfway down the list, the title “Vacation From Marriage” caught his attention. He remembered the episode. The characters had agreed to temporarily live as if they were all single again. By the end of the show, both couples had reached the conclusion they were happier married. He’d never pictured himself married. Even when he’d been with Naomi, his longest relationship to date, thoughts of proposing had not surfaced. He’d cared about her, but he’d never had any desire to marry her. And after dating as many women as he had, he’d guessed love wasn’t in the cards for him.