NINE
Before this evening,Maddie had attended two wedding rehearsals. The first was when her older brother got married. Rather than get married locally, Tucker and Brittany had opted for a destination wedding. The entire wedding party and many of the guests had arrived in Aruba well before the ceremony. Much like the wedding, only one word described the rehearsal dinner, which had capped off several days of events: Lavish. The second one had been for her college roommate’s wedding. That night, following several run-throughs at the church, everyone gathered inside one of Ciao Bella’s private function rooms for dinner. While both events had similarities, each couple had put their own stamp on things. The same was true about Colby and Amari’s rehearsal tonight.
After doing a single practice run for the next day, both sets of parents headed out to dinner together. Amari’s brother, his girlfriend, and the wedding party, which consisted of only Keith and the maid of honor, went to the resort’s bar for a round of drinks with the bride and groom. Less than twenty minutes later, the maid of honor and her boyfriend left. Amari’s brother and his girlfriend followed shortly after, leaving Keith and Maddie alone with the future bride and groom.
“Hey, are you going to be around for Thanksgiving?” Colby asked, placing his empty beer glass down.
“We’re spending it with Maddie’s family.”
Maddie had received her sister-in-law’s invitation earlier in the week. Since they hadn’t talked about it, she hadn’t known what Keith’s plans were or even if he wanted to spend the holiday with her. Rather than accept or decline, she filled Brittany in on her relationship status, because even though Maddie didn’t think her sister-in-law would mind if she brought a date, it’d be beyond rude for her to show with a surprise guest in tow. As she expected, Brittany had assured her Keith was welcome too if Maddie decided to come. Even though she’d received a green light to bring a guest, she had not asked Keith until today.
To say she’d been uncertain about how Keith would respond to her invitation was an understatement. In college, she’d learned that some guys could be weird when it came to spending the holidays with their moms. She’d dated Richard for eight months during her sophomore year. He’d insisted on spending every holiday with the woman, including St. Patrick’s Day. And whenever his mom called asking Richard to come home, he went, even when they had plans. It’d been the primary reason Maddie ended their relationship, because while she understood Richard wanting to be there for his mom, she didn’t want to always come in second to the woman.
She knew Keith wasn’t a stereotypical momma’s boy like Richard, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t prefer to spend the upcoming holiday with his family, especially since he hadn’t been able to last year.
Colby’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly at Keith’s answer. “We won’t be around in December, but you’ll have to stop by the next time you’re up. I finished the room over the garage, and the pool table is being delivered next week.”
Earlier, Amari had shared that the couple was having a traditional Hindu wedding in December. So right after Thanksgiving, the couple was leaving for India, where Amari had been born, and all her family except her parents and brother lived.
“Sounds good.” Keith took the last sip from his glass and set it down next to her empty one. “Unless you two have plans, how about another round, and then we go to dinner?”
On the way over to the resort, she’d suggested Keith invite Colby and his fiancée to dinner with them. Today was the first time Keith had seen his friend in months, and who knew how long it’d be before he got another chance?
“Depends. Are you buying?” Colby asked, reminding her of her brother Spencer. The guy never passed up a free meal or drink.
Keith nodded. “But only because it’s the night before your wedding.”
“In that case, I’ll have two more beers before we go.”
“You’re only getting one.”
“Maddie, what did you have?” Amari asked, grabbing the cocktail menu as their server approached the table. “I want to try something new.”
When Maddie traveled, she liked to try drinks unique to the area. So before ordering, she’d searched the drink menu for something she’d never had before but might enjoy.
“A Maine cosmo. It was good, especially if you like coffee.” Unlike a traditional cosmo, this one included coffee brandy made at a company located in Maine. “I’m going to have another.” Then, if the restaurant had any signature drinks at dinner, she might try something else.
Amari set the cocktail menu aside. “I love coffee. I’ll try one of those.”
“Hey, did you see that David Nelson is playing for the Rebels this year?” Keith asked once they’d ordered another round of drinks. Then, glancing her way, he added, “The three of us played football together at URI.”
After providing her with the information, Keith and Colby’s conversation turned to football. As far as professional sports went, football ranked near the bottom of her list, so not only did she not recognize the player’s name, she didn’t care about how his season or the team’s was going so far. Now, if they’d been talking about baseball, it’d be a different story.
“Colby mentioned you and Keith work together,” Amari said while Colby and Keith debated who was a better running back, their former college teammate, Junior Morris, another New England player, or Zach Ferdinand, who’d left the Rebels and now played for Green Bay.
While she hadn’t recognized David’s name and had never heard of Zach Ferdinand, she recognized the name Junior Morris. Perhaps one of the most handsome guys in the NFL, he appeared in commercials and billboard ads for various products. And if his football career ended tomorrow, Junior could quickly start working in Hollywood.
Maddie nodded. “It’s where we met.”
Other than for a short time during the wedding rehearsal, she hadn’t left Keith’s side all night. So unless Keith had mentioned her before tonight, she didn’t know when he could’ve shared the information.
“Colby and I do too.”
“Is that how you two met?”
Just because they worked together didn’t mean that was where they’d met. Some companies employed so many people that an individual could spend their entire career there and still not meet everyone. So, while it was possible that they had cubicles next to each other, or they’d met in the elevator, it was also possible that a mutual coworker had introduced them.
Amari shook her head as she sipped her drink. “Believe it or not, we had a few classes together in college. Colby and Keith even lived on the floor above me during our freshman year. After that, I didn’t see him again until three years ago, when I started working for Epic Gaming. At the time, our cubicles were next to each other. He asked me out my first week there. If I’d been smart, I would’ve gone out with him then.”