Queen of Babble Gets Hitched Read Free Page A

can’t believe how much I missed you. And we were apart for only, what? A week?”
    “Is that what you want? A guy who comes running back to you and proposes just because he’s so scared of being alone, he’d rather be with a girl he knows isn’t right for him than be by himself?”
    God! Get out of my head, Chaz Pendergast!
    “Something like that,” I say. Luke’s nuzzling is getting more serious. Or at least closer to the bateau neckline of my dress.
    I jump away and reach for one of the Diet Cokes.
    “So who should we call first?” I ask brightly.
    “Call?” Luke’s eyes, which tend to have a dreamy look about them even when he’s wide awake, are heavy-lidded with a combination of jet lag and, well… sex. Sexual desire, anyway. “I wasn’t thinking about calling anyone, to tell you the truth. I was actually thinking about trying out that bed I see over there. And I was hoping you’d get out of that dress and join me… ”
    “Luke,” I say after I’ve chugged down a mouthful of restorative caffeine and potassium benzoate. “We have to call people and tell them the good news. I mean, we’re engaged.”
    “Oh.” Luke looks longingly back at the bed. “I guess. I mean… Yeah. You’re probably right.”
    “Here.” I dig into the Starbucks bag and pull out the coffee he’d ordered for himself, along with two muffins. “Drink this. Let’s make a list. We should call your parents, of course.”
    “Of course,” Luke says, taking a sip of his coffee.
    “And mine. And my sisters. Well, they’ll be at my parents for New Year’s Day brunch with Gran, so we’ll be able to reach them all with one call.” I grab a notepad I’ve left on the tiny yellow kitchen table, while Luke peels off his coat and sinks onto one of the table’s matching yellow chairs. “And I have to call Shari, of course. And you should… you should probably call Chaz.”
    Luke has his cell phone out and is punching numbers into it. An overseas number. Too many numbers for him to be calling Chaz.
    “What are you doing?” I ask.
    “I’m calling my parents,” he says. “Like you said to.”
    I reach out and close his flip phone.
    “Hey,” he says, looking confused. “What’d you do that for?”
    “I think you should call Chaz first,” I say. “Don’t you?”
    “Chaz?” Luke looks at me as if I’d suggested he mainline heroin and then shoot his mother. “Why would I call Chaz first?”
    “Because he’s your best friend,” I say, sliding onto the chair opposite his. “And aren’t you going to ask him to be your best man?”
    “I don’t know,” Luke says, still looking confused. He must be much more jet-lagged than I thought. “I guess.”
    “He’d be so hurt if you didn’t tell him first,” I say. “You know, he was so kind to me this past week, while you and I were… apart. He helped me move in here and everything. And last night he even went with me to the Higgins-MacDowell wedding.”
    Luke looks touched. “He did? That was nice of him. He must be feeling better. You know, after the whole thing with Shari turning out to like girls.”
    “Uh,” I say. “Yeah. It was. Nice of him, I mean. That’s why I think you should call him first. And thank him. For being such a good friend. And tell him how much his friendship means to you. I really think he just needs to hear your voice.”
    “Okay,” Luke says, opening his flip phone and dialing. “I think you’re right.”
    A second later, as I’m squeezing my fingers together and praying that Chaz is still in the subway and won’t pick up, Luke says, “Chaz? Hey, it’s me. I’ve got some news, man. Are you sitting down?”
    I jump from my chair, convinced I’m going to throw up what little Diet Coke I’ve downed so far, and run to clutch the edge of the sink.
    This is it, I think. Chaz is going to tell him. Chaz is going to tell Luke that just twelve hours ago, his hand was down my bra.
    And the engagement is going to be off.
    Probably