“Oh, sorry.” Vic of all people could appreciate that. She got to her feet. “I need to send an important message. I’ll be right back.”
She stepped out of the waiting room into the locker room, quickly scrolling through Abigail’s messages then answering all of the questions in a single long text message. She ended it by letting Abigail know she wouldn’t be available for the rest of the day or tomorrow either.
I’m about to head into a spa for a mani/pedi, and they don’t allow phones. Tonight is the rehearsal. Tomorrow is the wedding. I’ll be in touch Sunday when I get home. Call Jeff if you have more questions.
Abigail’s reply was almost instantaneous.
Maybe I should give Jeff your raise.
Vic stared at her phone, stunned by Abigail’s threat, anger making her face burn. She typed a reply.
Jeff is hard-working and deserves a raise.
She pressed send, shut off her phone, and locked it in her locker with her handbag, so angry she could spit. She’d done her best—mostly—to keep up with Abigail’s messages and emails, but she was on vacation, her first real vacation in more than a year. She couldn’t help it if the spa didn’t allow cell phones. Besides, she couldn’t very well get her nails done and text at the same time. Tomorrow was her best friend’s wedding, one of the most important days in Lexi’s life, and Vic was her maid of honor. She wasn’t going to spend the wedding rehearsal or the wedding on her phone.
Not wanting to cast shadows over everyone else’s fun, Vic took a deep breath and followed her manicurist to the treatment room where Lexi and the others now sat in pedicure chairs, their feet soaking in warm, scented water.
She pushed a smile onto her face. “I’m back.”
But Lexi knew her too well. “Trouble at work?”
“Nothing important.” She sat, slipped off her little spa sandals, and put her feet in the water. “Oh, that feels good.”
Winona, who’d never had a pedicure before, was busy playing with the massage controls. “You should try this, Vic. Did you see? The chair gives massages.”
Vic didn’t tell her that most pedicure chairs were like this. “Cool!”
“She doesn’t need a massage,” Britta said. “She has Eric.”
Not for much longer.
Vic forced another smile onto her face. “Should we practice your vows, Lexi?”
“I’d like that. I’ve got them memorized, but I’m afraid I’ll be so nervous that I’ll screw up.”
Vic read along while Lexi recited the vows she and Austin had written, Winona laughing and struggling to hold still.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It really tickles.”
“Oh, my God, Lexi, look at the clock!” Britta blurted. “By this time tomorrow, you’ll be a married woman.”
Lexi’s eyes went wide. “It’s really happening, isn’t it?”
Vic took her hand. “Yes, sweetie, it is.”
* * *
It was almostone in the afternoon when they left the spa. They ate a late lunch at a trendy sushi joint, then strolled Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, checking out the boutiques, talking and laughing the way they’d done when Lexi lived in Chicago.
“I’ve missed this,” Vic said.
Lexi threw her arm around Vic’s shoulder, gave her a squeeze. “So have I.”
Vic bought a little sleeveless blue dress with a poppy-red floral pattern, taking time in the dressing room to send a text message to Eric.
All of me misses all of you.
It was the truth. She could barely think of anything but him, her mind filled with images from last night. Eric looking like a movie star in his white tux. Eric tearing off his tie and shirt and yanking down his fly, eager to get inside her. Eric dancing his way to the bed, naked, with her in his arms.