Page 4 of The Wedding Driver
Jared waved his hand over his head as he made his way back to the patio outside.
Foster pulled out his cell and stared at Tonya’s contact information. God, he was pathetic. Going down this road was a mistake.
Friends.
Shit.
Foster:Everything okay with Tiki?
Bubbles appeared immediately.
Tonya:Calmed her down and sent her home. Did you watch the show?
Foster:I wouldn’t dare do that without you. Went looking for Victoria. I’m a little worried about her. Haven’t seen her in a while. Now I’m having a drink at the Blue Moon. They did a nice job with the bar. We’ll have to come sometime.
Crap. Why did he say that? It sounded like he was asking her on a date.
Tonya:Maybe we can do a wedding planner meeting there.
Phew. Glad she didn’t go there, but now he was kind of insulted. This back and forth, flipping and flopping of both their emotions, was making him crazy. They were friends and it was important to keep things on that level.
Foster:Sounds like a plan. Sleep well. See you at your sister’s wedding.
No more bubbles.
He waved to the bartender. Time to get his check and head home. Tomorrow would be difficult. A year ago, he watched Tonya’s other sister get married and it stirred something deep in his soul. These feelings he had for Tonya conflicted him. He enjoyed her company. Her kindness. She was the sweetest, most genuine person he’d ever met. Tomorrow, he’d watch her other sister marry the love of her life. He’d take them on a boat ride around the bay and he’d relish in the thought that he’d brought them a little piece of heaven.
His daughter, Lisa, would love that.
She was only seven when she passed, but she loved weddings. She would walk around the house in heels and a pillowcase, carrying anything that she could pretend were flowers. She would tell him that someday he was going to lose her to her knight in shining armor and he’d scoop her up in his arms and promise her that he’d find the finest boat and drive her and her prince around the lake.
If he couldn’t do it for his precious baby, he’d do it for every other woman who had a daddy who loved them.
2
Tonya made her way from the crowd on the front lawn of her childhood home and headed toward the dock. The sun hung high in a bright-blue sky over the crystal-clear waters of Lake George.
Her happy place.
But today, there was a sense of melancholy she couldn’t shake.
Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
That thought had been playing in Tonya’s mind for weeks leading up to her sister’s wedding. She wasn’t jealous of Tiki’s happiness with Lake. Or the fact that she was the only Johnson sister left not married since Tayla got married a year ago.
She wanted her sisters to have all their dreams come true. She wanted to be part of every aspect of both her sisters' lives. They meant the world to her and she would do anything for them.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t want her knight in shining armor to lift her into his arms, drop her in his boat, and ride off into the sunset with her wedding veil flowing in the breeze. Okay, maybe not the veil at this point, but she knew what she wanted.
It was an image she’d conjured a million times ever since she’d fallen for Foster, but not once had she ever made her feelings known, at least not verbally. A few times she thought they had come through in other ways, but nothing ever happened.
“Hey, sweetheart,” her grandfather called from a folding chair near the sundeck. His voice cracked, and he coughed. “Have you taken my advice?” He glanced over his shoulder and nodded toward Foster and his shiny wedding boat.
Foster had been acting strange all day. Well, odd for him. He attended the wedding but hung out in the background, standing off to the side, as if he wasn’t supposed to be there. He’d been sent an invitation. He wasn’t there only asthe wedding driver.He was there as a close family friend.
Her friend.
This morning when she called, he went into all the reasons why, since she was in the wedding party, it didn’t make sense for her to come over and bring the boat to the venue like she had with other clients.
