A Winter’s Wedding (Christmas Cove #3)

Chapter 12

Out of frustration, Leo kicked the remnants of the blown-out back tire of the overpriced rental. Who rents a Range Rover for a cross country trip? he thought. He checked the location of the VIP roadside assistant that came with the hefty price tag, and he was only a few minutes out. There was one benefit of getting a flat in a big city; fast service and plenty of street lights.

As though he hadn’t had enough weighing on him trying to deliver his precious cargo to the second wedding of her dreams, he now had a very real concern about them getting back to Christmas Cove in time at all. Although Leo typically let things roll off his shoulders, there was so much pressure he had put on himself to get back home as fast as possible. The more he tried making things perfect, the more fate seemed to laugh in his face. And now the shredded remnants of black rubber mocked his efforts to get them home.

The trip hadn’t been bad exactly, just long. Last night, laying under the stars with America snuggled up against him, he had wished for a sign that all would be right. He wished that no matter how rocky or unconventional a start they had to their marriage, they would love each other for better or worse, the way his parents had. It was hard to argue with America’s assurance that they would look back on this time with joy. But a dark hole of cynicism was doing its best to lie to him, and he feared that if one more thing went wrong, he would want to call the whole thing off.

Before he completely fell into self-despair, the tow truck, and another rental car pulled onto the shoulder as cars buzzed by on the freeway. In the light of the headlamps, he exchanged the keys with the tow truck driver. A representative from the rental company handed over the key to a replacement car.

“Your vehicle will be ready for pick up at seven. The address is in the app along with a voucher for dinner,” the rental car rep explained. “If you have any issues, don’t hesitate to reach out. My contact info is in the app too.”

Leo shook the man’s hand. “Are you sure we can’t just take this car the rest of the way?”

“I’m afraid we don’t have any vehicles available for out of region drop off.”

“Figured I’d ask. Thank you for your quick response. We need to get back on the road tonight if we’re gonna?—”

The man chuckled without humor. “No, Mr. Thorpe, you misunderstand me. Your vehicle will be available by seven tomorrow morning, seeing how late it is. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“I guess that will have to be fine. Thanks again,” Leo said, and watched the man climb into the front seat of the tow truck.

America had stayed inside the Range Rover where it was warm, while he handled his frustrations out in the cold by kicking every rock and piece of debris off of the highway shoulder. With an adjusted attitude, he opened her door and helped her down from the front seat. “Looks like we’re staying in St. Louis tonight,” Leo said. “I know it’s not ideal, but we we’re only planning to drive another hour tonight.”

“This trip feels like the longest… I mean, it’s been fun but?—”

With one hand braced on the doorframe beside America’s head, he leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. “I know you’re antsy to get home. So am I.”

“Can’t we just catch a flight? Surely there’s something from here that can get us home sooner.”

“I thought that too,” Leo said and clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth while he considered the option to fly again. Numbers ran through his mind; time and expenses. “Even if we can book a flight, I don’t know if we can afford to eat the extra cost. You know how much it costs for last minute flights.”

“Let’s look anyway,” America said with a bright tone. “You never know.”

Leo had already opened the browser on his phone while America finished her sentence. His eyes squinted as the results populated the screen, and he blinked thinking he misread the numerals. “Twenty-six hundred dollars?”

“Seriously? That’s more than our flights to Italy. Are you joking?” America gave a nervous giggle.

“And it looks like the earliest flight out isn’t until late tomorrow afternoon anyway.” Leo shook his head. “I figured it would be more expensive, but not that much.”

“It also means spending all morning tomorrow waiting around.” America closed her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh; the trip clearly taking a toll on her optimism. “I think I’d rather just get back on the road in the morning. At least I’ll feel like we’re doing something.”

“You sure?” Leo asked. Despite America’s nod in the affirmative, Leo felt the need to justify the road trip one more time. Perhaps he needed to hear it himself as much as he felt America did too. “If we get to Buffalo by tomorrow evening, then we’re only a few hours from the Cove. It’ll be fun.”

“Wait. Why can’t we just take this new car now?”

“The person said that our contract is for delivery in Elizabethtown. There’s a huge penalty otherwise,” Lee said and patted his wallet through his blue jeans pocket. Leo hated how thinking of money had become a new, unfortunate hobby since opening The Foundry last year. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I know there are other things to consider besides the cost.”

“Don’t feel bad about it,” she said and moved around him towards the rear door. “Things are just tight right now, with the wedding and the expansion. We knew it would be.”

“Yes, but we didn’t plan on all this. What was a sweet little gesture surprising you in Vegas, has gone completely sideways.” Leo paused and saw the corner of America’s lip pull up and expose a sliver of white teeth. “Not everything,” he said and winked.

“On that note, we might as well enjoy the city, if we’re stuck here for the night.” America kissed Leo on the cheek and reached into the back seat to grab her puffy garment bag. She stashed her suitcase and dress in the back seat of the rental replacement, a small four-door sedan. Leo held the door open for her and she paused, halfway in. “Plus, I’ve never been to St. Louis.”

Leo closed the trunk and went around to the driver’s side. With his forearms resting on the car’s roof as America got in, he took a moment and blew some excess stress out of pursed lips.

“You coming?” America called out to him.

Leo ducked inside and fastened his seatbelt, smiling at the way America lit up and nodded her head like everything was going to be alright. “The guy gave us a voucher for dinner; feel like anything?”

“Italian,” she said with a grin and tapped her fingers together in anticipation of a filling meal.

After a quick web search, Leo discovered the best Italian cuisine in town was in a historic neighborhood called The Hill. And the best restaurant to try was Charlie Gitto’s. Thankfully, the eatery was only a couple blocks away from where the flat tire had occurred. On the way over, he spotted a few nice hotels right at the highway interchange.

Leo parked the new rental, a basic little Nissan, and led America inside. “Table for two please,” he said to the hostess, a teenager with a long blonde ponytail who wore a white polo shirt with the restaurant’s logo embroidered on the front. She walked away, presumably to take stock of the wait times. The place was packed, and Leo was unsure whether they would even get a table.

“We can find somewhere else to eat,” America said.

Leo took her coat off and draped it over his arms. “It’s fine. Everything is fine.”

The hostess returned with a practiced smile splashed on her face. “It’ll be thirty minutes, is that okay?”

“It’s fine,” America parroted Leo’s sentiment.

Seeing their disappointment, the hostess shifted her weight. “You know what, you can eat at the bar, if you don’t mind.” She pointed across to a bar area trimmed out with rich dark wood and brass accents.

America nodded to Leo and the hostess led them to two empty seats. She handed them a menu in a sleek burgundy leather holder and placed two cocktail napkins on the glossy bar top in front of them. “Enjoy,” she said.

America read the menu quietly to herself, though it looked like she was looking through the paper instead of at the printed words. Distress tensed her shoulders and pitched them forward. Her posture said more than any spoken words could.

Leo slid the menu from her fingers and placed it on the bar. “You’re worried, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know. I think I’m just tired,” she said and took a deep breath, blowing it out through tight lips. “I was so hungry a few minutes ago, and now I just don’t know. I like to have a plan. I like knowing what to expect.”

Leo hugged her. “I know this isn’t how you imagined your week going. But I know everything will work out.” He lied, he gave it a fifty-fifty chance at best that everything would work out, but he didn’t want to add his own doubts to her own list of things to worry about. “I’m sure you’ll feel better after eating something. And that’s something you can plan on. What looks appetizing?”

Picking up his menu, the first thing on the list sounded good to him, “Do you want to split two things?”

America nodded and he was glad to see a genuine smile painted on her face.

He called the bartender over. “We’re ready to order.”

“What’ll it be?” The man leaned in.

“We’re gonna get the toasted ravioli. It says here that it’s a local treat.”

“That’s right,” he said. “What else?”

“I’ll have the Fiore Borghese and a glass of wine. Whatever you think goes best,” America said.

“And any drink for you?”

“Water,” Leo said and turned his attention back to his beautiful wife. “I shouldn’t drink tonight. We’ll have to make up some time tomorrow if you still want to try to get all the way to Buffalo. We can’t pick up the Rover until seven. It’s going to be another really long day.”

“I know,” she said and swirled the white wine around in her oversized glass. “But I really want to be there for Carol’s dress fitting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. I told her I would try my best to get there. She’s never been a maid of honor, and probably figured at her age, she never would get the opportunity. But I couldn’t get married without her by my side.”

“We owe her a lot. If it wasn’t for her and Pa, I don’t know if we’d be getting married.”

“Got married,” she reminded him. “But I know what you mean. Those two are quite the pair. It’s such a shame what happened with her father when he split them up back in high school. Who knows? Maybe they’d be the ones getting married.”

Leo chuckled at the idea, until it sank in. “You know, I’ve never thought of it before, but there is something between them, isn’t there?”

“You never noticed how Pa always goes out of his way to find reasons to be near her, even if the pretense is something they can battle over? Or the way she looks at his bum every time he walks away from her?” America giggled.

Leo snapped his fingers. “Or how he’s always offering her rides even if he’s not actually going that way? I don’t know how I was so blind to it. I suppose that since I’ve known them, they were always just Pa and Carol, the town rivals. But maybe they’ve been more all along, and no one sees it.”

“I did.” America raised a brow as their food came out. Rich spices and tangy tomato-scented steam filled the air around them. “Let’s dig in.”

“Happy to. This looks incredible. Thanks for suggesting Italian, I think I needed comfort food.”

“Thanks for finding this place. It’s sort of reminds me of The Foundry.”

Leo looked around at a the lavishly appointed space that wasn’t overly fancy yet still inviting. The dark woodwork and leather furniture provided a cozy feel to the space, even the bulkhead hanging down from the ceiling around the bar provided a sense of privacy and relaxation. He made a note to incorporate more private eating nooks in the cucina whenever they made it back to Christmas Cove.

America smiled as she shoveled another bite of pasta into her mouth, and all seemed right again in Leo’s world. He only hoped he could get America back to Christmas Cove on time, and unscathed.