Chapter Thirty-Three

“A MONTH?” JOEY said the next morning. “You’re getting married in a month?”

“Why not?” Betty said, sitting across from her at the kitchen table. They were both still in pajamas and Betty was eating Lucky Charms. She did not look like someone who was ready to get married in a month.

“No reason,” Joey said. “You’re right. I can’t think of a single reason why you shouldn’t get married in a month.”

Sarcasm was lost on Betty, so Joey rolled her eyes and changed the subject.

“I was thinking of seeing if Dan wants to go shopping with me,” she said.

“Just the two of you?” Betty said as a drop of milk rolled down her chin.

“Well, I’m not sure he knows he’s supposed to get you an engagement gift, and I thought he could use some help.”

“Oh!” Betty clapped. “You’re a lifesaver. I keep dropping hints, but he’s basically the worst gift-giver ever.”

Joey wanted to smack her sister. Dan was most certainly not a bad gift-giver. He just probably didn’t spend nearly enough on Betty for her liking. When she wasn’t being critical, she could see how Dan had fallen for Betty while she was gone. But how had Betty fallen for Dan?

Joey thought back on where Betty would be right about now in her regular timeline. She had spent her senior year single, but accepted dates from all the cutest boys at their high school and several surrounding ones. She had attended seven proms and would have gone to more if some hadn’t fallen on the same night. She had insisted that each of her dates buy her a dress for the occasion and each one had jumped at the chance to do it. Most of them even paid for her to have her hair and makeup done.

Without all those suitors, Dan must have taken up the brunt of everything Betty asked for. And since her heart had always been set on a trip to Europe after high school, Dan had had no choice but to go along. He probably proposed so he’d be able to lock her down before she decided to go away without him. Not a bad strategy, but she had countered with a quick wedding.

Joey reached for the notepad sitting between them on the table where Betty and Dan had been making notes after dinner last night.

“Uh, Betty?”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t these the same ideas you had for your sweet sixteen party?” Joey said.

“I didn’t have a sweet sixteen party,” Betty said with an edge of annoyance in her voice.

Joey knew very well that she didn’t have that party. Years before, she had tried to convert to Judaism, saying it was because she felt called to do so, but their mom and dad correctly guessed that she just wanted a Bat Mitzvah. Then, she had asked why only her Hispanic friends got to have a quinceañera. Then, she had come to them with a Power Point presentation about how a “Super Sweet Sixteen” party would be a good investment.

Her parents hadn’t fallen for it, but apparently Dan had, on some level. The notepad was full of Betty’s handwriting with what looked to be exactly what she’d listed in that presentation, even down to the same DJ. She had to hand it to her: when Betty made her mind up about something, she usually got it.

After breakfast, Joey called Dan and asked if she could help him shop.

“Uh, isn’t the ring an engagement gift?” he said.

“You’d think so,” Joey said. “I mean, yeah, but I thought you might want to get her something else.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

They made a plan to head to Scottsdale Fashion Square in a few hours, so Joey had time to sit with Betty and look through the bridal magazines she’d picked up. Joey recognized them all as the same ones she had pored over when she planned her own wedding. Hers wasn’t nearly as fancy as what Betty was planning, but she did manage to replicate lots of the ideas in those magazines with some DIY gusto and help from friends.

Then she saw it. The dress she’d fallen in love with nineteen years ago. She stared at the page and traced the satin bodice with her fingers. She’d found a local dress shop that carried it back then and stupidly tried it on, hoping it wouldn’t look good on her. It did. But it also had a $2000 price tag and there was no way she could afford it. Instead, she talked to the home-ec teacher at Conquistador and asked if she could help her make something similar.

Looking at the picture now, Joey laughed a bit realizing how much they’d missed the mark. The shape was similar, but the hems were a little crooked and the material wasn’t as shiny. It hadn’t mattered to her then and it certainly didn’t now, but she suddenly felt like crying, wondering if she’d ever see that dress again.

“Tacky,” Betty said, looking over her shoulder.

Okay, now she really might smack her. Betty had gushed when she’d seen Joey on her wedding day, but Joey had always secretly wondered if she really liked the dress. She had her answer.

“I think it looks nice,” Joey said.

“Oh, I mean, yeah.” Betty looked at it again. “It would look really nice for like a country wedding or something. But I want something more dramatic.”

Of course you do. Joey flipped the page.

They dog-eared a few of the ones Betty wanted to try on and Joey promised to call a few shops to set up appointments for the next day. Betty was antsy about buying off-the-rack, but Joey assured her she’d look gorgeous in a potato sack and meant it, kissing her cheek as she left to go meet Dan.

He was walking up as she walked out, and Joey wanted to run up and hug him as soon as she saw him. He wasn’t wearing cargo shorts, but the rest was the Dan she knew. Apparently, he was still in there somewhere, just hiding from Betty.

“There you are,” she said.

“Here I am,” he replied.

“No, I mean there you are,” she said. “The real you. Not Dan Dan the fancy man.”

He tried to look annoyed, but Joey knew she’d gotten through to him. He couldn’t pretend around her.

And now she had him alone, she was going to find out why he was even trying.