“Hi, Daddy,” I said. “Sorry we’re late.”
“My lady,” he said to Kori, bringing her hand to his lips. “You look as lovely as usual.”
Kori giggled. “Thank you, Charlie. You look like you’re going to strap someone to a sawhorse and make them count out loud while you spank them.”
“Eh,” he said. “Probably use a paddle. Arthritis doesn’t let me do a whole lot of spankings these days.”
“Who are you paddling?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“Table’s ready and waiting for us,” Charlie said easily. “Just waiting on you two to go sit.”
“I’m onto you, old man,” I told him as he held the door to Molly’s open. “Don’t you think I’ll forget this.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said dryly. “Between you and Sandy, I doubt anything has ever been forgotten. Not that there’s anything to be known.”
“Hmm,” I said. “I need to contemplate if you’re lying or not.”
The hostess led us to a table in the corner next to the window out onto 4th Avenue. She handed us the menus before smiling and disappearing.
“Vince at his fitting?” Charlie asked me, sipping on a glass of ice water.
“Yeah. I don’t know why I couldn’t go to his or he couldn’t be at mine, but Sandy said it’s more romantic this way. Bitch has got a boyfriend for like three months and now he knows what romance is. I call bullshit.”
“How’d yours look?”
I pulled out my phone and flipped through a couple of photos before handing it over to Charlie. Kori crowded over his shoulder, not having seen it before either. She’d been in class when we’d gone, much to her consternation.
Charlie whistled low. “Wow, boy. You clean up good.”
“Very good,” Kori said. “I’d hit the crap out of that.”
I rolled my eyes, not trying to show how pleased I was at that. “You don’t think I look too fat?” I asked. “Because I’ve been trying to cut a few pounds for the wedding and I’m not doing a very good job with it. It’s stressful, you know? More stressful than I thought it would be. It’s not—”
“You look wonderful,” Charlie said sternly. “And you don’t need to lose any weight. I don’t know why you think you do. You’re a big guy, Paul, and you carry it well. That’s who you are. Vince fell in love with you for you. You don’t need to change for him or for anyone else. If you want to do it for you, then good. That’s your decision. But you know anything else is bullshit.”
“But the whole double-chin thing, though.”
&
nbsp; “I think pretty much everyone has a double chin if they try hard enough,” Kori said.
I scowled at her. “Says the skinniest thing I know.”
She shrugged. “You wouldn’t want to be my kind of skinny. You’re a big dude, Paul. And Charlie was right. You carry it well. Seriously, Vince isn’t going to know what hit him when he sees you for the first time. I guarantee you’re going to win the bet.”
“Of course there’s a bet,” Charlie sighed.
“Nothing bad,” Kori said. “Just who is going to cry first.”
“Oh. That’s okay, I guess.”
“And they are trying to write vows that will make the other cry.”
“And there it is,” Charlie said. “Because nothing is ever easy, is it?”
“Hey,” I said. “This is normal. I’m pretty sure every couple tries to make the other cry on their wedding day. It’s tradition.”
“I don’t know if that’s quite how it works,” Charlie said slowly.