The Best Man
by Pat Ballard
Excerpt from Chapter 1
“That’s it!” Lana muttered. The
crumpled wad of paper flew from her hand and landed dead center in the
wastebasket a few feet away, validating her decision. “No more diets! I
won’t spend the rest of my life hungry. If my body hasn’t gotten skinny
from eighteen years of dieting and being hungry, then it’s just not going
to get skinny. So forget about it.”
The empty room didn’t argue with her, but
she knew it would be a different story when she spoke those same words out
loud to her sister, Jenny. An entirely different story.
But she didn’t care. She was tired of the
never-ending battle of trying to stay a size that her body kept trying to
tell her wasn’t natural. Tired of obsessing every day over what she could
and couldn’t eat, fearing if she ate the wrong thing it would show up on
the scales the next day. “Damn those scales, anyway,” she spoke to the
room again. And soon the bathroom scales made a loud metallic thump into
the same wastebasket, on top of the crumpled diet plan that she’d just
this morning printed off the Internet.
Briskly brushing her hands together, as
if to end the subject right here and now, Lana picked up the wastebasket
and carried the offending objects that it held to the outside dumpster
before she had time to change her mind.
Back in her living room, she was overcome
with a simultaneous fear and elation. FREEDOM! part of her brain
shouted. But what if you get so fat you can’t get out of the house?
the other part of her brain argued.
“I’ll deal with that if it happens,” she
admonished the empty, listening room. “I’ll eat anything I want, in
moderation—well, unless I want to pig out occasionally—I’ll exercise when
I can, and we’re just going to see what happens. So all you little voices
in my head go take a hike!”
The moment of truth came sooner than she’d expected, later that day
when she got a call from her mom asking her to come over for dinner. Her
younger sister, Jenny, and Jenny’s fiancé were going to be there, and they
needed to talk about their wedding plans.
“Lana, what are you doing?” Jenny’s
horrified voice squeaked as Lana placed a piece of lemon icebox pie on her
dessert plate. They’d finished the wonderful meal their mother had
prepared and were about to have the dessert she’d made.
“I’m doing the same thing you’re doing,
Jenny,” Lana answered, looking pointedly at the pie on Jenny’s plate. “I’m
having dessert.”
“But you know you’ll gain weight if you
eat that. I can get by with it, but you can’t.”
“So just because I inherited Dad’s genes
to gain weight easily, I have to do without all the good stuff? Well, not
anymore, little sister. I made up my mind today that I’m finished with
dieting. I’m going to live a little.”
“But Lana—”
“Don’t whine, Jenny,” Alma, their mom,
interjected. “Lana, honey, I’m so happy to hear you say that. I’ve been
worried about your health for a long time. A person can starve their body
for just so long without doing real damage to it.” Alma was a dietitian at
a local hospital and knew that Lana didn’t eat a balanced diet.
“But Mom! What about the dresses we’re
having made? What if she gets so fat she can’t fit into her maid of honor
dress?”
“Excuse me? Hello? I’m still in the room,
Jenny. If I outgrow my dress in six months, then I’ll have a larger one
made. It’s just that simple.”
“But there’s a time factor, Lana. If the
dresses get made and you outgrow yours, there won’t be time to make
another one,” Jenny persisted.
“Then I’ll wear my jogging pants and
tennis shoes,” Lana answered, growing tired of the discussion.
Jenny knew when her older sister was
getting angry, so she approached the subject from another direction. “How
does Ron feel about this?” she asked, referring to the man Lana had been
dating for about a year.
“He doesn’t know yet. Like I said, I’ve
just made the decision today.”
“How do you think he’ll feel?” Jenny
pushed.
“You know, Sis, I don’t really care how
he feels. I’ve decided that it’s time in my life to do what feels right to
me and let the other people around me either accept me for who I really am
or just stay away from me.”
Hank, Jenny’s fiancé, sat quietly beside
her and listened to the women’s conversation. Personally, he wished Jenny
would put on a few pounds. He loved her, but he sure wouldn’t care if she
were a little larger. A smile toyed with the corners of his mouth, just
thinking about a plumper Jenny.
His ringing cell phone interrupted his
fantasy. “Sorry,” he said to the table of arguing women, then answered the
phone. “Sure, you’re on the right street. Just come on down three houses
on the left, and you’ll see my car.”
“Was that Tony?” Jenny asked.
“Yes, he’s just down the street,” Hank
answered.
“Tony?” Lana asked.
“Tony has been my best friend since we
were in first grade,” Hank said. He’s the best man in the wedding. He’s
coming by to discuss the wedding plans with us.”
Good, Lana thought. Maybe the
diversion would get Jenny off the weight topic.
“In fact,” Hank spoke up again, “Tony is
the best man for about anything that could happen in life. He’s always
been there for me. I’m closer to him than I am my blood brother. He’s—here
he is now,” he finished, getting up to go answer the ringing doorbell.
“Lana, will you just give this some more
thought?” Jenny started in again. “I’m only concerned for your own health.
You know how unhealthy being overweight is.”
“Jenny, let’s just drop the subject for
tonight, okay?” Alma stepped in. “And besides that, it’s never actually
been proven that being a larger size is unhealthy. Lifestyle is the main
factor in health.”
“Ladies, this is Tony,” Hank spoke from
the dining room doorway.
Tony was not what Lana had expected. She
wasn’t sure exactly what she’d expected, but it wasn’t the man she was
looking at. He looked to be a little less than six feet tall, and was of
average build, not a big man at all. But his presence—his very energy
filled the small dining room, making it seem to have suddenly shrunk.
Jet-black hair waved back from a wide forehead, confirming the look of
great intelligence that shone from his honey-brown eyes as they met and
held Lana’s. A feathering of gray at the temples seemed to accentuate
those intense eyes.
“Of course you’ve met Jenny, and this is
Lana, Jenny’s sister, and their mother, Alma.” Hank made the
introductions.
Lana hypnotically watched the smile cross
Tony’s perfect mouth as he nodded to them and said, “Hello, ladies, the
pleasure is mine.”
Not even close, Lana thought.
The pleasure is all mine! Aloud she said, “It’s nice to meet you,
Tony.”
“Come have some coffee and pie,” Alma
invited, sliding out a chair directly across from Lana.
The dining table seated eight people
comfortably, but it suddenly felt only large enough for two. Tony’s aura
reached out and enveloped Lana. She’d never been this aware of another
human being. Much less, a man.
“Lana is the maid of honor,” Hank said.
“If she can fit in the dress by then,”
Jenny muttered.
“Jenny, honey, why don’t we just let this
drop for the night,” Hank softly admonished Jenny.
But it seemed that Jenny’s mind was made
up to cause a scene. “I don’t want to let it drop, Hank. We can’t let this
crazy thought of hers take root overnight. We have to talk some sense into
her head right now. Knowing her, she can gain five pounds from that one
piece of pie she’s eating.”
“Jenny!” Alma scolded. She set Tony’s
coffee down and handed him a dessert plate with pie before continuing.
“Jenny, that is enough on this subject for tonight.” Finality sounded in
every word.
“Actually, Mom, now that we have Tony’s
curiosity up, I’ll explain to him what’s in Jenny’s craw. Then maybe we
can get on with talking about the wedding.”
“Well,” Jenny pouted, “this subject is
about the wedding, too.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Lana agreed.
“It is your wedding, and I understand that you want everything perfect.
And I promise you that I’m not going to do anything to ruin your beautiful
wedding.” Turning back to Tony, she explained, “I’ve made an announcement
tonight that has upset Jenny. I’ve decided to stop dieting, and Jenny’s
afraid I’m going to get too fat for my maid of honor dress.”
There. It was out in the open. Now that
he knew she would soon be fat, she wouldn’t have to worry about him being
attracted to her, not that she thought he would be, anyway.
Tony held Lana’s gaze momentarily before
his face split in a huge grin. Turning to Jenny, he said, “Jenny, my dear,
I, as the best man, promise you that if Lana outgrows the dress you’re
having made, then I’ll pay for having one made that fits her at the time
of the wedding. In fact, before I leave tonight, give me a small sample of
the material and I’ll order some into the store to have in stock just in
case we need to make another dress. I have in-store tailors who can whip
out a dress in twenty-four hours, if necessary. Does that make you feel
better?”
“See what I mean?” Hank broke in. “This
man can make anything okay.
“Hold on, friend.” Tony fastened Hank
with sad eyes. “We both know there are a few things that I couldn’t fix.”
“Oh, thank you, Tony.” Jenny’s mood
suddenly changed and her world was temporarily okay. “Owning Angelino’s
Department store would let you do what you’re talking about, huh?”
Suddenly she didn’t seem so worried about Lana’s health.
“Angelino’s?” Lana’s azure blue eyes grew
large. Angelino’s was the swankiest department store in the area.
“Anthony Angelino, at your service,
m’lady.” Tony extended his hand with an exaggerated bow over the table.
Lana automatically extended her hand and
felt it swallowed in his large one. He might not be a big man, but he sure
had big hands, she realized, looking down at the tanned hand that engulfed
her smaller pale one.
“You have lovely hands,” he surprised her
by saying, as he turned her hand over in his and lifted it to his lips,
briefly brushing the back with a light kiss.
“Alright, already! Let’s talk wedding,”
Jenny said impatiently. The attention had been off her for too long.
“Yes, let’s,” Lana agreed, reluctantly
withdrawing her hand from Tony’s, but still mesmerized by his steady gaze.
After two hours of planning, debating, note-taking and easy banter,
Alma leaned back in her chair and said, “I don’t know about the rest of
you, but I’m ready for a break.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Tony
said, reaching for the pie plate. “Would you like to split a piece with
me?” he asked Lana.
Did she just imagine the mischievous look
he flashed her or was it real? “Sure,” she answered his challenging look.
“Oh, great. Now he’s going to feed her,”
Jenny mumbled, supposedly for Hank’s ears only, but the entire room heard
her.
Tony placed a slice of pie on his dessert
plate, then meticulously cut it in half. When he was finished, he took his
fork and dipped up a bite and lifted it to her mouth. A challenge mingled
with pure devilment gleamed in his eyes, daring her to defy her sister’s
sarcastic remark.
Deliberately, Lana slowly licked her full
heart-shaped lips before opening them to take the treat offered to her.
Tony watched her lips close over the pie
and slide it slowly off the fork. Felt the tremor of desire in his lower
body, and knew he was in trouble.
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