Blueprints: A Novel by Barbara Delinsky Read Free Book Online Page B

sure they got the right guy. “Age isn’t the issue,” she replied, to which Jamie shot her a stricken look but said nothing. “You know commitment better than most.” Her phone dinged. She glanced at the screen to read the text. “Taylor Huff … asking about my wrist ?” She sliced Jamie a narrow look. “How did Taylor know about my wrist?”
    “Uh, I may have let it slip. Inadvertently.”
    “Do I believe that last word?”
    “People care, Mom. They love you.”
    Yes. Caroline knew that. And knew how lucky she was to be surrounded by people who cared. “Which brings us back to Brad,” she said, returning the phone to her lap. “Your thumb keeps going to the backside of that ring, like you’re either making sure it’s there or it’s irritating you. Are you worried Brad’s right? Do you think there might be reasons why you haven’t wanted to plan the wedding?”
    “What, like subconscious ones?” Jamie separated her thumb from the ring. “Like what? Brad is perfect for me. He’s smart. He works hard. He’s our top lawyer at thirty-three, thirty-three, which means Theo has total faith in his talent. He’s considerate and good-looking, and he adores me. Why wouldn’t I be able to commit?”
    “Maybe because your father and I committed and failed?”
    The creak of the swing resumed at the bidding of Jamie’s heel. “Your situation was different. You got married because (A) you were pregnant and (B) Granddad wouldn’t hear of my being born out of wedlock. And you loved Dad back then.”
    It was a question without the question mark, but Caroline had known it would come. It always did. Her parents’ relationship was Jamie’s personal Achilles’ heel.
    “I loved him,” Caroline assured her again.
    “And you’d have loved him forever if he’d been a forever guy. He was the one who was antsy. But Brad isn’t Dad.”
    “True.”
    Though Roy thought Brad hung the moon.
    Which might be what bothered Caroline.
    Which was certainly not a rational reason for Caroline’s doubts.
    Jamie pulled her cell from the waistband of her skirt. She flipped through messages, looking discouraged, then startled. She sat straighter, heels stopping the swing. “Oh, cripes, look at the time. I have to go. There’s a problem that I have to work out before my eleven o’clock, and a couple of important phone calls.”
    “Think about it,” Caroline said.
    “About?”
    “Commitment.”
    “Mom,” Jamie said with audible frustration, “I do commitment better than anyone I know.”
    “Commitment to Brad,” Caroline specified.
    “I love Brad,” Jamie vowed.
    “Then there you go. That’s it. You’ll get through the rest.” Caroline couldn’t fight love.
    But Jamie seemed upset at that, like she wanted more reassurance, like she wanted Caroline to tell her that Brad was the best thing to walk into her life. Lord knew, Roy said it enough. Well, Caroline couldn’t gush over something she didn’t feel. Besides, her focus was always on Jamie. If Jamie wanted to marry Brad, she was for it.
    With a jingle of chains, Jamie shifted the cat so that she could shimmy herself out and push up from the swing. “Brad and I should elope.”
    “Your father would never forgive you.”
    “Would you?”
    Caroline caught her hand and gave it a jiggle. “Absolutely, if it’s what you want. I want you happy. Oh, baby,” she said in alarm when Jamie teared up. “You’ll get through this.” She held out her arm and, when Jamie bent down, folded her in. “There’s a reason why planning a wedding is so stressful. It separates the wheat from the chaff. Do you know how many couples don’t make it?”
    “No,” Jamie whispered against her ear. “How many?”
    “I have no clue, but there must be lots. It stands to reason, doesn’t it?”
    There was a soft snort. “You just made that up, then?”
    “No. The Bible talks about separating the wheat from the chaff.”
    “I mean, the part about wedding stress.”
    “I’m