Free License to Date by Susan Hatler Page B

passionate speech. “We have to talk to her. Convince her that getting married when she wants and where she wants is the right thing to do.”
    I shook my head. “It’ll never happen, sweetie.”
    Holding onto the table for support, she pushed to her feet. “Well, I’m going to try.”
    I nodded, watching her waddle her way to the door. “Hey, Ellen?”
    “Yeah?”
    I bit my bottom lip. “You should tell Henry how badly you want to know the sex of the baby. It’s shouldn’t be only about what the daddy wants but what the mommy wants as well.”
    She blinked as I pointed out her own logic. “You’re right. I’m going to talk to him. Thanks, Kaitlin. And have fun on your date with Kyle tonight. He’s a keeper.”
    “Sure. See you later.” My phone rang and I snatched up the receiver. “Kaitlin Murray.”
    “Are you free for lunch today?” Kristen’s voice shrilled across the line. “I need to talk to you. It’s about the wedding.”
    Oh, no. What now? I glanced at my calendar. “I can meet you at noon. Where?”
    Kristen let out a breath. “Wok N’ Roll in Old Sac.”
    “I’ll be there.” I hung up the phone and had the strange feeling something huge had happened. I just hoped the wedding was still on.
    ****
    As soon as the waiter at Wok N’ Roll left with our lunch orders, Kristen turned to me with what I can only describe as a maniacal grin. “This is where Ethan and I are getting married. I’m so excited.”
    I surveyed the casual Chinese restaurant then pulled my chin back, thoroughly confused. “You mean in Old Sac?”
    Kristen shook her head. “Here, at Wok N’ Roll.”
    My mouth dropped open. She seemed serious. I had no words.
    She held her hands up. “After Ellen left last night, I walked around my condo—the one I decorated to perfection when I gave it my obsessive home make-over after Jake and I broke-up—and reality hit me. Even though I love my place, I don’t want to live there for the next eighteen months alone.”
    I reached for my water, guzzled, then set the glass back down and pointed out the obvious. “You’re not alone. You have Gina.”
    She cackled as if I’d said the funniest thing. “Gina’s a fabulous roommate. I meant I don’t want to live without Ethan.”
    What happened to not wanting to hurt her mother?
    My head spun from Kristen’s one-eighty, the fact that she was planning her dream wedding at a Chinese restaurant, and that her normally calm demeanor had been replaced by a personality resembling a Kewpie doll gone mad. “Um, is there a historical significance to this place that I’m not aware of?”
    Her grin appeared frozen as she shook her head. “No, but there is a party room in back and availability in six weeks, which is when I’m going to marry Ethan.”
    Okay, I was just going to say it. Someone had to be the voice of reason. “You can’t have your wedding here.”
    Kristen blinked as if surprised. “Why not?”
    Did she want me to make a list? Okay, I could do that.
    I held one finger out at a time. “One, because it smells like chow mein in here. Two, soy sauce will not come out of a wedding dress. And three, a fortune cookie is not a wedding cake.”
    She snapped her fingers. “I hadn’t thought of fortune cookies. We’ll put our names and the date on those slips of paper inside the cookies.”
    That actually sounded cute. . . .
    I shook my head to clear the thought. “Do you really want to walk down the aisle past a fish tank with a neon sign above it reading ‘Nobody woks it like we do’?”  
    She tilted her head. “They have availability in six weeks. I’m getting married here and there’s nothing you or my mother can say to talk me out of it.”
    “If I thought you really wanted to get married here, I’d support you. I just think you’re being rash and—” My mouth froze as Kristen’s handsome fiancé entered the restaurant with another woman. A gorgeous woman. She wore a designer pants suit, her hair was pulled