Angela and A.J. arrive at the Roman mansion where they continue to prepare for the party later at the Ritz-Carlton.
“Have you gotten in contact with everyone?” A.J. asks Justin after getting settled in one of the guest rooms.
“Almost everyone. I just need to call Frankie, Nate, Omar and Marcus, then that should be everyone.”
“And they all are coming, right?”
“Some weren’t sure but said they would try and make it. But that was mostly the Marlins team. A definite no was Chad Pitt though.”
“Alright cool. Do you know if Jess has any really nice dresses here?”
“If they’re not in her room here, they’re in her room in the guesthouse but I don’t have a key to get into her room in the guesthouse.”
"Oh, I have one, don’t worry.”
“How do you have one?”
“She gave it to Nick to give to me right after you guys had it built. Remember the roses she used to find in her room and thought they were from Nick?”
"Those were from you?”
“Yep,” A.J. says with a huge grin on his face.
“But how?” Justin asks.
“I came back and would stay at Nick’s house. I’ve never really been out of her life, she just never knew and Nick was told not to tell her because all my ex’s didn’t like her.”
“Oh,” Justin says shocked. “Well, feel free to get everything ready to take over to the hotel for her. I’m going to go call the last people and get the rest of the invitations done.”
“Alright, thanks Justin.”
A.J. goes upstairs to Kaci’s room and Justin makes his calls.
“Hey Omar.”
“What’s up?”
“Alex is throwing Jess a surprise party tonight at the Ritz, are you going to come?”
“Sure. What time?”
“Come over the house and I'll get you your invitation and everything.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah, and the sooner the better.”
“Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay, see you soon.”
Justin and Omar hang up and Justin calls Nathan.
“Hey this is Nathan, leave a message and I’ll call you back when I can.”
“Nate, it’s Justin, Jess’s brother. Hey listen, call me back ASAP, I need to talk to you about Jess. It’s important and urgent so call me back on my cell, 561-985-1769.”
Justin hangs up and calls Marcus.
“Yo Marcus,” Justin says when Marcus answers.
“Who’s this?”
“Jess’s brother Justin.”
“Roman?”
“Yeah, hey are you guys busy tonight?”
“I don’t know, it depends on the Mrs.”
“Well, we’re throwing a surprise birthday party for Jess and want you, the wife and kids to come.”
“Let me ask her and I’ll call you back.”
“That’s fine, call my cell and the sooner the better since you have to get the invitations. Oh and a heads up, Alex wants it formal or business casual.”
“That’s not a problem. Let me talk to her and I’ll call you back.”
Justin and Marcus hang up and Justin makes his last call to Frankie.
“What’s up J?” Frankie asks answering his phone when he sees it’s Justin calling.
“Are you and Vero busy?”
“Vero has some friends with her, but I’m not doing anything. Why?”
“Alex is throwing a surprise party for Jess.”
“Alex who?”
“McLean. Who is Vero with?”
“She brought a couple friends out for a couple weeks. They’re probably at the mall in Wellington.”
“So where you staying at?”
“The Ritz.”
“Oh, so you have to come! The party is in the ballroom. It’s formal or business casual. I’ll call you when we get there and come give you the invitation. Text Vero or call her and have her call me on my cell ASAP!”
“Alright, I’ll see you later then.”
Justin and Frankie hang up with each other and Justin goes upstairs to Kaci’s room.
“So did you find a dress for her?”
“Yes and no. I actually found a few dresses, but I can’t decide which dress I like the most.”
“Her and Angie are the same size, why don’t you two go out and get one while I finish getting everyone’s invitations and everything,” Justin suggests.
“Is she still downstairs?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, hopefully we’ll be back soon!”
A.J. goes downstairs, informs Angela what is going on and the two leave and go out to find Kaci a dress to wear for the party.
“Where do you want to start looking?” Angela asks A.J. as they get in Justin’s Trailblazer.
“I was thinking David’s Bridal,” A.J. says with a huge smile on his face.
“Oh,” Angela says. “Why David’s Bridal?”
“I saw this dress that she told Nick she thought was beautiful. It’s perfect for tonight!”
“What the heck are you planning because Justin didn’t even call Jose or any of his friends that are also Jess’s friends.”
“Ask Justin why because Jose and his friends that Jess knows were on the list he sent me. Justin’s the one that called everybody!”
“Oh, okay.”
Angela and A.J. have conversations about various topics until A.J.’s phone rings.
“What are you doing calling me, you’re going to blow it!”
“No I’m not!”
“What do you want?”
“Jess wants to know how you are and so I told her I would call you because you were in the studio working on your album.”
“Then put her on the phone, just don’t blow this Carter or it’ll be your head tonight!”
“Alright, just a second, she’s talking to Aaron, let me tell her I got a hold of you.”
“Make it quick!”
Nick goes over to where Kaci and Aaron are.
“Aje is on the phone,” Nick says handing his phone to Kaci.
“Don’t be forever, he was in the middle of recording.”
“Alright, but I’m just doing what his card said!”
Kaci takes Nick’s phone to talk to A.J.
“What are you up to McLean?”
“I’m in the studio baby, that’s why I didn’t answer when you called. I would’ve called you back!”
“Alright, but why the roses? And what’s with the card?”
“What’s with the questions baby?”
“I appreciate the roses and everything, but why? And what’s going on that I have to go to the Ritz tonight?”
“If I can’t send you roses and other surprises then fine I won’t.”
“It’s not that Alex, I just don’t get why all of a sudden you’re doing it!”
“Jess baby, I gotta go. I’ll call you later, enjoy your time with Nick. I got to get back to my work. Bye,” A.J. says then hangs up.
Kaci looks at Nick’s phone, closes it and starts to get tears in her eyes.
“Nick!” Kaci says trying to hold back her tears.
Nick comes over from talking to Kaley and Aaron and sees Kaci about to cry.
“Jess, what happened?”
“I don’t know! He all of a sudden said he had to go and sounded really angry and then hung up on me!”
“Do you want me to call him back and find out why he is acting like an ass?”
“No! That’ll just make it worse! Just take me home please Nick!”
“How about I take you back to my house and we can just chill like we used to?”
“I’d prefer to go home.”
“How about we do my idea first and if you don’t cheer up then I’ll take you home? Deal?”
“Okay, fine.”
“Good. I’ll go tell Aaron and Kaley we’re heading back to the house. Do you want to just stay here or do you want to come with me?”
“I’ll stay here, send Aaron here though, would you?”
“Alright. You know where to find me if you need anything,” Nick says heading back over to Kaley and Aaron after giving Kaci a huge bear hug.
“Is Jess alright?” Aaron asks.
“Yeah, she requested to see you.”
“Oh, okay. Are you and Kaley gonna stay here?”
“Yeah. If Jess needs anything, just let me know.”
“Okay,” Aaron says walking over to Kaci.
Aaron and Kaci talk with each other while Nick is with Kaley and they call A.J. back.
“Dude, what did you say to Jess to get her so upset?”
“She’s upset?” A.J. says worried.
“Yeah man! She’s crying and insists on going home to her house!”
“You aren’t taking her back to her house, are you?”
“No. I managed to calm her down and get her to agree to just go back to my house. I can’t keep her from her house!”
“Alright, alright. I’m at David’s Bridal with Angela picking up that dress she told you about. If you can give me until four that would be great! I’ll call Justin and let him know there’s been a change of plans.”
“Alright. I’ll find a way to let you know what’s going on when we’re at my house. Most likely it’ll be from Kaley."
“Okay, just give me a decent amount of heads up if she insists on coming home before I said!”
“Will do. We’ll see you later and keep in touch so we know what’s up!”
“Alright, bye,” A.J. says hanging up.
“What was that about?” Angela asks as her and A.J. walk into David’s Bridal.
“Jess wants to come home because she thinks I’m mad at her because I hung up on her.”
“Good one Alex!”
A.J. and Angela are greeted when they walk into David’s Bridal.
“Hi, welcome to David’s Bridal, how can I help you?”
“Hi, I’m Alex and this is Angela. I need a dress in her size for tonight for my girlfriend.”
“Oh. Do you know which dress you may want?”
“I do,” Alex says. “It’s that one,” he says pointing to a picture in the store.
“That is a very popular dress. What size are you looking for?”
“I’m a five,” Angela says.
“I believe we may have a couple left,” the lady says walking towards where the dresses are.
The lady goes and gets the dress that Kaci loves and hands it to Angela.
“Make sure it fits,” she says as Angela takes the dress.
“Why isn’t your girlfriend here to try it on?” she asks A.J.
“It’s for a surprise party for her birthday.”
A.J., Angela and the lady walk back to the dressing rooms. Angela and the lady go in while A.J. waits outside.
“Hey Justin,” A.J. says when Justin answers.
“What’s going on?”
“We’re at David’s Bridal and Angela is trying the dress on but I talked to Nick on the way here. Jess is mad at me and insists on coming home.”
“She can’t do that! I got a bunch of people coming over!”
“I know! Nick managed to convince her to go back to his house, but he doesn’t know how long he can keep her there. Can you send people to someone else’s house?”
“When Luke gets back from Miami with Jackie, Staci and Kory I can.”
“Alright, keep me updated and if I hear Jess is wanting to come home, I’ll let you know so you can do what you gotta do.”
Justin and A.J. hang up just as Angela and the lady come out of the dressing room.
“Wow,” A.J. gasps. “Jess is going to look so beautiful in that dress!”
Angela gets up on the pedestal with the lady’s help.
“Does it fit okay? Would it fit Jess okay?”
“Everything’s fine except the bust line. Her’s are a little bigger, but it should be fine,” Angela says as she models the dress for A.J.
“No alterations or anything?”
“Nope, it’s perfect!”
“Alright, I’ll take it, how much?”
“This dress is around $1,000. I won’t know the exact price until I ring it up.”
“The sooner we get this home the better,” A.J. says hoping the lady would get his point of being in a rush.
Chapter 29/Story Index/Chapter 31/E-mail Brittany
The lady takes the dress after Angela changes back into her clothes and goes to the counter so A.J. can pay for the dress and they can get back to the house to help Justin.