Page 142 of The Reason I Married Him
Pretty sure the train entrance brought down the epic-ness a notch or two.
Hattie sits on Hayes’s lap, Echo and Abel are next to Ryland while Aubree sits next to me, holding a stick and poking the fire every once in a while.
“So any thoughts on the wedding?” Hattie asks.
“They just got engaged, babe. Do you really think they’ve had time to think about it?”
“No,” Hattie answers. “But Maggie comes into town tomorrow, and if you want help, you know she’s your girl.”
“Who’s Maggie?” I ask.
“Hattie’s best friend,” Aubree answers. “She owns a wedding planning business.” Aubree turns her attention to Hattie. “Is she bringing her boyfriend?”
“Yes,” Hattie answers with excitement. “I’m so excited to see them together. They’ve known each other for some time actually. Her brother’s best friend. She’s had a crush on him for a while, but being the girl Maggie is, she never acted on it, besides the night of her brother’s wedding. They made out, and well, he practically ran away. Anywho, they reconnected in Bora Bora, found love on the island, and are together. I’m so excited.”
“We won’t need her help,” Aubree says. “We’re just going to do something small. Probably just something at the courthouse.”
“What?” Hattie sits taller. “A courthouse wedding? But . . . don’t you want a big party?”
“No,” Aubree says as she pokes the fire. “That’s the last thing I want. I don’t want the attention. I just want to be married and then move on with our lives.”
I clasp her on the shoulder. “Isn’t she so romantic?”
“Very romantic,” Echo says, surprising me since she hasn’t really said anything the entire time we’ve been in a circle around the fire.
“You’re not going to have Mac as the flower girl?” Ryland asks.
“I really don’t think it’s necessary. We might just . . . I don’t know, elope.” Aubree shrugs her shoulders. But her siblings don’t like that response because their expressions morph into anger.
“There will be no eloping,” Ryland says. “I’ll be walking you down the aisle, so erase the word elopement from your mind. Not fucking happening.”
“Yeah, and I’m going to stand next to you with a bouquet in my hand as you stare up at the love of your life and say I do. No elopement.”
“You know”—Aubree stares at the fire, looking like she’s completely disassociated herself from the emotion of the conversation—“some might say that the wedding is about the couple, so if we want to elope?—”
“No eloping,” Ryland says again, this time stirring Mac awake.
“You’re being loud,” she says in a grumpy voice.
“Sorry,” Ryland says as he rubs her back. “Let’s get you home.” He stands from his chair but stares Aubree and me down. “No eloping. You hear me?”
Now I’m all for making my bride happy, but I don’t think I want to cross the brother of the bride. He seems like he could be really scary at times.
“Got it,” I say.
“We’re going to get back too,” Hattie says while standing. “I’m starting to get cold.”
Hayes stands and takes her hand in his. “Congrats, you two.” He smiles softly. Hattie congratulates us as well, and then they take off.
Abel is the next to stand. “I’m passing out over there,” he says, motioning to his chair. “A few more minutes and I would have been out cold, and how humiliating that would be if the town caught their doctor drooling in front of the firepit.”
“Humiliating,” I say as I shake his hand.
“Congrats, you two.” Abel shakes his head. “Still trying to wrap my mind around this, because wow, but yeah, excited about the intimate wedding that’s not an elopement that I’m inviting myself to. Night, you guys.”
And then Echo rises.
I almost didn’t recognize her at first when she came up to congratulate us. She didn’t have her typical straw hat or overalls on, so it took me a second. Thankfully, I recognized her voice right away.
