Page 203 of The Reason I Married Him
“I think this is the first second I’ve had to breathe,” she says as she dips her fork into her mac and cheese.
“Kind of a whirlwind for a second, huh?” I ask as my chair is pulled up right next to hers, and my hand rests on her thigh.
“More like a tornado.” She looks around the tables of people all enjoying their food. “I can’t believe it actually happened. That we’re actually married.”
“Tell me about it.” I hold up my hand and stare down at my black tungsten ring. “Feels like I was always meant to be your husband.” She gives me aget reallook, which makes me laugh. “Are you saying you don’t feel that way, Mrs. Preston?”
“Let’s not kill the mood with how I feel.”
“Already looking into divorce lawyers? At least save it for after the honeymoon.”
“We aren’t going on a honeymoon.”
“So you think,” I say. “I moved the time of this wedding for a reason.” I look down at my watch and say, “Actually, you’re going to need to speed it up on that mac and cheese if we’re going to make our flight.”
“Our flight?” she asks, looking stunned.
“Yeah, babe. Did you really think we were going to get married and not fly off somewhere?”
She leans in close and whispers, “What the hell are we going to do on a honeymoon?”
I wiggle my eyebrows, and she places her hand on my face to stop me. With her hand on my face, I say, “So does that mean boning is out of the question?”
“Oh my God, do not call it that.”
I laugh as she removes her hand. “Seriously, though, I’m taking you somewhere . . . oh, which reminds me.” I pull myphone from my pocket, and I turn on the camera. I lace my arm around Aubree, and I say, “Hold up your ring and smile for the camera.”
I take a picture of us both, and then I shoot it off to Wallace with the text, newlyweds.
“Did you send that to your cousin?”
“Yup,” I say. “And let the drama begin.”
“Areyou finally going to tell me where we’re going?” Aubree asks as she looks out the rental car window at the large ponderosa pines.
“Look to the right, up ahead,” I say as a wooden sign comes into view.
I catch her reading it. “Welcome to the town of Canoodle, where’s . . .” She pauses. “Oh my God, are you taking me to your cabin?”
“Yup,” I say with a grin. “My grandpa’s neighbor, who watches over the cabin, has prepared it for us. I told him I was bringing my new wife, Aubree, and said we were spending time together in the cabin. He was more than happy to change out the sheets and have the cleaning service run through it.”
“Seriously?” she asks. “That’s . . . that’s really sweet, Wyatt. I’m excited to see it.”
“I’m excited for you to see it,” I say as I feel the temptation to take her hand in mine and kiss her knuckles, but I refrain. Technically, we’re not in front of anyone, so why would I do that?
“So this is Canoodle, huh?” she asks. “I wish I was seeing it in the light.”
“I’ll show you around tomorrow,” I say as I follow the road that curves around the lake. “There are some cute shops here as well as great places to eat. The lake is beautiful to walk around, and of course the cabin property is as peaceful as it gets.”
“I can’t really tell in the dark, but the trees seem tall.”
“Very,” I answer as I turn down Pine Lane. “And also in the morning, you’ll see the beautiful mountains framed by giant boulders.”
“I’ve never been too far from Almond Bay, so this is exciting,” she says as she stares out the window.
“Really?” I ask, but then give it some thought. If her dad wouldn’t even tell her she was beautiful, what makes me think he’d take her anywhere other than where they live? “Sorry, that was an insensitive question.”
“It’s fine,” she says with a shrug. “At least that wasn’t my first time on a plane. My first time was when Cassidy and I flew to San Diego for a weekend. She got these really cheap tickets, and we decided to make a weekend of it. First time on a plane for both of us. We held on to each other for dear life. But I will say this, we didn’t have first class seats, that’s for certain.”
