Page 66 of Gray Hair Don't Care
“Yes. I do.” It was liberating to finally just say it out loud, but he was mad at himself for not finding the opportunity to tell her. He now felt even more pressure to make an impression. A grand romantic gesture was in order.
“And she has no idea.”
“I’d like to think she knows on some level.”
Austin shook his head in dismay. “Dude. You need to get with the program. I don’t know what the hell you’re waiting for. God only knows how many chances at this any of us will ever get.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Nine days wasa long time to be apart, especially when thirty years of waiting off-and-on had come before it. Thus was the state of affairs between Lela and Donovan.
She wasn’t going to freak out that he’d left. That was too easy. Too obvious. But she was willing to put him on the spot a little bit now that Tammera’s wedding was a mere day away.
“I don’t want to be the reason you leave your family behind,” Lela said over the phone. “You should do what you need to do.”
“No. It’s okay. I talked to Austin. But I can’t come back to the city until tomorrow morning. Mom made me promise I’d stick around to make her one more smoothie in the morning.”
“Just let me know if your plans change. I’ll ask Echo to come with me. That way I’ll have someone to talk to at the lunch.” Lela leaned against the kitchen island, watching Rio eat his dinner.
“That’s all you want me for? Someone to talk to? I was hoping you’d want me for more than that.”
“You know what I mean.” She was smiling to herself like a fool. Even Rio gave her side-eye. Despite not liking the physical distance between them, she did enjoy these daily talks. It made whatever they were doing feel a little more real. Of course, given that Donovan was dealing with his mother’s illness, they steered away from serious topics, which left Lela to do a whole lot of wondering. Were they dating? It seemed like they were beyond that. Would they move in together? No. Too fast. Sex and romance?Thoseseemed like logical next steps.
“Hey. Guess what?” Donovan asked.
“What?”
“I feel bad about being away, so I’m bringing a surprise to the wedding.”
“A surprise? For Tammera and Delia?”
“No. For you, silly.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“Lela. Are you seriously not familiar with this concept? I can’t tell you that.”
Like a kid eager for Christmas morning, she willed time to go faster so she could see him. “Fine. I can wait until tomorrow.”
“Perfect. I will meet you at the church. Ten o’clock. Save me a seat on the aisle.”
“Got it.” Lela took in a deep breath. “And Donovan, I can’t wait to see you.”
“I can’t wait to see you either.”
She’d gone to bed last night with a goofy grin on her face, but now that it was Saturday morning, she was simply a ball of barely contained anticipation. She arrived at the tiny chapel near the Flatiron Building around nine o’clock, one hour before the ceremony. As instructed, she went straight to the bride’s room where she found the brides, plural—TammeraandDelia. Plus, Tammera’s sister, Caprice, who Lela had met once right after Tammera landed her show. Caprice was Tammera’s attendant, and Delia had asked her brother, Mason.
“Hey, Caprice. And Tams. And Delia,” Lela said, admittedly confused. She’d assumed the happy couple would be spending time apart before it was time for the ceremony.
“Hi, Lela,” Delia said.
“Lela’s here!” Tammera hopped up from the tiny blue plastic chair she was sitting in. This room was apparently also a preschool classroom. The alphabet cut-outs surrounding a chalkboard and a colorful carpet with squares for kids to sit on were Lela’s first clues. “Did you have any trouble sneaking in?”
“People don’t recognize me as much anymore.”
“But you’re wearingthedress. The pink dress from the ads.”
“Looking good, Lela,” said Caprice.
