Page 44 of Let Me Keep You

“You think I need to lose weight?”

I’m a size four, sometimes a six when I’m bloated, but I’ve been petite my entire life. I’ve always struggled to gain weight and have been self-conscious about it since I was a scrawny teenager.

I hit puberty late and didn’t get hips or boobs until I was nearly twenty.

“Doesn’t every bride-to-be stress about being in perfect shape for her big day? I assumed you’d go on a diet so you look the absolute best. It’ll be the event of the year and so many eyes will be on us.”

I’m not sure how I should take his assumption since I’ve hardly mentioned the wedding, and I’ve never talked about dieting. If anything, I’d like to be at least ten pounds heavier so I can fill out the bodice.

“Well, to answer your question–yes, my body is ready,” I say through clenched teeth. “Most dresses have to be altered to fit properly anyway.”

“When do you think you’ll go try some on? I’d love to join you. We can make a day out of it.”

Narrowing my brows, I dive back into my food that’s getting cold.

“That’s breaking tradition.”

“Can’t the groom have an opinion on his bride’s gown?”

“You should think I’m beautiful in whatever I pick.”

He flashes a small grin. “Of course I will.”

“I haven’t had time to look, but now that we set the date, I could. I’ll try to schedule something with Katie and Everleigh soon.”

“In that case, why wait until March? Find a dress next weekend and let’s move up the date.”

I nearly choke on the toast I just shoved into my mouth but quickly recover before he notices.

“Move it? March only gives us seven months as it is.”

“Yes, but we’ve been engaged for a year and a half. Invites haven’t been sent yet. I’m tired of waiting to make you my wife.” He reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. “The sooner we get married, the sooner we can have children.”

“Children?”

We’ve talked about starting a family but not right away. I was thinking we’d have one kid since Robert is in his mid-forties, but he works so much that he hardly spends time with me, let alone the children we may have.

“I’d like three, maybe four.”

We should’ve talked about this sooner, but he’s laying so much on me at once, it’s suffocating me.

“Excuse me.” I take my plate and stand. “I’m gonna shower and get ready for the day.”

As I rinse my dish, Robert comes up behind me, moves my hair over one shoulder, and massages my neck.

“Darlin’, you’re tense,” he whispers, then places a tender kiss on my cheek. “The longer we ride out this engagement, the more stressed you’ll be. I’ll call Winnie and have her reschedule everything for November. We’ll have a beautiful fall wedding.”

My eyes widen, and I swallow hard. November?

“That’s only three months away. Most venues book out at least a year in advance.”

It was a miracle we managed to get our dream location for the date we picked. They were booked through the rest of the year.

Robert rubs his hands down my arms. “With enough money, I can secure any venue in town. Don’t worry. I understand you were in love with the place we chose, but I’ve already looked into a few others, and they’d be honored to host our wedding.”

“You did that without consulting me?”

“Just made a couple of phone calls so we had options.”