Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Send.
“Oh God.” I rushed from the guest room to the bathroom where my body drastically punished me for compartmentalizing years of stress and self-loathing. I had to exercise the demons and it was not pretty.
When I finally exited the bathroom I came face to face with Hale. He drew back and frowned in concern. “Are you sick?”
“My stomach was bothering me. I should be fine now.”
He tsked and gave me space. “Do you think you caught a bug?”
“No. Just my usual stomach issues.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” I doubted other couples discussed poo as much as Hale and I, but these were the joys of loving someone with IBS.
“Maybe it’s something else…”
I frowned, then understanding dawned. “I’m not pregnant, Hale.”
He smirked. “It wouldn’t be a bad thing if you were.”
I shoved him out of my way. “It would.” Opening the nightstand drawer, I pulled out a candy bar. “We have enough on our plate with Elara and the wedding and school and travel.”
“Should you be eating that—” When I paused and sent him a death look he held up his hands in a sign of peace. “I’m only saying that it might not be the best for an upset stomach.”
I decapitated the chocolate bunny. “This is exactly what I should be eating right now.”
For the rest of the day, I ignored my social media, then I moved the app into one of those little boxes on the last screen of my phone’s display so I wouldn’t obsess. I set a reminder on my calendar to check the message in two days and made a promise to myself not to look a minute before. But I had always been the sort of person to peek at Christmas presents so I broke that promise about five minutes after making it.
Viewing his unread message over and over again was the equivalent of being pecked to death by chickens. It was a slow death, but eventually, the misery would end.
The Beastie Boys Were Right
As Hale backed his Rolls out of the parking garage, I sighed. His hand rested on my knee, rubbing soothing circles at the hem of my sundress. “We’ll find someone, baby. Don’t worry.”
“We’re running out of time. All the wedding books say we should have an officiant booked by now.”
“We have plenty of time.”
“No, we have seventy-four days and if you subtract your travel dates that leaves us with roughly thirty nine. Thirty-nine days, Hale.”
“Just because I’m away doesn’t mean things can’t get done.”
“I know. You’re very impressive. But when you’re in a different time zone I have to field all of Quinn, Phina, Devyn, and Josette’s questions on my own. Not to mention deal with my mother, who still thinks this is going to be a quaint affair.”
He glanced at me. “Did you tell her it’s white tie?”
“That means nothing to my people. She offered to pay for the flowers and I know she can’t even afford the centerpieces, not to mention all the other stuff Quinn outlined.”
He frowned. “Tell her not to worry about the cost. She’s our guest. We don’t want her to pay for anything. She only has to attend and have a good time.”
“She wants to help.”
He navigated the afternoon traffic, the WTF creases between his eyes deepened. “We’ll come up with an affordable way for her to contribute so she doesn’t feel left out.”
The topic of my mother was a touchy one and I was being unfairly sensitive. My dad hadn’t responded—shocker—and I now felt like my attendees were going to be overshadowed by Hale’s ever-growing guest list, eight-foot topiaries, ice sculptures, god statues, and towering skyscrapers.
Like a growing shadow, the closer the wedding came the smaller I felt. “I feel like we’re rushing.”
“We’re right on schedule.”
“But we are rushing. Most couples take at least a year—”
“Rayne.”
“I’m just saying, maybe we should postpone.”
“Rayne,” he said with limited patience and enough authority to command a boardroom. “The venues are booked and gears are in motion. We’ll find someone to perform the ceremony. You have to trust the process. Everything’s going to be perfect.”
“See, right there. You use that word too loosely. Perfect’s an impossible standard.”
“Look, as long as you’re there it’ll be perfect. None of this other stuff matters.”
“Well, if we don’t have someone to marry us, we can’t get married. I don’t make the rules, Hale.”
“We should look at the list Devyn sent again. Maybe some officiants are worth a second glance.”
“Like who? They were all terrible.”
“What about the first guy?”
“The one who kept looking at my zoomers?”
He glanced at me with a half-smile. “Can you blame him?”
“Fine. Hire him.” I flashed him a nipple. “You were the one who crossed him off the list in the first place.”
He grimaced. “No. You’re right. Your zoomers are mine.” He switched lanes. “What about the guy Josette found with the dove connection?”