Total pages in book: 190
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
“Couldn’t have worded it all better myself,” said Sabrina.
Tamara nodded. “I, too, am in agreement with Harri.”
Alicia dipped her chin. “As am I.”
Everyone else simply stared at me.
I inwardly sighed. “I’m not asking you all to approve. I’m not asking that you be happy for me. But I am asking that you don’t interfere.”
“Even if we worry that this is something you might later regret?” asked Dane, his tone clipped.
“Even then,” I replied. “You get to feel how you feel but, like it or not, it’s not your feelings or worries or opinions that are most relevant here. This is my life. I wouldn’t tell any of you how to live yours, and you don’t get to tell me how to live mine. You definitely don’t get to shout at me.”
Dane rubbed his nape. “We shouldn’t have gone on the attack just now,” he relented.
Vienna nodded. “You caught us by surprise.”
I sniffed. “Well, you’ll just need to get over it, won’t you?”
Ollie let out a half-hearted chuckle. “You’re a hard-ass, Addie.”
Jutting out my chin, I went on, “I’ve made my decision—like it or don’t. But do not bother trying to make me go back on it. No amount of objections will do you any good.”
“Yeah, I see that,” Dane grumbled.
Vienna slid him a dirty look. “She gets it from you.”
He frowned at her. “You’re just as stubborn—don’t blame me.”
I cut in, “Very soon, I’m going to be standing at an altar beside Dax. You can all be there for that, or you can miss it to make a statement of disapproval. Whatever. But the wedding will go ahead whether you’re there or not. You’ll achieve one thing only if you miss it—you’ll hurt me.”
Ollie’s shoulders sagged as a pained look crossed his face. “You’re so good at emotional blackmail.”
Dane threw Vienna a quick look. “She gets that from you.”
“I will be at the ceremony,” Harri piped up. “Nothing could keep me away. Though I expect to be made a bridesmaid—just making that clear.”
Alicia smiled. “I told her the same thing.”
“I’m her maid of honor,” declared Sabrina, raising her hand proudly … like I’d asked her.
“Self-proclaimed maid of honor,” I muttered, earning myself a haughty sideways glance from her.
Silence fell for long seconds, but then Vienna blew out a long breath and said, “I might not fully understand why you’re going down this road, Addie, but I’d never miss your wedding day. Neither will your dad. Will you?”
“No,” Dane grunted. “But I’ll be walking you down the aisle under protest.”
“Understood.” I looked from Ollie to Marleigh. “Well?”
They exchanged a resigned look.
“We’ll of course be there,” Ollie told me.
Marleigh nodded. “Please don’t ask me to be a bridesmaid, though—I don’t look good in dresses.”
“You really don’t,” agreed Sabrina. “But Ollie does.”
His eyes went wide. “What?”
“I’ll never forget how cute you looked in the little dress me and Addie put you in when you were a toddler,” Sabrina teased … leading to a mini argument.
As the voices went up in volume, Alicia leaned into me and quietly said, “That went better than I thought it would.”
“Oh, don’t think they’ve all resigned themselves to this,” I told her, my voice equally quiet. “Mom, Dad, and Ollie will do their best to change my mind between now and the wedding.”
Alicia’s brow creased. “I’d like to be able to contest that, but I can’t. They’re going to be a problem.”
“Yup. They just won’t bother yelling again, because they know it won’t get them anywhere. They’ll try other tactics.”
None would work, though. And when they finally realized that, they might well change their minds about attending the ceremony. I supposed that time would tell.
Chapter Eight
Driving down my road the following day after a grocery grab, I slowed as I approached my house. The scene up ahead made me frown. Even with the large crowd that had gathered, I could see a silver convertible smushed up against a lamppost, which now stood at a wonky angle. Sat on a nearby bench, a young man pale as death held a white, bloodstained cloth to his head.
Riding shotgun beside me, Alicia strained to get a better look. “Doesn’t seem that anyone was hurt, thank God. What do you think the odds are that Thaddeus is completely sober right now?”
“Not high,” I replied, pulling into our driveway. Our twenty-one-year old neighbor was spoiled rotten and impossibly reckless. He’d been pulled over by the cops in the past for driving while drunk. He was never held accountable due to his parents being close friends with the sheriff, and that was part of the problem—he had no incentive to change his behavior.
He was such an idiot at times that he’d actually once heckled my mom while blitzed as he’d seen her exit my home. She’d only snorted at him.
Thinking of Vienna made me remember the call I’d received from her earlier …