Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“He was the one who suggested it,” I said. “He said it didn’t matter what happened, so long as we were married at the end. I agreed.”
“Amen to that sentiment,” Allison said, taking another sip. “Being married is the important part. No doubt. But as your friend, I want to make sure you aren’t giving up something you want.”
“No, it’s fine. I really never did any of the dream wedding stuff. I mean, I had a dress in mind, but who doesn’t? But other than that, no, I never really had an idea of what I would want. And when I hit thirty, I kind of figured I’d be lucky to get married at all.”
“Then you met one of these crazy boys,” Allison said. “God, I love them.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “I never met anyone that was as close as they are, and considering they all lived apart for so long, that’s incredibly impressive.”
“It is,” she agreed. “But they all have each other’s backs. So we should too. We all want you to have the wedding of your dreams too, and we want to help both you and Camden as much as possible. He’s done so much for all of us, we just feel like we have to help however he needs us.”
“Well, you can ask him, but I am pretty sure I know what he will say,” I said.
“I got it,” we both said in unison, in a mock impression of his soft, Texas accent, then laughed again.
“Yep,” Allison said. “That’s him.”
“He’s the most wonderful man I have ever met,” I nearly gushed. “I just want to be married to him. The wedding will be wonderful no matter what since I get to be his wife.”
Allison’s eyes were glassy with tears, and she pulled one finger up to dab them, a wide smile on her face.
“You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear. Camden has been such a wonderful addition to my life. His friendship with Ryan, how he helped him… it’s just… he’s a special man. And I worried about him a lot that he was alone. And you are such a good woman.”
“You’re going to make me cry,” I said.
“Yeah, well, wine,” Allison said, motioning with her glass. “I get sappy. But seriously, you two are perfect together, and none of us could be any happier about you two getting married. Big wedding or not, none of it matters to us. We just all want you both to be happy.”
“We will,” I said. A car door slamming shut outside interrupted me, and we both stood. “But right now, I am going to be happy about Chinese food.”
“Damn, they were fast,” Allison said.
“Living up to the name Lightning Chinese,” I said.
Meeting the delivery driver at the door, I took the food inside and made a spread on the table. Allison and I filled giant plastic plates with all manner of high-sodium foods and curled up on the couch under a blanket we shared to watch silly movies for the evening. It was so nice to just hang out with her, and as the night wore on, we talked about the guys and the wedding and the plans we had made.
“You know,” Allison said, lying back on the couch with a pillow under her head, “as crazy as it is for us to see Camden not want a traditional wedding, I can’t say I didn’t see something like this coming.”
“How so?” I asked.
“Well, when he decided to go back to school, I told Ryan something was changing. There was just something different about him. He’s always been motivated, you know. Ever since I met him, he’s been a relentlessly hard worker, but this was another gear. He really wanted to do well in school, and it wasn’t for anything other than his own satisfaction.” She yawned and settled further into the couch. “I told Ryan right then that he might be married within the year.”
“You nailed it,” I said, chuckling and setting my glass down on the coffee table. She looked so comfortable that I wanted to join her. “Not even a full year yet.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he was dead set on anything like that,” Allison said. “I just feel like the universe holds certain things until you are ready for them. You two are absolutely meant to be together. The universe just waited to put you together until he was ready.”
“I like that,” I said. “The universe working to get us together, I mean. Sometimes I feel like that. Like I was born with his name already stuffed inside my brain, just waiting until I met him.”
“He has changed a lot because of you,” Allison said, yawning again. “For the better, mind. He used to be so surly sometimes. And when he found out Carmela and Mark were together, he flipped his lid for a bit.”