Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Get your asses over here!” Dwain called from the doorway. “We know better than to leave the two of you alone. We won’t find you for an hour.”
“Hey!” I called back. “I can go much longer than that.”
Dwain rolled his eyes but chuckled.
“Let’s go inside, handsome.” Brody laced his fingers through mine, and we walked together toward our distillery.
For the decor inside the building, we’d gone with a rugged style, a mixture of all dark wood and log pillars, now lightened by Isaac’s wedding touches of white lace and pink flowers.
Lauren looked over at us, shared a smile with her date, then walked over and nudged my hip with hers. “Look at what you did…bringing the Mitchells and O’Ralleys together like this. I knew you were special from that first night.”
“Well…I am.”
Brody rolled his eyes just as Big Daddy approached.
Lauren said, “I’ll let you get back to your family. Ice cream tomorrow?”
“Sounds like a date,” I replied, and she went to sit down.
“Hell, it looks like a unicorn threw up in here,” Big Daddy grumbled.
“You be nice,” Brody told him.
“I’m old and in charge. I don’t have to be nice if I don’t want to.” But then he gave me a half grin and winked before stomping away.
I said, “You know he has to pretend to hate everything because that’s how he is, but he’s really loving this shit.”
“You’re an expert on him now. All that wedding planning, work meetings and fishing trips just the two of you did their job.”
Big Daddy and I did spend quite a bit of time together now, which was strange as fuck. And Lauren had become even more of a staple in my life, Isaac’s too. The two of them were a damn handful together.
“I can’t help it if he’s realized how fucking awesome I am. Are you jealous?” I teased.
“Always up to no good, aren’t you? Trying to make Big Daddy like you more than me.”
Before I could reply, Isaac interrupted. “It sounds like the two of you are talking about yourselves, and this is my day, so I was thinking it should all be about me, okay? Good. Okay.”
“Wait. What about me?” Walker said. “It’s my day too.”
“Yes, of course it is.” Isaac patted Walker’s chest as if placating him.
“Christ, I love you. Come dance with me.” He picked Isaac up, threw him over his shoulder, and made his way to the dance floor. Everything was all out of order with this day, but Isaac and Walker had said they didn’t care. They were doing this their way.
“Your mama would have loved him.” Amelia stepped up beside me. She and I met for coffee or lunch once a month. She shared a ton of stories about Mom, crazy things they used to do together, and more about my parents as a couple. I was lucky to have her in my life. Being close to her made me feel close to my biological mom, and I knew that no matter how much I loved my bio-mom, that didn’t take away from the mom who was there with us today.
“I wish she could have known Isaac. Also, don’t tell him how much she would have loved him. It would go straight to his head.”
Amelia laughed. “God, she would have gotten a kick out of you two.”
My chest felt full. “Thank you.”
She kissed me on the cheek and sneaked away.
It was all a whirlwind from there—dancing, laughter, food, speeches, cake, conversation. Mom and Dad talked about the trip Brody and I had made to San Francisco to see them a few months back, before asking, “When do you leave for Peru?”
Brody and I had plans to eventually travel all over the world together. We were starting with Machu Picchu. I wanted him to see everything. I wanted to see everything with him.
“Not for like four months,” Brody answered. “With O’Ralley & Mitchell just opening up, we didn’t feel right leaving yet.”
“That makes sense,” Dad replied. Then he and Big Daddy got into a conversation about business, and I knew we’d lost them for a while.
When the band played a slow song, the first one since Isaac and Walker’s dance, Brody stood up and held his hand out for me. “Dance with me?”
My chest squeezed, and I smiled. Christ, I loved him. “I thought you’d never ask.”
For the second time that day, Brody took my hand in his, this time leading me to the dance floor. Our arms wrapped around each other, my face in his neck, taking in his scent.
“You know,” Brody said, “sometimes I sit back and think that I can’t believe all this happened, but then I figure…our families were always supposed to be intertwined some way, ya know? Like it was laying the groundwork for this, for us.” Brody’s hand traveled up and down my back.