Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
I’m between my brothers at the altar, with my sister taking her careful steps up to the stage, and I can’t stop staring at Anna. I feel the longing solidify into realization: I want our marriage to be real. Marrying her for student housing was the most impulsive thing I’ve ever done, and it turns out it might have been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
The sunset washes her skin in gold and our eyes meet. She smiles, laughing through her tears, and just like that, I know. I’m going to ask her to move in with me. I’ll move her father close, too, if that’s what it takes. She can paint all day, every day, for the rest of our lives. I’m so swept up with this version of forever that I’m startled when the audience breaks into applause and Kellan steps forward, lifting Charlie’s windblown veil and kissing her with sweet reverence.
The standard wedding mayhem follows: photos with the blazing sky as a backdrop, flutes of champagne passing from hand to hand, greeting everyone as if we haven’t all been together on an island for nine days. The party moves to a gossamer tent with the moon and stars visible overhead; the orchestra plays gentle renditions of pop songs, letting the crash of the waves take center stage. Everything is lit by candlelight and the chandeliers overhead. A six-tier cake is carried in, smooth with white fondant, a brush of gold leaf and an asymmetric swag of sugared orchids. Guests mingle and sample caramelized figs with bacon and chili, roasted oysters, and crème fraîche tarts dotted with caviar. They drink champagne by the gallon and talk about the splendor of the event, but I’m not interested in any of it. I have Anna Green in my arms.
I’m sure I look like a lovesick idiot, but I truly do not care. How did I not notice this perfect woman years ago when she was just across the hall?
“That wedding was beautiful,” she says now, looking up at me. Half of her hair is pulled back, loose and wavy from the salt air. Her skin is warm in the humidity, her cheeks pink after two glasses of champagne. “And absurd.”
“It was absolutely both.”
“You know, you were supposed to be paying attention to the bride.”
“Then you shouldn’t have worn that dress.”
She laughs and threads her fingers into the hair at the nape of my neck. “I think this dress is the most inexpensive thing Vivi packed, and yet it’s my favorite.”
“I can see why. You look like a sunset.”
Emotion swells in my chest, eager and demanding. I should ask her to move in with me now. It’s sudden—it’s crazy—but it’s right.
“Anna.”
She turns her eyes up to me. “Mmm?”
My heart speeds up, not because I’m nervous, but because I’m ready. “There’s something I need to—”
“Mr. Weston? Excuse me, Liam?”
We both turn at the sound of a voice to my left. Ellis.
Anna and I step apart a little. “Oh. Ellis—this is Anna. My wife. Anna, this is Ellis Sikora from Forbes.”
I don’t miss the way her expression crashes, and I feel it, too, the unwelcome invasion of reality into our night. “Hello.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” he says, but he doesn’t leave. An empty apology.
I lift my brows, waiting.
“I was just speaking to your father.” Ellis looks to me, then to Anna, and back to me again. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
My first thought—an insane one—is that he somehow knows I’m going to ask Anna to move in with me.
“Congratulations…?” I ask.
“Your father mentioned that he’ll begin the three-year transition process to retirement. And that you’ll be coming on board, eventually taking over as CEO.”
Anna’s attention presses like a red-hot iron rod to the side of my face.
“He said this?” I ask.
Ellis nods. “It’s unconventional. But I think your education and in particular your focus on corporate microcultures is exactly what Weston’s needs. A positive step toward a modern workforce. I’d love to dig into that, how you plan on amplifying employee engagement and shaping the corporate culture under your leadership. Do you have plans to transition back over the next few months?”
I scan the room for my father. He’s standing on the far side of the tent, surrounded by his sycophants, but the moment I spot him, our eyes lock. He’d been watching, waiting for this. With a small smile, he raises his glass to me.
“We haven’t discussed a plan,” I say, and then clear my throat. “There are a lot of steps we’ve skipped here.”
“Your father is confident the board won’t present a problem,” he says. “And I understand why you had to play coy. Can’t let this kind of thing out early, can we?”
I glance to Anna. She looks as annoyed as I feel.
“I knew your grandfather,” Ellis adds, jerking my attention back. “He would be proud to see you at the helm, Liam.”