AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Okay, then." He checks the time on his phone. "You haven't ingested solids in three hours. It's most likely that."
I smile. "It's totally that."
Wilby goes over and helps Polly get lunch on the table. We enjoy a delicious meal, talking and laughing the entire time. Istay quiet, content to soak in the homely, country atmosphere. It has nothing to do with inhaling triple the amount of food as everyone else in the same space of time, because, no, that hasn't changed. That will never change.
I'm also keen to get this show on the road.
"How about that drive?" I say, once Wilby and I have cleared the table.
"Do we have to go now?" he replies. "I was thinking I could show Brant and your dad?—"
"Yes," I squeak, my voice almost as high as the whistle that Polly's old-school kettle has when it's boiling. "I mean, yes, we do. Have to. Go now."
Wilby squints at me.
I scratch my chest. "Because the rain is forecast for later. So we should. Go now."
"Okaaay." He looks at me like I'm losing my mind, and he's not far off. And, fuck, if I'm this nervous just thinking about popping the question, how am I going to get through the proposal itself?
"I'll take your dad."
Now it's my turn to be confused. "You will?"
"Yeah." He looks over at my old man and smiles. "It'll be nice to have some one-on-one time together."
I look at Dad, and he seems down with it. "Sounds good to me."
"Fine. In that case, I'm taking Brant."
Wilby chuckles, and as he gives me a quick hug, uses the moment to whisper in my ear, "Not everything is a competition, Col."
"Oh, but it is," I tease back.
His eyes flash with something I can't quite decipher, but since I'm more eager to get moving than to query if he's up to anything, I let it go.
Wefinallytake off.
Wilby takes Dad in the Land Rover, I take Brant in the second love of my life, a shiny new black Jeep, and the sisters take Polly and the kids.
"How are you feeling?" Brant asks the second we get in.
I blow out a massive breath and sag against the seat. "Like my insides want out of my body."
"That's…a gross visual but understandable. Even though, come on, you have to know he'll say yes, right?"
I start the car and pull out behind Katrina. "Yeah, it's not that. It's the bigness of it, you know? Getting married really means something. It does for me, and I know it does for him, too. It's a huge step."
"But the right one."
I look over and smile at my bestie. "Totally the right one."
"You know, I should be mad at you," he says.
"Why?"
"I only let you come to Australia for a year. And now we've lost you forever."
I laugh. "Karma bit you in the ass, my friend."
