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“And you like that about him?” Whitney asked.
“I don’t know. Everyone has their faults, Whitney. Even me. But that doesn’t negate what he did for me while my mother was dying. All the flights he paid for, and the funeral he helped me plan. When I figured out my mom didn’t have life insurance, he stepped in without a second thought. He paid off the house so it wouldn’t rest on my shoulders and paid for the funeral.”
“If you like money, them O’Conner brothers got a ton of it,” Lizzie said.
“I get it. I know where you stand. You want me to end up with one of them, but that’s not happening.”
“Why not?” Whitney asked.
“Well for one, I’m an engaged woman. Two, they’re my brother’s friends. And three, they could have snagged me years ago but that never happened. It wasn’t meant to be.”
“Come on, you were hardly legal and on your eighteenth birthday you were ready to jet off to New York. Can’t blame them for not wanting to get locked up or get their teeth knocked in by your brother. You know how protective that boy is. Plus, you were a lot to handle,” Lizzie said.
“I wasn’t that bad in high school,” I said.
“You were a firecracker. Super competitive. A girl like you was too much for one man to handle.” Lizzie said.
“I didn’t know you in high school, but I can vouch for that, too. When I met you freshman year of college, you were the center of the party,” Whitney said.
“Things change. People change. Look, I don’t want to hop into the arms of another man. I’m only wondering if I should be hopping into the arms of this man,” I said.
“He changed ya,” Lizzie said. “You’re way more timid. You ain’t the same girl I knew.”
“High school was seven years ago. I hope I’m not the same person,” I said.
“He did change you,” Whitney agreed with Lizzie.
“Losing my mother changed me,” I said.
“Look, you wanted our opinion, so there it is,” Lizzie said. “Don’t marry the man. He’s an asshole.”
“This shouldn’t be news to you, but that man checks out women while you’re right there. He’ll be the first to cheat on you and the last to feel bad about it. Don’t think you have to marry him because he threw some money around and was there when your mother passed. You don’t owe him anything.”
“He’s never cheated on me. If he had, we’d never be here. And, Michael was there during the hardest time of my life,” I said. “I owe him a lot.”
“You don’t owe no man shit,” Lizzie said. “That’s another way he’s changed ya. Got you hangin’ in there like a hair on a biscuit ‘cause he’s got you thinkin’ you owe him shit.”
“A hair on a biscuit? Are you for real?” Whitney asked.
“Welcome to Texas, sweet cheeks,” Lizzie said with a grin.
I knew they were right, but my mind was swirling too much to say anything. It was my rehearsal dinner the night before my wedding, and I was beyond nervous. I was getting cold feet. That was all this was. There was no way in hell I was making the wrong decision. Michael was a good man. Lizzie and Whitney mea
nt well, but they didn’t know him like I did.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get back out there.”
“Told ya,” Lizzie said.
“Told you what?” I asked.
“I bet Whitney here twenty bucks you’d still go out there and get yourself married,” Lizzie said.
“Really, Whitney? Gambling’s illegal in the State of Texas,” I said.
“Glad to see that bar exam did you some good,” Whitney said with a smile. “But Lizzie was right. I figured us talking to you would snap some sense into that head of yours.”
“Can we just try to get through this?” I asked.
