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Later, she grabbed Maggie. “I hope you don’t feel like he was trying to upstage the proceedings.”
“He cleared it with Justin first, sweetheart. And I’m happy the focus was finally off me. I’m never getting married again, no matter how hot the guy is.”
“Oh God, you’re impossible,” Annie said, laughing. The women hugged, another milestone in their lives reached now that Maggie and Justin were married. They could move on.
Out in the corral, Dave and Katrina stood in their finest clothes, drinking champagne and sharing a plate of decadent hors d’oeuvres that Dave had balanced on a fence post.
“Are you sure you won’t marry me?” Dave asked, looking sad.
“Oh, baby, I love you. But no. We’ve never been married. We don’t need to get married. Look at Chris and Annie; it will be a second marriage for them. It’s Maggie’s second marriage. I like that I’m committed to you for life and we don’t need a wedding. Frankly, a wedding scares me.”
“Why? Make me understand.”
“We just don’t need it. I completely trust you, Dave. You’re my dream lover.”
“Aw, I feel the same way about you, but I still want to get married.”
“Well, get over it,” she said, and he barked out a laugh.
“I’ll try. Boy, I love you, Katrina.”
“I love you, too, Dave. What’s next?”
“I say let’s ditch this place and go make a baby.”
“Don’t you want to wait until Ash Wednesday?” Katrina asked.
“Oh, right, because of Lent. Well, let’s go practice making a baby, then.”
They put their hands up and hooked their pinky fingers and then leaned in for a kiss.
“Don’t we have to say goodbye?” Katrina asked.
“Then we’re outta here.”
He held out his arm for her, and they went back into the house to find Maggie and Justin.
That night at Bayou Cottage, Mr. and Mrs. Justin Chastain sat on the porch with glasses of wine, looking out at the huge pine tree Maggie had strung Christmas lights upon for the third year in a row. Only this time, she had done it with Justin holding the ladder.
“I can’t believe Christmas is four days away,” Justin said. “Do you feel ready?”
“Not really. But I’m excited about it this year because of what it will mean for the baby. She knows what’s going on, for sure. She’s interested in the tree, but she didn’t tear it down. Katrina said Davie is mesmerized by their tree and they were worried they’d have to enclose it with a moat.”
While Maggie talked, she sat with her knees bent, feet up on the edge of the chair, and it was making Justin go a little nutty, the position was so provocative.
“Are you going to use my last name?” Justin asked, trying not to stare at her crotch.
“Oh God, you’re not going to start that now, are you?” she asked, faux swooning. “I married you, Justy. Let it go at that.”
“Hear me out.”
“Oh, no,” she cried, throwing her head back and laughing. “You exemplify giving an inch and taking a mile.”
He grinned at her, once again amused at his beloved trying to keep control of her life. “What if we hyphenate our names?”
“You mean, you’d be Justin Angel Chastain and I’d be Maggie Chastain Angel?”
“Something like that,” he said, snickering.
