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I chuckled, and tears pooled in the corner of my eyes. “We couldn’t have that, of course. And yes, I will marry you.”
He helped me into my strapless chiffon dress that was white with streaks of pink, and a pair of silver peep-toe pumps. I went outside on my husband’s arm, feeling like a million bucks. Who’d have thought that screaming like a deranged person could actually make me feel so much better?
“Could everyone make it on such short notice?” I asked, after he explained that it had been a surprise party.
“Yes. Well, almost everyone.”
I wondered who was missing, but didn’t have the time to dwell on it, because suddenly I found myself in the middle of a group hug. Tommie was there, and Elena, and my entire girls’ night posse surrounded me, hugging me close, and reminding me why I loved it here so much.
The last one to approach us was Evie. She looked at Kristoff with unease with, but she did congratulate us. I was happy to see she had decided to stay after all. I hadn’t missed the tension between her and Yuri though.
“What happened between you two?” I asked.
Evie bit her bottom lip. “Remember how we talked when you were in Moscow and you told me I should engage more with people…”
“Yes…”
“Well, I was kind of horsing around the pool with Zoe and Mary, when I pushed Yuri into the water.”
My eyes widened. “No!”
When Kristoff scoffed, I elbowed him.
Evie nodded, looking miserable. “I didn’t know he can’t swim. So then he had to get rescued, and I think I hurt his pride or something, because he hasn’t spoken to me since.”
Yuri was sensitive about his nonexistent swimming skills. I suspected there was a story behind his refusal to learn how to swim, but I hadn’t asked. He simply clamped shut whenever I hinted at it.
I patted Evie’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Yuri’s like a big teddy bear. He could never stay mad for long.”
She gave me a dubious look, shrugged, and walked away. One crisis was averted as another one raised its head.
“Where the hell are those crazy twins?” Hector roared, as came down the steps to the back veranda.
Kristoff burrowed his head in the crook of my neck. “I think Zoe’s birthday present just got delivered to his house.”
I whispered back, ”He doesn’t sound very happy with it. Please tell me it wasn’t something inappropriate like a nuclear survival kit for kids.”
“If only.”
When Hector didn’t spot the twins, he came over to us. “Where the hell are they? They need to take back their damn pet before Zoe sees it.”
Kristoff smirked. “To be fair, Damondidask if he should cancel the giraffe, and you didn’t say yes.”
Hector looked murderous. “The ‘hell yes’ was implied with my middle finger.”
“Alas, that’s what you get when using subtext,” Kristoff egged him on. “Sometimes the translation gets lost.”
“They gave baby Bugsy to Zoe?” I asked, just to be sure.
“There’s nothing ‘baby’ about that animal.”
“Damon rescued poor Bugsy from smugglers,” I tried to explain, but Hector already shook his head.
“I don’t give a shit if he gave birth to it. Where the fuck am I supposed to keep a freaking giraffe?” Then he scowled at his brother. “If you say in the new barn I’m supposed to build for the pony, I will deck you, wedding or not. You know what? I will find them myself,” Hector growled and stomped off.
I barely kept in my laugh. “Speaking of the twins, where are they?”
He encircled me in his arms, grabbed his phone, and showed me a picture. The twins appeared to be somewhere underground, like in a club, and looked very smug.
