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“No way, Al! I’m not gonna ask you to do that.”
“Yes, you absolutely are!”
“Bruce and I certainly don’t mind coming back tomorrow and doing it. We can have it done before you get back from the hotel.”
“Ellen’s right,” Bruce agreed, dropping his arm over his wife’s shoulders and pulling her close. “You kids head off and enjoy the rest of your night.”
“If you’re sure...”
“We’re sure, son. Go.”
Matt smiled at Zara and I could almost feel the heat in his gaze from where I was standing. “Well…okay. Thanks.”
The next twenty minutes passed in a flurry of activity as guests realized the bride and groom were getting ready to leave. I hung back, giving them space to say their goodbyes and when it was finally my turn, I hugged Zara tight, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I love this for you. All of it. You deserve it so much,” I said, my voice low in her ear.
“Thank you, Ally.” She squeezed me for a long moment before finally letting go, allowing Matt to pull her away toward his truck. They both burst out laughing when they realized that his Dodge Ram had been completely covered in shaving cream, confetti and toilet paper.
“Wow, thanks everyone. I think I know who might be responsible for this.” Matt squinted hard at Jake.
“I might have had something to do with it, but I didn’t work alone.”
“I’ll bet.” Matt opened the truck door carefully and helped Zara inside, gave us all a wave as he moved to the driver’s side, climbed in, and started the engine. As he eased the car toward the gate, the tin cans that were tied to the rear bumper under a ‘Just Married’ sign rattled against the gravel drive.
Once they’d gone, it seemed natural for everyone else to leave too. It was an agonizing few minutes and I couldn’t bring myself to look at Gabe. My nervousness had kicked into high gear and having to pretend I was just waiting for everyone to leave before heading to bed in the little guest house wasnothelping.
I said goodbye to my parents, feeling weirdly guilty as they expressed concern about me staying at the guest house alone. My dad even offered to stay as well, which, you know, wasn’t awkward. At all. “Dad, I’ll be fine. I’ve stayed in the guest house plenty of times.”
“Yes, but that was always when someone was in the main house.” My mom looked worried.
It was cute they were so caring, but they really needed to go. Now. “It’s completely fine. I’ll lock up tight, don’t stress.” I totally didn’t mean the edge of irritation in my voice, but my mom caught it and blinked at me in surprise.
“Fine. If you say so.”
“I do, but thank you for caring.” I stepped forward, gave her a big hug, and whisperedI love youbefore pulling away and giving her a reassuring smile. Then I turned to my father. “Bye, Dad.”
“Bye,tesorrucia.See you tomorrow.”
“Great job on the food, by the way.” My mom and dad owned a restaurant in New Bern and as our family wedding present to Zara and Matt they’d catered the wedding. I’d done the desserts.
Dad patted my cheek and took Mom’s hand, leading her to the car. Gabe stood next to me as they drove away, and I could feel the pull of him. It made me want to shoot daggers his way, but I plastered a smile on my face when Matt’s parents approached us to say good night.
“You’ll be all right here by yourself?”
Not her as well.I almost had to squeeze my eyes shut to stop from rolling them. “Of course, Ellen. I’ll lock the door. Plus, I’ve got your number, and if anything goes wrong, you’re only two minutes away.”
“Hmph. Gabe, will you make sure she’s safe before you head off?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, sure. Of course.”
“Great. Well, you must be tired after such a big day. You look so beautiful in that dress, you’ll be sad to take it off.”
Okay, I blushed. I actually blushed. Ineverblush. Thank fuck it was too dark in the driveway for them to see. “Yeah, I guess.” That sounded completely lame, but I didn’t know what else to say.
“Anyway, good night. We’ll see you both tomorrow. Not too early, though. My feet need rest.”
“Fair enough. Good night.” We saw off the last few stragglers, then it was just me and Gabe, standing in the dark garden, a half-moon bathing the trees in pale light. “Um, yeah, so I’ll just go get my car keys.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
