AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was with that thought that I met up with Mack at Town Hall later that day. She looked resplendent in a pearl-white peacoat and dark brown thigh-high boots. Her locs were piled on her head in an artfully messy yet understated way, and she wore natural-looking makeup.
She grinned once she saw me, waving enthusiastically as I approached. “So good to see you,” she said, bringing me in for a hug. “Glad my dumbass brother didn’t scare you away.”
I laughed. Mack had told me exactly what she thought of Nathan’s proposal when she whisked me away at her party.How obtuse,she had said, rolling her eyes.But also, on brand for Nathan and those of his ilk. Men!
“So what did you have in mind for today?” I asked.
She looked up at the facade of Town Hall as we walked up the rest of the staircase. “I just want you and I to go through this space together to see what we see,” she replied, holding the door open for me. “Nathan mentioned that you’re an artist, so I’m sure you’ve already planned out your dream wedding.”
If only you knew, I thought.
Like many girls, I had dreamed of a lavish wedding, complete with my own Prince Charming waiting for me at the end of the aisle. However, my dreams of a wedding never included a courthouse, and the Prince Charming I envisioned was very different from the one I’d be getting.
“I have,” I said carefully. “I even envisioned having it in either spring or summer. But spring in the Northeast can be…unpredictable.”
Mack snorted. “That’s one word for it. I was thinking more along the lines of god-awful.”
I giggled. “That, too.”
“But that’s okay.” Mack surveyed the room we were standing in, the main entrance. “Y’all can probably have the engagement party at Firehouse 61 or a restaurant in Boston, but what do you think about Town Hall for the wedding? I don’t know if you wanted to do it in Hemingway, but it might be the only place we can do it on such short notice. Nathan had mentioned that you two were getting married in May?”
“Yeah.” I avoided her eyes, hoping that the reason for such a short timeline wouldn’t come bursting out of me. I wasn’t horrible at keeping secrets, but I wasn’t great, either. “We could push it to the end of May, at best. We wanted to…reap the benefits of being married before I go to school in the fall.”
“‘Reap the benefits.’” Mack snorted again. “Girl, we grown. You can say you want to have sex with my brother as much as possible before you get busy with school.”
I blushed, more out of guilt for misleading her than actual embarrassment about mentioning sex with Nathan. And then, I blushed harder asIstarted thinking about having sex with Nathan.
“I didn’t want to make it awkward,” I said.
Mack raised an eyebrow. “Nathan already did that by proposing to you atmybirthday party. You know what people in town are saying about you two?”
I widened my eyes. “No, what?”
She sucked her teeth. “I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that people will be looking at your stomach throughout the ceremony to see if you’re showing.”
I sighed. “Town gossip.”
“Yup.”
We continued moving through the rooms, Mack throwing out ideas and me suggesting things as well. When we got to the end, Mack turned to me.
“So, let’s talk budget,” she said.
I grimaced. “I know the bride’s family traditionally pays for the wedding…”
Mack waved this away. “The Hemingways are paying for it, obviously,” she said. “Nathan’s the firstborn, and the first to get married; we have to go all out. And even if my mother hadn’t put aside money for each of us to get married, Nathan makes a good income at his company and would never allow you to pay for anything.”
After a moment, she added in a wry voice, “Or at least, he shouldn’t. But I suppose anything is possible.”
I laughed nervously.
“Anyway, the reason why I bring up the budget is less about the cost of things, but just to let you know that if you want, you can afford to hire a wedding planner,” she continued. “I know a person who would be perfect for this, but let me know if you have someone in mind.”
“No, go for it,” I encouraged.
“Okay, it’s my friend Sara Hayes, whom we all went to school with, and she’s fantastic,” she gushed. “Like yes, I wanted to do the walkthrough with you, just to see what you were thinking, but honestly, I think we should do one with her, as well.”
I blanched. I knew exactly who Sara was. She had been the mean girl of our graduating class, and she was popularandsmart. She graduated as our valedictorian and went to Harvard to study business, from what I’d heard.
