AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Can you talk to him too?” she asked, her eyes widening with hope. “And maybe tell him I don’t want to go shopping and stuff with Hayley so he won’t make me?”
“Absolutely,” I assured her, the knot of tension that had been building in my chest finally starting to loosen when I said I’d put her at ease.
I would most definitely do that for my little girl, and I’d make damn sure Keith abided by that rule.
20
HARDIN
Aknock on my office door drew my attention away from my computer screen. I looked up and smiled at Asher standing in the doorway.
“Hey,” I greeted. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you to come in today.”
Her face split wide with a smile so big, I could nearly see all her teeth. “I wanted to surprise you. I have some news?”
“Yeah? What news?”
“This.” She thrust her left hand in my direction to show off the rock sitting on her ring finger.
“Oh my god,” I squealed as I shot to my feet and rushed around the desk. I snatched her hand and bent to get a better look. “Oh my god! You’re engaged!”
“I’m engaged!” she returned, and the two of us collapsed into a hug.
I grabbed her arms and pushed her back to see her face. “You know what this means? We’ll officially be sisters!”
Then I yanked her back into the hug and we jumped in place as we clung to each other.
“I can’t believe this,” I said once we broke apart. “I mean, I can totally believe it, actually. My brother is crazy in love with you.” Tears suddenly formed in my eyes, glazing over my vision. “I’m just so happy for you,” I said on a sniffle. “For both of you. You guys deserve this.”
Asher took my hands in hers and squeezed. “And you’ll be a bridesmaid, right? Please say yes. I can’t imagine getting married without you standing up there with us.”
“Are you kidding? Of course I will! I mean, as long as you don’t pick ugly dresses.”
I led her to the chairs in front of my desk, and we each took a seat.
“And I want Hazel to be the flower girl. We still don’t have a date or a place or any of that crucial stuff, but I wanted to get those two requests out of the way.”
“You can count on us being there for the big day, Ash. But first, I want to hear everything. Tell me how he proposed.” Before she could speak, my hand shot up to stop her as soon as I realized what I said. “Everything except any sexy times, because gross. That’s my brother and I really don’t want to hear that.”
She laughed and filled me in on the whole story, nixing the not-so-safe-for-work parts, of course, and by the time she was finished, we were both misty-eyed all over again. I had to give my big brother props, he’d done right by his woman.
“We had to tell your folks right afterward, of course.”
I let out a snort and rolled my eyes, mimicking, “Of course. My mom would have skinned Owen alive if they weren’t the first to find out about your engagement.”
“It was late by the time we were finished celebrating.” She waggled her eyebrows, and I made a gagging noise. “I would have called you, but I didn’t want to wake you up. Aside from the parents, you’re officially the first to know. I’m telling the rest of the girls later today at rehearsal.”
“Well, you know if you need any help planning your big day, I’m there. Just name the time and place and I’ll bring the wine.”
“I’m going to hold you to that. And speaking of parents, when I called my mom last night to share the news, she said something interesting.”
The look Asher gave me made my back go straight. I loved Jolene Rose like crazy, she was a hilarious new-age hippie who owned a shop in town. The Modern Bohemian sold everything from tarot cards to essential oils. She was never afraid to tell it how it was, but several months back, she’d claimed that she had a vision or something in regard to my romantic life.
I’d honestly forgotten all about it until that very moment, but she’d actually claimed that the love of my life was destined to be one of Owen’s friends. He’d flipped out at the time, claiming none of his friends were good enough, and I’d laughed it off as Jolene simply being Jolene, but now...
“Um, wh-what did she say?” I asked, fidgeting with my hands in my lap.
Asher’s brow furrowed as she relayed the message. “She said to tell you, I told you so, and that you’d understand what she means.” She shook her head in confusion while I felt all the blood drain from my face. “I didn’t get it. Do you?”
