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Seeing that no others were inside, I asked, “What’s the fastest we’ve ever put together a wedding?”
Pressing buttons on the coffee machine, she slid me a quick glance. “Hmm, I don’t know, birthday girl. Probably a week, maybe less. We have a potential client who’s in a rush to get married, I take it.”
I propped my hip against the black, granite countertop. “He wants the ceremony done asap.”
As the machine in front of her whirred to life, she asked, “Anyone I know?”
“Yes. It’s Dax Mercier.”
She whirled to face me so fast it was a wonder she didn’t stagger and fall. Her expression turning all soft, she rested a hand on my shoulder. “Aw, sweetie. I’m guessing that can’t be the easiest thing to hear. I mean, I know you’re not holding a candle for him, but your hormones must be devastated. Who’s the bride? Anyone we know?”
I scratched at my neck. “It’s me.”
“What’s that now?”
“It’s me. I’m the bride.”
She gawked at me, her hand sliding off my shoulder as her arm flopped to her side. “He proposed to you?”
“Don’t think it was a romantic proposal,” I cautioned. “We made a dumb pact when we were mid-fling that we’d marry if both unattached when I hit thirty.”
Her brows met. “How come you never said anything about it to me?”
“I wasn’t being serious. I didn’t think he was either.”
Her eyes narrowing in suspicion, she folded her arms. “He asked this of you when you went to his office last week, didn’t he? That’s why you were acting weird.”
I braced one hand on the counter, careful not to knock over the box of teabags. “Yes.”
“And you said nothing to mewhy?”
“I hadn’t decided whether I’d go through with it at that point. I told him I needed time to think. He said he’d give me a week. I would have run it by you if I’d thought you’d contribute objective pros and cons. But all you would have done is urge me to go through with it because that’s whatyou’dhave done in my shoes.”
“Well, we only live this life once. We might as well pounce on every opportunity given.”
I shot her a meaningful look. “See?”
She huffed. “Did you tell anyone else?”
“Only Alicia and Brooks. I knew they’d keep it to themselves.”
“I’m your BFF, but I’m the third to know?” Looking like she’d trapped a wasp in her mouth, she shook her head hard.
“I needed to talk to someone who’d help me work out what was the best thing for me to do,noturge me to push aside my hesitations. But I’m telling you now.” I straightened. “Not even Dax knows I’m going to marry him yet. You’re learning of it before him.”
That seemed to placate hereverso slightly. “You’re really going to do this?”
“I might not have if he hadn’t made such a compelling argument as to why I should. But I’ve done a lot of thinking and, well, it boils down to this: Like him, I don’t think I’ll find what I once lost. If that is the case, it means I’ll be ‘settling’ when I choose who to build a life with anyway, so is it worth waiting for this person to appear in my life? Especially when there’s a possibility I might not find them until it’s too late for me to have children?”
“When you put it that way, I guess not.”
“In Dax, I won’t have a husband who loves me. But I’ll be able to count on him in other ways. We have a connection of sorts—it’s only sexual, sure, but maybe we can build on that. Also, we both want the same things, and I know he won’t be a deadbeat dad. And, well, what’s the worst that could happen if we went through with it and it didn’t work out? We’d later get divorced.” That was it. People “in love” did that, too, so …
A reluctant smile pulled at one corner of her mouth. “I can see that you’ve really thought this through. If it’s truly what you want, I’m behind you. But let’s be honest … Ollie and your parents won’t be happy about it.”
“No, they won’t,” I agreed. “I’m planning to announce it at my birthday barbecue later.” My parents were holding it at their home. “I have no doubt I’ll receive negative reactions from several corners. But I have Alicia’s support, and now yours. I think Harri will back me, though she might be hesitant at first.”
“Tamara will be behind you, too. Purely because I am. As for Marleigh and my parents? I can’t be sure how they’ll react.”
