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I’m at a stoplight when my phone buzzes and I get a text from Lolly.
As soon as I see it, I do a U-turn and rush home.
* * *
“There’s five of them,” Lolly says, clasping her hands over her heart as she greets me. “Oh, Chase. They’re the most adorable little things.”
I smile as I pull her into a hug. “How’s our mama cat doing?”
“She seems good. Everything seems all right, from what I can tell.”
“I’m glad.”
Lolly’s beaming smile fades as she studies my face. “Oh, no. What’s wrong? Did your brothers not take the news well?”
“We can talk about it later,” I say, not wanting to ruin the happy moment.
“No, let’s talk now. I can tell you’re upset.”
“Really, Lolly, it’s fine?—”
“No, it’s not.” She takes me by the hand and pulls me over to her couch so we can sit down. “Now tell me what happened.”
It feels good to talk about it with her, even though it’s hard to admit that my brothers weren’t supportive. As I tell her about their responses, Lolly nods and listens thoughtfully.
“I’m so sorry, Chase. It must hurt, them reacting like that.”
“I just don’t get it,” I say, sighing. “Both Wyatt and Mason have had these crazy whirlwind experiences over the past few weeks. But now that it’s happening to me, it’s unacceptable for some reason.”
“Maybe they’re jealous that you’re getting married before them.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Or it might be because they don’t know me,” she says. “It’s probably hard for them to accept you having a serious relationship with someone they’ve never even met.”
“I’ve talked about you, though,” I point out.
She smiles. “You have?”
“Well…okay. Fine. Only in the context of you being my tenant, I guess.”
She laughs. “See? Of course they think it’s crazy that we’re getting married. With Wyatt and Macy, all of you have known her for years because your families are friends. And with Mason and Haley, they’ve been best friends forever so you guys have known her for a super long time, too. You and I might have spent the last three years getting to know each other, but your family really doesn’t have any idea who I am.”
Her argument makes sense. A lot of sense, actually. Now that I think about it more, if I was in my brothers’ shoes, I probably would have reacted exactly how they did.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I say, exhaling a long breath.
“So…what do you think?” says Lolly. “Should we delay the wedding for a little while so I can get to know your family first? Would that help?”
“I’m sure it would help. But…fuck, Lolly. I just want to be married to you already.”
She laughs and crawls onto my lap, straddling me. “I want to be married to you, too. But a little delay won’t kill us. We’ve waited three years to be with each other. We can wait a little longer.”
8
LOLLY
The next morning, I wake to the sound of faint, persistent tapping. Groggy and confused, I blink awake and look over at the man beside me in bed.
