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He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
I kick his boot with one of mine. “Jack Dunne, don’t tease me.”
“I’m not teasing! Some things are just better left unsaid.” I roll my eyes, and he leans in closer. “It’s about the wedding.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Now you have my attention.”
He looks over my palm. “Your palm says planning a wedding sounds like a nightmare and we should just get married at the fecking registry office on Monday.”
“Hmm.” We’ve been engaged for a month, and I’m already sick of people asking me about the wedding. “Good idea, hand. Count me in.”
He grins, then eyes my hand again. “It also says your fiancé is scared of your sister finding out there won’t be a ceremony and that you should be the one to tell her.”
“Clara’s so focused on kicking med school’s ass that she won’t notice.”
Jack laughs. “Don’t be ridiculous, Lorraine.”
“You’re right. But I’ll only tell Clara if my fiancé agrees to tell a certain party planner he is related to first.”
Jack hisses. “I dunno about that. Your hand says no one should tell Nina. Oh, and it also says your new Christmas tree is waiting for you upstairs.”
Jack laughs when I can’t help but dance a little in my seat. He leans away but keeps my hand in his. “I’m glad you’re home,” he says.
After the last few weeks of traveling, it’s nice to be here in this place that’s mine, where I belong, where I can be myself with someone who understands me and likes me just the way I am. With a pub full of people who don’t wish I was someone else.
“Me too.”
Jack fiddles with the coaster in front of him. Spins it once, twice, then stops it. “Did you mean it? About getting married on Monday?”
I look him over. He seems like he really wants to know. And why shouldn’t I marry him on Monday? I’ve never been one for planning anything. I don’t understand why people wait so long after already deciding to be together. And besides, after two years of traveling, I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing exactly what I want.This is awful fast, the voice of reason warns. But I tell the voice of reason to suck it. Sometimes one beetle recognizes another, and it doesn’t matter if it’s been five minutes or five years.
And this Jack... I lovehim.
April
Twenty-Nine
Jack
When Raine peers over the wall into the canal, my instinct is to grab her by the sleeve and pull her upright so she doesn’t fall into the river. She turns over her shoulder and flashes me a smile, and I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I’m in Tokyo with her.
“It is pink! Come look,” she says.
Don’t go over there. What if you push her over the side? What if she falls into the river?
Good thing she knows how to swim, I tell my OCD.
The park is filled with people. I stand beside Raine. She loops her arm through mine and pulls me tight to her side, resting her head on my shoulder. When I peer into the water, I see that she’s right, most of it is pink, transformed by a flurry of cherry blossoms.
“Are you okay?” she says.
Raine travels on her own all the time, but we’ve visited a few places together—London was the first. Then Paris. I went to Boston for Thanksgiving and met her parents. But this is the biggest trip we’ve done. All of them have been hard, but the good has outweighed the bad. I’ve done more than I ever thought I could.
“My OCD suggests I’m going to push you over the edge of this bridge and into the river,” I tell her.
Raine laughs, and it makes me smile. “Well, tell your OCD that if you do, I’m taking you with me.”
“We’d be quite the spectacle, wouldn’t we?”
