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“Hey, Mom. I’m fine. I, um, called to tell you both that...well, Noah and I got married yesterday.” She met his eyes and tucked her lips between her teeth as she listened.
What were they saying? He couldn’t hear yelling or screaming from where he sat, so that was good, right?
“I know. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing for us, too. The marriage, I mean. We’ve been, um, dating for a while now.” She widened her eyes and held up her free hand, fingers spread, as if asking if she was doing this right. He shrugged, and she kept going. “But we’ve just been friends for so long we weren’t sure how it was gonna go, and wanted to keep it between us for a while. Turns out I’ve never been happier, and when Noah suggested we get married, I said yes.”
“Oh sure, put it all on me,” he muttered.
She pursed her lips to hide a smile. Then, her face suddenly went pale. She locked eyes with him, and he tilted his head to the side, mouthing, “What?”
She swallowed. “Yes. I do. I love him.” Her voice got quieter with each word. “More than I ever thought possible.”
Noah stood, his chair scraping across the floor, and took his plate to the sink. His hands shook as he rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher. Mia continued talking, doing a damn good job convincing her parents she’d fallen for him and knew he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
They’d saidI love youto each other before, but only in the context ofI’ve known you forever and you’re one of my closest friends, not theI’m about to go out of my mind because I’m so crazy in love with youkind of way.
When it came to her, he’d felt both.
But he’d only ever shown her one. It was important it stayed that way.
And for the hundredth time in twenty-four hours, he wondered just what he’d gotten himself into.
On Sunday, they had lunch with his parents and told them the news.
His mom cried for a half hour.
His dad was pretty quiet about it, especially when they also mentioned Mia planned to quit her job at the firm to go back to school. Unease had spread down Noah’s spine, so he pulled his dad aside while his mom fussed over Mia.
“I know the timing is weird, but this is real, Dad. We’ve been talking about it for a while, and it made the most sense to get it done before she got caught up in school again.”
When his dad didn’t immediately reply, Noah quietly added, “I’ve always loved her.”
His dad looked at him silently for a few more seconds, then gave him a nod. “Then I’m happy for you.”
On Monday morning, they rode together to work. When she met him at the front of his car, she stopped and opened her palm.
“Should we...?”
“Yeah.” He took her hand and enjoyed the feel of her fingers curved around his entirely too much. He shouldn’t get used to this. Couldn’t.
When they reached her desk, she looked up at him with a small frown. “Coming to work together will make it difficult for me to mess with your office.”
“Guess you’ll have to get more creative, then.”
She arched an eyebrow, and he knew she’d definitely accept that challenge.
He disappeared into his office for a few hours, completely lost in a new shopping center design when a knock at his door startled him.
“Sorry,” came Julia’s amused voice.
He waved her in. “Don’t be.”
“You always lost all sense of time and place when designing.” She closed the door and walked forward. “Even in school.”
“I haven’t changed much.”
“I don’t know if I’d say that.”
She sat in the same chair as Mia had less than two weeks ago while they discussed the possibility of getting married. She stretched to eye his computer screen. “Whatcha working on?”
