AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Only surprised, I think. Besides, they have no room to get upset. They’re no strangers to keeping secrets.” She looked down at her lap, then back up at him. “They’ve always loved you.”
She didn’t know, but after their big fight, Noah had promised her dad he’d look after her, especially during those months when they weren’t on speaking terms. Noah’s allegiance was to Mia first. Always. But every day he’d passed her parents in the waiting room of that hospital, Mia having put them on the unapproved visitor list, and the pain and worry etched on their faces had been more than he could bear.
He’d simply stopped in front of them one day and said, “I’ve got her.”
Her mom had started crying, and her dad had hugged him, while Noah stood stiffly with his arms at his sides. That was two years ago, and as far as he knew Mia had only spoken to them a handful of times since.
“Your mom’s gonna be pissed we didn’t have a real wedding,” Mia was saying. “And that she wasn’t invited to the courthouse.” She glanced behind her. “Think I can take the rest of those cinnamon rolls over as a peace offering?”
He straightened. “No. Those are mine.”
“I made two dozen.”
He locked eyes with her. “I don’t like to share.”
Her gaze held his for a beat, and he had no idea if she caught his double meaning. “Fine. But if she starts crying, that’s on you.”
“Of course she’ll cry. It’s my mom. But it’ll be because she’s so happy. I think she was losing hope for me.”
Mia’s face contorted and she put her elbows on the table, dropping her head in her hands. “Noah.”
“What?”
Her words came out muffled. “I’m going to break your mom’s heart.” She lifted her head and let her arms fall across each other on the wood. “When we eventually break up. It’s going to kill her.”
He sighed. “Yeah. It will.”
Mia looked so forlorn he almost laughed.
“Let me worry about that,” he said. “For now, think about how happy you’re about to make her. Isn’t a little temporary happiness better?”
She frowned. “Not always.”
Yeah, true.
Mia twisted around to look at the clock. “My parents will be up by now. I’m just gonna get this over with.”
She picked up her phone and tapped the screen before she put the phone up to her ear.
“Want to put them on speaker?” he asked. “Do it together?”
She looked at the ceiling as if in thought, then shook her head with a little scrunch of her nose. Suddenly her face cleared. “Hey, Dad. Is Mom around, too? I have some news.” She paused. “No, I’m fine. It’s nothing like that.”
Noah knew exactly how her dad felt in that moment. He constantly worried about her health, too.
“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.
