Page 77 of Lightness In My Dark

“Yeah. Mom and dad took us there a few times. Mom just wanted to go because of the name. I’m game.” Cole agreed. “Cora?” She nodded. “Wren?”

“Sounds like fun. I’m always up for some Lindsey time and I’d like to learn more about Cora.”

We stuffed ourselves with breakfast and loaded into one of the SUVs, so we could go together. I drove there with Wren in the passenger seat. We held hands, stealing glances, humming to the music. Her phone buzzed. It was her friend Emily, and Wren warned her she was on speaker phone.

“Hey everyone. I’m Wren’s favorite friend. Hey, Finn, how’s it going?”

“Good, Emily. How about you?”

“Fabulous! I’m calling to see if we can kidnap Wren.”

Wren spoke. “Sure. What’s up?”

“Well, your birthday is in a couple of weeks, so we were hoping to get together next weekend.”

Shit!I forgot to look or ask Wren about her birthday. I had nothing for her.

Wren asked, “The entire weekend?”

“Yes! We haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“How about we make it a big party? You, Jessica, Madison, Natalie, and—” she turned in her seat— “Lindsey.”

“Sounds good.”

Wren told her to hold on as she pressed the mute button and asked, “Can the party be at the house?”

I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it. “Anything you want, love.”

“Are you sure?” I reassured her. “If it’s nice, could we take the boat out?”

“Wren, whatever you want. I’m okay with it.” She kissed my cheek.

Unmuting the phone, she said, “All right, next weekend it is. You all can sleep over. Depending on the weather, we can go on a boat ride.”

Emily yelped. “I love it!” She gave smooches into the phone. “Jessica is going to die. She loves boats. We will bring what we can.”

I cut in and said, “No worries about food and drinks, Emily. We got it covered.”

“Are you sure? I make a mean ass Long Island Iced Tea.”

“If that’s something you want to drink, it’s fine, but we’ll have plenty of food and alcohol for the weekend.”

“You know, Finn, if you ever tire of crazy Wren, I’m here for you.” This amused everyone.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Wren smacked my arm. “Hey! Don’t be making moves on my man.”

“Never. Sisterhood is sacred. All right, bitch, I’ll let you go and call you during the week to finalize things.”

The call ended, and Wren wiggled in her seat with excitement. I loved seeing her happy, and she had spent little time with her friends. I wanted to make the weekend special, along with planning something for the day of her birthday. Our relationship was due for some uneventful drama.

Once we got to Mystic Wish, we piled out, and I took Wren’s hand in mine as we made our way through the maze of people. It was a balloon festival, honoring the first release in 1784. Booths of all types of products lined the streets decorated in an assortment of sizes and colored balloons. Food stands scattered the area outside the opened stores.

Wren, Cora, and Lindsey dipped into some stores while Cole, Carter, and I people watched. We reminisced about going to Mystic Wish as kids. The crowd seemed bigger than I remembered with our parents. When the women entered a home décor boutique, I went in because I recalled it being one of my mother’s favorites. Carter and I picked up items we assumed our mom would buy. Wren was whispering in a corner with Lindsey. I inched closer.

In a low voice, Wren asked, “How many bridesmaids did you have, and what gifts did you get them?”

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