Page 66 of Shameless With Him

My dad laughed.

“That’s a wonderful way of putting it, pumpkin.” He kissed the top of my head again and then gestured towards the man standing on the other side of the hall.

“And if my eyes aren’t deceiving me, there’s another man that I should probably be talking to. About you?”

I blinked and shook my head. “That’s Caleb, Dad. You know Caleb.”

He nodded. “I do. And I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Should I get all big, bad dad on him?”

I froze but then laughed nervously. “Let’s not. We’re just, you know, friends.”

“I don’t want to know what that ‘you know’ means. However, he makes you happy. I can see that. So that makes me happy. But just know that if he changes that somehow, I will kill him. I have my ways. It would be long and painful, and no one would miss him.”

I actually didn’t know if my dad was joking at that point. “You know, you should probably leave Caleb and go give this talk to John. After all, he’s marrying your sweet baby girl.”

“He’s marrying one of my sweet baby girls.” He squeezed my shoulder again, and then let go. “I should go and see where I’m supposed to be. If not, I’m sure Lacey will tell me.” He rolled his eyes, and I laughed, shaking my head.

“Coast clear?” Caleb asked as he walked towards me.

“Were your ears burning?” I asked, laughing.

“Oh, not so much. More like every part of me because I saw the look your dad was giving me. He going to kill me?”

I shook my head and slid my arm around his waist. He held me close, and I did my best not to sigh like the Disney princesses that my friends tended to act like when they were thinking about their men.

I was not going to become them.

“He just wanted me to know that he would kill you for me if needed.”

“That’s nice.”

From the way that he spoke, I didn’t think that he thought that was nice at all. However, we didn’t have time to focus on what that meant, or what we meant, because the wedding rehearsal was about to start.

I said goodbye to Caleb and then went to Lacey’s side as she went through her notes and looked around.

“Okay, we’ll get this done. Marni, are you doing okay, doll?”

We all looked over at John’s sister, who currently sat on one of the chairs near us. She patted her very round belly.

“We’re doing just fine here. Still have a couple of weeks until the due date. Don’t worry.”

Lacey smiled, but I didn’t know if there was much glee in that grin. “Oh, I’m not worried. That baby will not be coming on Saturday.” She knocked on wood, and I swore threw salt over her shoulder. Where she got the salt? I had no idea. “You’ll be fine, and then, in a couple of weeks, we’ll welcome a new member to the family. Everything in a nice, logical order.”

I barely resisted the urge to look at my mother. Because I had a feeling my mom was probably praying right along with Lacey at that point.

A bridesmaid giving birth on or during the wedding probably wasn’t a good omen for anyone. But Marni looked fine, and we still had time.

“Okay now, this is how it’s going to go,” Lacey began, but before she could get too far into her tirade, John came around and dipped her into a very deep, nearly inappropriate kiss.

That sent titters through Lacey, and I smiled, unable to help myself.

“Well, hi,” Lacey said.

“Hey there. I just wanted to make sure you knew that I loved you. And I cannot wait for Saturday. Everything looks great, light and love of my life. This is going to be amazing, no matter what happens, because in the end, I’m going to be your husband and you’re going to be my wife. And nothing else in the world matters except for that. So, take a breath, and know that I love you. Okay?”

Tears were freely flowing down my cheeks as well as Lacey’s at that point. My mother sniffled, and I swallowed hard as Caleb handed over a tissue.

“Thanks,” I gasped, wiping my face. “Where did you get this?”

---