Page 31 of Gracefully Yours

“Yeah, it’s me. I have some news for you. I’m getting married.”

“To who?”

I cleared my throat. “You know Charlotte, right? Charlotte Reynolds?”

“Angelina’s friend?”

“She’s my friend too,” I grumbled.Best friend.And soon to be my wife.

He grunted. “About time, son. Have you set a date yet?”

I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see the motion over the phone. “Char wants to have a winter wedding though, and we don’t want to wait until next year, so…”

“Oh. Well, son… Why don’t you use the ranch?”

“Are you sure, Dad?” I loved his place. Sure, he’d bought it after his divorce from mom, and both Angelina and I’s relationships were strained with both of them, but this offer… “I know that’s a lot to ask. I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Of course. Tea has a friend who’s a wedding planner. She’ll be all over this. Just pick a date, and we’ll see what we can do.”

“That sounds perfect. And, if you can hold off mentioning it to Angelina? We haven’t told our friends about the engagement yet, but I want to tell her myself.”

He made a humming noise. “Sure. Have you thought about your honeymoon yet, son?”

I froze. “Um, I’m… not sure yet.” I’d had a hard enough time keeping my hands off of Charlotte when we had shared a room over the summer. We’d clarified some things about our relationship, but the one thing we hadn’t touched on in this arrangement was the physical aspect. Sure, we’d already slept together once, but… Would she even want a traditional honeymoon? “We might wait until summer.”

That way, it would be warm. Knowing her, she’d be happy with us flying to Orlando and going to Disney World.

“Well, you’ll want to do something nice to surprise your girl. I took Tea to Hawaii, you know. It was beautiful.”

My girl.God. I liked how that sounded.

“I’ll think about it. Listen, Dad, I have to go, but thanks for offering us the ranch. I’ll talk to Charlotte and let you know.”

“No problem, son. Talk to you soon.”

I hung up with my dad, wondering if I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t take her somewhere.

Daniel

Dad said we could use his house out in Damascus for the wedding. He and Teresa said they’d be happy to host us.

Charlotte

Really? When can we go see it?

What did your dad say when you told him?

Whenever you want. I just have to talk to him.

And, nothing much…

It wasn’t nothing. But I wasn’t going to bring up the honeymoon, either.

He’s excited for us.

Great.

I got our costumes for the Halloween party today.

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