Page 79 of Gracefully Yours

Noelle sighed dreamily. “I can’t believe I’ll be next.” She looked over at Matthew, who was standing at the edge of the bar with Hunter, while Benjamin and Daniel were talking next to the dessert table.

Angelina nudged Gabbi. “When are you two tying the knot, Gabs?”

“Hey, he hasn’t evenproposedyet.” She elbowed Ang right back. “Give us some time to just be together first. What’s there to rush?”

“Yeah, it’s not like these two crazy kids who got engaged without even telling us they were dating.” Angelina pinned a stare at me.

I blushed. “I’m sorry! We weren’t trying to keep it a secret from you. It was just that it all happened so fast.” And that we hadn’t even been dating before we gotfakeengaged. But I wasn’t telling them that.

What had been the rush? I’d had the same thought at the bridal shower. I’d wanted to be married. I wanted to start a family. And was it that crazy at twenty-seven? I didn’t think so.

“Can you believe how fast time has gone by? It feels like we all just graduated from college, but next thing we know, one of us is going to have a baby.” Noelle ran her fingers through her curly red hair.

“Well…” I blushed.

“Are you?”

“No!” I put my hands up. “Not yet, anyway. But…” I looked over at Daniel. The thought of a baby with his eyes brought a smile to my face. We might have started this marriage off for all the wrong reasons, but I couldn’t deny that my best friend was going to make the best dad. “Maybe soon,” I whispered, unable to stop the joy from spreading through my face.

“Charlotte!” Noelle exclaimed, squeezing my palms.

“Yeah.” I ducked my head down to hide my blush, taking another ship of champagne as I let the bubbles flow through me.

“Who’d have thought?” Gabbi laughed.

“Me.” Angelina raised a hand.

“Definitely me,” Noelle agreed.

“Okay, so maybe we all did,” Gabbi added.

“Thanks, just keep rubbing it in that you all saw it before I did.”

“Come on, Charlotte, it’s been so obvious that he has been in love with you since freshman year. You just never saw it,” Gabbi snorted.

“Really?” I blinked, looking across the room at Daniel—myhusband.Had he really been in love with me all this time? “But we were always just best friends…”

Noelle nodded. “You were so deep in the friend zone, I’m surprised you found a way out. How did that happen, anyway?”

“Um, well, actually…” I didn’t know if it was the champagne that loosened my tongue, but the words just spilled out of me. “At Angelina’s wedding, we both just realized that we’d rather be together than be apart. I’d gone on so many dates in the last few years, but none of them ever felt right. Maybe my heart knew I was waiting for the right person.”

I didn’t even have to lie. It was the truth.

And maybe I had, in a roundabout way, been waiting for Daniel Bradford.

“Well, Mrs. Bradford,” Angelina said, looping her arm through mine, “I’d say that worked out for you.”

I laughed. “It feels a bit like I’ve stolen your last name.”

“Nah, just my brother.” I watched as Angelina’s eyes looked across the room at her own husband. “I’m happy with my new name.” She winked at me.

“Well, that’s good.”

“But, I have to admit, I felt a little like my brother was stealingyoufrom me when we all first became friends.” Angelina fidgeted with her fingernails. “I love him—we’ve always been so close—but it felt like I finally had something that was mine, and then he swooped in and stole you from me.” She laughed. “But I enjoyed seeing how he was with you. How he always made sure you got back to the dorm safely, walking with you around campus… I guess it was nice, in a way. Knowing he had someone like that in his life. Like you.”

“Angelina…” My eyes filled with tears.

She cleared her throat. “Now enough sappiness for the evening.” She flicked her eyes back to her husband. “I need more champagne.”

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