Page 94 of Seeing You

Billie’s phone vibrated in her purse and she wondered who could possibly be texting her on her wedding day. When she saw Marcus’s name, she smiled.

Marcus: Hey, my beautiful bride. Happy Wedding Day. I can’t wait to see you walking toward me and then kissing you to make it all official

She felt herself blush.

Billie: Hey, my sexy groom. Happy Wedding Day to you too. In case you don’t see me right away, I’ll be the one in the white dress carrying a big bouquet of flowers.

Giggling, she continued to type.

Billie: I can’t wait for this day to be over so I can finally be your wife.

Billie: Plus…the honeymoon. I’m really looking forward to having a few days off!

They were only taking a quick trip up to New York because there hadn’t been enough time to thoroughly plan a big getaway. Was she disappointed? Maybe a little. But she knew they’d be able to take a proper honeymoon in the next few months.

Marcus: I left a gift for you at your mom’s. You can open it right away. You don’t have to wait.

Billie: Aww…I love you.

Marcus: Love you too

Marcus: And I’ll be the guy standing at the back of the church next to the pastor

Marcus: See you soon.

Sighing happily, she slid her phone back into her purse.

“You two are adorable,” Jade said.

“How did you know I was talking to Marcus?”

“Because you had a dreamy smile on your face. I love it.”

She did too.

Within minutes, they pulled up to Marie’s house and were ushered inside. “I’m supposed to give this to you right away,” Marie said excitedly, handing her a beautifully wrapped small gift box. “I wonder what it is!”

“I have to admit I’m kind of curious too,” she said as she sat down.

“Did you get him something?” Jade asked.

Grinning, she said, “I did. But I’m not giving it to him until tonight when we get to the hotel.”

Jade immediately giggled. “Good one.”

That’s when Billie realized that what she said sounded very dirty. “It’s nothing sexy! Get your mind out of the gutter!” she joked as she unwrapped the box and took the top off. “I went for sentimental—we had portraits taken with the dogs and I had one framed. It’s our little family.”

“Aww…that’s adorable! He’s going to love it!”

“Well?” her mom asked. “What is it? What did Marcus get you?”

For a moment, it didn’t register what she was looking at, but then it clicked.

“Oh my goodness,” she whispered, pulling the travel brochure out of the box. Opening it, she saw the plane tickets and the itinerary and felt tears stinging her eyes.

“No. No, no, no, no, no,” Jade murmured before reaching for a box of tissues. “No crying! He didn’t say it was going to make you cry, and if you mess up your makeup, Ashlynn is going to freak out!”

Carefully, she dabbed at her eyes, still amazed at what she was seeing. “It’s our honeymoon,” she said softly. “This is the trip I wanted to take ten years ago, but never got to. He made it happen.” Scanning the itinerary, her heart felt ready to burst. “We leave tomorrow! What? Wait…how…? I’m not packed for that! I’m not ready for it!”

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