Page 26 of Why Not Forever?

“This isn’t going well,” she mutters.

I lean in and press my lips to her temple. “It’s going fine. Everything will be okay.” In the living room, I see Wyatt and Addison sitting on the loveseat while Dad and my sister Harper sit on the couch. Brooke’s husband Gerry is on the deck with the younger children, playing a game of cards.

“Hello everyone, this is Vic,” I say. “I told you last week that we’re dating, but a few days ago I asked her to marry me, and she said yes.”

My sister Harper’s mouth drops open in shock. Wyatt and Addison already know, so they don’t have much of a reaction, but Dad removes his glasses and cleans them before putting them back on, as though seeing more clearly will help him understand what’s happening.

“And even more exciting, we’re getting married on August first,” I continue.

“As in three weeks from now?” Brooke asks.

“Yes,” I confirm. “You’ll be getting your formal invitations in a few days.”

“Is she pregnant?” Brooke asks.

“Brooke,” Mom scolds.

I scoff. “No, Brooke. She’s not pregnant. We just want to get married.”

“The quick date is my fault, actually,” Vic says, her voice firm despite the way she’s squeezing my hand. “I’ve always wanted a summer wedding and to get married at Blue Vista. It’s booked through the rest of this summer and all of next. Except August first at our new location at Crescent Beach.”

There’s silence as everyone watches us. It’s not the whole family. Most of the nieces and nephews aren’t here. Neither is my brother Keith or my brother-in-law, Ian. There are still enough people that the silence is loud. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a family function where no one says anything for any length of time.

Eventually, Mom comes up to us with a bright smile. “Well congratulations. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

I breathe out a quiet sigh, because if Mom is on board, she’ll get the rest of the family on board—or else. She hugs me first, then Vic. Everyone else offers their congratulations as well, and Addison and Harper, commandeer Vic, asking for details of the proposal and the upcoming wedding.

We’d decided to stick with the story we’d given her parents about me asking on the morning before the family dinner. She tells my sister and sister-in-law that I asked after making her breakfast in bed.

Mom and Brooke finish getting dinner on the table and we all sit down to eat, Vic right next to me. After dinner, we return to the living room, where Vic and I sit on the couch and are bombarded with questions about who our bridal party are going to be, when Vic is getting a dress, and how many people are going to be invited.

Mom allows Dad one cigar per week, so he usually smokes it after dinner, on the deck, on Sundays. When he goes out there tonight, he invites me, Wyatt, and Gerry to join him. I have a feeling I know what he’s going to talk about, so I give Vic’s hand a squeeze—hating the idea of leaving her to face the questions on her own—before letting her go and following my brother and brother-in-law to the deck. I close the door, so the smoke won’t get in the house, and sit down as Dad cuts the end off his cigar and lights it.

“Are you sure about this?” Dad asks, not wasting any time.

“Yes,” I say, without hesitation.

“It’s awfully fast,” Gerry says. He’s a good man and has been part of the family for twenty-six years.

“It may seem like that to you,” I concede. “We may have only been dating for a short time, but I have been in love with that woman for almost a decade.”

The words are out before I can stop them. Shit. Fuck. Goddammit. My heart drops into my stomach because they’re true. I am in love with Vic. I’d fallen in love with her during university, and even though we haven’t spent a lot of time together, I never really stopped being in love with her.

I meet Wyatt’s eyes, and he knows it, too.

Dad grunts and takes a pull from his cigar. “That explains why you’ve never settled down the way your siblings have, I guess.”

“Yeah,” I say, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. How am I going to go through with this whole situation? Marrying her only to divorce her later. I swore I’d let her go at the end of this if that’s what she wants, but it’s going to tear my heart out to do it.

The conversation moves on. Apparently, my declaration was enough to put my father’s fears at rest. It stirred up a bunch of my own, but that’s for me to deal with.

When we return inside, Wyatt pulls me aside. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.”

He raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t contradict me.

I clap him on the back. “Come on, Wyatt. I knew what I was doing when I proposed this plan. It’ll be fine.”

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