Page 42 of Why Not Forever?

Aweeklater,we’rereadyto leave when Vic’s phone rings. She gives me an apologetic look before answering.

“Hey,” she says. “I’m about to go out. What’s up?”

I wait for the person speaking to tell Vic whatever they’re going to say and check the time. I take a breath, because I’m a little nervous about tonight, but it’ll be fine. She’s going to like what I have planned.

Vic pulls the phone away from her ear and says to me, “It’s Spencer. He says he needs me to come by Blue Vista to sign something.”

“Tonight?” I ask.

She puts the phone on speaker.

“I know you guys had plans, and I’m really sorry,” Spencer says. “I’m here with this last-minute event and the client forgot to sign a form, and I need Vic to sign as well. This is completely my fault. I should have had you sign it in advance yesterday.”

“Is it the insurance form?” Vic asks, sounding resigned.

“Yes. I promise, it’ll only take two minutes.”

Vic sighs and looks at me. “I’m sorry. The insurance needs to be sorted before the event starts.”

I smile. “No problem. We can stop there on the way. We’re still a little early, anyway.”

She hangs up with Spencer and we go down to her car. She wouldn’t normally drive to Blue Vista, but since we’re supposed to be going out for dinner after, we take the car. When we park in the parking garage next to the venue, she says, “You don’t have to come in. This should only take a minute.”

“That’s okay. I’ll escort you inside. What kind of husband would I be if I let you walk alone?”

She snorts a laugh, and we get out. I offer her my arm, which she takes, and I lead her inside. Spencer meets us at the front door.

“I’m really sorry about this.” He hands her a clipboard and she signs and dates the form. “Since you’re here, could you come upstairs for a minute? While we were decorating, we noticed something that we might need to take care of before winter.”

Vic sighs. “Spencer, can’t it wait until Monday? I’m hungry.”

“Derek won’t be here on Monday,” Spencer says, with a wince. “And he has the contacts to get this sorted. If you check it today, I’ll talk to him tomorrow and we can get it rolling before he leaves for his honeymoon.”

Vic looks at me and I fight to keep my face as perfectly neutral as I can when I say, “Let’s go take a look. Then we can have dinner without you worrying about what it is.”

“True.” She gestures to Spencer to lead the way.

He walks ahead of us up the stairs to the reception hall.

“I’m really sorry,” she says. “What time were the reservations?”

“We have lots of time,” I say.

At the top of the stairs, there are black and gold balloons everywhere. A few tables have been set up for different activities, and a small group of people shout, “Surprise!”

“What?” Vic says, as she looks around at her friends and my brother and his wife. “I thought there was a last-minute event tonight.”

“There is,” I tell her. “Your event.”

“What about our reservation?”

I laugh, because she’s clearly not understanding. “Thisis our reservation. I promise, there’s food. We got married so quickly, you didn’t get to have a bachelorette party, so here it is.”

She stares at me, her eyes wide with shock. “You tricked me!”

“Isurprisedyou. Remember, I only use my powers for good.” I wink at her.

“What about your bachelor party? You didn’t get to have one either.”

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