Page 28 of A Very Miller-Cooper Life

I turned around to find that it was Ethan she was addressing. I stepped next to him and proudly put a hand on his shoulder. “This is my brother-in-law, Ethan. He’s married to my other brother-in-law, Jamie. Jamie is Charlie’s brother, but has also been my bestie since college.”

Nicole stepped up beside Courtney and raised an eyebrow. “Oh yes, I’ve heard all about that story.” She looked at Courtney and winked. “I’ll tell you about it later, babe.”

“I’m surprised with living in this area that last week was the first time you’ve ever been to Ethan’s cafe,” Charlie said, clearly attempting to change the subject.

Nicole laughed as if she had just told a joke. “Oh god, we don’t live in Maryland anymore. I love my family and appreciate the place I grew up, but hell no. I had to get out of here. We live in Pennsylvania in a town called King of Prussia. It’s like an hour from Philadelphia. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it. One of the biggest malls in the country is there.”

“Heard of it?” I laughed hysterically because I couldn’t believe what a small world this was. “We live like thirty-five minutes from there.”

“No way,” Nicole said as she and Courtney laughed along with me.

Courtney put an arm around Charlie and swayed into her. “Now that we are literal besties, I need to tell you something crazy that I just heard from Mary Beth. I’m not sure if you two read, but apparently, sapphic romance goddess Laurel Lake is married to a girl who went toyourhigh school.”

“Oh, we know.” Charlie smirked over at me. “I don’t read, but Reagan does. Speaking of which, do you want to hear something even crazier?” When both Nicole and Courtney nodded, their eyes wide in anticipation, Charlie reached overand squeezed my hand. “We actually met Laurel Lake at an event Ethan hosted a few years agoandthis one right here has actually designed the cover of three of her books, one being her newest.”

Both Nicole and Courtney’s eyes went even wider and their mouths dropped open as they stared at me as if I was a celebrity.

“No way,” Nicole said.

“Seriously?” Courtney asked, completely awestruck. “You made the cover for the one coming out next month?”

“Guilty.” No matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t able to hide the proud smile that came to my face.

Nicole and Courtney shared a look before Courtney focused her attention back on me. “That’s literally the most gorgeous book cover I’ve ever seen. We’ve been gushing over it ever since she revealed it. I can’t believeyou’rethe one who did it. Wow. I feel like I’m in the presence of royalty or something. That’s awesome.”

“What is Laurel like?” Nicole asked. “Is she as funny as she seems to be online?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Even funnier. She’s such a sarcastic asshole. I love it.”

“Sounds like we’d get along great,” Nicole said.

Courtney laughed and patted her arm. “Oh, for sure. Assholes unite.”

Nicole nudged her wife playfully. “Hey, at leastInever broke someone’s nose.”

Courtney looked at us and shook her head. “I promise it’s not what it sounds like. We have quite an interesting backstory.”

“And we definitely want to hear it later,” which wasn’t a lie. I couldn’t believe we found new queer friends who lived near usandwere fans of Laurel Lake. I pointed toward the brides that were now walking toward us. “But we need to congratulate the lovebirds first.”

Charlie and I walked hand in hand as we closed the gap between us and the brides. When we were close, I dropped Charlie’s hand and held out my arms. “Congratulations!”

I gave Jackie a hug while Charlie hugged Mary Beth and then we switched. “So, what’s the plan now?” Charlie asked once the hugs were over.

“Well, now that this is all over, we’re going to focus on starting our family,” Jackie explained. “Neither of us want to carry, plus with our age, it would be considered higher risk, so we’re going to adopt.”

“We want a big family,” Mary Beth added excitedly. “At least four or five kids.”

We’ll see if you’re still saying that after you adopt the first one.I bit my tongue and nodded. There was no need to rain on their parade. And, hey, who knew? Maybe someone who didn’t acquire three at one time would be open to more.

“What about you two?” Jackie asked. “How’s the new business?”

“Not so new anymore,” Charlie said with a shake of her head. “We’ve owned it for almost a year now.”

“No way. Time really does fly, huh?” Jackie looked over at me. “Are you still helping out there?”

When Charlie first took over at the practice, I helped with a lot of redecorating then did pretty much any random job she needed me to. Now that she had it up and running more, she didn’t need me quite as much. “I just fill in when someone calls out or goes on vacation.”

Charlie leaned into me and kissed my cheek. “She’s been a huge help. One of the many benefits of having a kick ass wife who works from home.”

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