Page 103 of Own the Eights Gets Married
“Ours?” Georgie repeated. “You two are together?”
“Married fifty years today,” Hans said.
“You’re kidding?” Georgie exclaimed.
She’d pegged the woman as a spinster matchmaker!
“Don’t look so surprised. To orchestrate love, one needs to understand it completely,” the frau replied.
“Happy anniversary,” Georgie sputtered.
Jordan lowered his voice. “How do you know Syd and Buck? Were you guys all in the special forces together, or were you spies, once upon a time, thwarting global espionage?”
Georgie nodded. It was a reasonable assumption. After their experiences with both couples, she wouldn’t be surprised to learn they’d overturned a corrupt government or rescued kidnapped political prisoners back in the day.
The wedding frau released a full-belly laugh. “No, our time-share in Florida is next door to theirs.”
“Time-share?” Georgie echoed.
“Yes, near Cocoa Beach. Syd and Buck aren’t always roughing it in the Colorado foothills,” the woman replied.
“And Buck is quite an accomplished pickleball player,” Hans added.
The frau nodded. “We do need to practice before meeting them on the court again.”
Georgie stared at the wedding frau and Hans as the pieces of the puzzle came together.
“Hold on! Did youorchestratethe whole catastrophic wilderness boot camp experience?”
The wedding frau’s expression grew serious. “As a couple, you needed to lose.”
“Lose?” Georgie exclaimed.
“Why would you think that?” Jordan asked.
“We do our homework,” Hans replied.
Georgie glanced between the pair. “What makes you think we needed to lose?”
“Let’s see,” the frau began. “You two are the top bloggers on the CityBeat website. You both won the Battle of the Blogs. You run successful businesses, and before you set foot in the boot camp, you lived together in a cotton candy, lemon verbena-scented, picture-perfect world surrounded by books and bodybuilding equipment where you had ample sex and fawned all over each other. Would you disagree with that assessment?”
Jordan leaned forward. “Cotton candy isn’t in keeping with the healthy eating aspect of our blog. If you wanted to depict our lives pre-boot camp, I’d suggest vegan chocolate chip cookies accompanied by a protein shake, but I get what you’re saying.”
“You needed to have your relationship tested,” the frau said, lowering her voice.
“Why?” Georgie asked.
“To know your marriage would last,” Hans added gently.
Cornelia Lieblingsschatz relaxed into the chair. “You see, I can plan a wedding at the drop of a hat. I have the finest caterers and the most sought-after dressmakers and floral designers at my beck and call. But here’s the thing people forget. A wedding lasts only a handful of hours, but a marriage is meant to last a lifetime.”
“What would make you think Georgie and I wouldn’t have a marriage that would last?” Jordan pressed.
“Because you weren’t in possession of one vital piece of information,” Hans replied.
Georgie frowned. She didn’t like this one bit. Who were these people to decide what they needed as a couple?
“And what would that be?” she challenged.
