Page 28 of Something Tangled Something True
His eyes hold my gaze, gripping me with their serene pools of blue. “I’m not sure I care one way or the other, Lols. I just want you to have adequate healthcare. I can deal with the rest another way if I need to.” My heart seizes in my chest, and my lungs threaten to give out as he leans into me, his warm lips grazing the shell of my ear as he whispers for only me to hear, “Let me do this for you, darlin’. It’s all I want.”
My fingers throb from how tightly I’m clutching them, a reminder of how badly I need treatment.
My eyes brim with tears as he pulls away, straightening in his seat. “I’m really sorry,” I say, my lip wobbling. “I don’t want to cause any more problems than I already have, but?—”
“Cut that out. You haven’t caused any problems, Lola. This is your home just as much as it is any of ours, and if you and Ry want to get married foranyreason, we’ll support it. But if this isn’t what you both want, we’ll find another way,” Bee says, taking her turn to speak as the head of the family.
Power dynamics have never been a thing here, and that’s why I always felt comfortable speaking my mind. It wasn’t until Russ that I started to lose myself, falling into a pattern of forgetting my voice existed because it was easier not to say anything at all.
The safety and security Ryder and his entire family fill me with is what makes me speak the next words. “I want to marry Ryder Lockhart, and I want to do it just like we had when I was twelve,” I tell the room, my cheeks twitching with a smile as Ryder’s laughter bubbles over.
He squeezes my hand, and I can tell we’re both recalling the time Mayte declared she wanted to be a wedding planner and demanded Ryder and I let her practice with us. The ceremony was small, and our parents pretended to cry, dabbing at the fake tears rolling down their cheeks. The sun set behind us as we said our vows on the top of the hill on the farthest edge of the property. It was small, adorable, and hysterical. My thoughts on my perfect wedding haven’t changed, despite Russ’s determination to bulldozerightover them.
“Consider it done, darlin’. We’re tying the knot,” he announces to the room.
We spend the rest of the morning making breakfast in the kitchen of the main house, eating with our families, and catching up.
Chapter Eighteen
QUE SE VAYA PA LA PINGA
FRIDAY, MAY 2
“I still can’t believethey were all okay with the idea of Ryder and I getting married,” I tell Mayte, shaking my head.
“Stop moving so much. I’m gonna stab you with these pins if you keep acting like a damn bobble head,” she threatens as she continues working on pinning my curls on top of my head for our little ceremony tonight. “And what did I tell you? Those people? They are your people, Lola. Your parents and his want you to be okay, andgod,they hated Lemmon.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. When we were kids, Lemmon had done a much better job at acting like the sweetheart she so desperately wanted everyone to believe she was, but her grudge against me grew every year, and Ryder’s parents weren’t shy about telling me how upset they were that he and Lemmon had gotten together. At the time, I’d thought it was solely out of loyalty to me, but Mayte’s kept me in the loop on his relationship, and it was clear she was worse to him than she ever was to me.
“Regardless, I think we’re all excited to see this happen. We’ve been rooting for the both of you to wind up togethersince middle school. You were inevitable, even if the way you’ve wound up doing this is less than traditional, and you’ve had some hiccups along the way.”
“We aren’t really together, Mayte,” I remind her.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me dream.”
The thing about that is Mayte doesn’t just dream. She dreams big and then does her damndest to bring those goals to fruition—much like this wedding she managed to plan in less than a week. Granted, it’s nothing big, exactly how I wanted. Our parents, her and Isabela, and Ezekiel will be there, but she still managed to throw it all together so quickly. That’s the benefit of having an event planner for a best friend.
“Dream a little smaller this time,” I say, but I know it’ll go in one ear and out the other.
“Agree to disagree,” she says, and I can see her wide, mauve-lipped smile in the mirror. “We’re almost done. Give me a couple minutes and then we’ll get you dressed and in the arms of that sweet man.”
She continues fussing over me until she’s sure I look exactly as she envisioned.
“Okay, now don’t be mad,” Mayte says, refusing to make eye contact with me.
A knot twists in the pit of my stomach. “What did you do?” I groan out.
Instead of answering, she heads into her closet, pulling out a black garment bag she holds in front of me. “I didn’t like the idea of my best friend getting married in a sundress off the clearance rack, even if it is pretend.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” I breathe, but my words get caught in my throat as she unzips it.
Inside is a cream gown with thin straps, with what looks like a long lace train bundled at the bottom. There are delicate lace appliqués over the entire dress. It’sstunning, everything I could have ever wished for, and perfect for an intimate sunset ceremony.
“It’s too much,” I croak out. My throat grows impossibly tight at the gesture.
She waves her hand dismissively and then pulls the dress out of the garment bag. “Don’t worry, it’s not. It’s a rental. I’ll return it to Ever After on Monday.”
Tears prick my eyes, and her expression softens. She places the dress down on the bed, winding her arms tightly around me. “This is going to be good for you—bothof you. I promise. I can feel it in my bones. And you need to get better so you can dance and live your life the way you want and deserve to,” she says into my hair, pulling away and cupping my shoulders. “You look gorgeous, Lola. Ryder’s a lucky man.”
