Page 14 of Before I Say I Don't
“Well, if youmustknow,” I said, bracing for impact, “he’s actually here because he’s part of the wedding.”
Danica’s eyes narrowed. “Wait…yourwedding?”
“Yes.Coincidentally,he and Angelo are childhood friends or something.”
Danica’s mouth fell agape. “Sissssssssss! Get the fuck outta here!”
“That was my reaction too!” I giggled.
“I’mthe wedding planner! How the hell did I miss that?!” Danica exclaimed, her voice a mix of disbelief and frustration.
“Exactly!” I nodded, the weight of the realization settling in.
Danica threw her hands up in exasperation. “Now that you mention it—thereisa groomsman named Roman Hill, from out of town. I just never connected that Hill was his last name or that he was even friends with Angelo.”
“Right!”
Danica smacked her forehead. “Well, damn! What did he have to say about all this?”
“He congratulated me,” I responded, recalling the flicker in Roman’s eyes before his smile. “And said Angelo was a lucky man.”
“Mm-hmm.”
That single sound conveyed skepticism, indicating that Danica believed the first part of my story but was reserving judgment on the second one.
“He is a lucky man to haveyou.The jury’s still out on whether you’re a lucky woman to havehim,” Danica voiced blatantly, raising an eyebrow at me.
I shot her a side-eye, but she remained unfazed, her fingers tapping her temple as if she were tallying points in the game of my love life.
“Don’t look at me like that, sis. I’m just saying—if I was holding up scorecards, he’s still in the preliminary rounds. Decent presentation, fair effort, but the man’s missing bonus points for execution.”
I tried not to laugh, but it bubbled out anyway. “You are ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous, but not wrong,” she quipped with a smirk. “Anywho, how did you and Roman even connect? He just…magicallyappeared?”
“We actually bumped into each other at a lunch spot near the courthouse,” I explained, the memory vivid in my mind.
Danica shook her head, a grin breaking across her face.
“Would you look at God! If this isn’t a sign with LED lights, arrows, and a marching band!”
I snorted, playfully rolling my eyes. “It's not a sign; it’s just a coincidence in a small city.”
“Uh-uh,” she insisted, wagging a finger with the authoritative tone Mama used whenever she caught us twisting words. “Godspeaks in timing. You seeing Roman now? On Mama’s birthday week? After the way Angelo’s been dragging his feet? Please! Come on!”
We got to our cars and I leaned against Danica’s door, not ready to go our separate ways yet. The soft rustle of the crepe myrtles near the fence broke the silence. A crow lifted off the branch above us, cawing loudly as if scolding us for our musings before settling down again.
“Danica.”
“Yes, baby sis?”
She looked at me with the full force of big-sister attention that said,I can handle whatever you’re about to put on this table.
“Angelo’s been… moving funny.”
Her jaw tightened. “Definefunny.”
“Coming home late,” I clarified. “A lot. Phone dying all the time. Saying he’s ‘working extra’ for the wedding, butI’mpaying for almost everything. So… extra for what? He forgot about my verdict. The nigga came home at ten like it was a regular Tuesday and not my celebration.”
