Page 52 of Begin Again
“Can you please put some clothes on?” I ask him before I bury my face in my hands. “Please.”
He doesn't reply, but I hear him rummage through his suitcase. I don’t dare look up again until the bathroom door clicks shut.
29
SAM
I bite back a smile as we head down to the front desk where we’re supposed to talk to a woman named Kelly about wedding details. From what Noah told me, the resort is handling pretty much everything, so today should just be a tour of where the ceremony will be and going over the menu for the reception one last time.
The look that Annie gave me this morning was priceless. I really didn’t know she was awake and I hadn’t wanted to wake her up by rummaging through my suitcase before I showered so I figured I could just sneak back out when I was done and maybe, with more light from the sun, grab my clothes before she woke up. But then I caught her looking at me—staring at me like she wanted to reach out and touch me. And well, let’s just say I’m a happy man.
Even if she won’t look at me right now—which makes it all better, because that means she’s still attracted to me.
“So, how are you doing, in general I mean?” I ask at the same time Annie says, “You ready for the wedding activities?”
She shuffles her feet and looks down at the floor while we wait for the elevator. “I’m doing okay, going to therapy now.”
“That’s good,” I say. I want to ask about how she’s doing—without me—if she’s got an ache in her heart like I do while we’ve been apart, but I also don’t want to scare her off. “And yeah, I’m ready for the wedding. Noah’s finally getting married.”
She grins up at me. A sight that makes my heart leap in relief. We can do this. We’re still us. “He’s finally getting married. He said that today they’ll show us where the ceremony will take place, as well as the reception thing after. I’m not really sure what to call it. It’s a reception or a late lunch or an early dinner.”
“One of those things,” I say as we walk into the elevator. I hit the lobby button. I imagine it’ll end up happening later than it’s planned, only because that seems to be how things always go. Everything takes longer than you expect.
“Yup. So we have to go through everything, make sure it all looks good. I don’t think we have to check on the food, since it’s just at a restaurant. But we should have the afternoon free.”
Free to hang out, I hope.
We fall into a more comfortable silence as we walk to the lobby. I want to ask Annie more about therapy, but there will be time later to talk about it. To see how she’s really doing. I can’t tell if she’s got her guard up because I’m me and everything that’s happened between us, or because of everything that happened with Mitch. I honestly hope it’s because of me, because maybe I can fix that.
But even if it’s because of Mitch, I’ll be here for Annie, in whatever way she lets me be.
I give the woman behind the counter a friendly smile as we approach and she assesses me and Annie. I can already tell the type of person she is. She’s going to try to flirt with me.
“Hi, we’re here to discuss all the arrangements for the Nelson/Jones wedding tomorrow,” I say.
Just like I guessed, she flutters her eyes up at me with a wry grin. "Welcome." She doesn’t bother looking at Annie. “I’m Ericaand I'll be able to assist you. I think Kelly was originally going to help you, but she’s out sick today.”
“Well thanks,” I say and then I touch the small of Annie’s back, and she glances up at me in surprise.
The woman’s face cools, slightly. “Right this way, Mr. Jones and Ms. Nelson.”
Annie opens her mouth to correct her, but I squeeze her side. “Just go with it,” I whisper. It’ll be easier than trying to explain to this stranger what’s happening. Plus, maybe she’ll stop with the obvious flirting.
I move my hand and take Annie’s hand in mine. She doesn’t pull away. I meant what I said last night about her not being ready for the full conversation about how I feel about her and how she feels about me. But we’re going to have it and we’re going to have it soon. Until then, I want to show her how I feel. The one thing I do know how to do is show her how much I love her.
Without being obnoxious or crossing any lines, I told her back in New York that we could take it slow, and I’ll take it slow now. I want us to fall in love with each other.
Erica leads us down a long hallway and then out the door leading to a small courtyard. “The ceremony will be on one of our more secluded lawns. It will be blocked off for the duration of the ceremony, so it should be quite nice.”
It’s stunning, much more romantic than the courthouse where Annie and I were married. If I get a chance to do that part over, I’d love to do it in a place like this or in the mountains.
“There is no pool on this side, so it should be quiet. You have your marriage certificate, I assume?” Erica asks.
“Yup,” I say. “We got it when we got here, so we’re all ready for Friday, just have to wait for the rest of our guests to get here.”
“Lovely,” Erica says, and I can tell by her tone that she doesn't think it’s lovely, not one bit. She seems less than thrilledthat I’m off the market, but is she for real? It would take a lot more than a five minute conversation for me to be interested in any one person except maybe Annie. I might have fallen in love with her the moment I saw her. It was like my soul knew that I was meant to be hers and she was meant to be mine right from the start. It took time to get here, but it was worth every minute.
“And the beach front restaurant for the dinner, where is that?” I ask, looking at Annie. She’s been quiet all morning and seems to be growing more tense with each moment we spend with Erica. The sooner we can finish this, the better.
