Page 94 of The Lies I've Told
“I’m going to go get drinks. Please don’t embarrass Aiden too much before I get back!”
I settled into my seat, giving a polite nod as they looked on. “I wonder if she knows that, by calling me out, I actually feel more embarrassed.”
They all looked at each other and grinned.
“Oh, she knows.” Jake laughed.
I nodded my head. “I should have known. Little minx. So, what were you talking about before I sat down and made things awkward?”
“Oh, you didn’t make things awkward, but we were actually discussing our wedding plans,” Dean said.
“Oh, lovely. When is the big day?” I asked, happy to discuss anything that didn’t revolve around me.
“The day after Christmas,” Dean answered confidently.
His bride though didn’t look so sure.
“Why do I feel like I walked into the middle of an argument?”
Dean chuckled. “It’s not an argument. Cora wants a winter wedding and with her daughter—”
“Our daughter,” Cora corrected him.
“Our daughter’s”—he smiled warmly—“school schedule, Christmas time is the perfect time to do it. Everyone is already gathered together.”
I nodded. “Plus the added bonus of built-in decorations.”
His eyes fell to his fiancée, whose face scrunched. “You would think that, huh?”
“Not into Christmas decor?” I asked,
“Remember how I geeked out over your accent at the restaurant that one day over lunch?”
I chuckled. “How could I forget? Who do I sound like again? Was it The Doctor, Harry Potter, or someone fromSherlock Holmes?”
“Sherlock Holmes! I didn’t even think of that one!” she exclaimed.
Dean wrapped an arm around his soon-to-be wife as Jake just chuckled in the background. I wondered what was taking Millie so long but immediately caught a glimpse of her at the drink table, chatting it up with Billy. She’d once told me during one of our late-night chats that you couldn’t go anywhere in this town without being derailed by someone.
Apparently, that also included getting drinks at a cookout.
“I’m going to just stop right here and apologize for my fiancée. What’s she’s trying to say is, our wedding isn’t going to be a normal one.”
“So, like a comic-book wedding dress and a lightsaber cake?”
Jake’s laugh grew, and from the yelp he let out, I was guessing his mate Dean had kicked him under the table.
“Just ask him how he proposed,” Jake managed to say before Dean replied to my question, “I’m sure, if her dad had his way, that’s how it would go. Cora’s interests tend to be more book-centered, and mine lie in the ocean, being a fisherman and all. So, we’re having the ceremony at the marina and the reception here. Lots of stacked vintage books and shells.”
“Well, there’s nothing geeky about that,” I said.
“We might throw in some lightsabers in the end.” Cora added.
“There we go.” I laughed.
“What are we talking about?” Millie asked as she finally returned, carrying two large red cups filled to the brim with beer.
“Dean and Cora’s crazy wedding,” Jake answered with a wry grin.
