Page 49 of Holiday Unscripted
“You can have a winter wedding without it being two fucking weeks long.”
“It’s not two weeks long.” He rolls his eyes.
“I’ve been here for a week and for a fucking week I’ve done nothing but attend your wedding events.”
“I don’t know about that.” Nate puts a mug of coffee in front of me, and I make a mistake of taking a sip of the coffee while he continues his words. “I’ve seen you do other things besides wedding stuff.”
I choke on the coffee and swallow it, coughing as I look at him leaning against the back counter and bringing his own mug to his lips, trying to hide the smirk he has. “Are you okay?” Joshua asks me as he rubs my back.
“Yeah,” I say between coughs as I glare at Nate, “I’m fine.”
“Good,” he says, getting up off the stool. “Now I’m going to go and get to my parents’ house. Macy is supposed to be meeting me there and she thinks I’m stopping for donuts. So I have to do that as well.”
“So, you are starting off your marriage with a lie.” I clear my throat and blink my eyes that are filled with tears from all the coughing I’ve just done. “I mean, if that is how you want to start things, I think it’s good. She might not.”
“I’m not lying to her,” he defends himself, “I’m surprising her.”
“Okay, if you say so,” I tell him as he reaches in his back pocket for his phone.
“I’m sending you his flight information,” he mentions to Nate.
“Do you want us to make a sign?” I ask him. “Like ‘welcome back from prison’?”
Joshua’s face gets tight as Nate starts to chuckle. “I’m not even kidding with you right now.”
“What? It’s funny. He might think it’s hilarious.” I hold up both my hands. “But if you want to be a Debbie Downer, we’ll just make a sign with just his name.”
“Or just show up and find him.”
“What is this, Where’s Waldo?” I take a sip of my coffee and then he turns his phone to me, showing me a picture of Macy and her brother. “Memorized,” I assure, “but what if he looks different?” He shakes his head. “Listen, he could come with a shaved head.”
Joshua gives up talking to me and then turns straight to Nate. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I got you,” he reassures him, and he nods his head.
“See you guys later,” Joshua says, “and don’t text me either in case Macy sees it.”
“You know who says those words?” I ask him as he’s about to walk out the room. “The guy who is cheating on his wife.”
“If I ever get remarried,” he retorts to me, “you aren’t invited.”
“Aww.” I close my hand in a fist and put it under my eye. “Sad panda.”
“Later,” he says, walking out of the room, and I wait for the door to slam shut before turning back to look at Nate.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I ask him and he smiles at me. The smile that leaves my knees weak and gets certain parts of me riled up.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I walk to stand right in front of him, the island between us.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
He holds his mug with one hand while his other hand is outstretched beside him. “We should talk about what happened last night.”
“And this morning,” he reminds me. “If we discuss it, we should discuss it all, don’t you think? Look at what happened the last time we didn’t talk about things.” He brings his mug to his mouth. “We spent seven years pissed at each other for no reason.”
“I don’t think we should do what we are doing,” I start and just watch his face. “I mean, I’m leaving sooner rather than later.”
“I know.” His voice is soft.
