Page 7 of Brand
“I see no one more perfect to spend my life with. Laurel, will you marry me?”
“Yes. Oh, gosh, yes,” she replied as she all but dove for the monstrous rock he’d bought her.
Even I was a little impressed by it. It wasn’t my style, but I could see how it was perfect for her. And he knew better than to try and pull this off with something less than spectacular.
“This calls for a toast,” my mother said and it was clear she was pleased about this union. I could just see it now, my mother would take over the whole wedding planning and it would be one to remember. The wedding of the season that everyone would be talking about. That would be exactly how she would want it. The wedding would turn into some sort of grand publicity stunt.
I smiled and gave them both congratulatory hugs, going as far as to welcome Brice to the family. As my family surrounded them, I stood back and wondered if I was somehow missing something. I didn’t want to infect everyone with my weird mood so I tried my best to shove my uncertainty down and smile for my sister. This was her big moment and I wasn’t going to bring her down. I was overjoyed for her. Really, I was. This is what she had wanted for a while now. It looked like she was going to get her happily ever after. I mean, I could only hope so. There truly was no way to tell what the future held.
I mean, I had to be real for a minute. She could start popping out kids and get that misshapen, pudgy mom body and he could totally be repulsed by her and start cheating. Or he could go prematurely bald and decide the gym is a waste of time. Or he could develop an addiction to porn. Who knew, maybe he already had one and was really good at hiding it.
Okay, so maybe I went a little off there on that thought process. I had never really been in love so, it could have been that I just didn’t understand anything when it came to matters of the heart. Or perhaps, I was just doomed to be an old lady with a million cats that I talked to as if they were my friends or children or something like that. I could see it now, I’d order fancy tea biscuits from England and eat them dry—without tea—like it was a normal thing to do. And I’d make rugs and coats out of all the loose cat hair I would sweep up every day.
Yeah, I needed to stop. This thought was wildly running away from me. I was sure if I kept it up, I wouldn’t be able to keep this smile plastered on my face for much longer.
So, figuring it was best if I bowed out while I could do it gracefully, I gave my family my final hugs and wished everyone a good night. With odd thoughts and heavy feeling in my gut, I slipped off to my room for some quiet time.
