Page 83 of The Wild Card
“When are you getting married?” Molly asks Winnie. “Your ring is gorgeous, by the way.”
“Thanks!” Winnie holds out her hand, showing off the ring, which has some kind of black stone in a fancy setting. “It totally matches my vibe. James did a great job.”
I’m not sure I ever really looked at her ring, but now that I am, I’m surprised. Mostly because my brother isn’t really intojewelry, and this is definitely not a run of the mill ring. Thought, care, and planning went into this. And based on the size of the stone, money. I never saw James into anyone before Winnie, and though I know he prides himself in taking care of his people, I’m still a little surprised.
Molly shifts, her long hair brushing my arm, and I remember I made guacamole for her earlier.
I guess when you really fall for someone, you end up expanding what you know and what you’re willing to do for their sake. Researching rings. Fake dating. Making guacamole. Throwing away perfectly good pickles.
I'm almost as bad as James.
The realization startles me. Maybe because I hadn’t realized just how hard and fast I’ve been falling for Molly. This isn’t justlikeorattraction. I’ve got big feelings—the kind that are totally unfamiliar. Which is maybe why they snuck up on me.
James and I exchange a glance, and I swear it feels like he’s somehow aware of my revelation. He doesn’t wink like Pat did. But he does smirk.
I give him the Graham middle finger too, and he hides a laugh behind his napkin.
“As for wedding dates, we actually were thinking … soon.” Winnie’s tone is evasive, and her gaze shifts to James, who shrugs.
“How soon?” Lindy demands. “As in, will I need to buy a maternity dress or a dress that will make access easy for nursing a baby?”
Winnie scrunches up her face. “We’re actually getting married next week.”
Lindy drops her fork. I almost fall out of my chair.
“Next week?” Pat says, and I can’t tell whether he’s yelling because he’s excited or mad. Maybe both.
“Wait—are you eloping?” Lindy asks. “Because how in the world do you think you’re going to pull off a wedding in a week? Do you have a dress? A cake? Who's doing the flowers? Do you have a cake?”
“You said cake twice,” Pat says.
Lindy shrugs. “The baby likes wedding cake.”
“It’s already on the family calendar,” James says, dropping his arm over Winnie’s shoulders.
“I think we all would have noticed a wedding on there,” I say, pulling out my phone and noticing several missed calls and texts from Thayden.Great.
A sour feeling spreads through my stomach. This many missed communications from Thayden are never a good thing. I flip the phone over on the table, but Molly doesn’t miss my reaction. Or maybe she saw my phone screen. She’s still leaning into me. Any closer and she’d be in my lap.
“Everything okay?” she asks.
“Just Thayden. I’ll call him later.”
“Nope. I don’t see a wedding,” Pat says. “Just the … oh. The Dark Horse special event—is your wedding the special event?”
“Yep,” Winnie says. “We made sure everyone could be there. Even Val is flying in because there’s no way she’d miss it—but don’t tell Chevy. She wanted to surprise him.”
“So, Val knows you’re getting married?” Lindy asks. “You told Val and not me?” She sniffs, her eyes suddenly glassy.
“No! I didn’t tell her. Yet. You know Val is terrible with secrets. But it wasn’t hard to convince her to let us fly her back. She misses Chevy too much. And she said she needed to see your baby bump now that you’ve actually got a baby bump to see.”
“Okay.” Lindy’s voice wavers and tears are dripping down her cheeks but she’s smiling. “You’re getting married!”
With no warning, she jumps up from her chair so fast, it falls over, and then she’s leaning over the back of Winnie’s chair hugging her while patting James’s shoulder with just shy of violent aggression.
“I’m so happy for you, and I’m so mad you didn’t tell me, and I’m so excited to eat wedding cake.”
Winnie laughs. “You’re going to love the cake. The new bakery is making it. I got a sample, and it was amazing.”
