Page 29 of Marry Me, Right Now

Lauren cocked her head. “Well, yeah, but could they handle it?”

“The only way to know for sure is to give them a chance. And with the great photos and reviews, they’ll get more business.”

“How big is this budget?” Rayanne asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s basically whatever I want it to be,” I admitted. “Jacob’s family make a really huge deal out of life events like weddings, anniversaries, and baby showers. It’s positively insane.” Looking at both of them carefully, I took a deep breath before asking, “Could you help me with this? I need to start a list of suppliers. And Jacob said that his mother will assume I’m hiring a wedding planner, so we’ll see what happens there.”

“You’re going to have a wedding planner? Geez,” Lauren said, slamming the rest of her wine as if she needed the fortification. “Fancy ass.”

“You have no idea,” I said, taking a huge swig myself. “She doesn’t want me to be too stressed and look tired in the photos.”

Rayanne giggled wildly. “How stressful would it be pointing to photos of flowers you like, and making demands like, ‘No onion i

n the salad or off with their heads!’”

“Well, that’s the other thing,” I began. “The wedding is happening really fast.” Rayanne gasped and grabbed my hand. “I’m not pregnant,” I said quickly.

She sighed loudly. “Whew. Oh, thank god.”

I laughed like crazy. “But that’s good to know you’d both fake being happy for me if that were the case.”

Lauren nodded. “He sounds great, but you know, that’s a bit much, a baby and a wedding around the same time.”

“The wedding is on September ninth.”

“What the what?”

“I know, it’s sort of ridiculous. But we just know that we’re to be together, through and through. It’s like, he’s part of my bones.” I bit my lip, trying to bring tears to my eyes to really sell it. “And the other night we were talking, talking about the symbolism of two people being together, and timelessness, and numbers, and we found out that September ninth is a really important number to both of us.”

They both looked at me like I was cracking up, so I tried to look extra excited.

“September ninth is the ninth day of the ninth month. Nine is an incredibly lucky number. Also, three times three is nine. I was born on the ninth day of the third month. He was born on the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month, so three times nine on the ninth month.” Lauren looked touched. Rayanne looked like she didn’t get it.

“I don’t know, it all fell together and seemed so perfect, then we also saw that it was a full moon. We just said that would be a magical day to do something incredible. We were joking around, having a glass of wine sitting right here, when all of a sudden he got a strange look on his face.”

I rubbed my eyes, pretending I was wiping away a tear. They were literally on the edge of their seats.

“He took me by the hands, and led me over to the window,” I gestured, “And I thought we were going to look at the lake or something, then he suddenly fell to his knees, clutching my hands in his, and asked me to be with him forever, and marry him on that day that was strangely perfect for us both.”

I blinked hard, looking into Lauren’s eyes. “I know I’m a cautious person, and this might seem absolutely nuts. But I just knew. It had to happen. So I said yes.”

Rayanne actually made a choked little cry, blinking back tears as Lauren handed her a tissue.

“Goddammit. You’re right,” Rayanne muttered.

“He’s the one,” Lauren whispered. “That is so ridiculously sweet.”

“It might seem rushed, but when you know you just know. And of course, the quicker it is, the less fuss his family can make.” I grinned, giving them a wink. “So it will be much easier for me in the long run.”

They laughed. “Well,” said Rayanne, “I have to say, this is a beautiful condo. It certainly won’t suck having to move in here.”

“Actually, I’m already totally moved in.” She gave me a pointed look.

Lauren said, “When she broke up with that jerk Ryan, she had to get out of the apartment immediately. She was staying at my place while I was at my brother’s, then Jimmy’s…”

“Then I catsit for Karen for nearly a month.”

“Oh that’s right. Then with Stacy for a few weeks, then her sister moved back, and she had nowhere else to go.” Lauren turned to me. “You were frantically apartment hunting last I heard. So I guess I could see moving in with a guy a bit quick if it was here.” She gestured to the chandelier.

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