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Dang it to heck, I lost this one.
Maddie steps between us. “Can you check to see if there is anything to do in the garage before we leave?” she asks Boone.
I stick my tongue out at him over the dismissal, and he gives me the finger.
“Antagonizing him on the day you’re breaking the news is maybe not the best idea,” Maddie says once we’re alone.
“Yes, but it brings me great joy,” Maddie mumbles something about siblings. “I’ll try to do better,” I say, meaning it.
“No, neither of you is capable. It’s in your DNA, an irrefutable fact of life.”
“He asked me to marry him,” I blurt out. We’re alone, and it’s past time I share the news with someone. “Soon. He wants to do it soon.”
Maddie’s lips twist. Thought bubbles, like the kind you see in comic strips, are nearly visible above her head. “Wait. Hold up. Are you engaged? Oh, my gosh, we’re engaged. Together. Like at the same time.”
She pulls me tight, and I hug her back. Maddie is a great friend and the perfect partner for Boone. He sometimes comments that bringing her on was an excellent gift for him. It’s true because I’m brilliant, but maybe I needed a friend, too, someone on my side.
“I suppose so. It wasn’t intentional to take the spotlight from you.” We don’t plan a large ceremony, but it still deflates their moment.
“You aren’t taking anything. Our wedding is later this year; you won’t take anything from that. Your wedding is for you,” she reassures.
Maddie decided on a private resort wedding in early December. It’s between seasons and in a tropical climate. As a bonus for both of them, the resort limits attendance to thirty people.
“We probably won’t have one,” I say. “We’re only doing it because I lost a bet.” That must sound strange to someone else.
“Um.” Maddie’s eyes bulge with alarm as she taps on the door frame. “I don’t have a response.”
My comment doesn’t sound very good, and it’s entirely true. How do you explain your relationship dynamics to someone who isn’t part of the relationship? It’s not an inside joke or a silly shared memory. People recognize those as part of a committed relationship. Our bets are the same thing, whether or not they appear that way to others.
“It’s not like it sounds. We’ve known we’re going to. It’s how we decide. You had to be there.”
“No, it’s best that I wasn’t,” she says. I don’t blame her.
“We also don’t want a wedding.”
Maddie huffs, and her expression changes. Boone always says she goes into schoolmarm mode, and it’s now all focused on me. She’s short, barely five feet, and I’m the small one.
“Sarah, it’s not my position to force you.”
“You’re not.”
“As your best friend, it’s my responsibility to ask if this is a smart decision. The days of shotgun weddings are long past.”
Jake would find a shotgun wedding hilarious, and if the idea occurred to him, he’d do it, too.
I take her hand. “Do you remember that life plan I made?”She nods. “Do you know I wrote a list of potential family vacations and retirement destinations? I even checked this year’s popular baby names, so I didn’t use one in the top ten. Plus, jobs, thoughts on house sizes, and layouts. I doodled and planned my ideal life. You know what isn’t on it? A wedding. It wasn’t that I forgot; it’s only that I didn’t care enough to include it.”
“It’s your wedding. Your big day. Be sure it’s what you want,” she says, not giving up easily. “If it’s how you feel, then I support it, but not bothering to place it on your lifetime goals list isn’t enough reason.”
“Excuse me. Sarah,” says Lily, standing in the hallway. Her quiet voice was almost missed. “Sorry to bother you.”
My open door meant anyone could have overheard our conversation, including Lily. Maddie and I share a glance, acknowledging that fact.
“It’s no problem. What’s up?”
“Those pictures and clippings you wanted.” She hands over a stack before placing it on my desk. “What else is next?”
First impressions can be accurate, but they can also be wrong. I initially found Lily odd, and now I consider her a sweet girl who happens to be socially awkward. She’s usually uncomfortable in my presence, a fact I want to change someday. “Nothing else for today. We leave for kart racing in less than twenty minutes. Do you want to come with me?”
