Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“Now you do.”
He smiled and repeated, “Now I do.”
When I kissed him, it felt like a promise. Then we curled up together under the blanket, and as we waited for the next shooting star, he said, “We did all of this backwards. We got married, fell in love, and haven’t had sex yet. Now what? Do we start dating?”
“We’re so far beyond dating.”
“Does that mean I can call you my boyfriend?”
“You can if you want to,” I said, “or you can call me your husband, since that’s actually what I am.”
“Not just on paper?”
“Definitely not just on paper.”
A laugh of pure joy burst from him, and he hugged me as he murmured, “I have a husband. How wild is that?”
“I know that wasn’t exactly the wedding ceremony of your dreams, so if you want to do it again with more guests and more pomp and circumstance, we definitely can.”
“Nah, I’m good. I mean, unless you want a big, fancy wedding, and a huge reception, and all of that.” Just then, another shooting star blazed across the sky, and he slammed his hand over his mouth and squealed with delight.
I grinned and took his hand. “Nope. I’m perfectly happy.”
“With our shotgun wedding?”
“With everything.”
18
Collie
We ended up staying with Jeannie for two weeks. The morning we were set to go back home, her in-laws picked up Scotty, Allie, and Maddy to take them to the park. It broke my heart all over again to say goodbye to those amazing kids, although as Jeannie pointed out, “You know it’s not actually goodbye. It’s not like you’re moving to Mars. We’re going to visit, and video chat, and all of that good stuff.”
I dried my eyes with the cuff of my hoodie and said, “You’re right. I just love the hell out of those little people, and I’m going to miss them.”
“I know. They love you too, and they’re just as crazy about their Uncle Millie.”
Miller was sitting beside us on the front porch, and he shot Jeannie a look and said, “I thought we talked about that nickname.”
“You talked. I pretended to listen.” He sighed, and the sleeping baby shifted against his chest as Jeannie teased, “You know you love it. I saw you light up when little Maddy called you that.”
“It was cute coming from a toddler.”
“It’s cute in general, and in this family we all have nicknames. Get used to it.”
Miller got up and tried to frown, but he couldn’t quite manage to hide his grin. He loved being a part of this family. It was obvious. “I’m going to finish loading the van,” he said, “because we’ll need to get going soon.”
I asked, “Can I help?”
“Definitely not. Don’t make me remind you yet again that you’re not supposed to lift anything over ten pounds.”
I smiled at him and said, “The baby weighs less than ten pounds. Gimme.”
I draped a flannel baby blanket over my shoulder, and Miller carefully shifted the sleeping infant from his chest to mine. She was soft and warm, and she had that wonderful new baby smell.
After Miller went inside, Jeannie told me, “I’m going to miss you like crazy, but it’s such a good thing that you’re going back to San Francisco. It’s where you’re meant to be, and you and Miller belong together.”
“I’m madly in love with him, Jeannie.”
“I know, and he totally adores you. For the record, I knew you loved each other way before you two finally got around to admitting it.”
“You did?”
“It was so obvious.”
“I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
Jeannie reached over and squeezed my hand. “Maybe Miller is the universe’s way of balancing out the bad things that happened in your life. That was a whole lot of terrible, but now here’s someone truly amazing to make up for it.”
“He really is amazing, isn’t he?”
“For sure. I’ve been watching him with you, and with the kids, and even with your obnoxious cat. He’s been nothing but kind and patient, and he has so much love to give. He’s exactly what I always wanted for you.”
“Speaking of great guys, do you think there might be a future for you and Dwight? Because he’s incredibly sweet, not to mention smoking hot.”
A blush colored her cheeks as she grinned and said, “He’s pretty great, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to him. But I’m two weeks out of a decade-long relationship, so he knows I need to take this super slow. He’s good with that, and with just being friends until I’m ready for it to turn into something more. In fact…”
“What?”
“We were talking on the phone last night after the kids went to bed. I told him I’m thinking about moving to Albuquerque to be closer to my parents and sister, and he said he’d been considering a move to a bigger city. He asked me what I thought about him moving there, too.”