“A few weeks.”
Lulu’s eyes grow as big as saucers. “A few weeks?” She sounds personally insulted by such a short timeline. “How?”
“We’ll do it here at the bar. Just a small family affair.” Any longer than a few weeks and she might be showing.
“We have so much to do,” Lulu says, panic filling her eyes.
“We?” Zoey says, rolling her eyes at her sister. “It’s Tate’s wedding.”
“But…” Lulu’s shoulders drop, and all excitement vanishes.
“You can plan everything,” Tate says to Lulu. “I have all the faith in the world you’ll make it the best wedding ever at the Hook & Hustle.”
“Wow. That’s so exciting,” Iris says at my side, her thumb grazing the pad near the bottom of my thumb.
Lulu lunges forward, throwing her arms around Tate’s shoulders. “I love you, cousin. I’ll make it better than you can ever imagine.”
Tate stares at me across the table as she hugs Lulu back, knowing I know there’s more to the story than just a wedding.
“You’re officially going to be family,” Nino says to Wylder. “About damn time.”
“I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me I’m one of you,” Wylder says to him.
“Do Mom and Dad know?” Mason asks Tate.
“Wylder talked to Dad before he asked.”
“So theyknowknow?” I ask her.
“They know we’re getting married,” she says, her voice lingering on the last word.
Got it. They don’t know everything.
Lulu looks at me and then at Tate. “Knowknow what?”
“About the wedding,” Tate lies.
Lulu stares at her, trying to read into the conversation. “You’re not telling me something.”
“You know everything,” Tate tells her. “Is two weeks enough time?”
Lulu clutches her chest and gasps. “Two weeks is cutting it close, but…” And just like that, the secret Tate’s keeping that Lulu almost figured out is forgotten.
Grandma, Aunt B, Aunt Daphne, Mom, and Aunt Delilah come out of the kitchen, carrying extremely large bowls of everything they’ve spent hours whipping up.
“Dinner’s ready,” Gram announces to everyone as she does every week when we have the same meal at the same time. “I made eggplant parm as an extra treat this week.” She winks at Iris when she says that.
“She must love you,” Zoey says to Iris. “She doesn’t make it very often because it’s time-consuming. She’s trying to keep you around.”
“I don’t plan on going anywhere,” Iris says.
I give her hand a squeeze, because the last thing I want is for her to vanish. Nothing in my life has felt so right and natural. Being with Iris is easy—although the hiccup with Malakai and Lucas wasn’t ideal or, hell, normal.
“I think Tate and Wylder want to make an announcement first,” Ma says as they set the bowls down on the bar top so we can all grab what we want. There are too many people for it to be a sit-down dinner where we’re served. No one has the time or energy with a group this big. It’s a buffet of absolute deliciousness.
Grandma gasps. “Is she finally pregnant?”
“No, Ma,” Mom says to Gram, and I almost feel guilty when my gram’s face falls.
