“And we’re saying?”
“Microburst. Happens every once in a while around here. Oregon and its crazy weather.”
“Good to know.” He pushed away from his car and took a couple steps toward the house. “Oh. Ryder said he was looking for a venue.”
“For?” I opened my car door. The faint scent of coffee and the shampoo and soap Ryder used, wafted out of the Jeep.
“Your wedding.”
“Right. Yep. Wedding.” Even I heard the crackle in my voice.
“Delaney.”
“No.”
“You’re not having second thoughts are you?”
“Of course not.”
“It’s just one vow,” he said. “Then eternal bliss. You aren’t getting cold feet about a tiny little vow are you?”
“No vow is little,” I groused.
He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Marriage is a beautiful joining of lives.”
“Marriage is a changing of lives.”
“Of course it is. It’s love,” he said. “Marriage should be the easiest thing in the world. Everyone does it. Why even normal people do it. And if normal people can do it, then surely you can too, right?”
I scowled. His laugh was, warm, teasing. But I was still annoyed.
“Go eat a cat, Bathin.”
“You have your dress, right? And the flowers picked out? Have you written your vows or are you going traditional? My goodness, who is going to officiate this momentous day? I bet every god in town wants in on that action.”
I swung into my Jeep, and then very slowly, and very maturely flipped him the bird.
He laughed harder, waved, and turned back to the house.
I sat there, his words looping through my mind. Life changing. Vows. Promises that would transform everything about us.
Promises we would have to perform in front of people. Maybe most of the town. It was easy. Something normal people did all the time. Just a normal event that any normal person could pull off. My palms started sweating and my stomach flipped.
“Oh, gods.” I rested my head on the steering wheel. “I am so screwed.”
Chapter Eleven
“No,”Ryder said. We were sitting on the tailgate of his truck in Frigg’s parking lot, watching the cars go by. The sun coasted down the sky’s curve toward the horizon, all the light deeper gold now, the shadows brushed in purple. I’d spent several hours at the station trying to track down anything I could find on the falling car and had come up empty handed.
“It would be easy,” I said. “And fast. We wouldn’t have to make so many choices and spend so much money and deal with so much…” I waved my hands around, “cheese.”
His arms were braced on either side of his thighs, and he leaned forward just a bit, fingers curled over the edge of the tailgate. I snuck a peek at his profile to see if he was wavering.
He was not wavering. But gods, even in profile with the sun limning his strong, straight nose, the stubble of his jaw, the curve of his lips, even angry, or maybe just frustrated, he was beautiful.
“We’re not eloping,” he said. “It’s not in me, Delaney. I need a ceremony, an event. Even if it’s a small one.” He glanced my way and saw something in my expression. His hand came up and fingertips smelling slightly of dust and wood shavings traced my cheek, then tucked a stray bit of hair behind my ears.
“I know you’re stressed about it. Worried,” he said gently. “But I got this. Trust me. All you’ll have to do is show up and remember to say ‘I do.’ You trust me, don’t you?”
