Landon choked on a mouthful of bourbon as we both burst out laughing.
“Ma,” Dean’s father groaned, glaring at his mother with a deep frown. “That’s none of your business.” He looked so much like his son, with the same height and crooked nose, but he had a full head of salt-and-pepper hair instead of black.
“I’m old. If I only talked about things that were my business, my life would be pretty damn boring.” She scoffed, pursing her lips as she glanced toward the dessert table. “Why don’t you go talk to your wife, maybe tellherhow she should mind her own business too since she’s spent today moping around her son’s wedding because it wasn’t the oneshewanted.”
Dean’s mother hadn’t cracked a single smile all day except when she forced one for the family picture, obviously still not happy that her only son had rejected the huge wedding she’d wanted him to have.
If I did make it to Nana’s age, I hoped I had the guts to speak my mind like she did, because saying whatever the hell you wanted seemed like a lot of fun.
“Come on, Ma,” Mr. Calabrese said as he rose from his seat. “We can dance to some Sinatra before you hit the tables.”
She fought a smile before giving her son a slow nod.
“Fine.” She took her son’s extended hand and padded to the small dance floor, giving Landon and me the arch of her brow before dancing with her son to “The Way You Look Tonight.”
“Feel like dancing?” Landon asked me. “Although we may get Nana’s hopes up.”
“Sure, we can give her a thrill.” I pushed off the table and took Landon’s hand. The wedding was winding to a close, the dessert table already half empty as the small handful of guests filtered out.
“I still can’t believe they did it.” Landon nodded to where Dean and Maria were chatting with the officiant, Dean’s arm around Maria’s waist.
“I actually think it’s kind of nice they waited so long, so they could come here today without any doubts or reservations because they know each other so well.”
“Do I hear a little regret in that sentiment?” Landon asked, bringing our joined hands to his chest. When his lips curved in a wry grin, I almost forgot his question.
He was stunning as hell in a suit. The jacket stretched across his broad chest and cinched his tapered waist. As much as I tried to put last night out of my head and assured Landon that it was no big deal, I’d noticed him more today than I usually did. As in noticed him as Landon the gorgeous Adonis of a man and not the Landon who was my oldest and closest friend.
I tried to reason away the new feelings with the same excuse I’d given him. It was an emotional weekend, and we hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Aside from my news and our friends getting married, we probably just missed each other. We’d start video chatting more, as I was sure Landon meant it when he said he’d constantly be checking on me once we went home, and the next time we saw each other wouldn’t be this intense.
I melted into his chest as Frank Sinatra sang about thinking back to tonight when the world turned cold—as in when I’d board a plane heading back to New York and would have to try to figure out my life. Right now, I felt protected and beautiful in Landon’s arms. I’d simply try to let it feel good without questioning why it shouldn’t.
“Hey guys, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but my grandmother is staring at you,” Dean whispered from behind us.
Landon and I stopped dancing and turned around.
“That’s because she told us we’d make good-looking babies, so she may think she set us on our way,” Landon joked.
I laughed, trying to blink away the intrusive picture in my head that I didn’t need right now.
“She told the wife and me the same thing,” Dean quipped, turning his head when Maria wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I’ve overheard Dean call me ‘the wife’ for years, although it didn’t sound very romantic then.” She crinkled her nose as he peered down at her.
“How does it feel to actually be ‘the wife’?” I asked, a grin spreading my mouth as I looked between them.
“This doesn’t change much of our daily lives, yet it changes everything at the same time. I can’t explain it.”
The pure joy in her eyes caught me in the throat.
“No, I think you did a great job of explaining it,” I said, swallowing when I heard my voice crack. “I see it in both of you.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Calabrese, we need you for a moment.” The wedding coordinator, a thin woman in a business suit with red hair pulled into a tight bun, crooked her finger at Dean and Maria.
“I guess she means us and not my parents,” Dean said with a shrug. “Excuse us.”
“I’ve never seen you cry at a wedding before,” Landon mused as he studied me.
“I didn’t cry, but I did get a little choked up at seeing how happy two of my oldest friends are today. Your eyes were watering during the ceremony,” I said, squinting at him as I came closer. “Don’t deny it.”
