I give her hand a gentle squeeze. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, getting back on the topic of money …” she starts.
“Yeah?”
“There’s something you should know.”
I swallow hard. “Okay.” I keep my voice steady, but she has my full attention. Knowing she isn’t one for hard conversationsand she’s bringing one up right now has me determined to stay extra patient.
“I have some debt,” she admits. “ Student loans and what not.”
My throat dries a little. “ How much?”
“Thirty thousand.” She holds her breath.
“Wow. Okay. Alright, that’s fine.” I shrug it off.
Her brows pull together. “Really?”
“Yeah. We’ll get it squared away. Eventually,” I joke.
“You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad? You’ve wanted to be a nurse since junior high, I kinda always knew I’d be helping pay it off one day.”
She smiles. “Aw, really?”
“Yes, really.”
She gets closer to me. Her voice drops to a whisper. “So you’re really sure we can’t do October?”
I sigh, not wanting to fight about it again. “Let me think about it.”
“Yay!” She kisses my cheek.
* * *
“So, did you pick a date?” Addison asks me from across the table.
Cody jumps in before I can respond. “They’ve only been engaged like an hour,” he jokes.
“It’s been almost a month, hasn’t it?” Mason asks.
I clear my throat. “Basically, yeah.”
“So did you pick a date or not?” Addison insists.
“Not exactly,” I mutter, wanting to watch what I say. Ella isn’there this week; she’s working, but I still want to be respectful in case any of this gets back to her.
“I’m sure they have to talk about all that yet, Addison. Don’t pester,” Mom tells her.
“Well, I know what time of year she wants,” I offer. Everyone waits for me to continue. I, however, would enjoy it if they took a wild guess.
“If you say fall …” Cody threatens.
“Ding ding ding.” I sit back in my chair.
“No,” he replies.
