“Silas Grey Winthrop, are you asking me to marry you?”
I wheeze. “Yes. If you’ll get off me, I’ll formally ask.”
She grins so wide it’s all I see. Then she sits up, straddling my hips. Still lying down in the grass, I hold the gold ring up between us. It’s a cushion-cut diamond in the center with a ring of black diamonds around it. Betsy’s hands fly to her mouth, but her eyes are wide and glassy above.
“Betsy Mae, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
She drops down, grabs my head, and kisses me. The hand not holding the ring burrows into her hair, trying to hold her in place. She’s frantic, placing a dozen kisses on my mouth, my chin, my nose, anywhere she can reach.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,” she chants between each kiss.
I sit up and roll her onto her back, pulling away enough to grab her hand. My throat is closing with emotion. “I want to see my ring on your finger.”
She lets me slide the ring on, both of us staring at it. Thank God it fits.
“It’s literally perfect,” Betsy gushes.
I lean down and kiss her hand, the cool metal already warming against her skin. “You’re perfect.”
Betsy leans up and kisses me again. “No,we’reperfect together.”
“Hell yes, we are,” I mutter against her lips.
Betsy pulls away, a wicked grin on her lips. “You mean, heaven yes, we are?”
With a laugh, I follow her down to the grass and kiss my future wife.
EPILOGUE
Betsy
May- The Wedding
“What about your something blue?”Nana asks, clearly worried for me. Traditions mean a lot here, and while I may not put much stock in them, I follow along to make Nana happy.
I turn away from the full-length mirror in Mary London’s boutique, which she closed for the day just to accommodate our wedding. We waited until the college was out for summer break. Fewer students means less traffic. The town size gets cut in half when all the students go home.
Lifting my skirt indecently, I bounce my eyebrows. “Got it right here, Nana.”
Nana scoffs, but turns away with a smile on her face when she sees my lacy black panties with a bright blue bow in the center. Mary London, Palmer, Darby Kate, and Anna Claire whoop their encouragement. I went traditional with my wedding dress, pure white lace from head to toe, but all my undergarments are dark as midnight.
“I’m goin’ to pretend my brother isn’t the happy recipient of all that gorgeousness,” Mary London says, fussing over my dress to make it hang to the floor perfectly.
Palmer purses her lips and studies me. She looks gorgeous in her lavender bridesmaid dress. She’s lost most of the baby weight, but still has huge boobs thanks to her continued breastfeeding. “You have a glow about you. You sure you ain’t expectin’?”
Nana looks at me sharply from across the room where the wedding coordinator is pinning flowers to her dress. Nothing wrong with her ears, that’s for sure.
“No, I’m not pregnant. Not that I wouldn’t want that.” It still feels weird talking about getting married and having babies. I never thought I’d be in a position to do either. “We plan to start trying sooner rather than later. That’s what happens when you marry someone old.”
Mary London cracks up. So would Silas if he were here. Instead of calling him frat boy, I’ve taken to calling him “my ol’ man.” He doesn’t particularly care for it, which makes it an even better nickname.
“Where’s my daughter?”
We all look toward the door where my mother has graced us with her presence. She got drunk at the rehearsal dinner last night and her current boyfriend had to take her back to their hotel before dessert was served. Other than bloodshot eyes, she looks good this morning.
“Right here, Mom.”
My friends all cluster around me like some kind of bridesmaid fortress. I’m not sure if they even realize they’re doing it, but I love it just the same. They have my back. Even against my own mother if necessary.
