Her heart warmed at his words.“Yeah, I had a hard time sleeping too.”
“It’s all because of Amy.”A female voice interrupted their tête-à-tête.
At the sound of her name, Amy shifted her attention to the women’s side of the table.
“Getting married in Honolulu beats Vegas hands-down,” Carrie announced.“Neither place requires residency or waiting time, so why not Hawaii?”
“Absolutely,” Courtney added.“And Melissa, the in-house wedding planner, was a main selling point for me.”
“Me too.”Carrie bubbled with excitement.
The two bridal parties continued batting wedding details back and forth, and Amy did her best to keep up with the conversation, even though her mind was stuck on Ray not being able to sleep either.
“Oh, my gosh,” Carrie squealed.“My fiancé is arriving today too.”
Courtney glanced down at her phone.“At least your fiancé isn’t at the mercy of the United States Navy.”
The similarities in the two brides’ wedding plans were almost eerie.
“It’s like that old song—twin sisters of different mothers.”Carrie squealed again.
Shaking her head, Amy wondered when the heck did her calm and sensible roommate morph into a squealing teen?She overheard the men talking of golf games and bachelor parties, and now she wondered if she would have any time to spend with Ray or if the multitude of prewedding plans the two groups had scheduled would eat up the whole day.
Almost dizzy from all the chatter, Amy stole a glance in Ray’s direction and caught him smiling at her.Their gazes lingered a little longer than they probably should have, but, when his hand brushed hers under the table and then linked fingers, she couldn’t bring herself to look away.
As the decibel of the conversation grew even louder at the table, Amy found herself actually relieved when the last bill was paid, and one by one the group of new friends pushed away from the table.With all the different plans shot back and forth, she wasn’t sure where she was supposed to be or when, but once again Ray held her hand, and she decided wherever he went was good enough for her.At least until Carrie told her otherwise.
“We’ve got free time until Bryce’s flight arrives this afternoon.”Carrie stopped midway to the elevators.“I’ll confirm with the front desk that all the rooms are ready for my folks and the other guests.”
“Yeah, better confirm they’re all on our floor,” Linda chimed in.
“Are you nuts?”Carrie laughed.“That’s the last thing I want.If the hotel had another building, I’d put all my relatives out there.”
Amy and Linda both laughed.Carrie was right.Mrs.Clarke was a really nice lady, but she was queen of the meddling mothers.
“I suppose I should follow up on my maid of honor duties and double-check that our reservations for the Wine and Cheese Board tonight are set.”Linda flipped her wrist and, tossing out an impish grin, looked at her bare arm.“Shall we synchronize our watches?”
Sensible Carrie had returned, rolling her eyes.“Hardy har har.I’ll catch you upstairs later.”She whirled around to Amy, glanced at the clasped hands between her and Ray, and smiled.“I guess I’ll see you whenever.”
Amy grinned at her friend.She’d just been officially let off the day’s schedule.“Later.”
Doug and Emily sidled up beside Amy.She noticed again the way Doug drilled Ray with an intense stare.She wasn’t sure what to make of this whole protective-big-brother routine, but the novelty was starting to lose its luster.
“Mister, mister.”Excited voices reached them seconds before two boys came barreling up to Ray from across the lobby.The smaller of the two stopped short, only inches in front of him.The other slightly taller boy held a football under one arm and tugged his sidekick back by his collar.“Sorry, mister.”
At the nudge of an elbow from the boy with the football, the younger one smiled brightly.“Thank you, mister.”
“You are very wel—”
Ray’s words were cut off by an army of Asian women and small children swarming the lobby, like bees on honey.A sea of smiling faces bobbed their heads and chatted in what Amy now realized was Japanese.The drowning boy.
“My mother says she’s pleased to see she did you no serious harm.”
Ray’s hand lifted to his head and then dropped again.“So am I.”He smiled and pointed to the ball tucked under the kid’s arm.“New football?”
The older kid nodded.“Our mother will not allow us to swim anymore.”
The battery of foreign women chattered simultaneously again, clearly expecting the young boy to translate for all of them.
The poor kid looked a bit overwhelmed.“It is my mother’s wish to do something to repay you for your bravery.”
Ray’s eyes widened, and Amy felt the tension take over his body.Scanning the extended family gathered around him, Ray took in a breath, then leaned down to the kid’s height and tapped the pigskin.“Would you do me the honor of letting me play football with you?”
“I do not think that would be much of a repayment.My brother and I do not know how to play.”
Ray smiled.“I do.”
