****
Jessica
We decided to go with the traditional vows of for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, blah, blah, blah. It was just easier.
Our guest list was a little more complicated. It was way too long until we decided the criteria for making the cut was the person either had to be closely related to us, and/or was someone we’d call if we needed bail money. Or the significant other of someone we would.
That cut the list in half and made it far more manageable.
“We should be able to get those sent out tomorrow with no problem,” he remarked as we approached Haven Springs’ town limits.
“Should we plan on getting together in the afternoon to do that?”
“That’ll work. I’ll come by the bakery in the morning to feed Ruthie if that’s okay.”
“Of course. Do you want to have dinner at the new house so we can actually work on the registry?”
“That’d probably be a good thing to get done, huh? Once people get their invitations, they’re going to be asking where we’re registered.”
I replied, “That’s what I was thinking, too.”
“Do you just want to grab something from Golden Dragon?”
“Perfect! When I was pregnant, I wasn’t able to eat Chinese without getting sick. I’ve missed it.”
He pulled into the driveway of our new place on Morning View Drive. He’d had Adam move anything he’d left at Brian’s so his parents could take up residence there—at their insistence.
When Lainey had protested, Denise had shaken her head and said, “You know what they say about houseguests and fish. Being right next door, we’ll still be close enough to properly annoy you; the difference will be you can send us away.”
Everyone had laughed, but I suspected Lainey was relieved to get her house back.
He put the van in park, and I realized I didn’t want him to go inside just yet, so I tried to make small talk.
“Do you know how long your parents are planning on staying in Haven Springs?”
“Just until the Monday after our wedding.”
“It was really generous of Brian to give up his house like that.”
“He and Jade have been staying at her place, so it worked out. She has a single-story, and it’s easier for Brian to get around while he recovers.”
“What happened to him?”
He tilted his head and said, “You really don’t know?”
“No. I thought it’d be rude to ask.”
“He was shot saving Lainey when she was kidnapped. You knew she was kidnapped, right?”
“I did know that. And I knew an officer had been injured—I didn’t realize it was Brian. Although looking at it now, it seems obvious. I feel kind of dumb for not figuring it out.”
“Well, to be fair, you’ve kind of had a lot on your plate this week.”
“That is an understatement.”
He smiled at me and said, “You sure you can’t stay tonight? I’ll give you a good foot massage while we watch trash TV.”
“That is tempting,” I replied with a smirk. “But I either need to feed Ruthie or pump. And neither my child nor my breast pump is here.”
