It made my heart swell that he even asked if that was important to me.
“No, I agree. She’s too young.”
Lainey put her hand on her hip and declared, “You have to have a honeymoon, Alan.”
“We will. I was thinking we’d go to my—our—place on the Cape for a few weeks.” He looked over at me. “If that’s all right with you?”
Alone with Alan on the ocean for a few weeks? Twist my arm.
“I think that sounds perfect.”
****
Alan
Adam pulled me aside with a smirk.
“Uh, last time I checked, your beach house only has one bedroom.”
“Yep.”
“I thought you said this marriage was going to be in name only.”
“No, I said this marriage was going to be in name onlyif that’s what Jess wants. It’ll be up to her if it’s not.”
“But only having one bed won’t hurt your cause.”
“Only my back if I have to sleep on the couch.”
He gripped my shoulder and squeezed. “I have faith in you.”
Chapter Forty-One
Jessica
We didn’t finish until almost five o’clock, and as we were cleaning up, Lainey said, “Let’s get pizzas and hang out at our house, maybe play some cards or board games.”
That sounded like fun. I’d had a great time that afternoon hanging out with women who treated me like a friend, not a pariah. And I loved playing games.
Still, my immediate go-to reaction wasno, my parents won’t approve. But before I uttered the words, Alan said, “That’s a great idea.” He touched my arm and continued, “It’ll give you a chance to get to know your future in-laws better.”
Surely my parents couldn’t object to that.
Jade replied, “That sounds fun! I just need to pick Brian up at the station and take him home so he can change,” while Kristy shrugged and said, “I don’t have any plans.”
“Let me call my mom…”
****
Alan
Jess pulled out her phone and excused herself to Lainey’s office to call her mom. While the other ladies chatted about which pizzas to order, my brother quietly said, “I understand now why you don’t want to wait to get married.”
“The sooner she has her independence, the better.”
“Are you sure she’s going to view being married as being independent?”
I’d had that thought earlier—would she think she was just trading one devil for another?
