I pull back, and I don’t have time to process any of this because we have guests. We have a tour to give. A wedding to plan. A wedding that will have to take place after ours if we want to see that money.
“Let’s, uh…let’s talk after we show them around, okay?” Ford asks carefully.
I nod, and we rush to the door to let them in. “Welcome to Winston Manor,” I say, sweeping my arm out to showcase the grand ballroom.
Lindsay gasps as she takes it in. I think Devon gasps, too. This place is a hidden gem that’s not going to be so hidden now that I’m here.
We’ll have events every weekend. We’ll make enough to hire a staff to manage it so I can keep building toward my dream.
And we even have the chance to get our investment back. I just have to find some way to convince Ford that it’s the right thing to do.
CHAPTER 23: Ford Bradley
Six Weeks
The only requirement is that yours is the first wedding at the manor after ownership has transferred.
We let her think we were a couple. That was our first mistake.
Or was it?
I’m stuck somewhere in the middle on that, to be honest.
This is my chance. My shot to prove we belong together.
But literallylast night, I rejected her advances and told her we needed to wait until she was ready. It’s barely been twelve hours since that conversation, yet here we are, considering planning a wedding to each other because someone else told us to.
Who would say no to marrying the only woman they’ve ever loved for a cool five mil?
Nobody in their right mind, that’s for damn sure.
And shedoesneed the money so she can invest inher business.
It’s quite the conundrum. Quirky old people and their quirky conditions.
I do my best to put it out of my mind as we give the tour to Devon and Lindsay.
“I need to move up the date a bit,” I hear Lindsay say to Tatum as we stand in the backyard overlooking the dock.
“Move it up?” Tatum squeaks, clearly losing her cool at that.
Lindsay rubs her stomach. “I’m pregnant!”
“Congratulations,” Tatum says, and I can hear the anxiety in her tone. I’m sure she’s happy for the happy couple and their upcoming baby news, but this is going to force a timeline on us that we certainly weren’t expecting. “You had mentioned in the offseason before, around June, which gave us six months to plan. When are you thinking of moving it up to?”
“I don’t want to be showing in photos, and I’m already eight weeks. So we were thinking no later than six weeks.”
“From now?” Tatum squeaks again.
“From now.” She pulls out her phone and taps around. “So say…no later than January nineteenth.”
“But what about playoffs?” Tatum asks. “You won’t be showingthat muchyet if you wait until, say, mid-February, right?”
“I mean, I’ll be eighteen weeks by then, so yeah. I might be pretty bloated.” She shrugs. “It’s one day out of the week, and Dev won’t care. Actually, let’s do that Monday before the nineteenth so we can have one night off together.”
“So six weeks from yesterday,” Tatum says flatly.
“Yes. Six weeks from yesterday, and definitely here. This is the most romantic, perfect venue we’ve seen. Can you pull that off?” Lindsay asks.
