She nods, unable to speak.
“Pretty sure Mum preferred him to me most of the time,” I say, trying to break the weight of the moment.
“Oh, Harry,” Nel sobs. “It wasn’t just Mum, we all did.”
I laugh and she does too, both of us swiping our tears away, me with no finesse, her delicately dabbing to avoid ruining her pretty makeup. “So uh, I was thinking,” I say hesitantly, wondering if the idea that struck at the dinner table when Cami was talking about wedding dress shopping is actually a good one. “I’d uh, I’d like to pay for your wedding dress…you know, i-if that’s something you’d like…”
“You want to buy my wedding dress?” Her chin wobbles more and it makes me doubt everything.
“Yeah,” I say with a noncommittal shrug. “I mean, that’s what Mum and Dad would do. We could probably help out with more like the cake or something, but I should probably check with my wife before I go committing to that stuff. But the dress, that would mean a lot if you would let me do that for you—”
I don’t get to finish that thought because the breath is knocked out of my lungs when she flings her arms around me and shakes with silent sobs into my chest. I guess she could be crying out of anger or frustration, but I get the distinct feeling I’ve actually said the right thing and slump a little in relief. Dipping my head, I kiss her hair and allow myself to cry a little, too.
“Will you give me away?” she asks, muffled against my shirt but I hear it all the same and I close my eyes, resisting the urge to make a very unmanly sob.
“You’re going to ruin my mascara,” I say, trying to lighten the mood again. She laughs but doesn’t let me go and I’m okay with it. “Of course I will.”
The garage door opens, and Lisa stands on the small step looking at us, surprised by the scene. “Everything okay?”
Nel and I break apart. “Yeah.” I chuckle, wiping my face again. “I uh, I told Nel I wanted to buy her wedding dress.” Lisa’s eyes widen and I wince internally. Shit. “Sorry, babe. I should have spoken to you first, I just—”
Once again, I’m cut off by arms wrapping around me, except this time, it’s my wife. Lisa’s arms are around my neck and her feet hanging off the ground as I catch her. I’ve always loved the feel of her in my arms, her body against mine and the smell of soap and caramel. “You’re a wonderful man, Harry Forest, you know that?”
“Must be doing something right to deserve this treatment,” I mumble into her hair and place her back on her feet.
Instead of letting me go, she pulls Nel in so the three of us are hugging. “If he didn’t offer, I would have.”
“You two are really testing my makeup,” Nel complains.
“What’s going on? I heard—” Jake stops in the doorway, scowling as he looks at us like he walked in on us doing circus tricks. When he looks at Nel, he steps over and pulls her out of our embrace and into his. “What’s wrong? What happened? Who do I need to beat up?”
She hums over a smile, snuggling into him. “Harry.”
He glares at me and because I’m completely secure in my masculinity, I unashamedly hide behind my wife.
Lisa smacks his arm. “Oh, enough of that, we were just having a beautiful family moment,” she says, bringing us in again and initiating a very strange four-way hug.
After a moment and no sign of anyone breaking away, I shuffle awkwardly. “This is a bit weird.”
“Shut up, you’re ruining the moment,” Jake snaps.
“You don’t even know what the moment was!”
Lisa and Nel both laugh at us and Jake cracks into a grin at the same time I do.
“Arsehole.”
“Prick.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I’m getting wrinkles.”
LISA
“Why don’t you boys go be sociable for a while, find out what board games everyone wants to play and start setting up. I need to speak to Nel for a minute,” I say when we all step back from our little group hug.
Jake looks down at Nel, his arm still secure around her shoulders and brow raised quizzically. “You’re in high demand tonight, little elf, anything I should know?”
