Page 119 of The Haunting Plot

Summer: We’d be the perfect hype girls since we’ve read them all and love them!

Bella: We could be your booth bitches!! I’m gonna make shirts.

Summer: Please don’t put that on my shirt or Logan will make me pay the swear jar.

Lucy: Yeah and no penises on my shirt.

Summer: Good call. Same goes for me.

Me: We’re not making shirts. And when did I agree to a signing?

Bella: I wasn’t gonna put penises on the shirts.

Summer: no one believes that.

Me: So you all aren’t mad?

Lucy: Why would we be mad?

Summer: We love you and your books!

Bella: This is amazing. I know a celebrity!

Summer: We’re not mad.

Me: Good because I’m currently at the courthouse with the kids and Sawyer.

Bella: WHAT THE FUCK RAVEN?!?!?!

Lucy: What are you doing at the courthouse? Are you getting married?

Summer: Raven, answer us!!!!

“You just tell the girls?”

I glance up from my phone. Sawyer’s face is beaming, and I get lost in the crinkles around his eyes. “How did you know?”

“I’m not the only one with a terrible poker face.” He winks, and I take him in. He’s dressed in his navy T-shirt, suspenders, and firefighter pants. It was a compromise since I didn’t want him in his Chief dress uniform.

Jane and McKenna race over, their cotton dresses billowing behind them as they carry a handful of…weeds?

“We couldn’t find any flowers since it’s November and everything’s dead,” McKenna says.

“We tried to match your dress as best we could. There’s some grass with the wheat thingies on the end, red, orange, and yellow leaves, and some pine tree-looking thing. Be careful, it’s spiky,” Jane says, pointing to each item.

“That’s Colorado blue spruce,” Tommy chimes, and I tilt my head, surprised he knew that. “Cub Scouts,” he says with a shrug.

“If we had more time, we could’ve gotten a real bouquet,” McKenna pouts.

“It’s perfect, girls, thank you.” I hold it up against the bottom of my dress. It’s a long, mostly black number with lace sleeves. They were able to find some leaves that match the red and orange ombré on the hem.

I didn’t wake up this morning knowing I’d be getting married. Jocelyn dropped the kids off, and today was the day Sawyer and I decided to move everyone into my house. Our house. Tommy and Jane will still spend every other day and every other weekend with Jocelyn, but on Sawyer’s days, we’ll live in the house that brought us together.

Jonah and Tommy insisted on sharing a room, and when we were cleaning out the closet to make room for Tommy’s clothes, Jonah found a suit and started playing dress-up, calling it his fancy wedding suit. This led to Jonah’s brilliant idea that Sawyer and I should get married today.

“How’d the girls take it?”

“I dunno. They were starting to spiral when I put my phone away. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”