Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
“You win,” I whispered to Fred.
He grinned, and his blue eyes sparkled with his victory. “Dream setting. Dream ring. Nailed it, right?”
His words were soft enough that only I could hear him. I nodded, wrapping my arms around my stomach.
I’d been joking when I told him I wanted the perfect one.
Trust him to actually do it.
“I never thought I’d say these words to you, but…” He shook his head before meeting my eyes again. “Delilah Elizabeth Peters, it would be my greatest horror to become your husband. Will you marry me?”
Horror.
I couldn’t help it.
I burst out laughing, clapping my hand over my mouth, and nodded. His chuckle filled the air as he took my other hand from around my waist and slid the ring on my finger.
Fred got to his feet and pulled me against him to the sound of cheers from our families, and he lowered his lips to my ear. “They’re going to think you’re crying.”
“Let them,” I chortled, hiding my true expression against his chest. “They didn’t hear, did they?”
“Why do you think I said horror? I can convince them they misheard and that I actually said honour,” he muttered.
“Kiss, kiss!” Granny and Nana shouted.
“Oh, heck no,” I said, my laughter dying. “Fred…”
He cradled the back of my head, turning us slightly. “Granny, Nana, have some manners!”
Oh, my God.
“You know how Deli feels about public displays of affection,” he continued.
“Yeah, if she wanted people to watch her kiss, she’d have become a porn star,” Lucy shouted, grinning as she leant against Harvey, cradling her bump. “Or she’d watch porn if she wanted to see others at it. Right, Deli?”
“Exactly that.” I turned my face towards them, still nestled against Fred’s body. “I’d at least have to charge you.”
Everyone laughed, and the next thing I knew, they rushed us. We were quickly separated by hugs and cheek kisses, and I think just about everyone was crying.
Aunt Vi cradled my left hand and smiled. “You finally get to wear it, Deli.”
“Was this always…” I looked at the ring.
“Yes,” she replied quietly. “I always hoped, and when you took a liking to it, I saved it. I, uh… ah.” She stopped, wrinkling her nose up in a smile as tears formed in her eyes. “Well, I told him a long, long time ago that this belonged to you if it ever happened, and he asked for it. So…”
“But—”
She shook her head and squeezed my hand before quickly releasing it and pulling me into a hug. “You will always be my family,” she whispered in my ear. “You always have been, darling. That won’t change. No matter what happens.”
I swallowed down the lump in my throat and hugged her back, looking over her shoulder. My gaze caught Fred’s, and he smiled at me over Nana’s head as she embraced him with all her might.
Yeah.
Somehow, one way or another, this would all work out.
I simply had to believe that it would.
13
* * *
FRED
Time was a funny thing.
Some days dragged as if they were as long as a year. On those days, it didn’t matter how many times you looked at the clock. The hour would never change, and even the hand that ticked each second away moved at a glacial pace.
Other days sped past without you realising. One moment you were rolling out of bed with sleep still clouding your eyes, and the next, you were climbing back under the cover in the dead of night wondering where the hell all that time had gone.
The past month had been the second one.
As soon as Deli said yes to my proposal, it was as if our world started moving at the speed of light. We’d barely had time to digest the reality of our new relationship before we were tossed into the vortex of wedding plans.
Every second of our lives became about colour schemes and centrepieces, invitations and seating plans, shoes and flowers and dresses. Every second we weren’t working we were neck-deep in wedding organisation, even though we’d deliberately kept it all small.
Our grandmothers hadn’t been too happy about this turn of events, even with Granny knowing it was all a show. Still, she’d still demanded we have a proper wedding befitting our family history—just without the whole swearing in front of God part—and she’d very nearly won.
It was thanks to our mothers that they’d backed down. There was one swift reminder that we were zooming through everything to make sure Nana was healthy enough to be present at and enjoy the whole day, and that neither of us wanted a big, fancy, dramatic wedding anyway.
And somehow, that was how we’d ended up here.
On the morning of our wedding day.
How they’d managed to pull together a whole wedding within a matter of weeks was a mystery to me. I was sure our mothers were witches who’d pulled some hinky tricks to make it possible, because I could barely remember the last month.