Page 90 of Forever Enough
Turning to face them, I couldn’t help but grin.
“He is insanely gorgeous!”
“Excuse me, I’m standing right here,” Doug protested.
Emily gave him a playful pat on the chest. “I still love you and think you’re the most handsome of them all.”
Doug grinned and lifted his chin. “Just making sure.”
I rolled my eyes and headed toward the back of the barn. Pickles came dashing out, and Emily and Doug both started to laugh.
“Oh my gosh, is that…pajamas with fireworks on them?” Emily asked, dropping down and hugging Pickles.
“Yep. He has some wedding ones too, but I thought the fireworks were too cute not to put on.”
“I cannot believe you have a pet goat,” Doug said as he gave Pickles some attention.
“Okay, we have so much to do! Let me take you up to the apartment so you can get unpacked. You can have the bedroom, I’ll crash on the sofa.”
“Does the sofa pull out into a bed? We can sleep there,” Emily offered.
Glancing back at my little sister, I shook my head. “Nope, just a sofa, and I don’t mind sleeping on it. I crash out in the living room more than I’d like to admit. You’ll be comfortable in the bedroom, and I promise it isn’t putting me out in the least.”
After getting up to the apartment, Mr. Whiskers quickly greeted everyone. He smelled both Emily and Doug, and must have remembered them, because he gave his meow of approval and moved to his kitty condo.
As Emily and Doug unpacked, I made us some lunch. Whiskers sat on the bottom of the bed and supervised. Every now and then I could hear him meow his input.
“All unpacked. What should I wear to the wedding?” Emily asked as she walked up next to me and popped a grape into her mouth.
Setting the plates on a tray, I grabbed a bag of chips and asked Emily, “Will you grab the drinks for me and bring them to the table?”
“Sure,” she replied as she swept up the drinks and beat me to the table. Her waitressing skills from high school and college were showing.
“Did you bring anything blue for Doug? Lily has the guys dressing in jeans and blue button shirts. Did I mention she’s pregnant? They’re due in June.”
“Oh, wow! That’s exciting. Blue…I did bring a light blue dress for myself, and I’m sure Doug has a blue pullover he can wear. It’s dark blue, though, like navy.”
“That should work,” I said, as I placed the plates at each seat and walked the tray back to the kitchen. “No real dress code for the ladies, so you can wear whatever you’ll be comfortable in.”
Doug walked out and made his way over to the table. “I can’t even believe I’m hungry after eating at the pancake place you told us about last night.”
“Paul’s?” I asked with a chuckle as I sat down.
Doug took a bite of the turkey and Swiss sandwich as if he hadn’t eaten in days. He pointed to me. “That’s the place! Damn, it was good.”
Emily nodded in agreement as she opened the chips and put some on her plate. “It was good. Now, enough of the small talk, I want to hear everything about your time together with Bradly.”
“Time together?” Doug said. “They’ve only known each other for what, six days now?”
I shrugged as I chewed my sandwich. “Those six days have been the most amazing six days of my life. I wasn’t even aware I was looking for him before he popped into the barn on Christmas night.”
“I don’t understand when people say there’s no such thing as love at first sight. If the heart knows, it knows. I had a friend who met a guy on a cruise—a four-day cruise, I might add—and they were married two weeks later. They’re still happy and expecting their first baby this spring.”
Doug nodded. “Jim and Linda, that’s right. I forgot they only knew each other for a short amount of time.”
“Wow, how did they meet on the cruise?” I asked.
Emily put her sandwich down and took a drink of the sweet tea I’d made. “They literally ran into each other when they stepped onto the ship. He helped her pick up the stuff that fell out of her purse. Then, get this, he was seated at the same table as her and her sister. He was on the cruise with his family. It was like fate stepped right on in and said you two belong together.”