Page 12 of Lumberjack Bride

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Am I sure?”

“Are you sure?”he repeats, staring harder at me.

I nod again. “Yes, I’m sure. I love Hazel. I love our life. I want it to stay like this forever.”

“Okay,” he says. “I’ll ask again in the morning.”

“Don’t bother, Bob,” I say, fixing a few sandwiches. “You already have my answer.”

“I wouldn’t be a good best man if I didn’t ask. I mean, hell, I’d expect you to grill me if the roles were reversed.”

I laugh. “Now, that I can’t imagine.”

“Me neither.” He shivers. “I’m never getting married, man.”

“Never say never.”

“Never,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong, though. One of these days, I’m going to meet my dream girl.”

“Oh, yeah?” I humor him.

“Hell yeah. She’s going to be tall and hot as fuck and witty and smart — but not too smart. Black hair, brown eyes, and, as the song goes... the girl just wants to have fun.”

I raise a brow. “You’ve rehearsed this.”

“Yes, I have.”

“Well,” I extend my can toward his and he taps them together, “I wish you luck with that.”

My phone rings in my pocket. I reach for it, hoping to get a little bit of Hazel in my morning.

Bobby points at me. “No girls allowed!”

I turn it over in my hand to get a good look at the screen. “It’s just Claudia.”

“Claudia’s a girl.”

I swipe the screen to answer it. “Hey, Claud. What’s up?”

“Is Hazel with you?” she asks.

“No, I thought she was spending the day with you.”

“Me, too, but I pounded on her door for about ten minutes. She’s not there. She’s not with you?”

“No,” I answer again, growing curious.

There’s a short pause. “Uh-oh,” she mutters.

“Why uh-oh?” I ask. “She probably just went shopping or something. She’ll be back.”

“Yeah... I thought that, too. So, I asked the front desk if they’d seen her and they told me she checked out.”

I pause. “Checked out?”